We had informed the villagers of Amaya, deep in the interior of Ethiopia, that we would visit their village. We were held up elsewhere throughout the day and determined that we might not have the time to visit them .  Despite the delay we felt impressed that we should still seek out the village. As we followed the directions given it soon became clear that this village was so remote that there was no road to it. As we travelled across the open landscape we came across a small river, only then did we see that the villagers had made a crude bridge for our vehicle to cross. We came across three more rivers and in each case a small bridge had been constructed for our truck.

Once we arrived in the village the people came from all directions to “see the white men”. They led us to a large tree in the centre of the buildings where all the people gathered.  The children had all climbed the tree to get a good view. Not being able to speak Ethiopian we were provided a translator. Three men were appointed to convey to us the situation in the village. The first rose to his feet and conveyed that they needed benches in the school. I thought this was an odd request so I asked why. He explained that the school walls are only sticks covered with mud and the floor is dirt. When the heavy rains come the water washes right through the building turning the dirt into mud and the children become sick sitting in the mud. The second man then rose and explained that they really need clean water. He pointed out that they use the same creek water as the animals and the animal waste contaminates the water, again making the children sick. Finally the third man then stood up and expressed that they needed a road. Again I asked why as they have no vehicles and walk everywhere. He explained that in Ethiopia there is one doctor for every 80,000 people so there is no doctor in the village. When a child becomes sick they use a wheelbarrow to take him or her to the nearest doctor and sometimes they do not survive the trip.

At this point an elderly man sitting at the back of the crowd spoke up and wanted to address us. It was clear that they did not wish for him to speak but he would not be denied and pushed his way to the front. With great emotion he expressed his thoughts and the translator relayed his message. He agreed with the needs expressed by the three villagers, but…he said “Just the fact that you came to our village is enough, no white man has ever come here to help us.”