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Shiferaw Aserate, a mountain guide from Debark (located at the foot of the Simien Mountains), is one of our most promising young entrepreneurs. With the help of Alchemy World, he opened the first Internet café in his small hometown, giving fellow citizens the opportunity to connect through telephone and email with distant relatives and friends. The Internet café is also a good way to stimulate tourism in the remote region.
With the profits from his new business, Shiferaw was able to build a small house with stone walls and concrete floor for his family and himself and to also support some very poor children from Debark. Furthermore, Shif offered an Internet training course where interested people can learn more about computers. He is our greatest success story and embodies the philosophy of our NGO: All Shif needed was the confidence and the opportunity to do something different. After success set in, he started using his business as a community wealth generator.
In October Alchemy World invited Shif to the UK where he met sponsors and visited schools and radio stations. It was fascinating to hear him talk about his experiences, the current situation in Ethiopia and the work of Alchemy World. Many people in Oxford and London were enthusiastic about this young man from Africa who made a real change not only in his own life but also extended his success to positevely influence the lives of many other people.
Shif in our office in Bicester/UK
When Shif returned to Ethiopia he started to visit our Social Entrepreneurship classes to talk to the students about his time in England and the differences between Africa and Europe. We were happy to hear that Shif - if he had the choice - would continue to live in Ethiopia rather than moving to the UK. He liked the UK very much but at the same time he is convinced that life in Europe is "too fast"; people are always rushed and forget about the really beautiful things in life. In this regard, Ethiopia can teach us a great lesson!
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