Villagers in Dera, Ethiopia wait in line in the hot, dusty outdoors for up to 15 days to retrieve potable water for drinking, bathing and cooking. Clean water for the region is brought in on government trucks, forcing villagers to walk up to five miles to retrieve it. They are only able to collect as much as they can carry home. “Everyone waits in line to get water for the week, day, whatever they need,” said Dave Rich, a La Jolla resident who traveled to Dera in March to film a short documentary in an effort to raise awareness of the dire situation. Rich’s inspiration for the trip came from his cousin, Jason Horgishiemer, a dentist who, while volunteering in Ethiopia for Doctors Without Borders, became aware of efforts to construct a 20-mile waterline running down from the springs of Mount Chilalo into Dera. Hope Arising, a nonprofit organization, is helping to fund part of the $2.84 million undertaking called the Dera Water Project. Rich hopes to use the documentary he shot as a visual plea to aid Hope Arising in raising its $253,000 contribution to the project. Having received large donations from Ethiopia’s Oromia Water Bureau as well as the World Bank, Hope Arising is getting closer to achieving its goal. Villagers in Ethiopia have also raised funds by selling goods in local marketplaces. The water line, once completed, will serve 58,000 Ethiopians. “If you want to have a functional society, first and foremost you need water,” said Rich, who by night is a local comedian and by day an employee of the Shell Corporation. Children miss school and parents miss work to wait in line for the trucks to arrive. They are slaves to the water, Rich said. Society stops without clean water. “Once there’s water, everything else works,” Rich said. While in Dera, he enlisted the help of a translator, Menengistu Abebe. The translator had suffered an extensive leg wound years prior, leaving his limb mangled. Still, he wanted to help Rich. “He said if we could get this out and everyone could see it then maybe, maybe, we could have water someday,” Rich said, recalling Abebe’s words. With only 11 days in Dera, the documentary was a time-intensive project. Rich collected footage from interviews and captured images of the vast lines of people waiting for water. “While we’re bouncing around a bus I’m trying to type and [Abebe is] telling me what the people are saying,” Rich said of the pair’s work on the film. Rich went on the trip with his cousin, Horgishiemer, who went back to volunteer with two other dentists. The dentists pulled 900 teeth in 10 days in a clinic that was a mere room lined with lawn chairs used as dental chairs, Rich explained. “We had to bring in water for the pulling of teeth,” Rich said. Rich recalled a doctor in Dera mentioning that when a woman gives birth there is not water with which to clean the patients. Rich noted the countenance and dedication of the people in Dera despite the obvious hardship. He acknowledged that this is the only life they know, but the completion of the pipeline would make a significant difference in the quality of life in Dera. Rich witnessed people working on the waterline while filming. “They’re up there, barefoot, hammering away,” he said. Rich is holding a charity event on Aug. 3 at Voyeur Nightclub and Restaurant downtown and hopes to raise $20,000, which will fund the next portion of the 20-mile structure, bringing the project closer to completion. The evening will debut the 10-minute documentary he traveled to Ethiopia to make. Tray-passed food from award-winning chefs will be served alongside live music and African dancers. All of the money raised will be sent to Hope Arising. Voyeur, where Rich’s wife, Kari, is a chef, is donating food, service and time. Proceeds from alcohol sales during the event will also be donated. “The most powerful thing that touched me is just how genuinely-wonderful the people are in spite of everything they go through,” Rich said. “We take water for granted.” DERA WATER PROJECT FUNDRAISER DONDE: Voyeur Nightclub and Restaurant, 755 Fifth Ave. CUANDO: Tuesday, Aug. 3, 7 to 9 p.m. COST: $70; to purchase tickets e-mail Dave Rich at [email protected]. Checks should be made payable to Hope Arising.