BY NEW BUSINESS ETHIOPIA REPORTER
The United States Ambassador to Ethiopia, Donald E. Booth, and his wife Anita Booth, visited Bahir Dar, the capital of Amhara Regional State from July 28-29, 2010 and met with regional and local officials.
They also visited U.S. assisted projects and programs, meet with American citizens and learned about economic development issues in the Amhara area, according to the press statement the Embassy sent to newbusinessethiopia.com.
Meanwhile the statement didn’t indicate how much funding the U.S. government has provided for these projects. The Ambassador was also accompanied by the Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Ethiopia, Dr. Thomas Kenyon, and other U.S. Embassy staff.
During his first visit to the Amhara region, Ambassador Booth paid calls on Regional State President Ayalew Gobeze and the Bahir Dar City Mayor Alemayehu Sewagegne, the statement noted.
He also had the opportunity to meet with religious leaders from Bahir Dar’s newly launched Interfaith Peace Building Council and hear about their efforts to promote tolerance and interfaith dialogue in the region.
Ambassador Booth and Dr. Kenyon visited the National Defense Force of Ethiopia (NDFE) barracks in Bahar Dar to witness the HIV-AIDS peer education and prevention program supported by the U.S. Government through a cooperative agreement with NDFE.
They also received a briefing on the NDFE’s Modeling and Reinforcement to Combat HIV/AIDS (MARCH) programs. Ambassador Booth and Dr. Kenyon also met with Bahir Dar University (BDU) President Yeshimebrat Mersha, and the directors of two innovative degree programs offered by the university in conjunction with two American universities, Arizona University and Cornell University.
BDU partners with Arizona University in offering a disaster risk reduction and sustainable development master’s degree program, and with Cornell in providing a watershed management and water supply master’s degree program. Both of these academic programs have received funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Ambassador Booth and seven U.S. Peace Corps Volunteers who are working in the Amhara region visited the Aba Megesha Geneme Public Library and Information Center where there is an American Corner Library supported by the U.S. Embassy.
