The 125 years old Addis Abeba seems to be at a threshold of a major socio-economic shift. As the middle class urbanite poised to reach a significant mass, the city has become a sea of changes, transforming at a breakneck speed. The infrastructure setting and the material needs of this growing cosmopolitan society is growing by the day. Numerous massive infrastructure projects are under way and different buildings are popping up here and there. But, the number of upcoming buildings may not be good enough to tell the whole story any more. Beyond this surprising structural development in the City, life has not just been what used to be for the city dwellers. From automating the daily life to a high demand of a world class comfort, life of the Addis Abebans seems to be changing for the better.

If you go to Mesalemiya, near Africa’s largest open air market Merkato, you likely find yourself dodging cars, pedestrians, donkeys and carts struggling to reach their destinations. And adjacent to this world where traders and buyers barter loudly all day and grain is unloaded from dusk till dawn; you will also come upon the entrance gate for Ethiopia’s only public mental hospital, Amanuel Specialized Hospital.

In Ethiopia, prosecution for corruption has been rare, which is why establishing the Federal Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission (FEACC), in 2001, was seen as a ‘game-changing’ move by the government. Although there have been notable arrests in the past such as Tamirat Layne, prime minister of the transitional government, Siye Abraha, former minister of defence and Abate Kisho, former president of the Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Region, some argue that arrests were politically motivated and that corruption from big players on Ethiopia’s political and economic stage went un-checked by an enforcement body seen as weak and a public seen as apathetic.

One of the videos recently posted on the official website of Project Hopeful, an advocacy group for adopting children with HIV/ AIDS based in the USA, shows the testimony of a fourteen year old Ethiopian girl. The girl named Selah Twietmayer narrates her adoption story, how she was saved by the Twietmayers family from an orphanage in Ethiopia, where she lived as an HIV infected orphan.

With its ancient and complex history, tradition and ceremonies, Ethiopia has not only left the relics of a distinctive past in the form of tangible monuments, churches and castles, but has also held on tightly to its variety of rich, deep-rooted religious and secular traditions. Not only is preserving Ethiopia’s unique culture vital from a historical perspective, its untapped tourism potential is a powerful tool for economic development. Addis Abeba is comparatively young and it has not yet lived up to its promise of attracting a large number of tourists to visit the country’s historical sites. Conferences have been booming in Addis and have brought a plethora of new hotels to the city and tourism is on the brink of major change. The sheer number of foreigners that come to the capital simply for business and conferences has catapulted in the past several years and the impact can be seen in all the hotels being constructed.

Addisu Menegesha, 29, posed for a photo infront of a white board at Esmile Internet Café in Autobis Tera district of the capital, Addis Ababa.

Addisu was having his picture taken for an electronic form to enter a United States Government run visa lottery program. In this lottery program, commonly known as Diversity Visas (DV), people worldwide enter their applications online. US officials say a computer-generated, random lottery drawing picks the winners.