Help Haymanot Get His Family Out of a Refugee Camp

In the fall of 2018 "Hayme" was our translator for part of an expedition river trip down the Blue Nile in Ethiopia. He rode in my raft for 16 days from central Ethiopia to near its southwestern border. Needless to say, you get to know someone pretty well over the course of a 16-day expeditionary wilderness river trip and since that experience he and I have stayed in touch and I consider him a friend.

 

Haymenot's family in the Bahir Dar region of the Ethiopian highlands have been greatly affected by the current fighting and have been displaced by the war. They are currently living in a refugee camp under harsh conditions: food and water are scarce and several are suffering from malnutrition and dehydration, plus some are also injured or elderly and in need of medical attention.

 

I have been in touch with Hayme over the last year or so as the situation developed in Ethiopia and though things have been tough he seemed to remain positive, but recent events and the subsequent situation with his family have led him to a breaking point. His education and work have always been in tourism, which for obvious reasons does not exist there now. This has left him with very limited resources to help his family. He has applied for a visa to go to Kenya for work and to escape the country, but they are not accepting applications and moreover his young daughter does not have a passport and will not be accepted.

 

He has a current goal to get his family members out of the refugee camp and into better living conditions while arrangements are made to transport them to the capital city, Addis Ababa, as soon as possible. From there his plan is unclear as it will depend on how the situation with the war develops. Banks are currently not functioning in Ethiopia and Go Fund Me does not work there either, so any money raised by this campaign will subsequently be sent to him via Western Union.
 
These funds are needed as soon as possible as the situation in Ethiopia is getting worse by the day.

Here is photo of myself and Haymenot (left) during happier times!