OUR WORK

At Common River, our goal is to empower communities to become self-reliant through programs that build on local strengths and cultural pride.  

 We facilitate the community to develop

Education, Health, Enterprise & Infrastructure programs.

We embody:

  • Development not charity
  • Pro-community
  • Empowerment of women
  • Education of children
  • Cross-cultural exchange
  • Sidama cultural heritage
  • Biodiversity

Our approach is based on Positive Deviance, a model which finds solutions that lie within a community. It is about discovering what is working today and facilitating proactive change based on the constructive examples. Read more on the Positive Deviance Approach: CRPositive Deviance Approach

We work with the community to develop Education, Health, Enterprise & Infrastructure programs. The Program will be monitored and evaluated using indicators in our logframe. LOGFRAME

ON THE GROUND

A WORKING SCHOOL

  • Grades K-4 primary school with 200 students
  • School lunch program
  • Female Literacy Classes for 200 women
  • Sports fields for physical education: soccer, volleyball, basketball
  • A Sidama Senior Council

A WORKING FARM

  • A demonstration organic garden with a large variety of enset trees
  • Beehives for honey production
  • Animal husbandry with a herd of cows supplying dairy products for the school lunch program.
  • Bio-gas installment to fuel the kitchen from cow manure.

A WORKING ECO-LODGE

  • Four traditional Sidama huts to accommodate up to 30 guests/volunteers
  • Dining hut serving traditional Sidama meals and numerous coffee ceremonies

A WORKING TEAM

  • Our locally hired team is made up of a Program Manager, Finance Manager, a school principal and faculty, cooks, cleaners, guards, and maintenance workers to serve our students, guests and volunteers. There are 20 local paid workers running the program on a day to day basis.

Find out how your visit, medical volunteering, international internship, student volunteering, volunteer teaching and / or donations can help us reach our goal of sustainable development in Aleta Wondo, Ethiopia. For more information about Common River and how you can help, contact us today.