They are spending the period from February until August at Mekelle University in Tigray Region. The educational institution is part of an institutional collaboration between Mekelle-Hawassa Universities and the Norwegian University for Life Science -UMB funded by the embassy. The NGO Development Funds program funded by the Embassy also has important research and development collaboration with Mekelle University.
When speaking to the embassy staff, the students emphasized the added value of the exchange program in addition to the educational aspects:
- For me, interaction with the other students as well as the local university staff gives me a lot in addition to the academical aspects of the studies, said Martin Mailosi Morgan from Malawi.
- In the future, we will be working much more internationally than before, and this stay is a good preparation in terms of developing for that future, said Nantongo Mary Gorret from Uganda.
Hanna Schanke is in Mekelle as part of her Master’s Programme at Norwegian University of Life Science. She is in the process of taking Amharic classes, and interacts a lot with the other exchange students outside of learning-hours.
-I am happy that we got a chance to meet with the NOMA students. It was inspiring to hear about their experiences, and it is good to see the close cooperation between universities in the South as well as Norwegian educational institutions, concludes Bente Nilson, Head of development at the Embassy of Norway.
Read more about NOMA on:
http://www.norway.org.et/News_and_events/education/Good-results-of-higher-education-and-research-programmes-in-Ethiopia/
http://www.norway.org.et/News_and_events/education/bente_nufu/