Thesis Pains

Class work over

Proposal over

Research money comes

Thesis work starts

Hard work darts

Gripping my senses

This, that, those, I read

Time wasted

Unfocused

To the target

Not yet

Hurry

Library

Kennedy

Embassy

Graduate 

ILS

IES

Upstairs

Downstairs

Buy old books

Seek rare ones

Biherawi

Piazza

Mercato

Lagar

Book world

New ones

Book centre

Book Bazaar

In those last days of the month

I am happy because salary comes

Sad because the month is over

And deadline is nearer

Day and night

Read, write

Write, read,

Write, delete

My advisor

The worst dictator

The pace of time and my paper

Totally improper

“I have finished chapter three,”

Classmates say to me

Knowingly or unknowingly

This made me angry

For my nagging landlady

I tutored her child for free

In my busiest time she orders me

I had to do it to keep living there

And not waste my time looking for another 

Typing speed clumsy

Reading speed scary

But finally all is over

And I am back home again

But it will take me longer

To picture Addis without paper

And being kept busy

To forget the pot made coffee

To quote one DBU graffiti

“Without tension

No graduation”

By Mezemir Girma (mezemir.blogspot.com)

2011, Debre Birhan, Ethiopia

INDIA EDUCATING ETHIOPIA: IN RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT

Coming soon! Comment on it please!

This is how my story begins:

Campfire Farewell

In July 2014, outside one of the condominium buildings in Tebase, Debre Birhan, Ethiopia, a group of local Debre Birhan University (DBU) lecturers and their friends gathered. People speak with beaming faces; live local dances and songs help make the party lively and memorable. For Chanamalikarjuna, Arjun in short, this is a second farewell. His colleagues, the staff of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, DBU, threw a lavish party at a trendy hotel. Arjun showed all present at the condominium party the picture from his previous farewell. In that photo, the professors, technicians and other members of his department surrounded him.

The feeling among DBU staff and the town’s people who knew the tough teacher was that he had to stay and teach some more years. Even some contacted the officers who had to decide on his fate to facilitate a renewal. Truly, this man spent much of his earnings in Ethiopia treating local friends and buying from local businesses. Generosity is not the crux of the matter, though. Hard work, passion, punctuality, sympathy … there was much into this comfortable career. In fact, he himself was the one who bought the ram for the condominium campfire grill. University officials were unmovable. Arjun and many many Indian lecturers left that semester.    

Arjun told me that he would rather assume an Ethiopian citizenship and live on the 5400 Birr (less than three hundred USD then) salary compared to the 1500 to many thousands of USD salary Indians earn in Ethiopia. In an exclusive interview he gave me in June 2014 regarding the Ethiopian people, he said, “Whenever you call any Ethiopian teacher or any Ethiopian, first they ask how you are – the best thing I learnt from you guys. In India, you will not find such things. Whenever we call our friends or anyone, we just ask where they are or what they are doing. That is the worst thing in India. Here, the social life is very good. In India, you will not find such a social life. Everybody is busy with his work. He runs behind money.” These are some of the pull and push factors about his stay in the Ethiopian highlands! He was a regular visitor of the nightclubs and he is a man who enjoyed nightlife, a rare occurrence since the other Indians have never been seen with locals on such occasions. He threw party many a time. He covers the bill of everyone present and feels us with excitement. One night, he insisted going home early when we told him to stay a bit longer, he was unmovable. He confided in me that the community complained to the university officials about teachers who frequent clubs. “This would endanger my renewal,” he feared.

University Students Are Worried About The Shortage of Vehicles

Students that our facebook group, English Teachers in Ethiopia, contacted have expressed concerns regarding the transport problems that they expect to face in the weeks to come. Last week, the Ministry of Education (MOE) announced the dates in which State Universities will conduct the registration of students. This schedule doesn't give universities much freedom to summon their students at different times than the other institutions do. As a result, this will cause  a shortage of vehicles since students move almost exactly at the same time. Bedrooms will also not be available as tens of thousands of students spend a night or two in the big towns including Addis Ababa. We witnessed how the students were troubled as they tried to go back to their homes at the end of last semester. As most of you might remember, that problem was caused by the release of thousands of the learners at the same time. MOE and other university officials along with the Ministry of Transport should find immediate solutions for this urgent call from students we contacted from the various corners of the land. The recent one we approached,

Tenaw Kassahun​, wrote, "till now i don't know dbu skchedule. but z limitted date of entry(moe) creat transport scarcity. have u any info about dbu?" Seeing that this is what every student is brooding about at home now, educational leaders should give a quick response to this problem. You can share this on the facebook pages of your universities.