December 30
Dear Friends, Family and Colleagues:
I just want to wish you a Happy and Prosperous New Year. I still can’t believe I have already been here 3 months, but they are the most productive and memorable of the year 2010. As you may know, I am serving as an IT Adviser to Dire Dawa University in Ethiopia, and although the work is challenging, I have found there is a lot of gratification in getting up every morning and working to truly and passionately make a difference and feeling your contribution is one that is much deeded and appreciated.
Ethiopia is in a time of great transformation and this period is one every Ethiopian at home and abroad want to be part of. Imagine this, there are currently 13 Universities being built across all regions of Ethiopia and all of them are in dire needs of human resources (teachers and professionals) to deliver their mission to the equally dire and desperate young Ethiopians. Dire Dawa University, where I am currently working, is one of these Universities. For those of you who graduated from Colleges and Universities in the last 3 years, Imagine you being the most experienced teaching faculty and often the head and dean of Departments in a University? Imagine, a University campus where student registration is done manually, where you can’t search for books digitally, you can’t access internet to do your work and research….? well, imagine me being the sole responsible person for the establishment of an entire IT department for a whole University campus? Imagine, this in 13 different Universities in Ethiopia where those are the only and few Universities the average middle and lower class Ethiopian can get the basic University Education.
You see, the Ethiopia government is investing a loooot of Money on these Universities and trust me this Universities have lots and lots of Technologies…but what they really need is skilled, experienced and professional human resources? It makes total sense too….where can you get those unless you have had the institutions to produce these educated elites in the last 10 years? We know this has not been the case in Ethiopia.
I told a few friends a few days ago that if an individual or organization abroad contacts me to offer thousands of Computers to the University, I will refuse the offer in a heart bit and ask for equivalent contribution of skilled and experienced people. The lack of technologies and material resources is there, but what is much needed is the human resources to enable those technologies to fulfill their full potential.
Anyways, I hope this inspires you to visit and find ways to contribute to the transformation of Ethiopia, especially for this whole call this country home. You may certainly ask me how you can support my work here….I may even be able to arrange for you a 3-6 month visit/work if you are able to do so…
Happy New Year!
Files from Home in Dire
