United States Support Improves Primary-School Education (04/16/08)
More Than One and a Half Million Textbooks Donated Through African Education Initiative

Ambassador Yamamoto officially handed over new English language textbooks to H.E. Dr. Sintayahu Woldemichael, Minister of Education.

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As part of its ongoing commitment to support Ethiopia’s educational system, and an example of the extraordinary collaboration between educators in the United States and Ethiopia, the American people donated today over one and half million English language textbooks to Ethiopia.  The donation is part of President George W. Bush’s Africa Education Initiative, which increases access to quality basic educational opportunities in Africa. The English language textbooks were developed specifically for Ethiopia and are for use in primary schools for grade 5, 6, 7 and 8.  (more)  

Education in a Changing World: From Vision to Action (04/14/08)
United States Holds Africa Regional Education Workshop in Addis Ababa

(L-R) Dr. Thomas Corts, U.S. Coordinator of Basic Education, Dr. Sarah E. Moten, USAID Chief of the Education Division, USAU Ambassador Cindy L. Courville, Dr. Sintayehu Worldemichael, Minister of Education, FDRE President Girma Worldegiorgis and U.S. Ambassador Donald Yamamoto

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The United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Africa Regional Education Workshop entitled ‘Education in a Changing World: From Vision to Action’ will take place in Addis Ababa from April 13 – 18, 2008.  The Honorable President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, President Girma Woldegiorgis, will address over 200 participants at the opening of the workshop. He will be joined by Dr. Sintayehu Woldemichael, the Minister of Education, Ambassador Cindy L. Courville, the U.S. Ambassador to the African Union, and Ambassador Donald Yamamoto, the U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia.

The USAID Africa Regional Education Workshop provides a unique opportunity for educators and policy makers to share knowledge and to create a collective agenda for future education programs in Africa with the shared goal of creating education systems that produce results in, and for, Africa.  Twenty Sub-Saharan African countries will be represented at the workshop by well over 200 participants.  Additional invited guests include leaders and experts of education sector development in Africa. (more)

Education Advisor and Consular Section host media roundtable on student visas (04/03/08)

Press and Information Officer Darragh Paradiso (far right) introduces Consular Chief Paul Cantrell (C ), Consular Officer Scott Driskel (L), and Education Advisor Yoseph Shiferaw (R) to journalist

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As part of our ongoing public outreach to explain our visa procedures, the U.S. Embassy invited Ethiopian journalists to a roundtable discussion.  Consular Section Chief Paul Cantrell explained that to qualify for a student visa, a person must demonstrate that he or she is a legitimate student and is able to fund tuition and other expenses associated with studying abroad.  He noted that the number of student visas issued by the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa has been increasing steadily over the past few years. 

Consular Officer Scott Driskel outlined the documents needed for a student visa interview at the Embassy.  These documents included an "I-20" form from the school where the student has applied and been accepted, a SEVIS fee receipt, and the Electronic Visa Application Form found on our Embassy Website (http://ethiopia.usembassy.gov/how_to_apply_for_niv.html).  Mr. Driskel, who interviews student visa applicants every day, said, "One of the best parts of my job is being able to issue student visas to qualified applicants." (more)

Cultural Envoy, Public Affairs Counselor Share Experience with Photojournalists (04/01/08)

Cultural Envoy Frank Day

On April 1, the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa hosted a workshop for Ethiopian photojournalists.  American Cultural Envoy and fine art photographer Frank Day opened the workshop.  Mr. Day shared his own photography from Ethiopia and other countries.  He showed examples of famous American photojournalists' work to illustrate the power of visual storytelling.  In his talk, Mr. Day emphasized the different kind of shots photographers use to present an event or situation.  He also touched on the difficulties of night photography and portraiture.

U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Counselor Michael McClellan gave a presentation on the "Composition Basics" of photography.  Mr. McClellan talked about and showed examples of basic photographic concepts including line, balance, contrast, movement and framing.  He illustrated the power of a single frame to tell a story and affect public opinion with examples of photos from American historical events like the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement. (more)

American Cultural Envoy Presents "Faces of Mercato" Photo Exhibit (03/25/08)

Chargé d’Affaires Deborah Malac (R ), Frank H. Day, American Cultural Envoy, and Dr. Solomon Ali, Head of Information and Public Relations of Ministry of Culture and Tourism, cutting the ribbon at the exhibition

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Deborah R. Malac, U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires a.i., opened "Faces of Mercato," a photo exhibit by American Cultural Envoy Frank Hallam Day in the Mercato on March 25.

