Goodbye and good luck Veronika

Today, Saturday night December 21^st, Veronika left, after having stayed  4 months with us. Veronika is a very interesting young Tsjech lady, doing her masters in Wageningen. She was here for her internship and lived with a farmers family in the countryside of Haile Mariam for several weeks, to learn out about collaboration and also how farmers associations  work. In the picture she is sitting between her 'hostfather' and her good friend Mamis, the translator, in the back of our car on the way home for a reunion. 

At the same time she got involved with artists associations in Addis Abeba, by which she got some very good friends, who also visited her in our house, so we also got acquainted with them. She has become a very dear friend, almost like an extra daughter, especially since  there are some similaraties between Veronika and our daughter Meike.

This  last day Veronica took me to several interesting shops to help her decide about presents to take home. We went to this shoemakers’shop. Amazing! The guy started 2 years ago and now has a well running business. All leather shoes, custom made, by hand. He copies fashionable models and makes them your size and colour, and – for European standards – very cheap. Of course I ordered a pair.

This Saturday afternoon, when Veronika was packing, she invited us to come to the front door to meet someone. This someone appeared to be her gift to us:  he looks like a shaman, but according to Veronika he is an angel, protecting our house, see picture. One of her artists friends made it from recycling materials. We are very happy with him and are already missing Veronica.