New Twin Towns Witten-Germany and Mekelle-Ethiopia

The capital of the northern province Tigray Mekelle is one of the major destinations of the efforts from Ethiopia-Witten Association to bring knowledge and experience in modern medical, technical and administrative fields to Ethiopia, focusing on Mekelle Ayder University Health Campus and public institutions of Mekelle town. As twin towns the connection between Witten and Mekelle will be deepened and a continuous exchange on technical and cultural basis will be established.

More about Witten Town in Germany
The area of Witten is 7.200 ha. It is a steel- and engineering industry town. Since 1982 also an university city in the Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis (district) in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the home of the Witten/Herdecke University, the first private university in Germany. Its population is about 100.000 inhabitants. It is situated in the north western part of German in the "Ruhrgebiet" the biggest agglomeration of industrial towns in Germany.
Their hight is about 100 m above see level. The climate is temperate with annual rainfall of 750 mm with maximum in summer time. Average annual temperature is 9°C to 10°C (January 3.1°C, August 18,6°C). There are two well equipped hospitals, the „Marienhospital“ and the „Evangelische Krankenhaus“.  70% are protestants, 25 % roman catholic and less than 5% Muslims.
There is a shopping area designed as pedestrian zone,  17 elementary and 8 high-schools of different types, several museums, and theater. Witten is very well connected to the „Autobahn“ system and the German train network.

Witten Downtown

 

More about Mekelle Town in Ethiopia:
Mekelle is the capital of the northern Ethiopian province Tigray. It is the second biggest town in Ethiopia. The area of the city Mekelle is 20,605.11 ha. Their height is 2150-2500m above see level, average annual temperature is 17.6°C  and the average annual rainfall is 671 mm. The population of the city is 380,000. 96% are speaking the local Tigrinya language. 91% practice Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity. 8% are Muslims.
It is fast becoming an economic hub and educational center, boasting a new airport, medical school, teaching hospital and opportunities in tourism, agriculture (bees, poultry, livestock) agro-processing (honey, dairy, leather) and solar, with more "blue-sky" days than most spots on the planet.
Economic structure:
There are 512 manufacturing, 280 wholesale stores, 7887 retail stores, five gas stations, nine banks, 54 private kindergartens, 28 primary schools; 58 high schools, 17 senior secondary schools; 11 Preparatory Schools, 19 TVETs, 17 universities and a state university, 3 hospitals, 9 health centers, 38 private clinics and 25 private pharmacies.

Mekelle small road in the traditional town center

Mekelle Woyane Market with grass sellers for the coffee ceremony