Shalom Alamata is a project under DevXchange International that aims for the holistic recovery and renewal of a community in southern Tigray, Ethiopia, after the devastation from the recent conflict. Several partner ministries are bringing their expertise to the project. One area is agriculture. Three ministry partners, Inundo Development and Farming God’s Way based in South Africa, and DevXchange through their Ethiopian project manager, Feru Taye, will work together using principles of conservation agriculture to invest in market gardening and fruit tree growing. This may include having a tree nursery. A second area is English language education. As the language of all higher education in Ethiopia, a strong foundation in English is critical for education and professional employment. TEFL Ethiopia (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) using resources from Joy Two Publications will start initially by teaching English language skills to children. Trauma Healing facilitators will be trained by SIM Ethiopia using these resources. Leadership development in the project will be supported by MentorLink whose vision it is to develop leaders who lead like Jesus.

Alamata is an area that has fertile soil but is susceptible to drought. The methods of Farming God’s Way, including mulching, will help to improve food security. The education of the children has been disrupted by the conflict. Giving them strong English language skills will set them up for both academic and employment success. Students seeking higher education and government workers also need improved English language skills. With the input of consultants of biblical entrepreneurship, the work of teaching English can generate income and possibly other initiate other business enterprises. The need for trauma healing is pervasive in the community after the horror of the recent conflict. The focus on character formation and Christlike leadership development will lay a foundation for individual and community health.

The mission agency, SIM, had work in Alamata for many years. Fifty years ago, an SIM famine relief and development team worked there and the project lead was part of that team. There are now two churches associated with the SIM-related Ethiopian Kale Heywet Church in Alamata. A young man from Alamata, Mikyias (Miki) Moges, graduated from the Wolaita Evangelical Seminary (Sodo) in the spring of 2020 and connected with the project lead. Since that time, there has been serious conflict that has left the area devastated and traumatized. This project seeks to help the people of Alamata in the areas of food security, trauma healing, education, and other means of restoring hope and healing and shalom.

Our Goals

In 2024, raise Canadian $ 27,940 to accomplish the following:

1. Train 2 Children’s teacher of English, who in turn will teach 200 children over 4 courses

2. Train 2 Trauma Healing facilitators (2 levels), who can provide 4 workshops that will support the healing journey of 80 participants

3. Train 2 agricultural facilitators who will help develop 10 farmers in specialty agricultural crops

4. Train 2 MentorLink facilitators who will be equipped to mentor the team and church leaders and use resources

5. Distribute 100 Tigrinya Bibles

6. Distribute food for 200 needy families

7. Facilitate team visits to monitor the project’s operations and success