Ethiopia Container Project a Resounding Success!

Facts:

3 containers will be sent by the Swan City Rotary Club from Grande Prairie to Southern Ethiopia. 

       1 container is filled with school supplies (textbooks, desks, teaching aids, pens etc)

       1 container is filled with medical supplies courtesy of Peace Country Health

       1 container will be filled with an ambulance and other necessary items.

Background Information

On three separate trips hosted by the Pastoralist Concern Association of Ethiopia (PCAE), two in 2005 and the third in 2007, members of the Rotary Club of Grande Prairie, Swan City, have had the opportunity to observe firsthand the need for educational and medical supplies and support in the southern parts of Ethiopia.  Since the first visit in 2005, the Swan City Rotary Club (SCRC) has had the privilege of working with the Rotary Club of Addis Ababa, PCAE, local administrations and elders on three projects related to improving educational opportunities in this part of Ethiopia.  Through this process, we have developed a strong relationship with, and trust in, PCAE and the local people.

The SCRC has now been involved with PCAE and the Pastoralist people it represents for well over two years.  Five of its members have visited Ethiopia, some for the fourth time.  The information they have brought back with them about the progress that has been made since our involvement there began has instilled in the members of the SCRC and the greater community of Grande Prairie the desire to continue partnering with the people of Southern Ethiopia to improve their educational and medical opportunities.  As a result, the SCRC has now committed to sending three 40 foot containers of school supplies and medical supplies and equipment to the region by the end of 2007.

The contents of these containers come from many sources.  Most of it is used, but some organizations have contributed new materials.  Contributors include Rotarians, individuals, businesses, many different schools, Peace Country Health Region, the Humanitarian Aid Society, the Universal Aid Society, and others.  Businesses have donated the containers the materials will be shipped in and many of the contents, including a used ambulance.  The schools have contributed literally thousands of used books as well as an assortment of educational aids.  Peace Country Health Region has contributed used beds, wheel chairs, blankets, and a variety of other equipment too numerous to mention.  A local hotel contributed may trucks of bedding.  Sports clubs have donated uniforms and in some cases even shoes.  We have also had donations of sewing machines, oxygen concentrators, trucking services, encyclopedias, and a whole variety of miscellaneous items.  Individuals have contributed their time and energy to collect, sort and pack all of these contributions.  In total, it is really a major community effort.

It is the hope and the dream of the Rotarians and all people of the community of Grande Prairie who are contributing materials, time and energy to this project that the materials sent will be of assistance in improving the current conditions and future opportunities of the people of Southern Ethiopia.  We intend to ship the containers to Haraqallo (school supplies) and Negelle (medical supplies and equipment) and we trust the contents will be distributed to many schools in the region and possibly to several medical clinics.  We have learned that the local people, with the assistance of PCAE, can do a much better job of determining which resources should go to which communities than we could ever hope to do from several thousand miles away.  None of these items are intended for resale or for the financial benefit of individuals or organizations.  They are gifts from the people of Grande Prairie to the people of Southern Ethiopia who have proven to us that given a few resources to aid the process, they can bring about incredible improvements in their own circumstances.  It is our hope that the various levels of government in the region will see the enormous potential here and co-operate with the process.

Once these materials reach Ethiopia, we will rely on PCAE and its affiliates to develop and facilitate the process whereby local administrators, in conjunction with elders, educators, and medical practitioners will determine which items go to what destination.  We are confident that they will do this fairly and with a minimum of animosity between the various communities involved.