Project Details

In October 2005 the Scientific Exploration Society launched an expedition to follow the River Beschillo to its confluence with the Blue Nile using inflatables. From there the team continued down this formidable river towards the border with Sudan. On the way, the expedition identified a number of community projects that needed help, including the construction of several shallow wells, an education programme at a secondary school and assistance to the medical clinic at the town of Mekane Selam.
Since then, support for these projects has come from private donors and Just a Drop.

The Beschillo River is located in a remote part of Northern Ethiopia. It is about 80km northwest of Dessie and just over 300km north of Addis Ababa. Its source lies in the ambas (flat topped plateaux) of Magdala, Selassie and Fala. The streams around all three flow northwards into the Beschillo river system. The valleys and plains surrounding the Beschillo are now intensively cultivated. Teff and sorghum are grown, while cattle and goats graze the slopes. Only a few trees remain owing to the huge demand for firewood and building materials.

Col John Blashford-Snell OBE, President of Just a Drop, led the expedition, a follow-up to the first descent of the Blue Nile in 1968, which he also led. This expedition resulted in the development of what is known today as whitewater rafting.

During the journey they were beset by difficulties. On one occasion, the team were held to ransom by armed shifta, who demanded money in exchange for allowing the team to proceed down river. This was swiftly brought to a conclusion without a shot being fired by the intervention of a squad from the Ethiopian Police Service. At one point internal conflict within Ethiopia threatened to put paid to the expedition as a whole, but they battled on, reaching a successful conclusion at Sirba.