Present
Aster Belay, Siobhan Crawley, Feyisa Demie, Brian Foster, Fekadu Abebe, Teferi Degeneh , Bekana Edossa, Girma Gebresenbet, Michael Hawkins, Muluneh Oli
Apologies
Gosaye Fida,
Minutes of 6th March 2021
Agreed
Liaison with partners in Oromia
Muluneh and Teferi and Girma had technical meeting and as a result they updated the proposal and communicated to colleagues in Oromia. They will translate it to encourage them to take ownership.
Utilities are not included in the proposal but Grima discussed it with the partners. The site is above river level but it should not be too remote to get mains water from Guder (3km). Getting ground water is more difficult in Malkaa-Dhangaa Gudar. Cement costs can vary because industries have been damaged by the war so cost of that has risen from 250 birr to 600 birr per tonne.
There is suspicion of external NGOs intervening politically and local regulations expect local NGOs to limit amount they receive from abroad. This could be a positive because it will encourage a feeling of ownership by the community there. They may contribute in kind, skills and labour. Girma estimates a maximum of one month, minimum two weeks before the local organisation completes application.
Use of Solar power as alternative energy supply was discussed. Feasible but requires maintenance. Prices of batteries globally are falling. Sunshine most of the time. SMEs involved in installation and maintenance.
Suggestion that local group take responsibility for translation, amending the proposal to include local labour costs to encourage ownership.
Barissa says they have organised a committee.
Girma will feed back and try and confirm time details.
Website
Teferi and Tade Kuseta have assisted with translations of the WADA site. We would like to get both sites to a point where we can launch them at Workneh’s second memorial event.
We will meet in the next week to see what else needs to be done.
Finance
Feyisa drew our attention to the response he received from the bank. We had pointed out that we won’t need to make any payments to Ethiopia for around a year, while we are raising funds. The bank has not accepted this point and replied:
“As mentioned, I will list a general requirements and information of what would be needed to satisfy requirements:
- Proof or where the funds will be sent to e.g, account details
- Proof or evidence of the charity based in Ethiopia, which I can find on open sources such as google.
- Explanation of who will be managing the funds in Ethiopia, what proof will be provided to show how the funds will be used.
- Details of what projects will be happening in Ethiopia and how much you expect to raise and then sent to the charity.”
Feyisa has also checked the Metrobank website but they are not taking new applications at the moment. We wondered whether we can open a PayPal account to receive donations without linking it to a bank. Most thought this was unlikely.
Wait and see how things develop in Ethiopia