Providing Shelter and a Refuge in Tigray, Ethiopia

TIGRAY, ETHIOPIA — Samaritan’s Purse is building emergency shelters in the Tigray region of Ethiopia for hundreds of families who were forcibly displaced from their homes due to armed conflict. In the past month, their staff designed a basic emergency shelter that can largely be built from local materials. After securing a site, teams started construction in a nearby city. Since construction began in early April, Samaritan’s Purse shelter teams have built over 700 emergency shelters. Soon hundreds of families will begin moving into these shelters and finally have private spaces of their own.

Eric Weaver, Samaritan’s Purse:

My name is Eric Weaver. I work with Samaritan’s Purse as the global shelter technical advisor. Behind us are the emergency shelters for internally displaced individuals that were displaced in a conflict that started back in November.

These individuals were moved from the western part of Ethiopia. They were forcibly displaced, and they’ve settled here in Mekelle. And they’re currently living in schools. But the government wants to reopen those schools and try to get life restarted.

Samaritan’s Purse is building these shelters to be able to move these individuals from those schools into these shelters. Samaritan’s Purse, the staff here, we’re just– we’re providing that hope, we’re providing that love. We’re showing that we care, that the world cares, and that God cares.

It’s what we can do in this time to provide that hope and love that these individuals, these households need.


Samaritan’s Purse is a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world. Since 1970, Samaritan’s Purse has helped meet the needs of people who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine with the purpose of sharing God’s love through His Son, Jesus Christ. The organization serves the Church worldwide to promote the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Samaritan’s Purse International Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) program is committed to meeting the critical needs of victims of war, poverty, famine, disease, and natural disaster. We stand ready to respond at a moment’s notice whenever and wherever disaster strikes. The DART specializes in providing water, food, shelter, and medical care while sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ.

CONTACT: Kaitlyn Lahm, news@samaritan.org


Read more news on the Refugee Crisis, Humanitarian Services, and Disaster Relief on Missions Box.


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