In addition to a delegation of the WaterFoundation from Germany, numerous Ethiopian representatives from politics, industry and administration were present when the 60-year-old engineer Fekadu Aleka was awarded the Hundertwasser Prize 2020 for his merits at a ceremony in the German embassy.
The International Hundertwasser Prize, which is endowed with 5,000 euros, was awarded for the seventh time. It commemorates Friedensreich Hundertwasser, who as an artist and eco-activist was committed to the preservation of water as a vital resource.
Ambassador Brita Wagener welcomed the numerous guests at her official residence in Addis Ababa.
The board members of the WasserStiftung, Henner Lang and Dr. Beate Grotehans, presented Fekadu Aleka with the Hundertwasser Prize certificate.
Although the modest and media-shy award winner Fekadu Aleka does not like to be in the limelight, his joy about the award was yet obvious.
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Prof. Dr. Ing. Martin Grambow, Head of the Department of Water Management and Soil Protection in the Bavarian State Ministry for the Environment and Consumer Protection, gave the laudatory speech. Among other things, he pointed out the complex effects of “Integrated Water Resource Management”. In addition to the positive effects on people’s health, he said, the social as well as the economic effects were considerable. The availability of clean water is the basic resource for combining health, freedom, peace and social justice. Fekadu Aleka has taken up the fight for this with his many years of work and enormous commitment. In his country of birth, he is a renowned specialist as well as a communicator, knowledge mediator and diplomat, who is listened to and respected on all sides.
Friends and family were part of the party.
(c) Fotos: Stefan Grotehans
Video Fekadu Aleka in Ethiopia
Radio show:
Bayerischer Rundfunk/Hörfunk, 20.3.2020
Bayern 2 – radioReportage
Held des Wassers – Fekadu Alekas Entwicklungsarbeit in Äthiopien
Wasser ist Leben. In Äthiopien aber fehlt es an Infrastruktur, um Quellen nutzbar zu machen. Der äthiopische Ingenieur Fekadu Aleka hat sein Leben in Deutschland hinter sich gelassen, um mit Wasserprojekten seiner Heimat zu helfen.
Eine Sendung von Stephanie Metzger
(27 min.)