Why GERD?

“One who owns all lacks a petite”

“የአባይን ልጅ ዉሃ ጠማዉ”

About 65 million people or more than half of the Ethiopian population are estimated to live in darkness without access to electricity, which is a basic need for the majority of the world’s population. By contrast, about 70 percent of Kenyans and 100 percent of Egyptians have access to electricity (world bank database).

Because of the lack of access to electric power, millions of girls and women rely on firewood for cooking and light. Since women are responsible for cooking meal in Ethiopia, they spend hours trekking to collect firewood; they carry the firewood they collected on their backs, and they spend additional hours cooking meals on wood-burning stoves. Consequently, rural women in Ethiopia do not have the time and opportunity to participate in education as well as profitable and paid works. Furthermore, cooking with firewood in a non-ventilated environment exposes women and children to severe respiratory and eye complications.

It is also estimated that two-thirds of school children in Ethiopia live in darkness without access to electricity. Since rural children spend their non-school time during the day helping their parents in the farm, this means that they have no opportunity to read and do their homework.

Ethiopia's lack of access to electricity is not because it does not have the potential to produce electricity. In fact, Ethiopia is estimated to have the potential to generate up to 1.4 million Mega Watt clean electricity from hydro, wind, and geothermal, not to mention the abundant solar energy potential. If utilized, this would be enough to electrify not only Ethiopia but also our neighbours. The paradox between such a huge potential and the ugly fact of living in darkness in the 21st Century is because of our inability to utilize this potential.

GERD— the call of our generation

The good news is that this generation is awakened and has realized that we can do better in utilizing our God-given natural resources for the betterment of the current and future generations. Our nation launched the Grand Renaissance Dam (GERD) about ten years ago, with the objective to utilize one of our precious natural resources, the Nile River (Abay), for electricity generation.  When completed and operate at full potential, GERD will have a total installed capacity for average annual energy production of about 15,759 GWh, doubling the current total capacity and taking the lives of the 65 million people out of the grip of darkness and abject poverty.

For Ethiopians, building GERD is a matter of basic needs and not a luxury choice. For millions of girls and women, it means saving several hours a day, being able to attend a basic school or paid job opportunities, and being able to cook safely without compromising their health. For millions of children, it means being able to read and do their homework. For the 65 million people who do not have access to electricity, it means being able to have dined with light. And, for the Ethiopian economy, GERD means an engine of growth, job creation, and poverty reduction.

This is why all Ethiopians, regardless of ethnicity, religion, creed or political view are united on the cause of GERD. They are participating in the building of the dam in every possible way, including through material gifts, skills and their labour. The construction of GERD is approaching its finishing line, with more than 80 percent completed. The second phase of water filling has been successfully completed, and we will be able to start generating electricity from the dam this year. All of this has been achieved, thanks to the generous contribution of Ethiopians residing all over the world!

Examples of Amazing Gifts for GERD         

ለታላቁ ህዳሴ ግድብ የተደረጉ አስገራሚ ድጋፎች

በታላቁ ህዳሴ ግድብ ግንባታ ኢትዮጵያውያን ከልጅ አስከ አዋቂ ድጋፍ አድርገዋል፡፡ ከእነዚህም አስደናቂ (አስገራሚ) ከሚባሉት ውስጥ የተወሰኑትን ለመጥቀስ ያህል ፡-

 - በጎንደር አንዲት ሕጻን ያላትን አንድ አውራ ዶሮ በመስጠት በጨረታ 17 ሺህ ብር ተሸጧል፡፡

 - አንድ እናት ከ5ዐ ዓመት በላይ ቅርሴ ብለው ቤታቸው ያቆዩትን አገልግል በመስጠት እዛው በጨረታ 15 ሺ ብር ተሸጧል፡

 - በጐንደር አንድ ነዋሪ ሙክት በግ በስጦታ አቅርበው 5ዐ ሺህ ብር ተሸጧል፡፡

 - በሻሸመኔ ፌስታልና ከሰል በችርቻሮ በመሸጥ የሚተዳደሩ እናት ያጠራቀሙትን 33 ሺህ ብር ቦንድ ገዝተዋል፡፡

 - በጐንደር አርማጭሆ አንድ የ14 ዓመት የ6ኛ ክፍል ተማሪ ጫማ ጠርጐ ያጠራቀመውን 1ዐ ሺህ ብር ቦንድ ገዝቷል፡፡ ሌላም ወሎ ዩኒቨርሲቲ በር ላይ ሊስትሮ የሚሰራ ወጣት እንዲሁ፡፡

