Water and environmental sanitation project

In the Silti Woreda of the Silti Zone Grarbet is involved in the development of potable water supply with the support of Dark and Light Blind Care.  It is engaged in the development of springs, hand dug wells with hand pumps, roof harvest, rainwater collection pond as well as the drilling of bore holes.  As part of the environmental sanitation programme the project produces and distributes pit latrine slabs and propagates health educational message on proper water disposal and sanitation.

Supplementary Activities

Grarbet maintains a good and close relationship with the Medical Faculty of the Addis Ababa University and the Ministry of Health. It also collaborates with universities and other research institutions engaged in the scientific studies on polio, epilepsy, trachoma and other eye diseases.
Final year nurses from the Ophthalmology Training Institution of the Ministry of Health come to Grarbet every year for four weeks of field training.  During their attachment these nurses benefit from practical training on trachoma surgery and eye care in a rural setting.

Community Participation

Grarbet strongly believes that, to maintain effective and sustained services, the program should be community-based.  The active involvement of community elders in the work of the project since its inception, forms an integral part of that strategy. Furthermore, Grarbet promotes the vigorous participation of community health agents and women groups in health education and trachoma prevention.