Christmas wishes 2018

Dear Friends and Supporters,

it’s Christmas time again and the end of the year is already just around the corner, which is why we would like to give you an update on everything we have accomplished with your great support in 2018, and how we are planning to proceed next year.

During this year’s rainy season, our Eritrean project partner continued the construction of our sand storage dam once again so that by now already 80 % of the construction volume have been completed and the dam reservoir already functions as a useful water source for the local residents. In October, we visited Eritrea once again in order to personally examine the latest construction progress which we had monitored from Germany throughout the entire year.
 In addition, we conducted a WASH workshop (WAter, Sanitation & Hygiene) for the local population and planned the final construction phase together with the local engineers. 



We were impressed to see with our own eyes how far the construction of the dam had advanced despite several challenges, like water and cement shortages this year. The wing walls were raised up to 7 meters and have thereby almost reached their final height. Meanwhile, the spillway in the centre of the dam wall was also raised up to 2 meters of height. Like that, a sand reservoir was accumulated which already stores water from the rainy season. Unfortunately, the rainy season was only brief and rainfalls were rare this year, which is why we weren’t able to raise the spillway even further. It is essentially important to raise the centre dam wall only in small stages in order to create an efficient, homogeneous sand reservoir with a large water storage capacity and to avoid siltation, a severe and widespread problem of other dams in the region. Thus, our dam is also a pilot project for this special construction method that the national Water Resource Department wants to evaluate. Additionally, the local residents are already profiting from the established reservoir. When it is filled by rainfall, water can directly be extracted through a filter medium and thereby waterways are already shortened. Together with the local engineers, we discussed again the technical details and challenges of the construction process and planned the future procedure for the next years to complete the dam by a stage-wise raising of the spillway to its final height. 

Besides the construction of the dam and the technological knowledge exchange with the engineers of the Water Resource Department, there were also many instances where we were able to get in touch and exchange with the local residents of Begu Valley. Like last time, we were again received with great hospitality in the village of Gheab, enjoying a traditional meal and coffee ceremony. 



Eventually, we were introduced to a local school where we conducted a workshop with participants of all ages and from all parts of society – including male and female students, teachers and members of the local water committee. The participants showed great interest in the WASH workshop which dealt with issues like water pollution, diseases, hygiene and sanitary. The workshop was designed and conducted by three of our friends from social studies, who accompanied us on this year’s journey on their own costs and who created a really successful and participatory workshop which got positive feedback from the resident. Especially because the workshop was designed and conducted together with the Water Resource Department (WRD), a very valuable knowledge exchange took place and we were able to customize the workshop even better to the needs of the population and to make it even more interactive. Furthermore, the WRD is planning on continuing to use many of the commonly developed concepts in the future and to address and spread awareness for these issues also in other schools in order to reach out to even more students and other residents. Once again, the importance and great value of including and exchanging with the local community became apparent. With our project we do not only want to provide technically safe water through our dam, but moreover help to sustainably improve the overall living conditions of the local residents in the long run. 




With the help of your donations and the co-funding of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung - BMZ) we have already accomplished a great deal, which is why we would like to thank you very much again for your great support today! 

For the completion of the last 20 % of the dam, we will now continue to raise the spillway in stages during the next rainy seasons of the following years in order to reach the final height of 7 meters. The completion of these final stages is very important because like this the storage volume of the dam can be expanded by a great share with comparatively little cost and effort. Therewith, we would be able to ultimately accomplish our goal, providing a secure year-round water supply for all inhabitants of the Gheab village. 

As the BMZ funding period expired with the end of this year, we are now again completely reliant on private donations. In this sense we would be very thankful for and appreciative of any kind of financial support, no matter how big or small. 

Thank you very much once again for your on-going and enduring support! We are looking forward to keep you updated and and to report the next progress soon.