Ambassador's Self-Help Program inaugurated two projects

Djibouti, July 26, 2012: Over the last week and half, the Ambassador’s Self Help Fund Inaugurated two projects in Djibouti. The first was a project outside of Balbala to recycle plastic bags into concrete slabs and the second project help people from Dorra to access water by building a pipeline from the well and a large cistern .

The first was a project outside of Balbala to recycle plastic bags into concrete slabs. The project cost for this was $7,838 and is designed to provide some income to women in the area. It is also an environmental project that removes plastic from the roadways and from possible consumption by livestock, particularly goats. There were about 20 women in attendance during the opening ceremonies, with TV coverage by RTD. The President of the women’s group – Association Mer Rouge - that proposed and coordinated project extended their gratitude to the U.S. Embassy for giving them the resources to finish the project.

The second project that we inaugurated was in Dorra, about six hours outside of Djibouti. This is in the northern part of the country and receives very few resources from the outside.  This is deep in the Afar region. The site of the project was about a two kilometers outside of Dorra. One of  biggest issues for the small village was the lack of access to water. The village has about 200 residents. Every day, the women of the village walk nearly two kilometers to fetch water. They use large plastic containers, probably weighing over 40 pounds. The Ambassador’s Self Help Fund built them a pipeline from the well (nearly two kilometers away) and a large cistern, thereby eliminating the long walk to access water and enabling them to focus on income generating activities instead. The cistern is at the heart of their village. The project’s total was $6,068. The people at the village were extremely grateful for the project and burst out chanting “Vive l’Ambassade des Etats-Unis!” The village has a long memory; many remember the U.S. military for arriving by helicopter in 2006 to deliver food supplies.