Mekdem Tesfamichael Hassen studied psychology at the University of Addis Ababa before receiving a scholarship for a master's degree in psychosocial counselling in the Philippines in 2012. In 2016, she came to Germany as a KAAD doctoral scholarship holder to study the negative effects of the amphetamine-containing everyday drug khat at the University of Konstanz's academic teaching hospital, the Reichenau Centre for Psychiatry. Khat causes many problems both in Ethiopia and in neighbouring countries.
When Mekdem Tesfamichael returned to Ethiopia in 2021, she initially worked for an NGO that aims to improve the living conditions of poor women and children. However, reintegration in her home country was not easy for her due to the war. However, Mekdem Tesfamichael was able to establish herself well in Addis Ababa and, in addition to her work at the NGO, also became a lecturer in clinical psychology at the state-run Kotebe Metropolitan University in Addis Ababa.
In the summer of 2022, she moved to the Catholic Secretariat of the Archdiocese of Addis Ababa. Since then, she has been working here as a psychologist and project manager for the establishment of a counselling centre to provide support for people with trauma, substance use and other everyday stressors. In future, the activities of the counselling centre will also include training programmes for staff in the education sector of the Archdiocese of Addis Ababa. Employees will be educated about mental health, human dynamics and counselling and developmental psychology.
As a KAAD alumna, Mekdem Tesfamichael has also supplemented the representation of women on the partner committee for Ethiopia since 2022 and is active in the alumni association "KAAD Association of Scholars from the Horn of Africa". Together with other members of this association and the Catholic students in the Archdiocese of Addis Ababa, she has set up a peace forum on the topic of "Peace through accountability, national integrity, psychological intervention and education".
