Jimma Town

Jimma town has river gardens with a muddy red river running through it as well as a bustling market area and palace. It also has a stadium which is used for big church services and concerts.



Jimma has two universities, one with a medical faculty and teaching hospital and a large agricultural college. The Agriculture college has a partnership with Truro College in Nova Scotia. I met two Canadian students from Nova Scotia who were working in the animal clinic and doing some associated research. They were having a great time and didn't want to leave.

This little girl just wanted her picture taken by the farengi which made a nice change from the more usual "you you you"!


Jimma is full of ambitious young people, several of whom were interested in speaking to me to practice their English and also to ask for my perspectives on career and other opportunities. I spent a few hours with two bright young natural resources students discussing agricultural practice, land issues and the potential for ecotourism in Ethiopia. I found one of their comments quite interesting; because the country is not industrialized, their aquifers have been protected from pollutants. If these two students are given opportunities to contribute, Ethiopia will benefit immensely.

And of course, I also had another not-so-good Jimma moment when two young men stole my locket off my neck. I was walking just on the outskirts of town on a Sunday afternoon and these two young men began to talk to me. I dropped my guard for a few minutes and after dropping behind me, one ran up and snatched my necklace off my neck. The police did a great job of investigating and brought two suspects into the station for me to identify but in both cases, I wasn't 100% positive and didn't want to send the wrong people to jail. Anyway, I am unharmed and will be much more cautious about walking on my own in the future.