Ethiopia: Great trek for water in the south – ‘We don’t know what will become of us’

BORENA (OROMIYA REGION), 19 July 2011 (IRIN) – For many people, access to water is a mere turn of the tap away; for Abdha Aso, a 20-year-old mother of five, it involves a four-hour round trip to a muddy pond. Only a year ago, she could reach a nearby stream in 20 minutes but it has since dried up. The rains, which usually fall twice a year – between October and November and February and May – in the Borena zone in southern Ethiopia failed last year and this. IRIN accompanied Abdha on one of her daily journeys. “Are you sure you will be able to do it? The road is difficult,” she says. With quick instructions to her mother-in-law on feeding her five-month-old baby, we set off in the afternoon sun. Nasibo, 10, a neighbour’s daughter, joins us. I ask about safety. “We always travel in groups – never alone and you will see we will meet a lot of women on this road,” Abdha replies. Four girls, aged between eight and 11, are ahead of us, carrying piles of firewood almost as big as themselves on their backs. Nadifu Konso, 10, speaks for the group. They are fetching firewood for their mothers. Some will be sold and rest used at home. “This is very heavy,” says Nadifu. The drought has been bad, they say. Their fathers lost all their animals. “We are now helping our mother – we do what she tells us to do,” says Nadifu. Their brothers are playing at home. “They do nothing.” The girls speak good English as they live near the Kenyan border and have Kenyan teachers. But as a sign that all hope is not lost in the desolate arid landscape, Nadifu says, “I want to be a pilot when I grow big.” We bid goodbye to the girls and continue on our journey. The arid landscape turns grimmer. Abdha points out cattle carcasses along the path. He husband lost the only two animals he owned in the past three months. “It was everything we had, now we have nothing.” They buy food on credit from shops in the neighbouring town of Moyale on the Kenyan border. “We don’t know what will become of us,” she says. […]

ETHIOPIA: Great trek for water in the south