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Organization	Orbis Ireland
Region	Ethiopia
Website	Website
Facebook	Facebook
Twitter	@Twitter
ProjectLeader	Diane Weatherup

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Orbis plans to eliminate trachoma in remote regions of Ethiopia in the hope to cure thousands of people suffering from the painful, blinding and life destroying eye disease - trachoma. It will do this by ensuring communities have regular access to clean water and sanitation. Orbis has started building and repairing the water pumps in the project areas.

Challenge

Trachoma is an infectious eye disease and across the developing world it continues to bring pain, blindness and poverty to millions. Trachoma could be easily prevented by improving the surrounding environment. At present, community members have to travel long distances to fetch water and many of the water-pumps are non-functional. The water collected in such way is very precious and will be used for vital household functions, and face and hand washing is not a priority.

Long-Term Impact

Orbis adopts the World Health Organisation's SAFE strategy in order to eliminate this blinding disease. This involves: conducting Surgeries to reverse the effects of trachoma; distributing Antibiotics to treat the initial blinding infection; raising awareness of Facial cleanliness to prevent the bacteria which causes infection; and improving the surrounding Environment through improving access to clean water and sanitation.