tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16919427016858011072024-03-05T22:11:58.534+01:00YEEP or about coffee ceremonies and cultural interferenceArihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12612106958147092929noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1691942701685801107.post-76151333874622091642014-08-30T18:04:00.001+02:002014-08-30T18:04:15.100+02:00About street races and never ending electricity<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hey you<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Imagine you are sitting at home, you’re watching an
extremely exciting action movie (with many special effects obtained by FanoFx
Productions, a project initiated by a YEEP-team. They plan to produce special
effects for Ethiopian movies in cooperation with the film industry) and then –
the electricity is gone in the worst possible moment.<br />
That’s a problem a YEEP - group wants to solve in the future. They would like
to achieve that people in rural areas are independent from the government and
can produce their own electricity. They will offer two possibilities to do so,
first, a biogas digester and second, the technology chemo hydropower. Both of
them only need simple activities to work, like water or bio mass which is
easily available everywhere. Sounds like a plan, doesn’t it?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now let me introduce the common mode of transport in
Hawassa: the Bajaj (pronounce: Batschatsch. You may know them as “Tuk-Tuk”). It
is a three-wheeled car (actually it doesn’t deserve to be called a “car”. It
resembles more a can) where up to three guests find place. If you prefer a more
comfortable ride, share the rear bench seat only with one other person
otherwise you will – in fact – feel packed like sardines in a can. The Bajaj
are coloured in blue and have no side doors which implies a windy and sometimes
rainy ride. The drivers are addicted to street races, I noticed one evening. As
a bigger group, we had to organise several Bajaj’ to go to the Haile Resort (a
great hotel next to the lake). In the beginning, the drive was quite calm but
suddenly he switched the gear and started to rush. We were pushed back in our
seats. Despite huge puddles of mud, rather poor visibility and animals crossing
the street, he drove like he was being chased by a hippo. We outran the first
Bajaj and rushed on. The second one – check. Then we were outrun – the whole
scene accompanied by shouting and exaggerated gestures of the drivers. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3BBSKKe2yqqBMd53z0x87We8viBvXVwaL11g9_J-rfMIBr32AQZULI2FAq36DZIo5LhmU4c4jHCsTsSE1EIRwXpPgTVKWRLZKA-5Th5-mhRgTlbXX2WdAhlDdmtbcfiyMLihoHz2w0xNp/s1600/bajaj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3BBSKKe2yqqBMd53z0x87We8viBvXVwaL11g9_J-rfMIBr32AQZULI2FAq36DZIo5LhmU4c4jHCsTsSE1EIRwXpPgTVKWRLZKA-5Th5-mhRgTlbXX2WdAhlDdmtbcfiyMLihoHz2w0xNp/s1600/bajaj.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In case of an emergency (e.g. crashing into a goat) there
will be soon an Emergency App called “EthioPanic” available for your mobile
phone (until then, try to survive). This is a further business idea I’d like to
write about. The Emergency App will be available for mobile phones. It will
contain a panic-button which will directly connect you with the police, ambulance,
etc. (or the vet – don’t tell me you’ve forgotten the goat?!).</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fortunately, we didn’t need any of those and arrived
exhausted and – against our expectations – still alive in the Haile Resort. </span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tomorrow more <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Keep smiling (it could be worse – you could be the goat),<br />
Ari</span></div>
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</span><br />
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</span>Arihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12612106958147092929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1691942701685801107.post-1290748446499417262014-08-28T19:41:00.001+02:002014-08-28T19:41:25.404+02:00It's "Ranger-time"<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Salaam,<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Manipulated ATM – automats or fake credit cards are
unfortunately not seldom in Ethiopia. Do you feel secure when withdrawing money
only with a password? I’d like to introduce another business idea at this
point: “Fingerprint banking system”. They want to provide a fingerprint banking
system to all Ethiopian banks in order to reach a new level of security when
withdrawing money in Ethiopia. Therefore, they want to add a fingerprint
scanner to each ATM – automat so that one can only withdraw money with the
