Case to develop research relationships with sister city Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
July 16, 2004 | For more information: Jeff Bendix (216)-368-6070
When Cleveland becomes a sister city to Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, Case Western Reserve University will be poised to make the most of the relationship to foster scientific research and student and faculty exchanges.
A signing ceremony formalizing the sister city relationship will take place in Cleveland July 21. Case, through Deputy Provost Lynn Singer, is sponsoring two scientists from Bahir Dar University to be part of the city’s delegation coming to Cleveland for the signing. Others in the delegation include the mayor of Bahir Dar, the president of Bahir Dar University, its vice president of research, the director of the Bahir Dar hospital, and the head of the chamber of commerce. The delegation will meet with members of Case’s administration to explore potential collaborations on a number of topics.
The signing ceremony and visit are timed to coincide with the International Children’s Games being held in Cleveland beginning July 30. Two children from Ethiopia will be participating in the games supported by donations from members of the local Ethiopian community.
Like Cleveland, Bahir Dar is located next to a large lake, Lake Tana. In common with Lake Erie, Lake Tana faces challenges to its ecology due to development in its surrounding ecosystem. Joseph Koonce, professor and chair of Case’s biology department, said the scientists from Bahir Dar will learn about Case’s ongoing research projects involving Lake Erie’s ecology, and explore some of the lake’s tributaries. They will also learn about research projects on schistosomiasis (a parasitic disease caught as a result of contact with infected snails) in Case’s School of Medicine being conducted by Charles King of the Department of Global Health and Disease.
Cynthia Beall, the Sarah Idell Pyle Professor of Anthropology and a member of the committee that established the sister city relationship, said she hopes to visit Bahir Dar while furthering her research into human adaptation to high altitude environments. Bahir Dar is capital of the administrative region containing a medical school (Gonder College of Medical Sciences) and highland areas in the Semien Mountains National Park. Other Case faculty performing research in Ethiopia include Bruce Latimer, adjunct professor of anthropology and anatomy and director of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History; Yohannes Hailie-Selassie, adjunct professor of anthropology and curator of physical anthropology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History; and Scott Simpson, adjunct professor of anthropology and professor of anatomy.
The driving force behind the Cleveland-Bahir Dar sister city relationship has been Carl Robson, a physician in family practice and assistant clinical professor in family medicine at Case’s School of Medicine and a graduate of the school. Robson explains that he “fell in love” with Ethiopia when visiting the country in the early 1980’s. Ten years later he married Senait Shiferaw, an Ethiopian nurse who had immigrated to Cleveland.
In 1997, while on another trip to Ethiopia, Robson learned that the city he was visiting was a sister city to Denver. “That’s when the idea was born in my mind, that a sister city relationship could open a lot of doors for mutual exchange and positive development,” Robson said. He felt that Bahir Dar would be a good candidate because of its proximity to Lake Tana and because it was a regional capital.
With the help of local members of the Ethiopian community, Robson formed a committee, including Aklilu Demesse, Daniel Atnafu, and Hailie-Selassie, to explore the idea of a sister-city relationship and contacted officials in Bahir Dar. Officials in both cities readily agreed to the idea. Each side began developing potential projects in areas of commerce, culture, education, and humanitarian assistance.
Some projects are already under way, Robson said, including sorting through 7,500 pounds of medical supplies to be shipped to Bahir Dar hospital. Background work on the fisheries project has resulted in Case’s sponsoring Eshete Dejen and Mulugeta Kibret, the two Lake Tana scientists in the delegation
The signing ceremony will take place at 6 p.m. at Empress Taytu Ethiopian restaurant, 6125 St. Clair Ave.
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