Above: Ethiopia-born Grammy-nominated singer Wayna pays
tribute to Billie Holiday at Blues Alley in Washington, DC. The
artist is also preparing to release a new EP called ‘Soul and
The City’. Stay tuned for Tadias’ interview with Wayna about
her new extended play.
Watch: Preview performance on FOX News
About Billie Holiday Billie Holiday
Source: PBS
Considered by many to be the greatest jazz vocalist of all time, Billie Holiday lived a tempestuous and difficult life. Her singing expressed an incredible depth of emotion that spoke of hard times and injustice as well as triumph. Though her career was relatively short and often erratic, she left behind a body of work as great as any vocalist before or since.
Born Eleanora Fagan in 1915, Billie Holiday spent much of her young life in Baltimore, Maryland. Raised primarily by her mother, Holiday had only a tenuous connection with her father, who was a jazz guitarist in Fletcher Henderson’s band. Living in extreme poverty, Holiday dropped out of school in the fifth grade and found a job running errands in a brothel. When she was twelve, Holiday moved with her mother to Harlem, where she was eventually arrested for prostitution.
Desperate for money, Holiday looked for work as a dancer at a Harlem speakeasy. When there wasn’t an opening for a dancer, she auditioned as a singer. Long interested in both jazz and blues, Holiday wowed the owner and found herself singing at the popular Pod and Jerry’s Log Cabin. This led to a number of other jobs in Harlem jazz clubs, and by 1933 she had her first major breakthrough. She was only twenty when the well-connected jazz writer and producer John Hammond heard her fill in for a better-known performer. Soon after, he reported that she was the greatest singer he had ever heard. Her bluesy vocal style brought a slow and rough quality to the jazz standards that were often upbeat and light. This combination made for poignant and distinctive renditions of songs that were already standards. By slowing the tone with emotive vocals that reset the timing and rhythm, she added a new dimension to jazz singing. Read more.
Above:A Taste for Words by Wosene Worke Kosrof , 2008,
acrylic on canvas, 44×41 inches.
Events News
Published: Monday, October 19, 2009
New York – Skoto Gallery is pleased to present WordPlay, an exhibition of recent paintings by the Ethiopian-born artist Wosene Worke Kosrof. This will be his fourth solo exhibition at the gallery. The reception is on Thursday, October 22nd, 6-8pm and the artist will be present.
Wosene Worke Kosrof’s recent work continues his long-standing inventive exploration of the interplay between language, identity, aesthetic beauty and material, using the language symbols of Amharic – one of the few ancient written systems in Africa – as a core compositional element. He is a prolific artist who has consistently employed a vocabulary of signs and symbols, a rigorous compositional organization and uncompromising ability to fuse form and concept with the narrative power of his work in his encounters with history and global transformations over the past three decades. He elongates, distorts, disassembles and re-configures the language characters in a wide-ranging palette, moving beyond literal conventions of words, to create a visual language that deftly incorporates sounds, textures and rhythms of jazz, but that also speaks boldly and clearly to a universal audience.
Wosene’s work draws upon an individual reserve of personal and collective memories to activate a meaningful form of engagement that celebrates the richness of his homeland’s graphic systems, textiles, architectural forms, language and music. He employs the textured and improvisational qualities in his work, imbued with a poetic amalgam of abstraction and reality in his search for symbols and metaphors that explore ideas of spirituality, space and motion, expanding the boundaries of art and consciousness. There is a resonance of personal truth, vision, circumstances and tradition embedded in his work that make us simply believe in the power of art to speak to us in purely human terms.
Wosene Kosrof
Wosene Worke Kosrof was born 1950 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and received a BFA from The School of Fine Art, Addis Ababa and a MFA from Howard University, Washington DC in 1980. He is an artist of international reputation, widely exhibited in Africa, Europe, Japan, the US and the Caribbean. Recent exhibitions include Transformations: Recent Contemporary African Art Acquisitions, Fowler Museum, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, 2009, Mexican Heritage Plaza Museum, San Jose, California 2006, Neuberger Museum, Purchase, NY 2003; Newark Museum, Newark, NJ 2004; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pa 2004, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC 2004; and Seven Stories about Modern Art in Africa, Whitechapel Gallery, London 1995. Collections include the National Museum, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; The National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, The Newark Museum, NJ; The Neuberger Museum at Purchase, NY; Birmingham Museum of Art, AL; Indianapolis Museum of Art, IN, the Fowler Museum, UCLA, Ca; Samuel P. Harn Museum, University of Florida, Gainesville, Fl; and The Voelkerkunde Museum, Zurich, Switzerland as well as many international private and corporate collections.