 - በደቡብ የሞት ፍርደኛ የሕግ ታራሚ የ52 ሺህ ብር ቦንድ ገዝቷል፡፡ 

 - በደቡብ ውሃ ከወንዝ ቀድተው በጀርባቸው ተሸክመው በመሸጥ የሚተዳደሩ እናቶች የቀን ሙሉ ገበያቸውን ለቦንድ ግዢ አውለዋል፡፡

 - ሌሊት በዘንባባ መጥረጊያ እየሰራች ቀን እየሸጠች የምትተዳደር እናት የአንድ ቀን ሙሉ ገቢዋን ለግድቡ ስጦታ ሰጥታለች፡፡ ይህን አይተው ለሞራሏ ሰዎች 4ዐ ሺህ ብር በማዋጣት ሲሰጧት ያንኑ መልሳ ለግድቡ አስረክባለች፡፡

 - በደቡብ በርካታ እናቶች ምንም ገንዘብ ስለሌለን ደማችን ተሸጦ ገቢ እንዲሆን ደም እንስጥ የሚል ጥያቄ አቅርበዋል።

 - በደቡብ ጂንካ የጐዳና ተዳዳሪ ሕጻን ደብቆ ያስቀመጠውን 300 ብር ለግድቡ ድጋፍ ሰጥቷል፡፡

 - በአፋር ጨው አምራቾች 2ዐ መኪና ጨው ለግድቡ ሰጥተዋል።

 - በሶማሌ አርብቶ አደሮች በርካታ ግመሎችን ለግድቡ ሰጥተዋል፡፡

 - በጋምቤላ ማር፣ ቡና፣ የቁም ከብት፣ አሳማ እና ወርቅ ሰጥተዋል፡፡

 - በትግራይ ከ99 ጊዜ በላይ ደጋግመው ቦንድ የገዙ ነዋሪ ተገኝተዋል፡፡

 - በአዲስ አበባ አንድ መምህር ሞት አፋፍ ላይ ሲሆኑ በኑዛዜ ግድቡ 10 በመቶ የንብረታቸው ወራሽ እንዲሆን ተናዘው በፍርድ ቤት ውሳኔ 124,543 ብር ለግድቡ ገቢ ተደርጓል፡፡

 - በአዲስ አበባ በርካታ ሕጻናት የልደት ቀናቸው አከባበር በቦንድ ግዢ እንዲለወጥ አድርገው የአንድ ቤተሰብ 4 ልጆች 2ዐ ሺህ ብር ቦንድ በስማቸው አስገዝተዋል፡፡ 

 - ብዙ ህጻናትም ለልደት የዘመድ አዝማድ ስጦታ ቦንድ እንዲሆንም እያደረጉ ነው፡፡

 - ከ13 ዓመት በታች የሆኑ ተማሪዎች "እኛ ሕጻናት የአባይ ፈርጥ ነን!" የሚል መሪ ቃል ቀርፀው ወላጆቻቸው፣ ጐረቤቶቻቸው፣ መምህሮቻቸው እና ትምህርት ቤታቸው ጭምር ቦንድ እንዲገዙ አድርገዋል፡፡

 - የመከላከያ ሠራዊት እና የፖሊስ ሠራዊት አባላት ግድቡን ቀን በሐሩር ሌሊት በቁር ከመጠበቅም በላይ ከደመወዛቸው ለ7ኛ እና 8ኛ ጊዜ ቦንድ በመግዛት ላይ ናቸው፡፡

 - በርካታ ትምህርት ቤቶች ከመዋዕለ ህጻናት ጀምሮ ሕጻናት ለከረሜላና ማስቲካ፣ ወዘተ .. የተሰጣቸውን ሣንቲም በማዋጣት በየክፍላቸው ቦንድ በመግዛት ላይ ናቸው፡፡

These are just a few examples of the millions of Ethiopians who are putting their fingerprints on GERD. Please consider leaving your own fingerprint on GERD here.