From Despair to Comfort: Providing Essential Home Furniture Support for Those in Need In Ethiopia

Published: Dec 22, 2023 Reading time: 3 minutes

Poverty War Conflict Climate Change & Environment

In southern Ethiopia, people suffer from displacement, as many have lost their homes because of flooding and recurrent droughts. Natural disasters often meet with conflict, which makes the lives of these communities even more difficult. we are helping them meet their essential needs to start building a new life.

Three years ago, administrative requests for restructuring the Segen zone, demanding autonomous zonal expansion, led to disagreements, resulting in an ethnic conflict between the Derashe and Konso people. Many people fled their villages to settle in areas that were more secure but where they lacked access to basic needs.

35-year-old Alemitu Sagoya Kabo is from the small village of Chora in the Konso Zone. She is visually impaired and lives with three of her family members. And she lost her home. Due to the conflict, Alemitu and her family fled her village. She described the situation:

"Our home was damaged, and our property was looted during the conflict. Life in the Internally Displaced People (IDP) site was harsh, and the drought has been ongoing for the last three years. Because I can't see, doing domestic tasks or finding something to keep me warm at night is difficult. When People in Need provided me with a blanket, pot, and home appliances, it made my life easier and solved some of my problems."

PIN helped Alemitu with a blanket to use at night. She also received enough reliable utensils and household equipment to cook.

"I am so happy, and I have recovered from the previous chronic problems I was facing with family, and I thank People in Need for its support," she says.

Alemitu lives in a temporary shelter, but she longs for a reliable and permanent one. She prefers shelters with iron siding and requests that PIN supply corrugated iron sheets for home construction.

Like Alemitu, many displaced people received essential home equipment. They lost their livestock, left their grazing and farmlands, and had to flee their homes. With support from USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), we work closely with Disaster Risk Reduction Management Offices to support vulnerable communities affected by flooding, drought, and conflict in the southern part of Ethiopia. People need home equipment used for cooking, bed sheets, torches to use at night, and various cleaning materials.

We are working to address the most critical needs in the Borena Zone of Oromia and the Konso Zone of Southern Ethiopia. These include food, shelter, and health services for those internally displaced communities, returnees and host communities.

"We offer people things they need to build new homes like plastic sheets, wooden poles, roof nails, floor mats, blankets, cooking pots, plates, cups, etc. Hygiene and sanitation are also crucial to keep people healthy. They also receive buckets, washing basins, body soaps, laundry soaps, women's underwear, menstrual pads, and water treatment chemicals. All these things will help communities prepare for the next crisis and be more resilient," says Dawit Sahlu from the PIN Emergency team.

Awagash Yigezu Nidaw is also very happy about the support we have given her. She is 39 years old and has four families who live in the same kebele. She is one of the victims of the internal conflict and has found herself in one of the IDP sites. She used the home equipment for her daily household chores, jerry cans to carry water, soaps for personal hygiene, and water treatment chemicals to purify water, which helped prevent her family from contracting water-borne diseases.

"I am poor and have no money for medical costs when I am sick. The treated water saves me from drinking or cooking with contaminated water. Now, I feel safer from disease. I want to thank People in Need," says Awagash.

With financial support from USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, we distributed 500 WASH items and 700 Shelter items to households in the Konso zone.