card, the password AND fingerprint. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What if your card was hacked? First of all, shout “its
Ranger-time!” (shouting has anyway a liberating effect) and have a ranger
around the corner. The Power Rangers or what? – you may ask yourself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjdqCDV8u9oITNrI2TWXSfJZIeY9ShVWijyVCSU7Is-I2QGU3u-fhx5ZXHwaOmBQYOwDI37VW9NpK_CQ81m3OxInZMaiLoR5nfHeYwvqbpAo4w3MUnmfq2287jM89ChABj4VrrdcueLIdC/s1600/Power+Rangers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjdqCDV8u9oITNrI2TWXSfJZIeY9ShVWijyVCSU7Is-I2QGU3u-fhx5ZXHwaOmBQYOwDI37VW9NpK_CQ81m3OxInZMaiLoR5nfHeYwvqbpAo4w3MUnmfq2287jM89ChABj4VrrdcueLIdC/s1600/Power+Rangers.jpg" height="196" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2HXYicYESi-GR9za13kDEgioEiiloSbZZd4prCe6dqaX9o273Xgv67SoBki2FWktlCe2VHIcgqV9P3WZ9DhdUBwgXXw6S2JBr7NQqhEKx4FBCzvZ-BttQVzujZ5RbRAxs2Oajiid32AOP/s1600/Ranger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> </span></div>
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I’m pleased to answer this question and illuminate you my friends. No, I didn’t
think about turning into a Power Ranger (but feel free to do so). A ranger is a
special way of preparing a coffee – in Switzerland also called “espresso
macchiato”. But what gives the coffee the name is its one special effect as you
can see below:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2HXYicYESi-GR9za13kDEgioEiiloSbZZd4prCe6dqaX9o273Xgv67SoBki2FWktlCe2VHIcgqV9P3WZ9DhdUBwgXXw6S2JBr7NQqhEKx4FBCzvZ-BttQVzujZ5RbRAxs2Oajiid32AOP/s1600/Ranger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2HXYicYESi-GR9za13kDEgioEiiloSbZZd4prCe6dqaX9o273Xgv67SoBki2FWktlCe2VHIcgqV9P3WZ9DhdUBwgXXw6S2JBr7NQqhEKx4FBCzvZ-BttQVzujZ5RbRAxs2Oajiid32AOP/s1600/Ranger.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The milk froth is sprinkled with coffee dots which looks
like camouflage (a real Ninja-coffee, I’m kind of jealous).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Coffee has a long tradition in Ethiopia, actually it was
“invented” here. The name “coffee” comes from “Kaffa” the name of a province on
the south-western side of Ethiopia. This region is the original home of the
Arabica coffee.<br />
So coffee is intrinsically tied to the country. That’s why, every time you feel
like drinking coffee you’ll find a possibility as coffee shops are at every
corner – like mushrooms this summer in Switzerland. Even along the street
you’ll find women brewing coffee while sitting next to a tree, a banana selling
point, a flock of sheep or wherever they find some space.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A few days ago we visited the “Fikir Coffee” (which means “Coffee
of Love”, see also: </span><a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g1071626-d4270434-r162594756-Fikir_Coffee-Awasa_Southern_Nations_Nationalities_and_People_s_Region.html"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g1071626-d4270434-r162594756-Fikir_Coffee-Awasa_Southern_Nations_Nationalities_and_People_s_Region.html</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">)
a small coffee shop founded by two women (who’d expected that with this tough
name?) two years ago. It’s lovely decor and wonderful hostesses invite the
guest to stay. They prepare the coffee on a little platform in the traditional,
Ethiopian way. First of all, the green coffee beans are roasted in a small pan
over the fire, then the coffee gets grinded and finally brewed in a special
carafe (it takes a loooong time – which taxes the Swiss (non-existing)
patience. But it’s worth waiting – believe me.). Then the coffee is served in
small cups with sugar (a lot of sugar – the coffee-sugar distribution is
actually 50:50, so you’d better skip the dessert ;) ).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That’s it for today and guess what? It’s Ranger-time!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Bye for now,<br />
Ari<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span>Arihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12612106958147092929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1691942701685801107.post-30842451321202161822014-08-27T16:15:00.001+02:002014-08-27T16:15:33.916+02:00Boat trip to hell<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hi everybody<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Have you ever seen real live hippos only a few meters away?<br />
They are quite impressive – and dangerous. Did you know that each year 2 900
people in Africa die in hippo-attacks?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Despite this fact, I and some others decided to take a boat
and visit these killing-machines in the Lake Hawassa (also called Lake of Love
– quite ironic if you know that death is lurking in the depths…). Anyway, we –
as brave Swiss – couldn’t resist the opportunity to see these intimidating animals.
