PROJECT TEAM

Kibur Engdawork (PhD) is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Sociology, at Addis Ababa University. Kibur graduated his PhD in 2019 from Addis Ababa University. He has been working on social efforts that aim at reducing stigma and improve the health behavior of people in rural areas. So far, he co-authored three articles on podoconiosis in reputable peer-reviewed journals. And he presented his study findings in several international conferences. Kibur has a credited certificate in Qualitative and Mixed Methodology in International Health Research from Beligium’s Institute of Tropical Medicine. He also obtained a certificate in Introduction to Stata and Data Management & Statistical Analysis Using Stata Course from Imperial College, London, UK. He further received a certificate in grant proposal writing from University of Cologne. He was a visiting student fellow at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, UK in 2018. Kibur has been actively involved in teaching and supervising undergraduate and graduate students in Addis Ababa University. He has recently been awarded a post-doctoral research fellowship for Social Sciences for Severe Stigmatizing Skin Diseases (5S foundation) at Organization for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA), funded through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).

Role in the Project: Post-doctoral research fellow

Addisu Tsegaye, after completing his BA in Sociology from the University of Gondar, Addisu began professional career at Bale Mountains National Park as a Community Services Expert.  As a junior sociologist, Addisu worked closely with local communities living in nearby areas of the park. He helped the park establish and strengthen ecotourism activities to diversify the livelihoods of communities while promoting their contribution to sustainable park conservation. Other responsibilities included community outreach, strengthening the relationships between the park and stakeholders and mitigation of human-wildlife conflict. Since 2014, Addisu has entered teaching profession at Wollo University and has served as a graduate assistant lecturer and as a full instructor.  Besides teaching undergraduate sociology courses, he had also chaired the department for one year until his move to Addis Ababa University for MA study in Sociology. He actively engaged in community services at Wollo University and provided trainings for the local government offices and community representatives on illegal migration, gender, harmful traditional practices, and community health insurance. Addisu’s MA thesis focused on how women make fertility control and abortion decisions amid competing discourses, condemning religious interpretations and stigmatizing socio-cultural normative processes. This research project sparked his ambition to study health topics from sociological and social sciences perspectives. Currently, Addisu is a PhD fellow at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, and his research project will explore how precarity and marginalization affect refugees’ vulnerability to, illness experience of and responses to scabies in refugee camps in Ethiopia.    

Role in the project: PhD Student at Brighton and Sussex Medical School
E-mail:  A.  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.   or  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  
Tel: +251913419661

Dereje Wonde studied sociology at the University of Gondar in his undergrad level and obtained a master’s degree in sociology from Addis Ababa University. He has been an academic staff in Jimma University since 2011.  Dereje is interested in researching the socio-cultural dimensions of health and illness, the structural factors affecting the health behavior of individuals, and health problems of vulnerable groups. His master’s thesis examines the barriers and facilitators of health seeking behavior and health service utilizations of rural people from healthcare facilities. In his research endeavors, Dereje emphasizes to scrutinize the connection between personal sufferings and structural forces as an analytical framework to understand the role of contextual factors and social roots of health problems. He also strives to integrate the political economy approach in his works to nurture the critical understanding of social phenomenon.  Currently, Dereje is a PhD student at 5-S foundation in BSMS. His PhD project aims to understand the socio-economic and political causes and consequences of scabies. In his project, Dereje seeks to investigate the everyday life of people affected with scabies by exploring the lived experience of scabies victims and community perceptions and reactions towards scabies in the Amhara Regional State of Ethiopia.

Selected Publications: Million Tesfaye, Baeumler PI, Siebeck M, Markos Tesfaye, Dereje Wonde,Haileamlak A., et al. (2019). The views of patients, healthcare professionals and hospital officials on barriers to and facilitators of quality pain management in Ethiopian hospitals: A qualitative study.

