Alchemy World,Article from Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa),Sub-Page

Africa Features
Small relief projects go a long way in Ethiopia
Mar 30, 2007, 10:50 GMT

Addis Ababa (dpa) - A hubbub is coming from the courtyard behind Kate Fereday Eshete's office. More than 200 women and their children are gathered there, as they do on the first day of every month.

Some are sitting on the ground and trying to shield themselves from the hot sun with sunshades. Others crouch in a corner. Little boys and girls scurry about, some with badly-bloated bellies. Some are wearing only scraps of cloth that once resembled a T-shirt or trousers. Their large eyes are ringed with flies.

We are in Gondar, capital of the Amhara region in northern Ethiopia. Fereday Eshete, a Briton, moved to Ethiopia almost 10 years ago to help the poorest of the poor there. Her small organization, the Tara Centre, arranges sponsorships for children from extremely needy families.

'On just 180 Ethiopian birr (less than 20 euros) a month, a family of several people can get by, and the children can go to school instead of having to beg on the street,' notes Kate, a robust woman with striking braids.

Many people live in conditions that are unimaginable for Europeans. In the slums, they sleep in dark huts with dusty floors, without furniture, without food, and without protection from the night's cold at an altitude of more than 2,000 metres above sea level.

In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital, workers from the non- governmental organisation Alchemy World plan and coordinate their numerous projects, which are individually listed on a large wall chart.

'Fair Trade' is one.

'It's a completely revolutionary initiative. Starting in August 2007, we want to give poor farmers the opportunity to sell their products directly to supermarkets,' says Daniel Tedros, Alchemy World's general manager.

'Up to now they've had to give up a lot of their profits to middlemen because no one has shown them how to negotiate directly with the buyers,' adds Tedros, an Ethiopian.

Another project is called Bahar Dar AWSEC (Alchemy World Social Entrepreneurship Centre). The idea behind it is simple, and ingenious. 'We're helping people to help themselves by promoting the entrepreneurship of Ethiopians,' explains Carlo Tortora-Brayda, who founded Alchemy World in 2005.

Tortora-Brayda, who is half Italian and half Ethiopian, grew up in Rome and gathered many years of professional experience in Britain's information-technology sector. 'For me, IT is also the key to success for the people of Ethiopia,' he says.

Young people with entrepreneurial potential are selected for the centre from the country's poorest regions. They receive instruction in the English language and in corporate planning, and are accompanied every step of the way to success. Part of the profits flow back to the native villages of the young entrepreneurs, who are expected to support their families with the money they earn.

The aroma of coffee filled the air. The 25 participants of the IT course in Bahar Dar had prepared a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony to mark a visit by their 'boss,' Tortora-Brayda. The students, between 18 and 25 years of age, look happy and have hopeful expressions on their faces.

Just a few months earlier, they had had no hope. Many had worn rags and hardly dared to dream of a better future.

Bahar Dar lies on the shores of Lake Tana, Ethiopia's largest lake and the source of the Blue Nile. The Weyto tribe lives in the town's slums in nearly inhuman conditions. 'They're treated like lepers, and no one really knows why. It's plain racism,' remarked Abba Mebratu, a young priest.

Mebratu has taken it upon himself to help the Weytos.

'We've just begun a new sponsorship programme and are trying to find as many sponsors for the children as possible,' he said. Many town residents are ill, they have open wounds on their feet, their toes are black. 'We urgently need antibiotics and shoes. The situation is really terrible,' Mebratu said.

In Fereday Eshete's friendly office in Gondar, meanwhile, final preparations are underway for the disbursement of money. She makes neat little piles of precisely 180 Ethiopian birr, then reaches for her list of children with a sponsor. Over 300 children now have one, 'but more than 400 are still on my waiting list, some of them for years already,' she said.

Fereday Eshete, Tortora-Brayda, and Mebratu all agree that what they have done so far is just a drop in the ocean. Nevertheless, relief efforts in recent years have made life a bit easier for many children and mothers, bringing a smile to their faces. In Ethiopia today, that is still something special.

(Information at: www.alchemyworld.org. Kate Fereday Eshete: kfe@ethionet.et. Abba Mebratu: mebratuh@yahoo.com.)