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Dir Biyabir is a registered non-profit founded in 2006 to mobilize financial and human resources, for the specific purpose of supporting local grass-roots development projects in the poorest areas of Ethiopia. By working together, we believe we can tackle some of the seemingly intractable problems of Ethiopia.

OUR MISSION

The mission of Dir Biyabir is to alleviate extreme poverty in Ethiopia by investing in people and developing their ability to help themselves.  We strongly believe that the only sustainable solution to poverty is to enable people to unleash their full potential, their energy and their creativity, towards improving themselves and their communities.

We implement this mission by funding sustainable, grass-roots community projects that:

1. Protect and rehabilitate the natural environment and biodiversity of communities.
2. Develop new skills in people that are then leveraged in income generating micro-enterprises that are based on fostering the local environmental and cultural heritage.  We especially focus on supporting women led micro-enterprises.
3. Expand educational opportunities especially in rural areas by sponsoring girls to go to school, funding the local purchase of books, or funding the expansion of rural classroom facilities.

Given that projects are most effective when managed locally, Dir Biyabir does not directly implement or manage projects.  Instead we identify small, highly effective organizations in Ethiopia, with a proven track record for showing results with a small budget.  We then partner with these organizations and provide them the funding they need to implement projects that are aligned with our mission.

HOW DIR BIYABIR SUPPORTS LOCALLY RUN ETHIOPAN GRASS-ROOTS PROJECTS: — We work with local Ethiopian non-profits to develop project proposals that are relevant and well thought out.  — We raise funds for the projects through membership fees, donations from individuals/ corporations, as well as grants from private foundations. We send 100% of funds directly to the project with NO overhead cost. —  We monitor project progress with strict accountability for results that are commensurate with outlined project goals. Large projects are monitored via self-funded project site visits. — We provide detailed reports on project progress and status, including pictures.

Our name Dir Biyabir is a phrase from a very popular Ethiopian proverb "Dir Biyabir Anbessa Yasir" which translates to: "When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion", it is a description of the inherent strength in numbers.  Dir Biyabir means "when spider webs unite", and this phrase nicely sums up our goal of getting people to work together to tackle some of the seemingly intractable problems of Ethiopia.