Is it a mountain or a reservoir? To answer the question correctly, it is both! Pipes shuttle the water to tanks in Yetebon and surrounding areas. Just another way we are trying to prevent famine in our section of Ethiopia.

Before Project Mercy, it took two days to reach the capital, Addis, from Yetebon. There was no main road to connect the two. Today, the same trip only takes two hours. Individuals are now able to receive specialized medical care, access to markets and various other things in the capital. It also links the village to other local cities nearby allowing for local trade and more job opportunities. Just one of the many ways we are “renewing the heart” of the people we serve.

More than a Road

Until the main road was built in 1993, there was no road, only donkey paths. It used to take a day and a half to reach Project Mercy. However, thanks to Project Mercy and its volunteers, the ride down the new gravel road that connects Yetebon with the outside world takes only fifteen minutes.

When pared down to its essentials, infrastructure consists of the most basic support systems needed to keep a country’s economy running smoothly. Such support systems include those things many of us give little or no thought to including buildings, passable roads, bridges, clean water-supply, waste management, electricity, communications and the like. Simply put, the stronger a country’s support system is, the better developed that country will be.

Over the past few years, Project Mercy has developed twenty-five kilometers of roads providing community members access to community development services, the ability to safely reach critical healthcare services and efficiently get to and from work.

H20 Gold

Water, it is not something we think a lot about but it is essential. When we arrived in Yetebon, there was no clean water. The water children were drinking was also used to hydrate animals, wash clothes and bathed. Needless to say, the water made children and adults sick. Today, the reservoir in a mountain give clean water not only to those on the compound but also to the community as well. It is liquid gold!

A Bridge Not Over Calm Water

It was a few logs over a river. When the rain came, the bridge was hard to cross and many fell and were injured or worse. Now the bridge is made with concrete and allows those from the countryside a safer way into Yetebon. It allows children to safely come to school and it is wide enough for donkeys and the carts too. All this impact is made because of something as small as a bridge.