Born out of the People's Struggle for Justice, today REST is as close to the people of Tigray as it was back in 1978. There is no better word than the name given to REST - "Mihret" or "Our Saviour" - "Maret" the Tigrinya word for REST.Twenty-five years on and still every REST’s project is supported by strong ties with the community. Indeed, from the beginning, REST embraced the view that the active involvement of the community in defining its own development course is success in people's empowerment. REST as in the past continues to provide the people with tools in order to achievesustainable development.

So what do the People say about REST - Mihret - today? What impacts does the REST program have on changing the lives of the poor in Tigray?
Abdu Salih is a farmer living in Raya Azebo wereda in the Southern Tigray. He has family of four. Abdu is one of the beneficiaries of drip and sprinkler irrigation introduced in his locality in 2003. Having 0.2 hectare, he saw groundnut and obtained 1810 Birr. As a result of this, Abdu is able to feed his family 3 times a day and is independent of relief assistance. He said, “I currently planted my plot of land with onions. I expected from 6000 – 7000 Birr upon harvesting. This will change my life. We have also established farmers cooperatives and this will enable us to mange the over all activities of irrigation, access to market and provision of practices. I believe such kind of irrigation should be introduced in other areas so that we can fight the recurrent drought.”

Another beneficiary of REST program, Cherkos G/Michael is a farmer from Kolla Tembien Wereda of Central Tigray. He received a dairy cow on a credit basis from REST in 1999.Cherkos collects 3 liters of milk a day. He sells a portion of it in addition to using a portion for his family consumption. Through an effective program of breeding, Cherkos have become the owner of 6 cattle. He earned 2700 Birr by selling 3 of his cattle in addition to selling milk in order to pay back loan took from REST and DECSI. Cherkos is now self-sufficient. The only problem that he encountered during the last for years was animal feed because the area he lives has continuously been hit by drought.

Maereg Girmay is a farme r and a dweller of Hawuzine Wereda took training on vegetable production from REST in 2001.Before the training, his income was very low. Following the training he got 2610 Birr by cultivating onion, tomato, salad and pepper. He said,” I have now 8 cattle, 4 donkeys and 15 goats. I am self-sufficient. I would like to say thanks to REST without its considerable effort my life would not have been changed.” The impacts of prolonged water shortage are particularly severed for women.

Traditionally responsible for water collection, in some areas women spend as long as 6-8 hours a day in search of water. Meaza Sibhatu who is a resident of Hintalo Wajerat Wereda in Southern Tigray was one of the victims of potable water shortage. She daily traveled from 2-3 hours to fetch water for her family consumption. She said,” prior to construction of the water point in my Tabia, I was suffering a lot in search of water. Also, the water was not clean and my children suffered from diarrhea. It was also difficult to consume water, as we wanted because of the long distance. Now, the burden is averted. I am also getting clean water near my house. In addition to drinking water I use water for
personal hygiene as well.”

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