The Huron Expositor, 1994-03-16, Page 52Page 34 F61111 Progress '94
Agri -Skills program brings clean water to Ethiopia
Tiyo woman learn midwifery at an As well as the Wake Tiyo project
Ethiopian hospital and bring the Agri -Skills has sponsored agncul-
knowledge back to her village.
by Tim Cumming
A little village in Ethiopia has
clean water now thanks to a group
of Ontario farmers.
One might think changing trade
rules and deflated prices would
make farmers forget the problems
of people a continent away. Instead,
a committee of the Ontario Feder-
ation of Agriculture (OFA) is busy
trying to make the world a better
place.
Just two years ago the villagers of
Wake Tiyo, Ethiopia drank water
from a dirty slough, from the same
place as cattle. Today, thanks to the
Agri -Skills Abroad program, an
electric device pumps clean water
from 400 feet underground. Cana-
' dians brought the pump over, in
pieces, as airplane carry -on luggage.
The committee of the OFA's
convention was established in the
mid -1970's when some African
countries were facing drought. The
organization proceeded to raise
money to send a tractor through
CIDA (Canadian International
Development Agency).
The main focus of the work
wasn't big equipment, however.
The one thing Ontario farmers had
to give was their knowledge of
agriculture.
"We didn't have the ability to
raise a lot of money," said Gordon
Hill, of Varna.
"The best thing we could do was
help Ontario farmers, who had
developed a lot of practical skills in
food production, to... assist in
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developing countries where that
skill would be helpful."
The Agri -Skills program has been
careful not to try to impose outside
ideas of what's best for the com-
munities where it works. It also
tries not to pour money into a bot-
tomless pit.
"A lot of development projects
have been spoiled by too much
money rather than too little and by
outside interference," said Hill, who
has been involved with the commit-
tee since about 1977. Agri -Skills
doesn't try to be attached to any
one project for too long.
The committee was impressed
with the village of Wake Tiyo
because of its ability to make deci-
sions which were to the benefit of
all in the community. Wake Tiyo is
also close to a government experi-
mental farm which is a source of
ideas and technical resources.
The work of the committee is
evidence, said Hill, that area
farmers are concemed about their
fellow human beings. He empha-
sizes, however, that Ontario farmers
gain as much as they give.
"This isn't all a one-way street,"
he said. "We learn a lot from other
cultures, we get to meet them, get
to learn about them and expand our
minds."
Agri -Skills is busy giving Wake
Tiyo its own `ambulance' (a cart
and horse) as well as an old-
fashioned fanning mill.
"This will save a lot of time for
the people of the village," according
to Hill.
The program also helped a Wake
•turn to page 35
Don Langford (left) of Agri -Skills Abroad, examines frult on a tree he planted three years before
In Wake Tyo, Ethlopla.
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