This weekend the youth of Taltalle are busy contributing time and labor to the ongoing various activities, one of which is planting tree seedlings and raising awareness about the vision and mission of Taltalle Relief & Development Foundation. Had it not been for the enthusiastic participation of the local community and the young people, the progress of the project which started a few months ago couldn’t have progressed this fast. I would like to bring to the attention of our future stakeholders and supporters that getting things done in this remote part of the country is a very challenging task. The cost of materials for construction is high partly because it is transported from the center to this peripheral area. Getting skilled workers is another challenge. Water at times had to be fetched from a well and transported on donkeys back…etc .. etc.

     We overcome all this by believing in the abilities of the young people of the area and encouraging them to take part in almost all aspects of the project, staring from planning and designing projects and identifying local resources and talents.
Project manager and chief architect of project, Abdurizake ( aka Da’imo) is a civil servant with an amazing managerial skills and unequalled energy I have ever seen so far from a young person of his generation from this local area.
The Design of the Buildings at the center, some of which are under construction, was done by a young person who was born and bred in Taltalle, Yohannes Tesfaye Fajji. Our website being developed by Natnael Demeke, another self motivated volunteer.
We used to transport block for house construction from as far as Meki , a town in the center. We wanted to change this by empowering some of our own, built their capacity and enabled them to produce of the materials locally. Now, we can at least get blocks from Yabello. Sooner, this could be done in Taltalle.
It took us few years to complete a house construction, now it appears that it will take us only a few months to partially complete construction of a large block.
In that country, we cannot wait for development to be rolled down from the center to the periphery. Development activities should be carried out, if possible simultaneously, in various areas of the country, lest the peripheral areas will remain behind for ever.