— If you go:
Skoto Gallery
529 West 20th Street
5thFL
New York, NY 10011
Phone Number
212.352.8058 www.skotogallery.com
Above:Virginia Gubernatorial Candidate Creigh Deeds speaks
to the Ethiopian community at Meaza Restaurant in Arlington,
Virginia, on Saturday, October 17th, 2009.
(Photo by Matt Andrea/EA4C).
Source:Ethiopian Americans for Change
Monday, 19 October 2009
Ethiopian-Americans for Change (EA4C) officially endorses Gubernatorial Candidate Creigh Deeds, Leiutentant Gubernatorial Candidate Jody Wagner, and State Delegate Candidate Charniele Herring.
EA4C is a non-partisan organization dedicated to mobilizing the vast Ethiopian-American community in order to get more engaged in the United States political process and to value the significance of one vote.
A month ago, EA4C sent out personal invitations to both the Republican ticket and the Democratic ticket and asked both parties to come out and speak to the Ethiopian community. The Republican ticket was not able to attend due to scheduling conflict. The Democratic ticket accepted our invitation enthusiastically.
Thus, on Saturday, October 17th, Creigh Deeds along with Chair of the Democratic National Committee and current Governor Tim Kaine, a representative from Jim Moran’s office, Jody Wagner, and Charniele Herring all came out to speak to the Ethiopian community and to ask for their vote.
Each candidate spoke for 10 minutes and then a questions and answer session was held where individuals were able to ask tough questions. At the conclusion of the event, EA4C conducted a phone text poll where those in the audience and those who were asking questions through EA4C.org were asked to vote for their preferred candidate. 100% of the vote came in for Deeds, Wagner, and Herring.
Thus, as a consequence of that vote, EA4C officially endorses the Democratic ticket. We endorse Criegh Deeds to be the next Governor of Virginia, we endorse Jody Wagner to be the next Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, and we endorse Charnel Herring to be the next State Delegate representing Alexandria.
With over 14,000 registered Ethiopian-American voters in the 8th Congressional District (Alexandria) alone, EA4C believes that the Ethiopian community can have a DECISIVE impact on the outcome of the November 3rd vote. There are over 80,000 Ethiopians who live in the Commonwealth of Virginia, in a deeply purple state where elections are often won by less than the margin of error, the Ethiopian vote is one that has emerged as a potentially vital voting bloc.
– Learn more about Ethiopian-Americans for Change at EA4C.org or email info@ea4c.org.
Related: First Read: The day in politics by NBC
In advance of President Obama campaigning for Creigh Deeds next week in Virginia’s upcoming gubernatorial contest, Team Deeds has just announced that Bill Clinton — along with Terry McAuliffe, whom Deeds defeated in the Dem primary — will stump for Deeds tomorrow in Northern Virginia. http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/10/19/2102728.aspx
25 years after Michael Buerk’s broadcasts from Ethiopia, the documentaries have stopped, but the starvation hasn’t.
Michael Buerk describes them as “by far the most influential pieces of television ever broadcast”. The first of his two BBC News reports that revealed the horror of mass death by starvation in Ethiopia aired 25 years ago this Friday, with the second a day later. They prompted a huge wave of private giving, shamed negligent western governments into action and ushered in a new era in the aid business. Read more.
Oxfam’s deputy humanitarian director says the famine is
reaching a “tipping point”. Watch the video on BBC.
A severe and persistent five-year drought, deepened by climate change, is now stretching across seven countries in the region and exacting a heavy human toll, made worse by high food prices and violent conflict. The worst affected countries are Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and Uganda. Other countries hit are Sudan, Djibouti and Tanzania.
Malnutrition is now above emergency levels in some areas and hundreds of thousands of cattle – people’s key source of income – are dying. This is the worst drought that Kenya has experienced for a decade, and the worst humanitarian situation Somalia has experienced since 1991.
The high numbers of people affected – more than double the number caught up in similar food crisis in 2006, when 11 million were at risk – underline the gravity of the situation and the urgent need for funding to prevent the crisis getting worse.
Paul Smith Lomas, Oxfam’s East Africa Director said:
“This is the worst humanitarian crisis Oxfam has seen in East Africa for over ten years. Failed and unpredictable rains are ever more regular across East Africa as raining seasons shorten due to the growing influence of climate change. Droughts have increased from once a decade to every two or three years. In Wajir, northern Kenya, almost 200 dead animals were recently found around one dried-up water source. People are surviving on 2 liters of water a day in some places – less water than a toilet flush. The conditions have never been so harsh or so inhospitable, and people desperately need our help to survive.”
