Saving a generation in Bonke, Ethiopia

Children living in the Bonke region of Ethiopia are 500 times more likely to die from a simple condition, like diarrhea, as are children here at home.

A condition so simple, preventable, easily curable, and relatively uncommon here at home, like diarrhea, is killing tens of thousands of children every year throughout the country.

When you don’t have clean water, as is the case for these children and their families, very little in your life is preventable or curable.

Here at home, I know that Averi, a very young friend of HOPE International Development Agency, agrees.

Averi believes that children and their families must have clean water to drink. Averi first learned about the suffering of children in Bonke through her parents, Nadine and Chris, who had attended a community event in support of our work in the region.

When Nadine and Chris asked Averi how she intended to help, her first thought was to fly to Bonke, with her small shovel in hand, and dig a well. Failing that, Averi thought that if she left a tap running, the clean water would flow underground to Bonke and the people there would be able to dig it up.

Then it came to her. The best thing she could do was raise money so that families could gain access to the clean water they need.

What started with saving empty milk jugs for the refund grew much larger as people in her community learned about her effort to save lives.

People in Averi’s community began dropping empty pop bottles and milk jugs over the backyard fence in an effort to help Averi raise money. Even her kindergarten classmates got involved, contributing more than $200 worth of empty bottles and jugs.

So far, 5-year old Averi has raised nearly $600, enough to give clean water to three families!