- Assefa Balcha, Monitoring & Evaluation Officer, ChildFund Ethiopia.
Wondimu Batiso lives in Ropi-Sinta Kebele in Siraro, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. He has nine children – his youngest child Abenezer Wondimu is 14 years old and is enrolled in ChildFund’s programme. The household only has one quarter of a hectare of land and no ox to till the land (oxen are the main working animals for farming). The land is not productive and will only produce a tiny harvest in this current season. Agriculture in this area is rain fed and so Wondimu is worried that the food shortages will persist if the rains continue to fail. Even if the rains come, fertilizers are very expensive and prove prohibitive for many households. As such, the whole family was a victim of the current drought in the area which caused depletion of assets. Wondimu was able to get relief food items for his family from ChildFund in the last three months and as a result he says the nutritional status of his whole family has improved. “If the relief support had not been provided to our family, we would have died some months ago. Thanks to the ChildFund Ethiopia and the Association for their meaningful effort in saving our lives”, said Wondimu.
Wondimu Batiso, with his enrolled child (Abenezer) and haricot bean harvest ready for processing.
Tesfanesh Taddese, is a mother of six children, all of whom are attending school. They have just over a quarter of a hectare of land and no ox. Normally the land does not yield enough harvest to meet the families need – adding the current drought to the mix has made life even harder for her. The family does not have any other sources of income. As a result, the family is currently benefitting from relief support on a monthly level. “We were happy with ChildFund & their local partner’s relief support because it helped us to feed our children and send them to school”, Tesfanesh expressed.
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Tesfanesh, with her children and maize crops harvested
