One of our students won the Ethio-WAITERs competition and festival in August! Enjoy reading this report about the special competition day at which the intensive training finally paid off of for all our three PROJECT-E finalists.

The final of the fourth Ethio-WAITERs competition and festival was held on August 25, 2016 at the Eliana Hotel in Piassa. Three students from PROJECT-E, Selamawit, Yemisirach and Geremech, took part in the final competition between twenty competitors. 150 participants had initially signed up for the competition; however, the number was narrowed down to twenty after a six-weeks-long training and selection process. The stakes were high for the contestants as the grand prize was a study scholarship either at the Ibex College or Damat College in Addis Ababa. The students of PROJECT-E were standing out from the beginning of the competition as they were the only ones dressed in appropriate waitress’s uniform, completed with a waiter’s cloth.

The competition was judged based on self-expression, confidence, grooming, as well as on knowledge and skill of food and beverage service. During the first stage the students of PROJECT-E expressed themselves exquisitely, however only two, Selamawit and Geremech, were able to pass on to the next competition level together with ten remaining contestants. The girls breathed through the next stage which tested their theoretical knowledge of food and beverage service, and made it to the top six. All of the finalists and the PROJECT-E team were excited when it was revealed at this stage that all of the top six finalists will receive the study scholarships.

When the competition neared the end, all the top six, including our two students had already acquired the prize, although they still had to exhibit their abilities of properly setting up a dining table to pass on to the top three. The judges took a few minutes to deliberate on who would be the winner and finally revealed that it was indeed our own Selamawit who was the winner.

We are extremly proud of her achievement and of the achievement of the other two candidates. Next to experienced waiters and restaurant personel, the three of them delivered an impressive performance all the way to the final of the competition!

Written by Rediet Abebe Kabeta