In the past the inhabitants of the Merhabete District used to transport their sick on bamboo poles, between which a network of woven leather strips had been stretched. In the meantime, work in the fields had to be suspended. Over 20 men took turns to carry the sick person on their shoulders for distances of up to 35 kilometres. The bearers often had rough terrain to overcome. For instance, the inhabitants of the Soma Plateau had to carry their sick down a dangerously steep path to Alem Katema several hundred metres below, risking their own lives. That was until Menschen für Menschen built the Soma stairs and thus a safe access to the town.

With the aim of improving direct medical care in Merhabete, Menschen für Menschen first of all trained so-called “community-based health agents” – local residents who were prepared to undergo medical training and who then became the first address in medical matters in their villages besides the midwives. In addition, Karlheinz Böhm instructed a network of well-equipped medical centres to be built. They are under the supervision of a state health assistant who has taken a one-year basic medical training.
Health assistants administer malaria pills, aspirin, the pill or condoms and first aid to their patients. The also offer family planning and coordinate the vaccination campaigns of Menschen für Menschen.

The vaccination campaigns are supervised by state nurses. Menschen für Menschen dispatches them into the country areas to vaccinate whole village populations. In addition, the staff of the Menschen für Menschen ambulance call in at schools throughout the project region. Children can be vaccinated and treated on the spot. The girls and boys are examined for eye diseases which are commonplace in the region. These are mostly infectious diseases that are transmitted by polluted water or flies. A large portion of these illnesses is easy to treat with antibacterial ointments. If left untreated, they can lead to blindness. Menschen für Menschen brings qualified eye specialists from the capital Addis Ababa to Merhabete six times a year to carry out the necessary operations.

Besides eye ailments, other common diseases in the Merhabete District are malaria, from which particularly the people in the hot Jemma and Wonchit valleys suffer, parasites and respiratory diseases. Polluted drinking water used to be the main cause of most health problems. But since Menschen für Menschen has provided the region with a network of wells and watering places there has been a sharp decrease in gastroenteritis.

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