Jimma, 8 May 2002                                                                                                                                          

 

Your Excellency, Ambassador John Schram

Ato Bogale Negash, Chief Administrator, Jimma Special Zone

Representatives of Jimma University

GBF Board Members

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen;

 

It is an honour and a source of great pride for me to stand here in front of you, representing the Association for Higher Education and Development (AHEAD), and be part of a historic moment in the annals of education in Ethiopia.

 

Before I talk about AHEAD and what it stands for, please allow me to express my personal and AHEAD's appreciation and gratitude to those who made this moment possible.

 

First and foremost, the Government and Peoples of Canada who provided the Members of AHEAD with the opportunity to continue our education and achieve our dreams to excel in life. The opportunity offered enabled us to be in a position to look back towards our country of origin and encouraged us to start AHEAD as a vehicle in support of higher education and development in Ethiopia. Canada and its people are known throughout the world for their generosity and, most of all, for their message of peace and development. For this reason Canada extends its hands to accept and nourish the oppressed of the world and provide them with the opportunity to excel and be the best they can be.  Most of the members of AHEAD migrated to Canada as refugees with nothing to their name except the free education provided by their country and the traditional Ethiopian courage, determination and commitment to succeed.  Canada generously provided the opportunity as it did to hundreds of thousands of other nationals from around the World.  You are all aware that Canada has been voted the best country in the World by the United Nations for several years in a row.  I submit to you that this accomplishment was not achieved as a result of Canada's wealth; it was achieved because of Canada's compassion and the quality of life it provides to all of its citizens and residents.  I invite you to join me in saluting Canada, a country of compassionate and peace loving people, for its role in providing shelter and the opportunity to excel to hundreds of thousands of oppressed people.  In the same words, I would like to thank Ambassador John Schram and his staff for the unprecedented support they provided AHEAD and its national partner, the Getachew Bolodia Foundation, in our combined effort to establish the first Higher Education Resource Center in Ethiopia.

 

Although a partner in this endeavour, I would also like to thank the Getachew Bolodia Foundation, ably led by its dynamic and hard working President, Professor Ermias Dagne. GBF is a national organization which has made a difference in promoting medical education by supporting deserving students with the opportunity to continue their education and be responsible citizens of our beloved Ethiopia.  GBF became an inspiration to AHEAD, which emulated GBF's action in its programme of payback.  We are grateful to GBF for leading the way internally and for supporting us to achieve our goals from a distance of thousands of miles.  I would also like to thank Dr. Solomon Genet, GBF Coordinator in Jimma and his colleagues for their hard work and contribution towards the realization of the first GBF-AHEAD Higher Education Resource Centre.

 

Last but not least, I would like to thank the Chief Administrators of Jimma Zone and Jimma Special Zone for their support in making this day possible.  Their generous offer in providing us with the rooms in which the first Higher Education Resource Center in Ethiopia has been housed is indicative of their commitment to advancing higher education and development in Ethiopia thus ensuring their place in the educational history of Ethiopia.  This very simple dedication of even a simpler Resource Center in Jimma is a beginning, which will soon be emulated throughout Ethiopia by Ethiopians in all walks of life both inside and outside of the country.  Please join me in applauding the Chief Administrators and the People of Jimma for their role in this endeavour and, most of all, for the responsibility they are willingly taking to ensure the Center's sustainability and effectiveness in the future.

 

At this juncture, I would like to say few words about AHEAD. 

 

AHEAD is founded on the belief that education is key to development.  Good education is, in turn, possible when local places of learning produce change makers who have the knowledge and skills necessary to facilitate development that responds to the needs of the people.  In recognition of this motto, AHEAD has assumed as its mandate the role to contribute toward good education in Ethiopian Universities and Colleges by mobilizing resources.  This is a major undertaking well beyond the means of AHEAD and for this reason AHEAD follows a modest low key approach based on a principle of " a step at a time" to achieve its objectives and long term goals.

 

The main goal of AHEAD is to establish itself as a non profit and relevant organization able to maintain an on going and sustainable programme.  Its objectives are designed to enable it to achieve this goal with the support of the Ethiopian people and the number of supporters it has cultivated both inside and outside of the country. For those of you interested in finding out more about AHEAD, I would invite you to access our Website at <www.aheadonline.org>.

 

AHEAD was founded three years ago by three Ethiopian Canadians who embarked on a motive of payback to a beloved country, which nurtured them in their young years but did not benefit from their success in life due to circumstances.  Today, AHEAD has a membership of six Ethiopian;Canadians and two Ethiopian residents of Canada, whose common experience and love of Ethiopia and its people prompted them to adapt a very simple motto; a motto inspired by a feeling of indebtedness and a desire to pay back to a country and people who nurtured them and helped them to form a strong and healthy characteristics at a very young age.  The principle of 'payback' bespeaks of the fact that the Ethiopian people paid for our education from the meager earnings they had; however, because of circumstances beyond our control, most of us were compelled to leave our beloved country and seek shelter elsewhere. As a result, we could not contribute towards the advancement of the country when it was most needed.  Those who gave us shelter also gave us the opportunity to excel and, being successful we looked back at the country and people we left behind but never forgot.  We established AHEAD as a vehicle to help us initiate the payback scheme, albeit in a very small scale; but, with a solid determination and belief that it will grow to achieve our long; held dream of a developed Ethiopia.  Our number may be small and the task ahead enormous; but, our determination and commitment to achieve our goal, ONE STEP AT A TIME, is as big as the challenge we face. In addition to the support we get from Medical and Educational Institutes in Canada, we are fortunate to have the Getachew Bolodia Foundation and Ato Workneh Assefa, AHEAD Representative, Ethiopia on our side. Our heartfelt thanks go to both GBF and our Representative in Ethiopia for their hard work and dedication to our cause.

 

Your Excellency, honoured guests, ladies and gentlemen

 

Although it is a lot easier said than done, the opening of a Resource Centre is quick and easy; however, the real work of maintaining the Center so that it will be able to achieve its intended goal has only started.  Sustaining and developing the work just started requires strong commitment and an ongoing effort and responsibility from all participants.  This is a shared responsibility of which the lion's share falls on GBF Members in Jimma, the University of Jimma, its faculty and students and the Administrators of Jimma's Administrative Zones.  This does not mean that GBF's and AHEAD's work is done.  Together, we will continue to work hard to ensure the Center's sustainability and growth. However, we are also mindful of the fact that the ultimate success of what we have started today mainly depends on your commitment to sustain and develop it to great height that we are not able to fathom at this moment.

 

But I will promise you this.  Ten and twenty years down the road, we will be able to say that, together we started a small project in Jimma in May 2002, and it became a symbol of academic excellence in Ethiopia.  It may not be big or sophisticated; but it is a start and if we continue to work together it will grow to bigger and better institutions.

 

In closing, I would like to invite His Excellency, Ambassador John Schram, to officially open the GBF-AHEAD Higher Education Resource Center.

 

 

Thank you

 

Haile Belai

Executive Board Member

Association for Higher Education and Development (AHEAD)

 

To view the pictures that highlight both the spirit and mood of the inauguration, please click here