Garmaam at first glance seems hardly more than a spot on the main east-west dirt road, with a contaminated stream of water running through it. But this small village has a heart the size of Ethiopia itself!

At our first meeting with the village, they opened their arms, hearts and minds to what our local TCD worker Alamayu had to share. When, at a subsequent meeting, it came time to elect members for their five TCD Committees (water, food, wellness, income and education), a sea of hands shot up and waved furiously, eager to be selected to affect change in their village.

Garmaam has grasped the key concept of “local ownership” for sustainable development. One villager clarified the issue for the other villagers, saying, “A certain agency provides us corn and flour now, but when that runs out we die. We need to start learning how to grow our own food and clean our own water.”

Germaam’s excitement is tangible and infectious, and local ownership is apparent. With a small amount of worldwide assistance and the ongoing coaching of our local TCD Trainers, we are eager to see how their path to progress proceeds in the coming months and years; they have started out at full sprint and show no signs of stopping.

Follow Garmaam on the locally-run Garmaam blog!

To help this project, please visit our donations page.