Background
Bachelor degree in Public Health from Alemaya University, Ethiopia, and Master of Nutrition from Gent University, Belgium. Worked as a program officer on HIV/AIDS projects in international non-governmental organization. Lecturer and researcher of public health in Faculty of Medicine, Mekelle University
On writing the master thesis
As a self-financing student, it was difficult to just follow your interest on the topic selection. Therefore, I had several discussions with professors about their research interest and available projects that could also provide me a future opportunity, and then I used resources, networks and collaboration in the project to conduct the research.
On the study environment
Studying in an international setting was impressive. We had a lot of knowledge to share with each other. Besides from that, living in Norway was quite cold and expensive.
Lessons learned
One of the highlights of these two years was the practical experience I got during the data collection period in Ethiopian prisons where I worked as a manager, accountant, data collector and laboratory technician in the field. I learned to be an independent researcher.
After graduation
I got a job as a researcher, working for the Norwegian Center for Minority Health Research (NAKMI).