PLoSONE, 14(3): https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0213644.Dereje Wonde and Amanti Baru. (2019). The Perils of Chronic Illnesses: Patients Lived Experience and Societal Reactions in Central and South-western Ethiopia. Innovative Issues and
Approaches in Social Sciences, 12(2): 114-136. Amanti Baru, Dereje Wonde, & Nega Jibat. (2018). Socio-economic situation of the elderly in Jimma Zone, Oromia/ Ethiopia. Ethiop.j.soc.lang.stud. 5(2):3-22, http://www.ju.edu.et/cssljournal/.ojs.ju.edu.et. Dereje Wonde & Amanti Baru. (2018). Healthcare seeking behavior and lifestyle modifications among chronic illness patients in central and southwestern Ethiopia.

Ethiop.j.soc.lang.stud. 5(2):23-42, http://www.ju.edu.et/cssljournal/.ojs.ju.edu.et.  Dereje wonde and Getnet Tadele. (2016). Impediments of health seeking behavior and health service utilization from healthcare facilities in a rural community in East Gojjam Zone, Ethiopia.
Ethiopian Journal of Health Development, 29(2):99-110.  

Role in the project: PhD Student at Brighton and Sussex Medical School

Garedew Yilma, Academic Qualification: Master's Degree focused in Development studies majoring Sociology from Lund University, Sweden and Bachelor Degrees focused in Sociology from Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.

Overview of responsibilities: Responsible for coordinating the research project ‘‘Social Sciences for Severe Stigmatizing Skin Diseases (The 5-S Foundation)’’ undertaken by Organization for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA) in collaboration with the Department of Global Health and Infection at Brighton & Sussex Medical School (BSMS)in Ethiopia.

Area of expertise: Program and project management in the research industry. Financial and budget management; Planning and reporting;  Skilled in Social policy, Child Protection, Child labour, Child marriage, Gender and FGM, Environmental Issues and Education.

Role in the project: Project Manager
Email:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  
Twitter: @garisonford 
Skype Id: +251911365944

Tseganseh Mulugeta, A public engagement officer at 5S project and a PhD student at Addis Ababa University. She is interested in health communication for behavior change especially on the role of community conversations to reduce stigma against podoconiosis patients in Ethiopia. She published an article on media coverage and the public awareness about child abuse and child protection in Ethiopia. She has several years of experience in teaching, research and communication at Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia. She earned an MA and BA in media and communication from Addis Ababa University and Bahir Dar University respectively.   

Role in the project: Public Engagement Officer

Alemu Tesfaye, Manager for Knowledge and Information Technology at OSSREA since December 20008. Communication officer for the 5S foundation Ethiopia project and other research projects. Have several years of experience in research uptake, communication, online learning and knowledge management in the field of social sciences. Got considerable skills in various technologies suitable for research uptake and communication such as content management systems, knowledge management systems, e-learning systems, data visualization systems and social networks. Interested in multi-disciplinary research, online learning and quantitative analysis using various data analysis software. Worked at different capacities for various organisations as a software development solutions expert. Studied Research Proposal Writing and Research Communication at INASP AuthorAid. An MBA honor graduate from Manipal University of India in Knowledge & Information Technology Management. 

 Role in the project: Communication officer

Alazar Emiru is a finance officer of 5-S project who works together with his Finance manager role in Ethiopian Construction Design and Supervision Works Corporation (ECDSWC). He has worked as Senior Financial Analyst of ECDSWC. He has twelve year experience in teaching Accounting and Finance courses at Unity University and four year experience as Accountant for Tezera-PHN-Consulting. Alazar is a certified trainer of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). He is also experienced in Peachtree accounting and Enterprise resource planning systems application. Alazar graduated from Addis Ababa University with a Master of Science degree in Accounting and Finance and from Adama University with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting. 

Alazar Emiru
Finance Officer, 5-S Foundation Ethiopia
Finance Head, ECDSWC
Address: +251-912-14-54-88
Email:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Role in the project: Finance officer