Chargé Malac said at the opening of the exhibition, "Perhaps no other place in Ethiopia highlights the rich diversity of Ethiopia as the Mercato does, and Frank Day’s images convey that rich diversity very well." 

Struck by the beauty of the people and the rich visual contrasts in the market environment, Mr. Day started photographing merchants in Addis Ababa's Mercato in November 2006.  He shot hundreds of portraits and shared copies with the subjects.  The resulting exhibit depicts not only an American view of Addis Ababa's famous market, but also the beauty and diversity to be found in Ethiopia's everyday life. (more)

U.S. Ambassador Donald Yamamoto Presents “International Women of Courage Award for Ethiopia” to Meaza Ashenafi (03/21/08)

U.S. Ambassador Yamamoto awarding Woizero Meaza Ashenafi with certificate of the “International Women of Courage Award for Ethiopia”

U.S. Ambassador Donald Yamamoto presented the “International Women of Courage Award for Ethiopia” to Woizero Meaza Ashenafi, founder and former director of the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association, in a ceremony at the U.S. Embassy on Friday, March 21.

Amb. Yamamoto, quoting the U.S. Secretary of State, said, "women of courage are standing up for freedom and human dignity, and the United States stands with them. We must not forget that the advance of women's rights and the advance of human liberty go hand in hand."

As part of the celebration of International Women's Day and Women's History Month, American Embassies around the world nominate “women of courage” in their respective countries each year for this prestigious award.  The award celebrates exceptional courage and leadership in advocating form women's rights and advancement. (more)

USAID Provides Education Services to 1,800 Schools in Ethiopia (03/13/08)

Ethiopian school girls  (Photo by Paul Whitney)

The American people, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Community-School Partnership Program, have awarded a $10 million contract to the non-governmental organization, Save the Children (USA).  The three-year program will provide support to 1,800 schools in predominately pastoralist communities and remote areas in eight regions of Ethiopia.  (more) 

U.S. Actress, Jessica Lange visits Save the Children PEPFAR Program in Ethiopia

Actress Jessica Lange

U.S. Actress, Jessica Lange visits Save the Children PEPFAR Program in Ethiopia Over 60 children from Save the Children’s PEPFAR-funded program in Debre Zeit, Ethiopia were on hand to welcome actress and Save the Children Ambassador, Jessica Lange to the community center on Sunday, March 9.

The children, part of the Positive Change – Children, Communities and Care (PC3) program representing communities hard hit by HIV/AIDS gave their own dramatic performance in a short play demonstrating how to integrate orphans and vulnerable children into communities and families.  (more)

U.S. Air War College Students Visit Ethiopia (03/02/08 - 03/06/08)

Ambassador Yamamoto (center) posing for photo with the students of the U.S. Air War College at the U.S. Embassy

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Addis Ababa (U.S. Embassy) -- 14 students of the U.S. Air War College concluded a four-day visit, March 2-6, to Addis Ababa and Debre Zeit, Ethiopia. The students, who are lieutenant colonels and colonels completing a one-year course of professional military education at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama, visited Ethiopia as part of a familiarization trip through several African countries. The impressions and facts gathered throughout their journey will assist in the completion of their studies, since many of them are doing research on African political, economic, and military subjects. (more)

Ethiopians Discuss Faith and the American Civil Rights Movement (02/01-13/08)

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It is not every day that one gets the chance to talk with a person who lived, worked, prayed, and struggled with Dr. Martin Luther King, but thousands of Ethiopian students, religious leaders, and ordinary people got to do just that with the Rev. Dr. Elbert Ransom who visited Ethiopia from February 1 – 13.  A pioneer in the American Civil Rights Movement, Dr. Ransom was born in the segregated South of the 1930s where African-Americans had to sit at the back of the bus, drink from separate water fountains, eat in separate sections of restaurants,wait for trains and buses in separate waiting rooms, and speak and act toward police in ways that Whites did not have to act.  Inspired by Dr. King, who Ransom met as a teenager in Montgomery, Alabama, and the example of Mrs. Rosa Parks, who refused to give up her bus seat to a white man, Dr. Ransom became an enthusiastic participant in the Civil Rights Movement, working for and with Dr. King right up until his assassination.  In doing so, he became a living link for today’s new generation of young people around the world who want to learn from the American struggle to advance the rights of African-Americans to live in peace, dignity, and with equal rights before the law. (more)