Embaderho: Striving for Community based Development
Embaderho is a town twelve kilometers away north of the capital city, Asmara. It is situated on hills. It is a town renowned for its efficient social service provisions. The subzone of Embaderho has a population of 8000, most of which are farmers. The administration of the subzone has been working to boost social services and national development activities as well as change peoples’ lifestyles. The tasks performed to date for suitable agricultural land management can be easily noticed in the mountains covered with several types of vegetation planted over the years and an enclosure to protect the environment.
Mr. Teklit Berhe, administrator of the subzone of Emba derho, said that people of the subzone make a living by farming, rearing livestock, trade and commerce as well as engaging in various kinds of small business. Farmers of the subzone farm on around 880 hectare of cultivable land. There are two community-built dams that provide water service for drinking and agricultural purposes. The main challenge of the people of the subzone has been access to pure drinking water. In the past, people had to travel many kilometers into neighboring towns to fetch pure drinking water. At the moment, the administration of the subzone has fixed the problem and provided the community in and around Embaderho with 14 water providing stations by installing three kilometer long water pipes. As a result, now people are able to drink pure water.
The government of Eritrea has been working to provide electricity supply throughout the country. The subzone of Embaderho now has access to 24 hour electricity. This has reduced the cutting of trees. The smoke-less stove (Adhanet) has also been made functional in the subzone. In the past people hurt their eyes with the smoke from the traditional stove. Now, with the use of the modern stove, it is all win-win, both economically and health wise. The Ministry of Agriculture has allowed the administration of the subzone to use fuel wood from the mature trees in the enclosure.
The Community of Embaderho gets health service from a health center in the town. The health center is fully equipped with one ambulance set for emergency. Pregnant women of the subzone can deliver in a delivery room inside the health station. As a result of the continuous health campaigns, every household has been able to construct its own lavatory which will help keep the environment cleaner. There are 1089 odor-less lavatories people of the town can easily use near their homes and 91% of the community is now aware of the benefits of using this service which will add to the environment sanitation. The construction of the lavatories has been successfully coordinated with the water project which made the administration’s plan more of an accomplishment.
All levels of education are available in the subzone. There are two kindergartens, one comprehensive elementary and junior high school as well as one secondary school. In the past, people had to come to Asmara to complete their secondary education. But now, students can make full use of their time in their studies and help their parents in their leisure times. According to Mr. Teklit, the students are lucky to have no extra expenses for transportation or time to spend travelling. This has significantly contributed to good academic performance.
Transportation service is also another suitable social service people of the subzone get on scheduled timing. There are regular buses and minibuses that deliver the people of the community from and to various places within the central region. People can also easily afford to take rides from buses on the main road of Keren-Asmara when a delay in transportation happens.
The community of Embaderho subzone has contributed as much as it can to keep up the social services of the subzone and somehow do their part in national development. The community has been committed to financing every activity of the social service so far accomplished. The administrator, Mr. Tekit, said that more plans such as that of planting 12 hectare of land, constructing a 3rd dam and soccer playing field are underway and believes every member of the subzone will give a hand just as in the past.