Project # 012 - Jorogeta Bridge

Location: Ethiopia; A long 3 hour drive northwest of Dessie, a city 200 miles North of Addis, Ababa.
Bridge Sponsor: Warwick Rotary Club, Virginia
Other Donors: 22 Rotary clubs from Virginia and Washington State; Rotary International; District 7610; Bridges to Prosperity Members.
Local Collaboration partners: Helvetas*, ESRDF*, and the Woreda of Ambassel. A Woreda is a local government entity similar to a county.

Bridge name: Jorogeta (For the twin bridge nearby, see Project # 011)
River name: Kyusu
Bridge span: 65 meters (213 feet)
Population served by bridge: 12,000
Expected traffic: Light-Moderate: 25-50 crossings per hour.

Bridge Story:As you leave the town of Dessie, you cannot help but be in awe of the beauty of the highland plateau, deep valleys, and mountains that make up this part of Ethiopia. This is the land of one of the worlds great civilizations, called Akum. You can see why the Kings and Queens of 400 AD chose this as their home. The beauty is breathtaking. At the same time, one cannot help but notice that most of this once lush and pristine forested land is now gone, making way for millions of small farms that increasingly are unable to feed the growing population. The food insecurity (i.e. starvation) here is constant, even when the rains are normal. When the rains come late, tens of thousands in the immediate area survive only through international food aid.

Two hours outside of Dessie, we left the well compacted dirt road onto a very rocky track that climbs high into the Ambassel hills. For one hour we averaged only 10 miles per hour, finally winding down into a large valley hemmed in by mountains. There lie the towns of Marye and Jorogeta. A lively once-per-week market hummed when we arrived. Goods had been brought to this market from Dessie and villages as far as 40 miles away. Donkeys and mules were everywhere, given a brief respite, before the long arduous journey home.

We could not help but notice several villagers starting the journey home early. This was the dry season, so the crossing of the now shallow Wolano and Kyusu Rivers was not too difficult. But the story would have been much different during and after the wet season. The Wolamo and Kyusu rivers snake through the valley, boxing in both towns. Together they effectively stop trade during the rainy season. During this 3-4 month period, the bustling markets are gone. Gone, as if a huge wall was erected to keep people out. Not only trade suffers, but health care and schooling are also closed to the people of Jorogeta and surrounding villages. Scheduling around the rise and fall of the Wolano and Kyusu Rivers has been the way of life here for centuries. Markets and schools just close. But, how can one close a clinic? You cannot. So, those that require medical attention when the rivers are too high get none. The tragedy this causes is difficult for us to comprehend. Imagine your elderly mother gets sick one day with an illness easily treated if only she could reach a clinic. But, you cannot get her to a clinic. At least not without a bridge. So, she passes away.

Imagine your children at school one day when suddenly the rains come and flood the river. You cannot get to the school to see your children, and they cannot get home. So, your children must fend for themselves until the rains abate. Should they eventually make it safely across and return home, they will not be able to return to school for 3-4 months.

Imagine being isolated from friends and family for 3 months, with only the food you've stored in your home to save you and your loved ones from starvation. This food must last until the river level falls, so once again you can reach the market to replenish your supplies.

This was the condition and story of this valley with two towns and two rivers as we arrived to meet with the town leaders. We always try to start these meetings by asking some basic questions. One of those questions tries to establish just what their top community priorities are. What is needed more? A school? A clinic? A road? A well? There was no hesitation. One of the leaders said: "We have all of these things, but the rivers block us from reaching them! We will do anything that is in our power to build a bridge."

The pair of bridges proposed across the Wolano and Kyusu will transform these two communities and the surrounding villages. A millennia of isolation and tragedy it causes will be gone.

For both bridges, construction is scheduled to begin in February 2004, and be complete before the end of the year.

NOTES:
*Helvetas is a Swiss charity based in Zurich, Switzerland that has provided funding for transportation, steel fabrication at the Selam Institute, and other miscellaneous expenses not provided for in the Rotary International grant. A Helvetas mission in Nepal also provided for the training, program, and bridge design that is being used in Ethiopia today. Simply put, there would be no Ethiopia mission without the wealth of information and training they provided us. Learn more on the worldwide mission of Helvetas.

*The ESRDF (The Ethiopian Social Rehabilitation and Development Fund) encourages community based initiatives by providing local support to those that do so. In this case, the ESRDF has provided logistics and jeep transportation support to Bridges to Prosperity. Learn more about the ESRDF.