Ethiopia

AmeriCares first worked in Ethiopia in 1985, responding to a terrible famine in which more than one million people died. AmeriCares deployed a series of shipments delivering food and other relief supplies to several refugee camps along the Sudanese/Ethiopian border and also trucked medical supplies farther into northern Ethiopia to support an extensive network of clinics and hospitals.

Currently, AmeriCares maintains a partnership with Project Mercy, an international emergency relief and community development ministry that provides healthcare, education, clean water, agricultural training, electric power, and additional services to the rural farming community of Yetebon. The relationship began in September 2000, when an AmeriCares airlift of pre-mixed nutritional supplements was sent to Project Mercy in response to the cumulative impact of consecutive droughts and crop failures that were devastating the already destitute nation. AmeriCares also provided rehydration therapies to combat the side effects of malaria and dysentery, medication for upper respiratory infections, anti-bacterial agents, antivirals, nutritional supplements, iodine, analgesics and anti-inflammatory drugs and surgical supplies. The partnership has since expanded, and in 2002-03, when months of drought led to reduced agricultural production and a devastating loss of livestock, AmeriCares worked with Project Mercy to deliver essential medicines, water purification systems, waterproof tents, and scales to determine nutritional needs on a weight-to-height basis. 

In 2004, AmeriCares supported the establishment of a new 53-bed hospital in Yetebon that provides surgical, pediatric and maternity services. This hospital serves as a referral hospital for five satellite health posts in the area and serves a rural farming community of 74,000 people. AmeriCares provides essential medicines and hospital supplies to support the hospital's activities, which include both inpatient and outpatient care for 200-300 patients per day.