Ethiopia: Dide's story

“If it weren’t for this emergency project” says 30-year-old father of two, Dide Doyo, “my family wouldn’t be alive today.”

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Dide Doyo, father of two. The drought has devastating effect on his family and livelihood.

Dide lives in drought-hit Teltele, Ethiopia. The drought has had a devastating effect on Dide’s family and livelihood. “I had eight cattle last year,” he says, “and when the drought hit my village, I knew I had to find somewhere else to take my cattle to graze or they would die. So I travelled for three days to Hamar. One of my cattle died two days after we got there. One was pregnant and died the following day. Seven of them died one after the other.”

When Dide came back from Hamar, he started work on pond rehabilitation with Gayo Pastoralists Development Initiative (GPDI) in Borena, Ethiopia. The pond has two big benefits: people can get an income and the community will have better access to water when the work is complete. 1200 drought affected families benefit from the project.

“A man cannot get mad at God”

“When my cattle died, I was deeply hurt, but a man cannot get mad at God. There was nothing I could do. I knew that all I could do was work on the pond project and take care of my wife and children.

“I am able to buy food because of the work. I bought two goats, but I sold them to take my wife and kid to clinic as they had malaria. They are not feeling too good at the moment as well.

“Currently, it takes six hours to water the animals and the women travel four hours to get water. When the project is complete, we will be able to get water nearby.”

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