"I am Abebe Mamo, a former circus student in Ethiopia. My childhood friends often call me Abe Circus and I was pretty sure that my career would end up in a big circus company like Cirque du Soleil, unfortunately that wasn’t the case.

I say unfortunately because I still love doing some of the circus acts like juggling which I learned at the circus school in Ethiopia.

However, as time passed, I realised that it might be a good thing to get more options for my future career. Let me tell you about the benefits that having circus skills provided me and then I will tell you a bit about my education and career. As we all know, sports and activities like circus acts are good for mental and emotional health.

Other important benefits I got from my experience at the circus are attention and focus. Studying and working is impossible without a clear focus and attention. At the circus school, I learned how to juggle up to 8 balls. With the correct learning and through ongoing practice I saw improvement of my circus show and my ability to focus. Having focus and attention helped me with my education and is helping me with my work to this day. Personal and social growth In the circus community, you learn how to socialise, build good relationships, and maintain a big network. We all know that networking is one of the keys to success, so I was lucky to learn networking early on.

If patience could be a name for a guy, my wife would call me Mr. Patience instead of Aby. I say this because I am still able to practice anything patiently. While practicing circus, patience was a very crucial trait in order to acquire the skills of juggling, unicycling, and others. Learning a new trick or skill should be practiced repeatedly for days before our muscles grasp the technic. Dropping and picking up balls or clubs while practicing is a fact of circus life. Patience comes in handy there. Patience can be cultivated and sustained, that is why I am still so patient to learn new things.

Currently, I am learning the challenging hobby of video editing with a sophisticated software totally new for me. I am teaching myself how to edit from the scratch through the internet and am improving myself day by day. Creativity and career Practicing with love and patience allows me to be creative, explore and express myself in a way I had not before. Thanks to circus life, I got several qualities which are extremely useful for a great life in general. Because of my excellent results at school, I got a scholarship to study hotel management in Lausanne and Paris.

After finishing my studies, I started working at Four Seasons hotel in Paris. While working, I pursued another degree in teaching French. Currently, I am living a good life in Canada with my beautiful wife Betty and I work at the Four Seasons hotel in Montreal as a room service supervisor. During the quarantine, my wife and I started being active on YouTube to educate ourselves and others about the pandemic. Now, we are also making entertaining and lifestyle videos. Sometimes, I post juggling videos. Our channel name is ParAddis if you want to check it out."

Ethiopia Worku travelled to Canada in 2000 to study Business Admin with a major in Finance. She has been in Senior Banking Financial Services at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce for fourteen years.

"Circus played a role in my success. Being in the public, in front an audience since childhood is the key to my confidence, self esteem and public appearance, all has its own share in my day to day living. The way I look at things differently because of the rapport I had with different spectators and performers as well as the opportunities that gave me the open doors and interactions with world class artists. The tours, the training, the various videos and instructors were a good influence and shaped the ‘today’ Ethiopia (me) with a bright future!"

Netsanet has a masters degree in social science, and works as a Family Advisor in Norway.

"Joining the circus has first of all, kept me away from the street. Maybe the first big benefit. Afterwards, in the process of achieving different skills, I have improved my self confidence and self esteem. I think that has helped me to tackle the challenges I face both in the circus and outside the circus. Simple, the circus has opened up new possibilities in the country when the opportunities were limited, especially for us who either were strong economically or academically.

It was not an easy walk to success but the challenge has made me so desperately strong. I was forced to find my own way. Last but not least, the circus has helped me maintain a healthy lifestyle."

Frehiwot lives in Germany. She is married, and a mother, and she has educational qualifications as well as her circus skills.

"I joined Circus Ethiopia when I was seven years old. When I arrived at the circus it was great for me to find some other kids who had the same interest.

Not only that we learn from our older circus artists, the skills and knowledge. I have learnt so much about life and also trust and it’s helped me with my self esteem. It helped me alot with my life as a teen. It helped the kids my age to focus on our school. It also helped us not to waste our teenage time with unnecessary places. Now I live in Germany, married, and I am a mother, too, with the skills I have learnt from the circus as well as qualification.

Education is a big part of circus, that is where you learn to see when the opportunities arise and to get them. I love circus and I am proud to say I have learnt a lot of skills in Ethiopia. When I saw the plans for the Circus Center I was very excited because I remember as a child all we wanted is to have a place where we can call home. So we can perform for our parents and for the community, well, in a space dedicated to circus."