In Kenya , 3.8 million, a tenth of the population, are in need of emergency aid. Food prices have spiraled to 180 percent above average. Areas such as Rift Valley, which have never previously experienced a drought of this intensity are now affected. Conflict over rapidly diminishing resources such as water and pasture for cattle is increasing. Desperate herders are taking their cattle further to look for water and food, sparking tensions with other groups competing for the same resources. Sixty-five people have been killed in Turkana, northern Kenya since June 2009.
One in six children are acutely malnourished in Somalia , and people are trekking for days to find water in the northern regions of the country. Conflict means that people are less able to grow the food, and drought is creating hardship in areas where people have fled. Half of the population – over 3.8 million people – are affected.
In Ethiopia, 13.7 million people are at risk of severe hunger and need assistance. Many are selling their cattle to buy food. In northern Uganda farmers have lost half of their crops and more than 2 million people across the country desperately need aid.
Some 160,000 people mainly around the wild life tourist area of Ngorongoro in north-eastern Tanzania are also at risk. In Djibouti there are worrying levels of increased malnutrition and in South Sudan conflict has put 88,000 people at particular risk.
The aid response to the crisis needs to rapidly expand, but it is desperately short of funds. The World Food Program is facing a $977 million donor shortfall for its work in the Horn of Africa over the next six months. The government of Uganda appealed for donor money to tackle the food crisis, but has so far received only 50 percent of the funding it needs.
Rains are due in October but are likely to bring scant relief or worse still, deluges that could dramatically worsen the situation. There are genuine fears that the region could be hit by floods as a result of the El Nino phenomenon, which could destroy crops and houses, and increase the spread of water-borne diseases. Even with normal rain, the harvest will not arrive until early 2010. People will still need aid to get them through a long hunger season.
Oxfam staff are on the ground helping those at risk but the organisation is appealing for help from the UK public to help scale up its efforts. The agency is expanding its aid effort to reach more than 750,000 people but is in desperate need for funds to do this work. Oxfam is supplying emergency clean water and access to food, and also carrying out long-term projects to strengthen people’s ability to cope with future shocks.
Above:Gebisa Ejeta, right, winner of the 2009 World Food
Prize, is congratulated by Samuel Assefa of Ethiopia after
Ejeta’s remarks Friday at the World Food Prize luncheon.
(Photo by Christopher Gannon/ The Register.).
Source: The World Food Prize
The World Food Prize Laureate Award Ceremony is held in the magnificent Iowa State Capitol Building in Des Moines. The ceremony rivals that of the Nobel Prize, drawing over 800 people from more than 65 countries.
Each year, world-class performers take the stage to honor the World Food Prize Laureate. Past performers have included Ray Charles, John Denver and Kathak Gunjan. Following the Ceremony, the celebration continues at the Laureate Award Dinner, held in the Capitol rotunda.
The 2009 Laureate Award Ceremony was held on Thursday, October 15, 2009.
Ethiopian American Named 2009 World Food Prize Laureate Above: “A Purdue University Professor has received the World
Food Prize, an honor that is considered by many to be the Nobel
Prize of agriculture.” (WLFI) – The 2009 World Food Prize was
awarded to Dr. Gebisa Ejeta of Ethiopia, whose sorghum hybrids
resistant to drought and the devastating Striga weed have
dramatically increased the production and availability of one
of the world’s five principal grains and enhanced the food
supply of hundreds of millions of people in sub-Saharan
Africa.
Dr. Ejeta’s personal journey would lead him from a childhood in a one-room thatched hut in rural Ethiopia to the height of scientific acclaim as a distinguished professor, plant breeder, and geneticist at Purdue University. His work with sorghum, which is a staple in the diet of 500 million people living in sub-Saharan Africa, began in Ethiopia in the 1970s. Working in Sudan in the early 1980s, he developed Hageen Dura-1, the first ever commercial hybrid sorghum in Africa. This hybrid variety was tolerant to drought and out-yielded traditional varieties by up to 150 percent.
Dr. Ejeta next turned his attention to battling the scourge of Striga, a deadly parasitic weed which devastates farmers’ crops and severely limits food availability. Working with a colleague at Purdue University, he discovered the biochemical basis of Striga’s relationship with sorghum, and was able to produce many sorghum varieties resistant to both drought and Striga. In 1994, eight tons of Dr. Ejeta’s drought and Striga-resistant sorghum seeds were distributed to Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Yield increases were as much as four times the yield of local varieties, even in severe drought areas.
