Built with a price tag of 374 million euros and having an installed capacity of 420 MW, Gibe II is presently the countryxe2x80x99s biggest power plant. The project channels the water discharged from the Gilgel Gibe I dam through a long tunnel and a steep drop directly to the valley of the Omo River.The project had been delayed by more than two years. When finalized,it was commissioned in a high-profile inauguration in January attended by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and Italian government officials.Over a week from the inauguration, the projectxe2x80x99s core component, the 26-km- long tunnel, collapsed shutting down operations for an extended period.

The Ruphael Gabriel church was probably part of the fortress and was turned into a church: the facade was extended, windows opened and a chapel dug out, said Fauvelle.UNESCO added Lalibela to its world heritage list in 1978, a boon for tourism efforts in this country of 85 million where poverty is rampant and agriculture accounts for nearly half the economy. Visitors can already join organized tours of the site.But the bid to shed light on its origins has not shaken the Orthodox clergy and faithful here, who contend that Lalibela arose with divine intervention.

It is a remarkable place, as priests and monks in brilliant brocade vestments carry on a religious life that has gone on here, hidden among the hills and caves, for nearly a thousand years.If the rock churches of Lalibela impress with their stark simplicity, the 29 churches and monasteries scattered over the islands of Lake Tana, headwaters of the Blue Nile River, delight with their vivid paintings in primary colours.Abba Hailemariam Genetu, Head Priest at Azwah Maryam xe2x80x94 a circular church with a grass roof, located on an isolated peninsula xe2x80x94 greets visitors.

We donxe2x80x99t yet have a [clear idea of] Ethiopiaxe2x80x99s construction labourersxe2x80x99 status and lifestyles, though the sector is growing massively, Bekele Desalegn, social mobilization expert at the Federal HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office (HAPCO), told IRIN/PlusNews.We need to assess how increasing labourers xe2x80x93 mainly youth xe2x80x93 employed by the construction sector are living away from their family; are they informed about HIV/AIDS and how to protect themselves? Do they take HIV tests when they go back to their families? All this needs to be answered and necessary interventions should be put in place, he added.A visit to a construction site near Addis provides some answers Bikila Gurmu makes 30 Ethiopian Birr xe2x80x93 about US$185 xe2x80x93 a day working at a construction project in the Sendafa area, 42km north of the capital The married father of two admits he sleeps with local women when he is away from his family, who live a four-and-a-half hour walk away; he only manages the trek once a week.