Project # 013 - Legambo Bridge

Location: Ethiopia; Legambo-Sela, near the city of Dessie, 200 miles North of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Bridge Sponsor: The Rotary Club of McLean, Virginia
Other Donors: UNWFP (United Nations Food Program); 22 Rotary clubs from Virginia and Washington State; Rotary International; District 7610; Bridges to Prosperity Members.
Local Collaboration partners: Legambo Woreda (a Woreda is a local government entity similar to a county)

Bridge name: Sela
River name: Feleq
Bridge span: 65 meters (213 feet)
Population served by bridge: 40,000
Expected traffic: Moderate: 50+ crossings per hour.

Bridge Story: A bumpy dirt road takes you away from the nearest town of Akesta, Legambo Woreda's main town with a hospital and a market (but no electricity!), to the river's edge at the crossing named Akesta. There, during the rainy season, one can almost shout a conversation to the people across the gushing waters, but for 3 months these people will not shake hands – the river denies them that.

During the rainy season 8 Kebeles, close to 40,000 people, have no access to the hospital, the large open-air market, the schools, the road nor food security. Their only choice is to try to cross the currents when they are desperate, often resulting in death.

Why? This area is one of the most food insecure areas in Ethiopia. It is famous for droughts and famine. The people here live on their sweat earned few crops and have little else. They trade sorghum for corn, barley for teff, and rarely can they afford to eat meat – they do not trade in money.

Bridges to Prosperity, in co-operation with the Woreda and the United Nations World Food Program, have decided to help these people gain access to these basic resources for survival, building Footbridge # 06 in the Ethiopia Footbridge Program. In a single week this community, so excited to have a bridge, gathered all necessary sand and stone for the bridge foundations. It is here that the community will break ground soon, eager to begin the construction of their new bridge and thereby change their lives forever. And finally, it is here, where a small plaque will thank the Rotary Club of McLean (along with a matching grant from Rotary International) for its generosity for donating the steel and cable.