</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt6lK2VHPXQU8xap9pHk6lVrRAkRQ4o5MVo6pgG1JELv93KmRYC5UUL8aQR9M1E226hxRAoMIJr6mIQVK8Co42QgEL1WiMkh__ami8l4bvpMsBR5lp3ILql64ndILEd0DwVqZY5MR5Lmmo/s1600/boattrip.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt6lK2VHPXQU8xap9pHk6lVrRAkRQ4o5MVo6pgG1JELv93KmRYC5UUL8aQR9M1E226hxRAoMIJr6mIQVK8Co42QgEL1WiMkh__ami8l4bvpMsBR5lp3ILql64ndILEd0DwVqZY5MR5Lmmo/s1600/boattrip.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After a 30 minutes gentle cruise on the lake we spied the outline
of a hippo. Then, a second one… Third one… fourth... Suddenly, we were
surrounded – no way to escape. Then the first hippo attacked our boat! It
rocked heavily and we desperately clang to the railing. Phu, by a hair could
save ourself from landing in the dark brown lake. Then, a second hippo crashed
into our boat – and it overturned. Plaaaatsch – the three of us dived into the
water. The only thing I could think about was the shark movie “Open water”
(although sharks are - according to experts - much less dangerous than hippos.
A fact that didn’t really calmed me down). The hippos approached quickly and we
screamed like hell. Fortunately, we’re all good swimmers. We saved ourselves on
the shore – two seconds later we would have ended up as hippo-dinner…</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfvNjDiljv6F6Wp8Kihz1AMYDoO1tirsbUflIzL7kHdVOkJ-MW36c587xSCFYx5gysC_7dJ9lKxhthh4kRDDsp-VrUaXe2Hi5JxuIRBgIuYLm7GDE8QYmNXsrAnA9QtU7mqlEgPWK6fCkO/s1600/hippo_530.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfvNjDiljv6F6Wp8Kihz1AMYDoO1tirsbUflIzL7kHdVOkJ-MW36c587xSCFYx5gysC_7dJ9lKxhthh4kRDDsp-VrUaXe2Hi5JxuIRBgIuYLm7GDE8QYmNXsrAnA9QtU7mqlEgPWK6fCkO/s1600/hippo_530.jpg" height="181" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hahahaha, noooot. You almost believed it, right? Sorry to disappoint
you guys, we had non-life-threatening moments with the hippos (although they
are in fact Africa’s most dangerous animals along with mosquitos) and it wasn’t
as adventurous as written above. Actually, we enjoyed the trip to the hippos,
saw a baby-hippo and took a lot of pictures. And we had a safe trip back.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As usual, I’d like to introduce another business idea of one
of our participating teams, called EthioPay. EthioPay is a platform that will
facilitate e-commerce in Ethiopia. The platform will provide consumers and
businesses the opportunity to buy, sell and auction items online by paying with
airtime as the currency and using your mobile phone. Therefore, EthioPay will
provide both a marketplace website and a mobile payment system. It’s a unique
and innovative solution that addresses e-commerce and online financial
transactions problems in Ethiopia. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Still disappointed about the (lame) hippo-story? If you’re
interested in a real horror-story, please watch <span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1409148689195_3202" style="font-size: 11pt;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2N9YMH4H5Y">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2N9YMH4H5Y</a>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Your hippo-whisperer,<br />
Ari<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span>Arihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12612106958147092929noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1691942701685801107.post-57051439241979629162014-08-26T10:38:00.000+02:002014-08-26T10:38:08.198+02:00About Ninjas and electronic devices<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hey<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Are you open-minded?<br />
If you – as a Swiss guy – come to Ethiopia, you’d better be. And you shouldn’t
have problems with touching other people (even other men. Yes, other MEN.). If
you become friends with an Ethiopian it’s common for men to hold hands, to hug
or even kiss each other on the cheek. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Girls should be more restricted with it, as
boys and girls are not allowed to touch each other in public. It seems that the
University tries to avoid any contact by locating the girls and boys
dormitories each on another side of the campus in order to have as much space
as possible between the two building complex’. Girls are not allowed to visit
boys in their dormitories and vice versa otherwise they get into troubles. On
Sunday evening I was on a personal tour with some Swiss and Ethiopian guys and
they showed me the huge campus. I felt like a shining light in the dark as I
was one of the only girls on the campus and for sure the only white girl, so I
tried to look like a guy by hiding my hair (I felt like a Ninja when walking
across the street) Despite camouflage-clothing I was still discovered. Suddenly,
we were surrounded by many guys who were staring at me while I was passing so I
wasn’t as invisible as I thought (hrmpf). I guess it’s now the topic number
one: a white girl crossing the campus on Sunday’s evening (and guys, don’t even
try telling me that guys aren’t gossiping).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now some facts about our start-up week. It
started on Monday and I think it’s time to inform you about some of the
business ideas. First of all I’d like to introduce “<b>I got Devices</b>” (IGD). <br />
IGD is an online platform on which sellers and buyers of electronic products
find one another. In Ethiopia buyers often don’t find suitable suppliers, which
poses a problem. That’s when IGD becomes active. Suppliers can present their
electronic devices online and place furthermore their advertisements on the
website of IGD in order to find buyers. IGD consult the potential buyers about
products from different suppliers and calculates a commission on purchases.
