living in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia

Last activity 31 July 2013 by workforce10

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zooranMember09 August 2012 18:17:11

This is probably a very diffuse question to ask but any help or clearing would be appreciated!

We´ve been thinking about, as a family, to move to Dire Dawa for a few years. And I don´t know how to look at it!! How is that city to live in? I have no clue

We have three young children (below school age), how would it be for them? Are there any other westerners there? Any international daycare available (or do people hire a nanny?) Are there any things to do for fun as a family/for the kids. Is it easy to get to know local families and their children? Is their any international church?

Me and my husband have been living in more odd countries then Ethiopia, in much more rural areas then I imagine Dire Dawa is - and we loved it! It´s been easy for us to adjust and we didn´t need much of entertainment, just loved to get to know the locals and the new culture. But it feels so different this time, to go with our kids!!! I need it to be good for them!

Anyone having any input? As you understand, this is just my first small look into the whole thing.

Thanks!

ChristineViP10 August 2012 06:23:58

42879

Hi zooran,

welcome to Expat.com!

Thank you for this introduction. I hope other members will be able to help you.

All the best,
Christine

ethioboy123Guest10 August 2012 09:32:59

214245

dire dawa is very famous for the most friendly ppls in the country and has well design of the city and you can hire nanny for your childrens and you can take them to swimming pool on the weekend.
definetly you will like it but the town is hot temprature.
sol

Dannii69New member11 August 2012 14:04:36

Hi Zooran

I am going to use my example when I took up employment from Namibia to Sierra Leone: The first place I went to was the equivalent line ministry (mostly Foreign Affairs or International Relations) who typically will have the required factual information, plus the requisite Embassy of the country you want to relocate to (in this case Ethiopia). They are usually very helpful.

I would suggest you approach the embassy first, get as much information as possible and draw up a check list to help you maintain some sense of what else you need to find out.

Secondly, I bought the Lonely Planet Guide: Africa (12th Edition ISBN 978-1-7-74104-988-6 USD36.99) and these guides have tons of lots of information that is factual, up to date and relevant. Also, you can get the Bradt Guides to a particular country (bradtguides.com/Book/568/Ethiopia.html) which is an exhaustive resources of very factual and good information on a particular country including the main towns et al. I see the Ethiopia Guide (6th Edition) is only due in September 2012 (ISBN: 9781841624143) but ISBN: 9781841622842 is available and is a comprehensive resources.

Hope this goes a little way in pointing you into some sort of a direction. Good luck

workforce10Member31 July 2013 17:41:46

Greeting I am new to this forum. I lived in Ethiopia for one year. Great people and with a strong culture. !3 months of sunshine is does not get better than that (smile).

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