Who are “Wellwishers”?
An informal group of Australians funding the construction of hand dug water wells in Tigray, northern Ethiopia. Over the past 5 years, donations were made or received enabling construction of 70 wells, changing the lives of about 40,000 men, women and children forever.

Without clean water
In Tigray, only 34% of people have access to clean drinking water, a commodity the West takes for granted. Hundreds die daily from preventable water borne diseases, mainly by a bacteria known as coliform which is 10 to 15 times greater than desirable levels.

There currently exists a Never Ending Cycle that cannot be broken without availability of nearby fresh, clean water. Consider the following situation for villagers (particularly women) without access to nearby fresh water:
o Women spend 3 or 4 hours daily collecting water. There’s no time available for a 2nd trip.
o Water supply is sourced from the same areas as that for livestock.
o Daily water use per person is about 4 litres vs.WHO’s recommended 20litres
o Daughters usually help with water collection, so don’t attend school and suffer educationally
o No time for women to help with harvest = less food harvested = no cash income, no supplementary diet.
o Many babies are not breast feed so they don’t get a good start to life, leading to undernourishment
o Most tragically, nearly 20% of children die before age 5 (mainly from water borne diseases)
o As a result of all this, Life Expectancy in this region is about age 41

The Solution?
A simple, manually operated hand pump!! This provides a basic human right – clean water.
o Women now spend only about 30 to 60 minutes daily collecting water
o Water is clean and daily usage rises to about 11 or 12 litres
o Daughters can now go to school and receive an education
o With more time available, women can now help with the harvest = more food, better diet
o Babies are breast feed thus getting that all-important start to life
o Children basically do not die before they turn 5, from water borne diseases
o Life expectancy increases to 50 to 55 years (20 to 30% increase)

How to help:
The cost of a well is $6,000, but donations of any size are accepted. Our partner is AngliCORD in Melbourne, who account for all monies received, and they despatch funds to Ethiopia when required. We’re proud to inform you that 95% of all funds received, go to the wells’ project, the other 5% remaining with AngliCORD to cover their costs.

The wells are constructed by REST (Relief Society for Tigray), our Tigrayan partner. Over the past 11 years, REST have built about 1,800 wells. The costs are closely monitored and there is no opportunity for funds to go astray.

Donations can be made by posting your cheque in favour of “AngliCORD” to the address below. Donations can also be made using credit cards or direct to AngliCORD’s bank. Contact Ross Allan (see below) for more information. An automatic payments facility is also available.

Please give generously – one well will change the life of between 500 to 1,000 villagers forever.

All donations over $2.00 are Tax Deductible.

Recent Newsletters-

November 06

Febuary 07

How to Contact us
Please send all enquiries and donations to the co-ordinator for “Wellwishers”:
Mr. Ross Allan
PO Box 662
Mullumbimby NSW 2482
Email: allan@mullum.com.au Or www.wellwishersetiopia.com
Tel: (02) 6684 3524