The fight has just begun

Feb 2nd, 2010 5:22 PM UTC
By Elizabeth Gore

Here’s a final post from Elizabeth Gore, the executive director of global partnerships and Nothing But Nets for the United Nations Foundation. She recently hiked up Mt. Kilimanjaro with the Summit on the Summit team to help raise awareness about the global clean water crisis. To read about her trek, click here and here.

Instead of staying in bed to recover after conquering Mt. Kilimanjaro, Kenna, Jessica Biel, Santigold and I woke up early one morning and boarded a plane to Ethiopia to experience firsthand the effects of the lack of clean, safe water. Kenna’s dad (Dr. Zemedkun, the inspiration for the entire Summit on the Summit project) and his sister Emerald joined us on our journey.

Our guides for the day, UNHCR (the United Nation’s High Commission for Refugees and a beneficiary of our climb) showed us the Kebribeyah refugee camp in Jijiga, Ethiopia. The UNHCR is responsible for 40 million displaced people around the world, half of which do not have adequate access to clean water. The camps they run in Ethiopia are some of the most desperate anywhere.

Arriving in Kebribeyah, we viewed the Jarrar water supply system, which supplies water for both refugees and local Ethiopian people. Before UNHCR was here, these people lived on just a few liters of water per day. The current system (managed by UNHCR and the local government) now provides 12 to 15 liters per day. Even though this is a huge improvement, the Jarrar system needs an upgrade to reach the UNHCR minimum standard of 20 liters per person per day.

After leaving Kebribeyah, we then navigated the long, bumpy road to the Jijiga refugee camp. On our first stop, we visited a woman who ran the very first Somali refugee committee. She told us that the water sources in her camp are inadequate—and her words resonated with us: “I was never born to be a refugee. We are human beings, too.”

We then met with students at the primary school. They exuded hope and confidence for their future. We glanced at each other in that school room and knew that we had to give water to these kids, so that they could achieve their dreams, too. Seeing them was the highlight of the day.

Walking through the camp, Jessica and I also spent time with two women in their wooden stick, old t-shirt, mud floor homes. They told us how much better their life was now that a water source was within 200 meters of their home. Our entire team was overwhelmed by their resilience. All they have is each other and their hope to return home to Somalia some day. The least we can provide them is safe water.
After thanking the UNHCR, we loaded the plane. Our team members were silent. Then, one by one, we each began to express our commitment to helping support the people here.

So let’s bring water to 600,000 people in the most barren part of Africa. Send water today at www.summitonthesummit.com.

TAGS: From Our Partners