What makes IGD better than other platforms? It’s innovative, dynamic and
motivated. The young IGD-team is interested in continually presenting new
attractive suppliers and to advise buyers adequately during their searching
process.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sounds great, doesn’t it? Don’t hesitate
and have a quick look on the first draft version of IGD’s website: <a href="http://www.igotdevice.com/">www.igotdevice.com</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tomorrow more. I’m now going to work on my
Ninja-abilities.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No goodbye today, as Ninjas just disappear.<br />
</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ari </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Arihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12612106958147092929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1691942701685801107.post-725163446916256592014-08-25T12:25:00.001+02:002014-08-25T13:32:16.655+02:00"Rachel - moments"
<br>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hi there!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After a short night at the United Pension in Addis Abeba (we
arrived at 2 a.m.) we had breakfast at the restaurant next to the guesthouse.
If you ever go to Ethiopia, try Fetira with honey for breakfast – it’s simply delicious!
Ehtiopians are tough when it comes to the choice of meal for breakfast. One
ordered Firfir – a national dish with Injera, vegetables and meat which we
Swiss often eat for lunch or dinner (as generally our stomachs are not geared
for spicy stuff and that’s why, Immodium and Carboleveur (yeast tablets) become
your best friends during such a trip) and another one ate a pizza at 9 o clock
in the morning. Really impressive (really). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then it was time for me and the YEEP committee to head to
Hawassa where the start-up week takes place. The others stayed another night in
Addis to visit the Merkato (good luck with that guys ;) ) and do some
sightseeing. It took about 6 hours to get to Hawassa and it was definitely an
adventure. We weren’t alone on the street. Not at all. We shared the street not
only with other cars, trucks and walkers, but also with dogs, donkeys, horses,
cows and goats and whatever felt like crossing the street. The thing is, I
would drive rather slowly in order to avoid hitting anyone or anything but not
so our driver. He drove up to 120 km/h – even through villages. No mercy. My
suggestion: Don’t look at the street, enjoy the beautiful nature because
otherwise you get terrified of what happens outside your car. Let me introduce
Rachel at this point. She’s in the YEEP team too and was with us on the trip
last August when we first visited Ethiopia. Unfortunately, she’s not here this
year. She loves animals (really all kind of animals). For her, the trip from
Addis to Hawassa equalled a descent into hell. She was screaming whenever a
puppy or a goat or whatever crossed the street and almost “met” our car.
Sometimes the space between an animal on the street and the side of our car was
– lets say – rather tight. But we never hit any animal (our driver was extremely
talented). When we drove the road to Hawassa this year we had again those
so-called “Rachel-moments” where we almost hit a donkey or a goat standing on
the street like it would be the most normal thing in the world. Imagine: you are
sitting in the back of a minibus, staring at the street where a goat is
approaching faster and faster. You start estimating the space between the
approaching animal and your car. You realize that – if the animal survives
-<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>then by a hair. In the last moment you
close your eyes in order to avoid seeing the inescapable. You expect to hear a
“booom” and then some other not very nice sounds from the animal spinning
around the left car wheel. But nothing happens and you feel happy for the next
few minutes (actually seconds) until another animal appears on the street…</span><span style="text-align: center; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; "> </span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLT6o1XMJfLhCttn1hh_W7Y-trRykR_4NtDUdpVFSObWJT5qZgcftUYeYEcA-1s4K8gmjgZ0da8PHYvwOv5jqjrbTgmhKFYS3lzZDpjQxT6qponrizv1XIE1-UlFEI78SI_fYGAh2m9uRw/s1600/donkey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLT6o1XMJfLhCttn1hh_W7Y-trRykR_4NtDUdpVFSObWJT5qZgcftUYeYEcA-1s4K8gmjgZ0da8PHYvwOv5jqjrbTgmhKFYS3lzZDpjQxT6qponrizv1XIE1-UlFEI78SI_fYGAh2m9uRw/s1600/donkey.jpg"></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We had both shocking and surprising moments, but also a lot
of “wow moments” for example the second we caught sight of the sunset at 6 p.m.
