Community Background

Werage, Ketemit, and Salasfa are rural villages located along the mountainous highland edge of the North Shewa zone within the Amhara Region. These communities are centered near the town of Gudoberet. Nearly 90% of the families here are landless agricultural laborers, and those who do own land manage small, economically strained plots. Living below the poverty line, these families depend entirely on seasonal rainfall and local landowners for their subsistence.

The Crisis of Access

Clean drinking water is a fundamental human right, vital for health, dignity, and economic stability. The benefits of a reliable local water supply are life-changing—particularly for women, children, and elderly residents who bear the brunt of rural poverty and social exclusion.

Without clean water infrastructure, families in North Shewa are forced to live in hazardous conditions with decaying infrastructure. Harvests frequently fail due to unpredictable rainfall, and vital livestock succumb to waterborne diseases. This scarcity creates a severe social burden: women and young girls must travel immense distances every day just to fetch turbid surface water. Consequently, they are denied the time to attend school, pursue economic advancement, or participate in community life.

Our Solution

The Bitew Foundation’s water initiative focuses on building sustainable infrastructure by capping natural springs and drilling deep-ground wells. By establishing localized clean water access, we can systematically eliminate waterborne illness and help rural families climb out of systemic poverty. Through this urgent intervention, TBF will drill a dedicated water well to deliver safe, clean drinking water directly to the families of Werage, Ketemit, and Salasfa.