COMESA/LLPI Welfare Committee organized Farewell Program for two of LLPI's long serving Senior Staff Members for their retired on 30th of December 2016.
Mr. Zewdu Kebede, who was working as Programmes Coordinator and Dr. Tadesse Hailemariam who was working as Training, Consultancy and Extension Service Expert had server the Institute for more than 14 and 13 years respectively.
Prof. Mwinyikione Mwinyihija, Executive Director of COMESA/LLPI, thanked the two retired Staff Members for their unconditional service during the service period. He also boldly said that the Staff Members are always welcomed to the Institutes to support and visit our activities.
Mr. Zewdu Kebede forwarded the following message:
"Thank you all for your COLLEAGUESHIP during the past 14 years and 8.5 months of my tenure in our Institute - COMESA/LLPI. Keep it striding & growing continually at Regional, Continental & Global levels.
GOOD BYE
&
GOD BLESS YOU ALL
Also
MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEA 2017"
The following message was forwarded by Dr. Tadesse Hailemariam:
30th December 2016
COMESA/LLPI Cafeteria,
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
1400 hours
Colleagues and friends:
Thank you for your kind acknowledgement of my contribution to LLPI and the token which I will never forget the Token and You !!
I want to start this informal speech with an inspirational quote of Pearl Buck:
“The secret of joy in work is contained in one word-Excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it”.
I remember what it took me to get here, and I know for a fact that the career experience was a blessing. I remember applying to COMESA/LLPI as an eager expert to work as a National Coordinator for Adding Value for African Leather (AVAL) Project, with a set of skills that I was ready to apply in the real world. I survived a challenging technical interview, but somehow the pain was followed by pleasure, because I have found myself surrounded by like-minded individuals who are passionate about the work they do.
Today we are 28 staff in number, but back in 2003 : The deceased Director Dr. Geremew Debelie, Mr. Zewdu Kebede, Mrs. Tigist Hailgiorgis, Mr Wodwossen Ayele, Mrs. Aster Shiferaw, Mrs. Yenenesh Asefa and myself were the only 7 staff members who used to run the Regional Institute, LLPI.
Back then, we did not have all the advances in technology that the current newbie have, technical (professional) Experts and all that efforts with few manpower has paid, because as you can see from the result, LLPI has grown and the number of staff grew up to 28. Under the expertise of its entire staff we have today developed into the multi-national regional Institute we are today.
I want to expand on how much I enjoyed the experiences of working with all my previous and current colleagues and the current hard working and prudent ED. I am really honored to deliver my last words for my retirement from COMESA/LLPI as Training, Consultancy and Extension Expert. I welcome all of you to this very special, bitter-sweet occasion.
I have spent more than thirteen years with some of you at this Institute as an Expert. I am very delighted to say that you – my seniors, colleagues, and friends gave me the best working environment and conditions to exercise my duties. I now feel, after these years of service to LLPI, that it is the right time to whisper my farewell Toast before the end my retirement period according to the Institute’s Rules and Regulations.
During my tenure, I had a chance to learn many things that have helped both in my private life, as well as in my working life. I managed to come across and make many friends who stood with me even in times of upheavals. I have also learned key skills from LLPI. In an attempt to mention a few, these skills include management ability, honesty, and teamwork.
As it is clearly evident, we have achieved a lot by working in harmony as a Regional Leather and Leather Products Institute. We have scooped countless awards due to our services and dedication towards achieving our objectives.
Were it not for the effort by each and every individual in this Institute this would not have been possible. For lack of a better word, I can confidently claim that my career at this office has been brilliant due to the support, appreciation, encouragement, and cooperation I have received from all of you.
By working together as a team we have achieved more than what we even expected. I, therefore, take this special moment to express my sincere gratitude to all of you for your commitment towards ensuring that this Institute grows beyond expectations. As the saying goes time flew on rosy wing and brought me to the present to say today in front of you COMESA/LLPI will definitely keep on functioning without me as an individual since I am blessed with reaching the retirement age as of January 1st 2017. I am sad because I am going to miss such an environment.
LLPI is proud to be recognized as the best Regional Institute of the COMESA by Apex bodies, like the COMESA Council of Ministers, Member States and others. This apparently manifests the truth that all of you have worked so hard to see to the success of our Regional Institute and always remember, according to Chinese or African or else proverbs “One generation plants the trees, another gets the shades”
I wish to express my special thanks to all of you and any other stakeholder dedicated towards our success.
Last but not least, I may have confronted or opposed you in our common and mutual work interaction. I sincerely beg you your usual understanding and respectfully urge you to grant my replacement the courtesy you had bestowed upon me.
The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, answered: “Man. Because he scarifies his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future, he lives as if he is never going to retire and eventually die, and then dies having never really lived”
Goodbyes are not forever.
Goodbyes are not the end.
They simply mean I’ll miss you
until we meet again!
As I leave, I want to wish everybody all the best in your endeavors and LLPI success beyond limits. Thank you very much and love you all from my bottom heart.