Bartamaha (Addis Ababa ):- U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia, Donald E. Booth, and his wife Anita Booth, traveled to Dire Dawa and Harar from November 29-December, met with regional and local officials and visited U.S. assistance projects and programs. During this trip, Ambassador Booth made a book donation at Dire Dawa University, inaugurated a well-drilling project in Adiga Falima and celebrated the renovation of the Teferi Mekonnen Palace in Harar.

Ambassador Booth was accompanied by the Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Ethiopia, Dr. Thomas Kenyon, and the Deputy Director of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in Ethiopia, Mr. Jason Fraser.

newDuring his first visit to eastern Ethiopia, Ambassador Booth met with the Dire Dawa Mayor Ased Ziad and the Harari Regional State President Murad Abdulhadi. He also had the opportunity to meet with Somali Clan elders from the Dire Dawa area, and the Presidents of Dire Dawa and Haramaya Universities.

On Monday, November 29, the Ambassador traveled to Adiga Falima, a village located approximately one hour outside of Dire Dawa, and inaugurated the installation of a hand pump operated well that was constructed by a U.S. Naval Mobile Construction Battalion in June. The well in Adiga Falima is part of an ongoing project by U.S. Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) personnel to install seven wells in five villages in the Dire Dawa area. Together, the wells in Adiga Falima and in Legota Mirga supply water to over 1,000 Ethiopians.

At Dire Dawa University, Ambassador Booth made a donation of over 600 books provided by the U.S. charitable organization, Books for Africa, for the University library. At Haramaya University, where the U.S. government provides training of health officers and support for an anti-retroviral treatment center and an HIV/AIDS counseling and testing program for students, the Ambassador discussed human resource challenges in the health field.

In Harar, on Tuesday, November 30, the Ambassador took part in a ceremony marking the completion of the renovations of the historic Teferi Mekonnen Palace and made a donation of equipment to the ongoing effort to preserve and archive the important Islamic manuscript collection housed in the Palace (now called the Harar City Museum). The Teferi Mekonnen Palace renovation was funded through a $35,000 grant from the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation to Harar’s Bureau of Culture and Tourism. The equipment provided by the U.S. Embassy to help preserve, display and archive the Islamic Manuscript collection is valued at approximately $27,000.

The Ambassador marked World AIDS Day, December 1, through a visit to the Sabian Primary School in Dire Dawa. The Sabian School is one of 400 schools across all regions of Ethiopia where orphans and other vulnerable children are receiving school supply kits and uniforms as well as psychosocial, health, and tutorial support through a U.S. program.

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Source: Nazret

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