Two wells bring clean water to 30,000 people in Ethiopia

Two new wells are providing clean drinking water to 30,000 people in Ethiopia’s Busa region, in a project by Salzburg aid organisation Austrian Doctors, the charity Menschen für Menschen and the State of Salzburg, ORF reported.

A three-person Austrian Doctors team returned to Salzburg on Thursday after visiting the project. The water supply began flowing two weeks ago, and residents welcomed its opening with what the organisation’s managing director, Isabella Röhrich, described as great excitement.

The project took three years to build. It includes two boreholes, two water reservoirs and more than 30 kilometres of pipes. The system has capacity to serve up to 50,000 people.

Women and girls no longer need to walk long distances to collect clean water, Austrian Doctors representative Sophia Marktl said. The State of Salzburg contributed 300,000 euros from its development aid budget. A total of one million euros in donations went towards the wells.

Austrian Doctors said it would check in over the coming years to make sure the water supply continues to work. Röhrich said the project was possible through cooperation between the three partners. Menschen für Menschen, an Ethiopia-focused aid organisation founded by actor Karl-Heinz Böhm, has worked in remote parts of the country for decades.