wfn.org | Ethiopia: 'Forget ever having a full stomach'

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Note #6286 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

5-December-2000
00430

Ethiopia: 'Forget ever having a full stomach' 

by Emrakeb Assefa
Action by Churches Together (ACT) 

ADDIS ABABA -- "I am very grateful but I wish someone would help me stand on
my own feet," Mersha Tegab, 36, said as she received food aid recently.

	The ongoing drought in Ethiopia has made millions of people in her country
dependent on support. Mersha had to walk a distance of 105 km for three days
to reach Debark. There and in Janamora, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOC)
distributes food donated by USAID. EOC is one of the members of ACT, a
worldwide network of churches and related agencies meeting human need
through coordinated emergency response.

	Mersha is a mother of six, but receives rations for five people. With her
15-year-old son she tills a half-hectare of frozen land in Zawla Kurana.

	"I have given up expecting good yield from the land. On best of the days, I
thank God if I get just a little." She, therefore, had to think of other
means of income.

	In the "good old days," she said, "if the rain failed us, I was still able
to do a brisk business by selling milk from some cows to my neighbors." That
failed too, however. In the last three years, the grazing land in her
neighborhood has dried up, slowly killing off her livestock.

	Many people in this area have names that indicate their preoccupation with
food —  or rather the lack of it. Mersha's father's name, Tegab, means
"having a full stomach" in the Ethiopian language Amharic. And Mersha's name
means, "to forget." She said her parents gave her the name because when she
was born (her parents' 7th child), they knew it was time to "forget having
ever a full stomach."

	In the area she comes from, she says, children are no longer seen as "gifts
of God." "How can they be," she said sadly, "when their parents have been
dependent for many years on relief food?"

	According to the Ethiopian government, 10.5 million of people are still at
risk of starvation in the country. Of these, one third (3,569,820 people)
are found in the Amhara region, in the northern part of the country. With a
population of some 2.6 million people, the North Gondor Zone has 209,935
people needing immediate food assistance.

	During October and November, the EOC carried out a distribution for 44,183
beneficiaries at the Debark center. These beneficiaries received a food
ration of 12.5kg of grain, 0.5kg of vegetable oil and 1.5kg of supplementary
food. The beneficiaries from Janamora (36,174) have to travel three to four
days to reach the center.

	The Debark distribution center is also known for its cold weather, as it is
near the highest mountain in the country, the Ras Dashen (4,500meters above
sea level). Distribution in nearby Chenek (with an altitude of 3,900 meters
above sea level) was halted last July due to bad road conditions. During the
week of distribution, Debark was filled to the brim with more than 40,000
beneficiaries needing relief assistance.

	And reaching the distribution site does not mean the end of problems. After
traveling for days, the beneficiaries have to think about how to travel back
to their districts with the additional burden of the grain they have to
carry. Donkeys can be rented, but the price is prohibitive, so many
beneficiaries have to make the trip twice.

	Gebrehiwot Adane, EOC's Relief Coordinator, said that the center's capacity
to meet beneficiaries' needs is very limited. Warehousing problems and a
chronic transportation shortage tie the hands of the EOC people at the
center.

	The root cause of the food shortage in this area is fundamental and
chronic: the soil, which has been tilled continuously for thousand years by
primitive styles of farming, has stopped giving food. Therefore, those who
live here have become dependent on rations of food for many years.

	Is there a solution? 

	ACT officials say the focus of donors and the government should be on
rehabilitation schemes that will help beneficiaries become self-sufficient,
they say. "Funding for non-grain items such as tools, seeds, safe water and
livestock support should be considered as long-term intervention schemes,"
says Adane.

	Mersha Tegab agrees, believing that with a little help towards
rehabilitation, she would not be so poor. "With fodder for a cow, I could
restart my dairy business," she opines.

	For more information about this and other relief efforts, visit ACT's
website at www.act-intl.org. Presbyterian Disaster Assistance has
established a special account for Presbyterians who wish to contribute to
Ethiopian famine relief: acct. # 9-2000-052.  Call Presbytel at
1-800872-3283 for information about how to help.

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