It was breath-taking. There is something with Ethiopia and sunsets – it looks
much more impressive than in Switzerland. Last year I took a photo from the
sunset at the Lake Hawassa. Simply amazing:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-lct-xK8mkFyLzkgLpHOsYLOZjzubeTLpkQmgmQuns3DUH1CBuNghsh5rHmUuTHmWIIaYLRehbSySABKznO4Ntx3Jl-b9_5IKB2vyogVBbSrrp4qNYSWQLvcDwz4Dt5g27ou-eKRz6-Ca/s640/blogger-image--2074628442.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-lct-xK8mkFyLzkgLpHOsYLOZjzubeTLpkQmgmQuns3DUH1CBuNghsh5rHmUuTHmWIIaYLRehbSySABKznO4Ntx3Jl-b9_5IKB2vyogVBbSrrp4qNYSWQLvcDwz4Dt5g27ou-eKRz6-Ca/s640/blogger-image--2074628442.jpg"></a></div> </div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Watching the sunset let us forget all the troubles and “Rachel
moments” for a while and we just enjoyed the beautiful view while we were
approaching the Campus of the Hawassa University.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A huge “thank you” to the driver – in my view it’s god-given
to drive on such crowded streets without killing something… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Cheers,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ari<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Arihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12612106958147092929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1691942701685801107.post-7117043386013994792014-08-21T11:25:00.000+02:002014-08-21T11:25:07.398+02:00About green beans and Roger Federer<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hi guys<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It’s me again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So now it’s time to balance accounts with the Swiss. We are
(according to culture theories) success-oriented and timetable-addicted. This
means we love competitions and everything has to be like planned before. We
generally don’t like unexpected things. That’s exactly what I realised before.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was sitting on the plane heading to Qatar and it was
served a meal for lunch: Coconut curry with tomato rice and different
vegetables like carrots, onions, spinach and green beans. I love green beans. I
was in the process of eating one of them when I noticed that this one was quite
hard to bite. I swallowed anyway. A mistake. A huge mistake. Suddenly, my
mouth, my throat and my stomach burned like hell (sorry for the word choice but
there is no other word to describe the feeling). Everything burned and my eyes started
watering like crazy. That was the moment when I realized that it was not an
innocent, little green bean. It was the devil itself – a green chili. I
desperately tried to survive but it wasn’t as easy as I thought. I had a window
seat, next to me a little boy (later more about him). Seconds before I lost my
consciousness (okaaay, I’m exaggerating. A little.) I found a little basket
with Philadelphia which was served with bread. <br />It.was.heaven.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Back to my neighbour. May I introduce you to the little
Korean boy next to me? He was only staring at me like I was an Alien while I
was gasping for breath. He looked like he would eat a bowl of those chili for
breakfast. And do you know what the scariest thing about him was? He left the
cheesecake. I mean, which child eats chili and doesn’t even touch the
cheesecake?!<br />
Strange kid.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On my connecting flight from Doha to Addis Abeba I was
sitting next to an Ethiopian who started to chat with me. We had a nice talk
and when he found out that I was Swiss, he shouted: “I know a Swiss!” His face
started to beam with joy. “Roger Federer, do you know him?” Is he kidding me?
