Networker

On Tuesday during the opening ceremony I spoke in the courtyard with one
of the trainees, named Esa, that came to the center to study mechanical
engineering. Esa told me that he is interested in getting more practical
training during the three months he'll spend at this center, since his
university education was about 75% theoretical and only 25% practical
learning. Nevertheless, he is rather motivated to succeed in life and he
told me that he hopes I might be able to provide him with any
information about graduate programs abroad or scholarships that might be
available. Esa also said that sometimes he regrets having studied
mechanical engineering in Ethiopia because there are hardly any jobs
here and he feels limited now. He hopes to one day move overseas like so
many other Ethiopians have done, and get a job in his field.
Esa is a nice young man and I can appreciate his making the effort to
network while at this training center. I wish I knew more opportunities
for people like him that I could recommend, but I did suggest that he
talk to the Ethiopian instructors at the center as well since most of
them have been overseas and are actually rather well connected.