Our third week in Ethiopia is in the books. It has been a rollercoaster ride; filled with ups and downs, and twists and turns. But, I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
Let me fill you in with what we have been up to this past week. Our case writing has been progressing steadily. We will be writing a case on the Wabe Shebelle hotel. It was fate that gave us the opportunity write about this business. One of our group members, Alex, bumped into the managing director of the hotel, Bedde Mekonen, in the lobby. Bedde saw the Canadian flag on Alex’s backpack and told Alex about his story.
Bedde is the grandson of the last emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie. The Derg militant group overthrew Haile from power in 1974 and the monarchy of Ethiopia, which dates back thousands of years, was abolished. After stripping Haile of his title, the Derg hunted down his family members. Bedde was thrown in jail simply because he was part of the royal family. Bedde remained in jail for 15 years before lobbying from the Canadian and British government allowed him to be released to live in Canada. Bedde has moved back to Ethiopia where he bought back the Wabe Shebelle, a hotel chain started by his grandfather, from the government. Our case will be based on how he is trying to fix all the issues the government left after running down the hotel with 30 years of poor management and inexperience.
On a lighter note, we have moved out from the Wabe to an apartment in Bole. Bole is downtown core of Addis Ababa. It is filled with high-rise hotels, and fancy restaurants. The location of the apartment is great and we even have our own kitchen. There is only the problem: the constant blackouts. For some reason, either the water or power seems to turn off everyday. They take turns, but sometimes when they are really in the mood, they both turn off at the same time. No water means that we’ve all gotten pretty smelly, but it really hasn’t been too bad.
Shifting focus over to our class, we just wrapped up the three-week session and had our graduation ceremony on Friday. I had a blast teaching, the kids were all very motivated and enthusiastic to come in and learn new things each day. It sad that we had to say goodbye, but I’m excited for what the future holds in store for each and every one of them. Will they start their own business, go corporate, or work internationally? Who knows, maybe I should visit Addis in 10 years to find out.