Of course I know him – I’m Swiss. Okay not personally, but anyway. We talked
about his last match in America (to be honest: I hadn’t the faintest idea about
his last performance) where he played a fantastic game (of course he did). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFjTADpR7fx0zEuN71oCGsQsxzPKodGK5KcSzytYeOcLu9LzN0WhXNdUUGGFkKjt6aJJT22P1qTwi1u8FP0O_btWwt6DKOmG7_h9_k0I3hC40qE3rsY1PAtx_KFpVDAljf_2mJUXUtQDeX/s1600/Roger-Federer-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFjTADpR7fx0zEuN71oCGsQsxzPKodGK5KcSzytYeOcLu9LzN0WhXNdUUGGFkKjt6aJJT22P1qTwi1u8FP0O_btWwt6DKOmG7_h9_k0I3hC40qE3rsY1PAtx_KFpVDAljf_2mJUXUtQDeX/s1600/Roger-Federer-4.jpg" height="216" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anyway, if you work with a stereotyped Swiss, try to be on
time and stick to the planned actions (and don’t put green chili instead of
green beans in a meal as a surprise. S/he will thank you for it.) And learn
something about Roger Federer, he’s our national pride.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Your survivor,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ari<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span>Arihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12612106958147092929noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1691942701685801107.post-11461667604115335022014-08-18T17:44:00.001+02:002014-08-18T17:44:35.741+02:00Ethiopian culture or “to feed or to be fed”<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hi guys<br />
Hope you’re fine there?<o:p></o:p></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’m trying to find an amazing, breath-taking and
fabulous teambuilding activity which will take place on Sunday before the
official part of the start-up week begins. It should consider the different
cultures of the students. While I was thinking about different activities a question
came up: what actually IS culture?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was thinking about it for a long time (truly too
long, I was getting insane. Hmm, okay, for those of you who know me, I was kind
of crazy before... xD ) Sorry, back to topic. Culture. A huge part of my
bachelor thesis (yes, I graduated this year – you can extend your
congratulations to me later) was about culture and what it is all about. I was
talking to many people about what culture was for them and I got as many
different answers during these interviews. Some of them said it was the
behavior while others assumed it means values and someone else thought it is
the educational background of every single person. One of my interview partners
was convinced that we cannot define culture. And I’m with him ‘cause culture
has many different aspects and I’m certain that there are in fact thousands of
different cultures in the world. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Okay, this fact makes my task rather difficult. To
avoid dropping a brick I’ll refer to some theoretical culture theories from
Hofstede and Trompenaars & Hampden – Turner (clever minds – believe me).
When I was comparing the Swiss and Ethiopian culture I found out that we are
not as different as you may expect (in theory of course. Meeting and working
with people from other cultures is always a different kettle of fish). One of
the biggest differences you must consider when working with a stereotyped
Ethiopian is that family and friends have a very high significance (Swiss are
different – we hate our fellowmen. Just kidding ;) ). Within a work team the
success of a certain project is not as important as the developing relationship
between the team members. Have this in mind. Then the factor of time is not the
same as in Switzerland. Not at all. In Ethiopia time is more flexible. I was in
Ethiopia one year ago and it was rainy season – unfortunately for a
timetable-addicted Swiss. This not because it was wet and muddy, no, the reason
for it was that if it started raining all the Ethiopians were looking for
shelter so that they did not get wet. Actually quite comprehensible but this also
means that they’re waiting there until it stops raining even if they miss a
deadline, the bus or a meeting with the president.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I know, you all are desperately waiting on the
explanation of the post title. To feed or to be fed. Okay, this is meant
literally. To feed somebody with your right hand is the highest level of
showing respect in Ethiopia. So, if someone tries to feed you let it happen –
it’s a huge honour. It’s as simple as it sounds (okay, not that simple, ‘cause
you shouldn’t touch the feeding hand with your lips. No. Just don’t do it.).</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI6eoNrXnHx8VorAzKbEaHz8gka2IhSzLXZK8slMp7sFnKl8dIx-4knu7G86dY-eWqqzyb7n0U3SwLtTeqZGJDtwiR_8jw3vQnzkxEYFkVld8sXl-vWsaqem2tKPZ4EtS2mJq2fe0474UJ/s1600/ethiopia_flagge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI6eoNrXnHx8VorAzKbEaHz8gka2IhSzLXZK8slMp7sFnKl8dIx-4knu7G86dY-eWqqzyb7n0U3SwLtTeqZGJDtwiR_8jw3vQnzkxEYFkVld8sXl-vWsaqem2tKPZ4EtS2mJq2fe0474UJ/s1600/ethiopia_flagge.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To choose the right team building activity we also
need to look at the Swiss culture. You have to be patient my friends ‘cause
