Somali-controlled Eastern Ethiopia is a hard, dry, difficult and unforgiving place.  With little arable land, this section of the landlocked country is particularly isolated.

The people of this hidden and hurting land have few options agriculturally or economically, and are in desperate need of long-term development, not just temporary aid. That’s why GHNI’s Transformational Community Development (TCD) is so crucial.

One positive in this negative situation is a new element that’s been introduced. Two adventurous and courageous young men, Ian and Peter, recently moved to the region to become GHNI’s first one-year apprentices placed directly overseas. They’re assisting our local staff in gathering baseline data so we can document the impact TCD will have on this poor village.

GHNI is currently writing its long-term development plan for Hurso. The plan includes helping the village in all five TCD areas (Water, Food, Education, Income & Wellness).

The question isn’t which area they need help with first – they need to develop in all five areas. And the problem isn’t giving Peter and Ian too much to do, but preventing Peter and Ian from doing too much.

Our goal is to help Hurso identify and prioritize its own problems, solving them with locally-available resources without creating dependencies, and assist them along the path of long term self-sustainability.

In addition to being brave and adventurous, Ian and Peter are also very good communicators. Their regular updates, blog and video reports will be a huge contribution!

To help this project, please visit our donations page.