A Heart of Perseverance (የጽናት ልብ)

This week’s Fist Bump goes out to VL Ethiopia’s Environmental Compliance Officer Getinet Awoke for his great perseverance, adaptability, and resilience during the most recent IRS campaign. The 2021 VL Ethiopia IRS campaign has undoubtedly been the most challenging campaign on record for the country. The success of the three IRS phases is a testament to the dedication of the exceptional country team and the strong relationships and mutual trust that VL has built with the NMEP.

In addition to preparing operations sites in three PMI-supported regions (Gambela, Benishangul-Gumuz, Oromia), Getinet ensured that 98 operations sites in the new spray region of Amhara were ready for environmentally-compliant operations — a feat that was not easy to achieve.

From navigating complex security concerns which resulted in unavailability of transportation and construction vendors, managing an ECOS visit, securing an MOU for appropriate solid waste recycling facility, to training supervisors in preparation for a community-based IRS model, this required careful planning and strategic actions by Getinet and team.

VL team’s dedication to achieving and exceeding the required IRS coverage target under these conditions is nothing short of heroic. Thank you Getinet and the entire VL Ethiopia team for your sacrifices and your commitment to saving lives!