Open Way - Ethiopia
Open Way is a charitable trust founded in 2007 to help alleviate extreme poverty in poor countries. Currently, Open Way is supporting important work in Ethiopia. Open Way provides access to the most essential needs for a healthy life, namely: access to basic education, food and water support, shelter, and access to medical help.
Open Way started in 2007, thanks to a trip taken to Ethiopia by UK based couple Nick and Maria. During that trip they met an Ethiopian national called Mulu Menbere who was very passionate about helping people out of poverty. They felt she had such integrity that they started a project with her to help some street kids, and gradually this project turned into the humanitarian work of Open Way.
The situation in Ethiopia remains very tough at present and there is unfortunately a very deep humanitarian crisis there because of the war in the North and drought in the South and East. Many people have been displaced and are facing extreme food shortage due to the disastrous civil war that began in Tigray in November 2020. More and more soldiers and civilians are being drawn into the conflict and the shadow of the war is now looming fully across Ethiopia. The situation in Addis Ababa has been very tense as rebel armies have expressed their determination to march upon the capital and seize control and people have been living in fear. There are deep ethnic tensions in the country which are not going to be easily resolved and it is difficult to know how the situation will play out. In the Sidamo region (about 300 km south of Addis Ababa) where most of their projects are based, the impact of the war is less direct but is being felt economically. These factors and others have led to extremely high food inflation and sadly, there is a lot of desperation. Security is also generally fragile around the country with religious and ethnic clashes occurring unrelated to the war.
Consequently, Open Way focus their efforts in 4 parts:
Medical
Housing
Educational Work
The Elderly
Mulu still oversees all the work in Ethiopia alongside other Ethiopian nationals.
MEDICAL
Open Way provides funds that enable vulnerable people to gain access to medical assistance by paying for medical costs, transport to clinics or hospitals, and accommodation while waiting for treatment. People with a very wide variety of medical conditions such as cancer, cataracts and other eye problems, goitre, typhus, typhoid fever, complications from HIV, scabies, malnutrition, leprosy, TB and many other ailments, as well as accidents and emergencies, have been helped.
Open Way helps around 200 people every year in this way.
HOUSING
Vulnerable people sometimes find themselves in a position where their traditional mud house is in a state of collapse. This may apply to someone who can't work and who has no family members supporting them and therefore has no means to repair their house. Open Way constructs simple houses for people who find themselves in this situation.
They have completed building 23 houses in the last 12 months. These cost about £500 each to build using local labour. The main cost is the metal roofing materials and this is going up in price continually. There is no back-up system in Ethiopia and if someone is on their own and unable to work because of parenting responsibilities, ill health, handicap, or old age, they can find themselves in very difficult, unhealthy and even dangerous living conditions. So, this is very life-changing for the beneficiaries. On average, there are 4 or 5 people in each family helped, so Open Way have housed over 100 people in the last 12 months.
EDUCATIONAL WORK
In collaboration with the rural communities where they work, Open Way have funded the establishment and running of eight pre-schools in different villages to help children get a start in education. Over 1000 children from very poor families are currently receiving free pre-school education. The schools give an important free start in education to children who, otherwise, are likely to remain illiterate working watching cattle or doing work in the home. They also give opportunities for college graduates to teach, and they have had many of their teachers pass through into government training and employment on the back of their employment with Open Way.
Additionally, 5 of the schools to date have established libraries. Students use the school libraries to study, read stories, complete homework, play games and watch television. This all offers enormous educational value for the children. Adults from the villages use the libraries in the evenings to watch (solar powered) television and to get together and meet. This is really valued by local people who otherwise have no such opportunity (there is no electricity in any of the school villages except for Teferi Kela).
The families of very malnourished children attending the schools are also given some material and nutritional support. Extra grain and seedlings are provided to families for both short and long term support. Over 400 families received cassava and banana seedlings in the last 12 months.
THE ELDERLY
There is no social security system in rural Ethiopia and so if an elderly person has no one to provide for them, they can find themselves in a very difficult situation at the end of their lives. Open Way has continued to support 16 elderly people who have no family or other support with a small pension and other essentials such as clothes, soap, food and blankets.
Open Way complete all of this life changing work and more on the astonishingly small budget of £40k a year. They have no salary costs or administration costs in the UK and all travel and accommodation expenses when trustees visit the projects in Ethiopia are paid personally. This allows all Open Way funds to go directly to relieve suffering and help people out of hopeless poverty.
We are so thrilled to partnering with the incredible, incredible work of Open Way. Please visit their website for more information:
