Libraries in Ethiopia
When I went to Ethiopia in 2000 I had no idea what to expect. I had signed up with VSO (Volunteer Service Overseas) for two years and was posted in a town called Jimma in the South West part of Ethiopia where there are a lot of coffee plantations. I was assigned to the Jimma Teacher's College and worked with a librarian whose name is Abiti. The College had about 800 students on campus, and another 2,500 students who were "distance learning" students. The library was completely undcatalogued, so my first job was simple, but part way through the project they decided that the floor was unsafe so we suddenly had to remove ALL the books and wait for the floor to be fixed. In the meanwhile, the Jimma Comprehensive High School, which had over 5,000 students got wind of the fact that there was a librarian from Canada, and the school Director, Tadesse Habtamu collared me to help get HIS library in order. Then the public library AND the University Library concurrently ( and at the same time) asked me if I could help them. So I had no trouble filling my time in Jimma. It was a wonderful place, the people were super friendly and kind to me, and I started to learn the local language (Oromo) although VSO had given me a course in the official language, Amharic. To make a long story short, I didn't just stay two years - I stayed 5 years, did a couple of really important projects and decided that of all the problems I saw in Ethiopia, the worst was the lack of opportunity for girls. So now I raise money to educate girls in Ethiopia. If you want to know more, you can visit my website at www.coeefcanada.com
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