We are keeping everyone in our thoughts during this difficult time of COVID-19 crisis. WEEMA is working with our team in Ethiopia to help increase awareness and cautionary methods in our regions of work. We will share more on these efforts next week.
Read MoreCOVID-19 is weighing heavily on all of our minds here in the US, in Ethiopia, and across the globe. As part of recommended precautions, the WEEMA team is now working remotely- this includes the Cambridge, MA office, the Addis Ababa office and the Mudula office.
Read MoreWEEMA wishes you a Happy belated International Women’s Day (March 8, 2020). In commemoration of this past Sunday, we wanted to share the beautiful story of one of our female patients from this year’s successful cataract campaign where we conducted more than 1000 surgeries in one week.
Read MoreWEEMA continues to celebrate our successful 2020 cataract campaign where we conducted surgeries for more than 1000+ patients. In the next few weeks, we’ll share a couple short stories to celebrate our patients’ journeys to regain sight:
Read MoreLast week, WEEMA held its 6th annual High Volume Cataract Surgical Campaign at Hosanna General Hospital in partnership with the Himalayan Cataract Project, Hadiya Zonal Health Department and Wachemo University. During four busy and hectic days, over 1000 patients (1054 eyes to be exact) underwent cataract surgery.
Read MoreNext week we will all be gathering at Hosanna General Hospital for the annual High Volume Cataract Surgical Campaign. This will be our 6th campaign in partnership with the Himalayan Cataract Project and over 1200 patients have already been scheduled for surgery.
Read MoreMaternity Waiting Homes are a priority for the Ethiopian government. Pregnant women frequently need to travel long distances or have complications that require them to stay near health centers when they begin labor.
Read MoreEvery January the WEEMA board of directors and US staff gather to strategize, approve, brainstorm and plan for the the next 12 months. The retreat consists of two days full of lively discussions, honest debate, thoughtful input, hard work and fun. This past weekend was no exception.
Read MoreWEEMA has big plans this year for strengthening pre-primary education in Tembaro – specifically, in Buho and Mudula.
Read MoreSure, it’s 2020, but we have a few more end-of-the-year successes we’d like to share, all of them related to improved healthcare delivery in Ethiopia. Among them:
· Imagine running a hospital without a laundry machine. Day after day, large piles of soiled linens, surgical towels and hospital gowns need to be washed by hand. Last fall WEEMA installed a new washing machine at the Mudula Primary Hospital, the only hospital in Tembaro.
Read MoreHappy 2020! To kick-start the New Year, we wanted to update you about exciting progress in our inclusive education program in the Tembaro District.
As you may recall, WEEMA recently outfitted the district’s first school with inclusive education, the Mudula Primary School, with wheelchairs, an entrance ramp and trained teachers who can teach young children with disabilities.
Read MoreInclusion is deeply rooted in WEEMA’s community-led development work in Ethiopia. But what does inclusion exactly mean and how do organizations achieve it in their everyday practices, whether in Ethiopia, Bangladesh or Indonesia?
Read MoreThe Adilo District’s first-ever public library and computer center, which opened last month, is getting rave reviews. It’s attracting lots of students and other community members, who come to take advantage of the library’s extensive reading materials, study areas, computers and Internet access.
Read MoreOn this week of Thanksgiving, we give thanks and pay tribute to a fearless defender of women’s rights whose ideas will forever inspire the WEEMA team. Bogaletch “Boge” Gebre, an activist and scientist who led the global fight to end female genital mutilation (FGM), died this month at the age of 66. She was born and raised in a small village in the Kembata-Tembaro Zone, where WEEMA does much of its work.
Read MoreWEEMA is joining forces with the Ethiopian government to expand digital healthcare services across the country.
Over the past 2½ years, WEEMA and D-tree International have developed and distributed a mobile healthcare tool that is helping 100 local health extension workers (HEWs) in the Tembaro and Hadero districts diagnose childhood illnesses like diarrhea, pneumonia, and malaria.
Read MoreWEEMA’s largest clean water project ever has taken a big step forward, which is good news for thousands of families living in the Tembaro district.
Last month we finalized an agreement with Water Action to take over and finish the construction project that will provide drinking water and healthy sanitation services to just under 19,000 people living in four neighborhoods – Bachira, Bada, Bohe, and Waro.
Read MoreWhen he was just a one-year-old child, Kurabachew Abiyu was hospitalized at Jimma General Hospital with a serious illness. He was treated and fully recovered. Then, as a young adult, a close friend developed a software program that tracked patient visits at hospitals.
Read MoreExciting news! Tembaro’s first inclusive education program is up and running at Mudula Primary School and more than 30 children with disabilities – a mix of boys and girls – are enrolled. All are attending school for the first time now that the teachers and the classrooms can support their learning.
Read MoreWhile “community-led development” is gaining traction in the development and humanitarian sectors, putting those words into practice is still a big challenge for many nonprofit groups, philanthropists, and government agencies.
This month, WEEMA board member Habtamu Lamore joined global experts to examine what it takes for organizations to truly achieve community engagement and empowerment – key bedrocks of community-led development – in their day-to-day work.
Read MoreThree cheers to Higa Boarding School and its students
Kudos to Higa Boarding School in Kembata-Tembaro and the 10th grade students who aced the national exams last June.
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