Kanafa St. Francis parish is located in the southwest part of Sodo town, which is 385 km away from Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia.
Even though the OFS and YouFra are not established on a national level in Ethiopia, local OFS fraternity of Kanafa is strongly organized and dedicated to follow the Franciscan charism with a spiritual assistance of the Capuchin Province. Secular Franciscans and Franciscan Youth are actively involved in various pastoral activities such as teaching religious education classes for children, visiting the sick and the elderly, counselling for HIV/AIDS and volunteering at hospitals.
For many rural families of Kanafa village, access to safe potable water services is limited and most households are forced to obtain water from an unprotected river and ponds. Inadequate water supply, lack of sanitation and poor hygiene make the population, especially children under five, extremely vulnerable to diseases (diarrhoea, typhoid, intestinal parasites, etc). During the dry period when seasonal rivers and ponds dry-up, people of Kanafa have to travel long distances (10-15 km) to fetch water, often of poor quality. This distance considerably reduces the amount of water that can be transported and consumed at a household (4-6 litres per day per person for all uses). For women who do not have access to a nearby water point, the time spent to fetch water is estimated between 20 to 30 days per year.
The main goal of Kanafa water project is to provide access to safe potable water for daily consumption (hand and body washing, laundry) and improve sanitation and health for 1,000 people (200 households). The second goal of the project is to establish and strengthen the WASH committee, the functions of which include: actively promoting hygiene and sanitation, mobilization of community for the construction and protection of water supply and establishing rules for appropriate use of water, particularly when water is scarce. All people getting water from the source will be involved in the program set by the WASH committee to guarantee the fulfilment of the project.
Kanafa water project includes the drilling of a 60-meters depth well and construction of a hand pump. Local community will participate in fencing of water points and hand pump site, transportation of construction materials, etc. The water project is under the responsibility of Capuchin Province of Mary Kidane Mihrate with the help of Kanafa OFS local fraternity and Kanafa St. Francis parish.
Since in comparison with other African countries the prices in Ethiopia are very high, the total budget of Kanafa water project exceeds ordinary prices of other Well4Africa boreholes. Total budget of the project is EUR 20,466.22. Contribution of the local community is EUR 1,367.59. The amount required for implementation of the whole project is EUR 19,098.63. For possible ways of donation, please refer to https://well4africa.eu/index.php/donate. May the Lord bless you for your generosity!
