One of the worst hit areas during the 80's famines was the area around Babille, due East and South of Harar.

 

The reasons for this are varied. The area is very arid at the best of times and there is negligible infrastructure, which is further hindered by the dispute between the ONLF (Ogaden National Liberation Front) and the Ethiopian government.  Many areas are littered with landmines, and virtually no aid agencies are supporting these territories (Fik and surrounds).

 

Alchemy World, being security conscious, has determined its AWSEC location in Harar and students from Babille are looked after in Alchemy World lodgings in Harar at no cost.

 

Thanks to the generous patronage of Webmart, students that launch software development businesses will find a customer already in Webmart itself.

 

The Harar - Babille AWSEC is named The Webmart Business School and has launched operations on March 1st 2008 with a class of 30 students. 20 of them are girls.

 

Operationally, we had the benefit of an informal field partnership with German NGO "Menschen für Menschen", who have been providing us with initial help, advice and project management in situ.