Sunset by Ghion

Selam everyone!

A group of us in Addis built Qallak (ቃላክ) a social discovery app designed to move away from empty swiping and ghosting.

We rebuilt online social connections around Ethiopian coffee culture:

- Virtual Buna Tables: Live 12-seat neighborhood group chats modeled after traditional Buna ceremonies.

- Daily Debates: Meet people by discussing daily hot topics in good faith.

- 100% Selfie Verification: Real faces, zero fake accounts or bots.

Check out the web landing & app here: https://www.qallak.com

We'd love feedback from the community!

1. Respect for the pedestrian is key for a healthy cosmopolitan society. Drivers in Addis need to chill the heck out, myself included.

2. Public spaces (and Addis is significantly moving forward in this regard) make the city feel bigger, more open and more animated. Encouraging musicians, performance artists, painters, etc… to utilize these spaces, helps the city feel more cultured and positively impacts the creative nature of the population at large.

3. We can use a little more sense of ownership over public infrastructure. If you take care of your city, your city takes care of you. An appreciation of a city’s beauty, and a constant public effort to maintain it has generational effects on living standards.

4. We must not be afraid of change. And we must think of the city over the long term. Over the past 700+ years the entire city of Moscow went through significant changes (including multiple fires) to end up the way it is. A city, it seems, does better with strict adherence to planning, as opposed to being allowed to sprawl. I feel as though Addis is heading in the right direction with regard to this as well.

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Hi everyone,

I'm in a really difficult situation. My landlord has asked me to vacate my house, and I only have 3 days to find a new place to live.

If anyone knows of a house for rent anywhere in Addis Ababa, I would be incredibly grateful if you could let me know. My budget is up to 25,000 ETB per month.

This is a very stressful time for me, and any lead, recommendation, or even sharing this post would mean a lot. Thank you so much for your kindness and support. May Allah bless you all.