Gondar, ETHIOPIA
Airing Date: Mar 3rd, 2007
Ethiopia is the oldest independent nation in Africa and is approximately five times the size of the UK and just less than twice the size of Texas. It is made up of a mosaic of people with over 80 different languages and as many cultures.
Addis Ababa, its capital, is at the geographic centre of the nation and the name Addis Ababa means 'new flower'. The city has a population of about 3.5 - 4 million.
Gondar used to be the capital of Ethiopia and what makes the Gondar castles so fascinating is their setting. Here they are in a remote part of Africa, built by Africans in the 17th century, at a time when all Africans were considered by Europeans to be barbarians in mud huts.
The Ploughshare Craft Training Centre is a not for profit, non government organisation and was established in 1996 in a town called
Woleka, 3kms north of Gondar.
The main objective of the centre is to train poor widows and unmarried women in traditional and modern pottery, weaving and vegetable production to improve and support the lives of the trainee and their families.
The bigger objective is to build up the skills of the trainee based on their interests and ability so that this leads to long term employment and the trainees and community benefit from the sale of their products. You will be able to purchase their crafts and they even sell them at the airport.
