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.