Finally the time has come! Anita Tun, our new manager for the L’ESPERANCE Children’s and School Village Akaki in Ethiopia, could start her work at the end of June.

For one year, applications and documents were submitted to the Ethiopian authorities. Again and again, new documents were requested, which had never been mentioned before. Several times Anita had to leave the country because her tourist visa had expired and a work visa simply could not be obtained. For months she assisted in the school village Kigarama, Rwanda and in the children and school village Kinyo, Uganda, because she was not allowed to re-enter Ethiopia.

The previous manager, Yewubnseh Dando, actually wanted to retire for quite some time. Time and again, she had to postpone it. But again and again she agreed to continue, so that the children’s village would not suddenly be without management.

In June, finally, the breakthrough. Gerhard Hermann, president of L’ESPERANCE International, and Tadesse Adugna, president of the East Ethiopian association, addressed the Ministry of Labor.

This visit was obviously accompanied by a lot of prayers, because the official in charge actually had an understanding in the course of the conversation.

One last time, Anita had to leave the country at the end of May to enter with the “right” visa. With this, she finally applied for the work permit and could finally start working at the end of June.

However, our previous manager, Yewubnesh, is not retiring until the end of July to ensure a smooth transition.

A big thank you to both Anita for her incredible perseverance, and to Yewubnesh for her willingness to keep going!