The Awassa Children’s Project is an amazing success story in the southern town of Awassa. The project encompasses four main projects to contribute to the development of the children and families of Awassa primarily affected by HIV/AIDS.

SEDA (Sustainable Environment and Development Action) has been working in the Central Rift Valley since 1994, promoting environmentally-friendly technologies complimented by various environmental rehabilitation, livelihood development and community based eco-tourism projects. The area around Lake Ziway has seen great deforestation as the local communities are forced to cut trees either as a source of income or to burn for fuel at home. As a response, SEDA has introduced energy-saving stoves to local families in the region. These stoves burn wood more efficiently, thereby reducing the amount of wood required for cooking. Additionally, they save significant time spent by women and children collecting wood. The stoves are well-vented, reducing smoke and resulting respiratory illness

The Konso Development Association (KDA) is a long-running community-based development organization that facilitates work to sustainably improve the living conditions of the people in the region. The Travelers Philanthropy Fund has partnered with KDA’s efforts to rehabilitate eroded lands in the Gersale village of Konso. The community-based nursery houses thousands of seedlings of different varieties of trees while soil and water conservation activities lay the groundwork for reviving an ecosystem in otherwise harsh ecosystems.