Alem Katema
Our twin city in Ethiopia
Alem Katema or Alem Ketema means something like "world city" and is located in the Woreda (district) of Merhabete (North Shewa Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia, 10° 5′ 0″ North, 39° 2′ 0″ East). At the time of the association's founding, the settlement consisted of approximately 7,000 inhabitants, which corresponded to roughly 1,000 households.
Today, the town has grown to over 30,000 inhabitants, surpassing Vaterstetten. The Merhabete district has over 100,000 inhabitants. Politically, the town and district are separate – however, Alem Katema is the capital of Merhabete. Alem Katema lies on a plateau – approximately 2,300 meters above sea level – and is divided into three districts (kebeles). The mayor is not elected by the people but appointed by the government. Alem Katema has a hospital, two primary schools, a secondary school, a vocational school, two kindergartens, and a library. The hospital and most of the schools were financed and built by the "People for People" Foundation, which left Alem Katema as a project region a few years ago.
The capital, Addis Ababa, lies approximately 180 km further southwest and can be reached in half a day's journey. Electricity for the city is now supplied by a substation. While mobile phone reception is very stable, the internet connection experiences occasional, longer outages.
Our twin town was founded in the 1940s and was initially called "Alem Gebeya," which could mean "World Market." However, the Amharic word "alem" also means peace and joy, in addition to "world." The name was likely intended to express the population's joy at the new market, which had previously been located much further up the road to Zoma ("Ofina"). Shortly before the overthrow of Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974, Alem had grown so large that it was renamed "Ketema" (city) instead of "market."
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Our local partners
A key element of the partnership is our partners in Alem Katema. This group consists of dedicated citizens, teachers, and administrative staff who are actively involved in the projects and exchanges with Vaterstetten.
Our partners take on important tasks such as:
Selection and support of new projects
Coordination with schools, kindergartens and administration
Organization of cultural and community activities
Communication with the club in Vaterstetten
Thanks to our partners, our projects are implemented sustainably because decisions are made directly on site and adapted to the actual needs of the people.
Our Team in Alem Katema
Abebaw Birhanu Eshete
Abebaw began his professional career in Alem Katema as a teacher and headmaster of a secondary school. Since 2016, he has been the manager of the aid project "Die Ofenmacher eV" (The Stove Makers Association), overseeing local activities and strategic organization. His leadership role expanded in November 2021 when he assumed the position of Secretary of the Alem Katema Town Twinning Association (eV). He currently serves as Country Representative and Director of both Die Ofenmacher eV and the Alem Katema-Vaterstetten Partnership (eV).
Desalegn Wondimneh Afin
Desalegn has been committed to the town twinning with Alem Katema from the very beginning. As a teacher in Alem Katema, he initially managed the town twinning on a part-time basis, ensuring communication between the delegations from the two communities through translations into English. His work as a teacher has given him a close relationship with many residents of Alem Katema. Since 2014, he has been the full-time head of the Alem Katema twinning program.
Our nursery schools
The kindergartens are staffed by teachers who have completed the appropriate Ethiopian training program.
Since 2014, their salaries have been paid not by the association but by the city of Alem Katema, the local education authority. Since 2019, they have been directly assigned to the district’s Office of Education. We support their continuing education.
Team Parsdorf
Team Baldham
Team Vaterstetten