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A Trip to the DDR - "The Journey of my Life"

Chapter 10: 30 Years Later

21 Nov 2017 by Michael Geithner
30 years have gone by since Shimelis visited the DDR in 1987, 30 years later the once 14-year-old boy has grown up and built a whole new life in Ethiopia. In the last part of this story, Shimelis takes us into his present life and how his journey into the DDR still impacts his life.
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A Trip to the DDR - "The Journey of my Life"

Chapter 9: Good bye DDR!

14 Nov 2017 by Michael Geithner
"I wish I could have lived with those kind people forever." Time went by too fast for Shimelis, who visited the DDR in 1987. After some months outside of Ethiopia and it's troubles there, it was time to say goodbye and go back. Not a simple task for the 14-year-old boy.
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A Trip to the DDR - "The Journey of my Life"

Chapter 7: The Kissing Issue

31 Oct 2017 by Michael Geithner
1987 in Ethiopia. Shimelis lived in a camp for children who became victims of the war. One day he was allowed to visit the DDR - a life changing experience. It was the first and only time for him to visit another country. For a couple of months he visited the Pioneer Republic "Wilhelm Pieck". It was a time of many "firsts".
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A Trip to the DDR - "The Journey of my Life"

Chapter 6: Pioneer Republic "Wilhelm Pieck"

24 Oct 2017 by Michael Geithner
Shimelis arrived at night in the Pioneer Republic "Wilhelm Pieck". After his flight with Interflug from Ethiopia and one culture shock after the other he finally arrived in the DDR. Slowly, he started to make friends and felt comfortable in the new world he was thrown into.
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A Trip to the DDR - "The Journey of my Life"

Chapter 5: Welcome to the DDR

17 Oct 2017 by Michael Geithner
A few weeks ago, Shimelis sent a shout-out for his old friends, and one heard the call. Constanze Prehl was still an amharic student, when she was sent to Pionierrepublik "Wilhelm Pieck" as an interpreter for a delegation of young ethiopians. Shimelis remembers her from the second on he stepped out of the Interflug airplane.
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A trip to the DDR - "The journey of my life"

Chapter 3: New Horizons

3 Oct 2017 by Michael Geithner
Shimelis Haile Aga was born into Ethiopia's chaotic times of war. He was sent into a children's camp with many other kids who's families became the victims of the war. Some chosen children were allowed to join an exchange program to other socialist countries in the world. After years of waiting, he was finally chosen too, but everything went different to what he expected.
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A Trip to the DDR - "The Journey of my Life"

Chapter 2: Living on the Battlefield

26 Sep 2017 by Michael Geithner
Shimelis Haile Aga visited the DDR in 1987. He still remebers his journey vividly, also because his story began far less memorable. It all started in the troubling times of war between Ethiopia and Somalia. As many young men, also Shimelis' father was sent to the battlefield, and thousands of families and children were left behind.
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A Trip to the DDR - "The Journey of my Life"

Chapter 1: Born into Chaos

19 Sep 2017 by Michael Geithner
Meet Shimelis Haile Aga, 44 years old, born and raised in Ethiopia. The only other country he has ever seen, does'nt exist anymore. Today he tells the story about his trip to the DDR - the journey of his life - a story, that begins in Ethiopia's troubled late 1970s.
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A Trip to the DDR - "The Journey of my Life"

Introduction: Looking for old Friends

12 Sep 2017 by Michael Geithner
A trip to the DDR changed his life: This is the story of the ethiopian Shimelis Haile Aga, who visited the DDR in 1987 - the only other country he has ever seen since. In a series of ten articles, he will tell his story of war and confusion, and the short escape with Interflug to a wonderland named DDR.
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