Director, Integrated Holistic Approach Urban Development Project
Addis Abeba, ETHIOPIA.
The Integrated Holistic Approach Urban Development Project (IHAUDP) works in kabeles 30, 41, 42 and 43, some of the worst slum districts in a city which is more than 80% slums. The Project addresses the multiple needs of the community with 52 programs such as job training and development, health care, schooling, sanitation, road and alley construction, electric lighting, direct assistance to the elderly and disabled, etc. The all-Ethiopian Project staff work in conjunction with community representatives who set priorities for the Project. By early 1997 the Project staff will be phased out, leaving a self-sufficient community with sustainable development. The wife of the former mayor of Addis, Jember and her husband were both imprisoned when the Marxists took power in 1974. One of the few families who did not flee the country, Jember and her husband spent a total of 13 years in prison. During her imprisonment she provided medical care and with the other political prisoners and assisted in the creation of a school for convicts and prison guards and was involved in the accreditation of a health assistance school that was established in the prison.