this will be the topic of my next post. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Over and out, Ari<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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</span></span><br />Arihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12612106958147092929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1691942701685801107.post-63224996796687629792014-08-11T13:48:00.000+02:002014-08-11T13:48:55.099+02:00YEEP what...?<br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hi guys</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
Have you ever been to Africa? And Ethiopia? What comes to your mind when you
think of it? Desert? Water shortage? Starving children?<br />
Hmm, not very motivating… What if I told you that there are universities with highly
motivated young people who want to actively develop themselves and their
country?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now you
think: “Okay, that all sounds cool but what has it to do with YEEP? And anyway,
what the hell is YEEP?” That’s why I will start introducing you to the Young
Entrepreneur Exchange Project (YEEP).</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiku3ioieUyHIahInPbj7PlAtXLQMVvlqZF-tEVxyx2iZ2GWzvIh28Hx4HV1fhDm_Ri2QwmowMlMGIfDs3T1iPaTNi7Yh78KetnjJ_FlyIuR9Wk5C72nHOul0wJp_3JT9JppWDAgzioq0nl/s1600/yeep_logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiku3ioieUyHIahInPbj7PlAtXLQMVvlqZF-tEVxyx2iZ2GWzvIh28Hx4HV1fhDm_Ri2QwmowMlMGIfDs3T1iPaTNi7Yh78KetnjJ_FlyIuR9Wk5C72nHOul0wJp_3JT9JppWDAgzioq0nl/s1600/yeep_logo.jpg" height="167" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">YEEP was launched in August 2013 in Hawassa (for all of you who slept during
geography classes – it’s in Ethiopia, East Africa) through the initiative and mediation
of Stephan Brun, president of the Business Machine (</span><a href="http://www.business-machine.org/"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">www.business-machine.org</span></a></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">).
It’s a joint initiative between the Bern University of Applied Sciences (BFH)
in Switzerland and the Hawassa University (HU) in Ethiopia in the area of entrepreneurship.
The aim of this project is to encourage Ethiopian students to become entrepreneurs
and to support them in establishing their own companies. The ultimate goal of
YEEP is to actively engage in generating new companies and hence new jobs which
in turn support economic development in Ethiopia.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">YEEP has
three phases during which Swiss and Ethiopian students develop, in teams, a
business idea using knowledge and competencies from both sides. In phase one
the Ethiopian students post their business ideas on our platform (</span><a href="http://www.yeeproject.org/"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">www.yeeproject.org</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
– don’t hesitate to visit our fabulous website) where both Swiss and Ethiopian
students can give feedback. In a first selection round, 20 to 25 business ideas
are chosen to be improved on in phase two. At the end of the second phase, and
the second round of selection, up to 7 business ideas – which implies seven
teams – are selected and promoted to phase three during which they also take
part in the start-up week in Hawassa in August. This start-up week represents
the end of phase three and simultaneously the highlight of the first “YEEP
year”. During the start-up week each team finalizes its business plan on which
it was working on together, via the internet, the months before. At the end of
the week the winning teams are announced following the submission of their
business plan and final ‘pitch’ presentation. The prize is a start-up package. This
will allow the teams to found their own company. Phuu, you survived the more
theoretical part of my blog entry which you may have found a bit boring.
Congratulations!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Where are
we now? My humble self is sitting in front of my laptop – still in Switzerland
and waiting impatiently to leave for Ethiopia. And where you are at the moment
– I have no idea. ;). Just kidding. We’re now in the middle of phase three
where the seven mixed teams are still working, as I said before via the
internet, on their business plans. On 20<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> August we fly to Addis
Abeba, the capital of Ethiopia. From there we’ll take a minibus (not as
comfortable as it sounds… but this will be part of one of my next posts) and
head down to Hawassa. On Monday, 25<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> August, the official part of
the start-up week begins.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have created
this blog in order to keep you guys up to date and interested in how this
project is developing. Before and during the start-up week I’ll write about the
business ideas, the teams and what’s going on in general. I’m sure there will
be many curious and funny stories and I’m really looking forward to sharing
them with you.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Salam
(which means goodbye in Amharic – the official language of Ethiopia. See,
you’ve already learned something :P)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Love, Ari<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Arihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12612106958147092929noreply@blogger.com1