Worku Girma spent nearly two years looking, unsuccessfully, for work after graduating in Law from Wollega University, one of the recently established higher institutions in the country. Back then, he would probably never have imagined that he would be a designer at a shoe factory for a Chinese company. Yet, that was what happened after he completed three weeks of training the company gives for new employees. He currently works for Huajian International Shoe City, which is one of the companies nested in the Eastern Industrial Zone.

Almost 100 years before Columbus discovered America, a Chinese explorer named Zheng He (also known as Cheng Ho) led seven expeditions from China all the way to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. His ships are said to dwarf anything sailed by later European explorers and continue to amaze today. In all, it is estimated that he had between 48 to 317 ships with a crew of over 28,000 men. During each of Zheng’s voyages, he brought back diplomats from other countries or encouraged ambassadors to go to the capital Nanjing on their own, according to historical records.