Mar 2, 2016

Students Develop Passions for Peacemaking and Global Health while Visiting with CRS in Ethiopia

For the second year in a row, Marquette students and staff travelled to Ethiopia to learn about sustainable peacebuilding and development with Catholic Relief Services (CRS). On the two-week trip, Kayce Scherzer (Nursing ’17) and Rebecca Zellelew (Arts and Sciences ’16) learned about CRS projects by visiting programs and meeting participants.

**Each SILC savings box has three locks that only appointed community members have a key for.**

Kayce and Rebecca were able to visit one of the many Savings and Internal Lending Communities (SILC) sites. The goal of SILC is to protect assets and increase income for the poor. Similar to a banking system, SILC is run by elected group members who are in charge of money and loans within the community. The money from all program participants is placed in a box, and when a member needs to take money out, they must promise to repay the loan. Many members achieve financial independence as a result of participating in SILC.

Rebecca and Kayce also visited a site of the Arborloo waste system. This system, which costs only $7.00 US dollars, was created to increase sanitation and family income. To use the Arborloo system, a family digs a hole that is six feet deep and two feet wide. They then purchase a latrine slab and use the hole as their bathroom for about a year. After covering the hole, the family plants a fruit tree where the hole used to be, and digs a new one. This type of rotational system not only allows for a cleaner environment and decreased disease, but the newly planted seed grows into a source of food and becomes a valuable aspect of income if the family chooses to sell the fruit it produces.

**Arborloo latrine slabs are easy to make, transport, and use**.

These two projects allowed Kayce and Rebecca to see how project participants worked together to provide better lives for themselves and their communities. As a result, Rebecca and Kayce had the opportunity to observe how CRS is working on the margins of society by contributing to the development of peaceful and self-sufficient societies.

As a nursing major, this trip allowed Kayce to further explore her interest in global health, especially in developing countries. She explained how, “Ethiopia struggles with gender inequality and female genital mutilation and we were at the heart of these issues.”

Rebecca was also inspired by the trip and added Peace Studies as a major. She hopes to travel back to Ethiopia for an extended period of time after graduation to work with CRS or a similar organization.