Adequate Housing
Focus of Project Ethiopia - 2010.
Although we are helping villagers in 12 villages make positive changes in their living conditions, our focus now is 100% of homes in 7 villages to have non-leaking roofs, concrete floors, wells and family latrines.
These 7 villages are within a geographic area separated by roads, rivers and mountains from other villages and are easily reached by our workers and by donkey carts carrying construction supplies. There are a total of over 250 families in this area.
49 families have received corrugated metal roofing sections and have built their houses with the help of family and friends.
There are 25 more to do and then ALL families in our 7-village geographic area will have adequate housing.
The 4 pictures below show 2 pictures from 2 families. One family is of a widow and 5 children (3 in front of their leaky house and all 5 in their newly finished house)
The owners of this house ia a couple with 7 children, shown with their leaking house and then putting in the corner posts for their new house with friends helping.
2009
Project Ethiopia noticed that housing was an area that needed some help and the plan was simple:
With the help of the community, Project Ethiopia would provide the cement and everyone would help in making the floors.
2 villages are completely done!
5 more villages are beginning to get concrete floors.
Concrete floors = Smart kids
Where to start?
Concrete Floors
The process for deciding who gets a cement floor
is simple - by drawing from Dennis' hat!
Women outside their house after the floor
was layed with concrete, below is a close up
of the design put into the floor made by laying rope
on the semi-wet cement and walking on it
And happy children seeing their new floor.
New Houses
The poorest families needed new roofs = new house. The grass used for a roof is not sustainable since grasslands have been reduced by population growth and expansion of farms. Maintaining a grass roof is not possible. Homes with grass roofs leak.
The woman shown below is a widow with six children,
who was close to leaving the community because she
could no longer continue living in the dilapidated house. 
Much to the joy of the village, her house was replaced and all that's needed is the mud and straw finishing on the outside.
With her house upgraded, her name can now be entered
in the floor draw.
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