Humanitarian expedition
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KERSA ELALA, Ethiopia — Members of the Church from throughout northern Utah joined with others in a 40-person humanitarian service expedition to Ethiopia June 1-11. Participating with the group, sponsored by the Engage Now Foundation (a non-profit humanitarian service organization in Salt Lake City), were Alex Fenstermaker of the Spring Creek 9th Ward, Springville Utah Spring Creek South Stake, and Bryan Anderson of the Heber 1st Ward, Heber City Utah East Stake, who were coordinating their Eagle Scout projects. Alex directed the construction of a pump gravity flow water system installed on the Debudba River near Kersa Elala, while Bryan brought 70 pounds of eyeglasses for those with seeing impairments.
"Everybody wanted glasses," Bryan said later. "We tried on one pair after another, until a set seemed to work the best for each person. The only problem was, we didn't have nearly enough."
Alex built a model of the pump system in his backyard in Utah before going to Ethiopia. The system uses power from the river's current and includes a filter and holding tank. The water system also reduces water collection time from 3 1/2 hours to under and hour (before, women of the village trekked daily to the river and back for water), and has the potential of reducing by 50-75 percent infant mortality rates from water-borne diseases.
