Genet is a 60-year-old mother of three living in the Gomma district of Jimma Zone, Ethiopia. For many years, she walked over a kilometre each day, making multiple trips, to fetch clean water. The burden was immense. As she grew older, carrying heavy containers became harder. Repeated illnesses caused by unsafe water made daily life even more challenging.
Everything changed when Amref Health Africa’s Reach, Expand and Access Community Health Services (REACH) project was launched in her community. With financial support from the Government of the Netherlands, the initiative brought lasting solutions to a long-standing problem.
New water points, tanks, and pipelines were installed, finally delivering clean water just steps from Genet’s door. For the first time in her life, she could fetch safe water without exhausting herself.
“We didn’t believe it was true,” Genet said as she watched clean water flow into her village for the first time. “It felt like a dream.”
On 16 June 2025, the community gathered in Chedero Sussie Kebele to inaugurate the new water points and school WASH facilities. Among the guests were the Dutch Ambassador to Ethiopia, key Oromia Regional Government officials, and teams from Amref Health Africa and Engender Health.
It was a proud moment of achievement, not only for the partners who travelled from afar but especially for those like Genet, who have lived the daily struggle and now witness a transformative change. With a beaming smile and her heart full of emotion, Genet stepped forward from the crowd. Clutching a small bouquet of fresh flowers, she warmly made her way through the crowd and warmly embraced the Dutch Ambassador, thanking her and her government for helping bring clean water to her village.
No one asked Genet to bring flowers. No one selected her to stand before the dignitaries on behalf of her community. She did it on her own, driven by gratitude, excitement, and an overwhelming desire to thank those who made this project possible. “They have come all this way to see us,” she said, her eyes shining with tears. “To hand over the water and sanitation facilities they constructed for us. To stand with us. “It gives us hope. It tells our children that we matter.”
For Genet, this moment was about more than water. It was about recognition, dignity, and the promise of a better future.
“When people from the capital and even from another country come here and see us,” she added, “it wakes up others too. It tells our local leaders that our lives matter, that we need more support, and that we must take care of what we’ve been given.”
Genet dreams not only for her own children but for every child in her community. “I want our children to drink clean and safe water, to go to school clean and proud, not worn-out and ashamed. I want them to learn, to grow, to build something better. I want this water to be the beginning, not the end.”
The REACH project is already turning that vision into reality. To date, the project has reached over 270,000 people, including 160,000 who now have reliable access to safe water and 117,000 benefiting from improved sanitation services across Jimma and Borena zones. With the new infrastructure now officially handed over, communities in Shebe and Gomma districts are already seeing the benefits in homes, schools, and health centres. But more than infrastructure, what was delivered on the inauguration day was dignity, hope, and the powerful message that every community, no matter how remote, deserves a chance to thrive.
Funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, REACH is an integrated health, WASH, and nutrition project implemented in Ethiopia’s Jimma and Borena zones by a consortium of Amref Health Africa in Ethiopia and Engender Health Ethiopia. The project supports 72 schools, three primary health care units, six health posts, and surrounding communities.
By Kenaw Gebreselassie, Communication Manager, Amref Health Africa in Ethiopia