“By ridding Africa of the greatest biological impediment to food production, Dr. Ejeta has put himself in the company of some of the greatest researchers and scientists recognized by this award over the past 23 years,” said Vilsack. “The Obama Administration is inspired by the tireless efforts of Dr. Ejeta has demonstrated in the battle to eliminate food insecurity and is committed to employing a comprehensive approach to tackle the scourge of world hunger.”
Dr. Gebisa Ejeta
Dr. Ejeta’s scientific breakthroughs in breeding drought-tolerant and Striga-resistant sorghum have been combined with his persistent efforts to foster economic development and the empowerment of subsistence farmers through the creation of agricultural enterprises in rural Africa. He has led his colleagues in working with national and local authorities and nongovernmental agencies so that smallholder farmers and rural entrepreneurs can catalyze efforts to improve crop productivity, strengthen nutritional security, increase the value of agricultural products, and boost the profitability of agricultural enterprise – thus fostering profound impacts on lives and livelihoods on broader scale across the African continent.
“Dr. Ejeta’s accomplishments in improving sorghum illustrate what can be achieved when cutting-edge technology and international cooperation in agriculture are used to uplift and empower the world’s most vulnerable people,” added Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, founder of the World Food Prize. “His life is as an inspiration for young scientists around the world.”
The 2009 World Food Prize will be formally presented to Dr. Ejeta at a ceremony at the Iowa State Capitol on October 15, 2009. The ceremony will be held as part of the World Food Prize’s 2009 Borlaug Dialogue, which focuses on “Food, Agriculture and National Security in a Globalized World.” Further information about the Laureate Award Ceremony and Symposium can be found at www.worldfoodprize.org.
Clinton Speaks at 2009 World Food Prize Announcement Ceremony
New York (TADIAS) – Tommy T (Thomas T. Gobena), bass player for the New York-based multi-ethnic gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello, has released his first solo album entitled The Prestor John Sessions. The album includes collaborations with Gigi, Tommy T’s brother & bassist Henock Temesgen, members of the Abyssinnia Roots Collective, and a bonus remix including Gogol Bordello bandmates Eugene Hütz and Pedro Erazo. Tommy describes The Prestor John Sessions as “an aural travelogue that rages freely through the music and culture of Ethiopia.” His debut album features the diversity of rhythms and sounds of Ethiopian music – as multi-ethnic as has become the Lower East Side Gypsy band that has taken the world by storm. Who else but Tommy would produce an Oromo dub song featuring Ukranian, Ecuadorian, and Ethiopian musicians? We spoke to Tommy T about life as a Gogol Bordello member, the influences on his music, and the story behind The Prestor John Sessions. Normally Tommy T punctuates everything he says with so much humor that it’s difficult not to be immersed in sporadic moments of pure laughter. His message in this interview, however, remains serious: Are you ready to change the way you listen to and classify music?
Tommy T (Thomas T. Gobena). Photo by Linda Fittante.
TADIAS: Tell us a bit about yourself. Where you grew up, who were the main influences in your life? How you got into music?
Tommy T: I grew up in Addis and moved to the United States when I was 16. I can say that we didn’t have access to a lot of western music at that time except for the work of artists such as Michael Jackson and Madonna. But my brother, Henock was into music and he had an acoustic guitar. I never thought of being a musician then, but I would often play with my brother’s guitar…it was just a toy. But when my brother came to America and became a professional bass musician and sent back an album that he worked on called Admas I started to think about music in a more serious way. I don’t want to say the album was futuristic, but it was quite a forward-looking album. For its time it was unique in combining Ethiopian with Reggae, Samba and various other sounds. It came out as a limited edition and only on vinyl. I was going to school at Saint Joseph’s in Ethiopia at the time and some of my friends played in the school band. I was around them a lot and learned about music from them as well. I never had a formal music education. I just picked up guitar and then switched to bass when I heard my brother play bass guitar on the Admas album.
TADIAS: Any idols?
Tommy: I really don’t have many idols but the closest one is Bob Marley. And it’s not just the music but also his message. Listening to Bob Marley & the Wailers I was introduced to their bassist – Aston “Family Man” Barrett. A lot of the melodies that people love in Bob Marley’s songs wouldn’t mean anything without the bass line. “Waiting in Vain” is one example where the bass line is the melody. Aston is one of my strongest influences. When I came to the United States my brother introduced me to Motown songs. That’s how I discovered bassist James Jamerson, perhaps one of the greatest bassists of all time. He was a legend by any account. I eventually also spent time with Bill Laswell who produced Gigi’s albums. I saw how he produced music and sound in his studio, which has shaped my interpretation of music. I’m into ALL these people (laugh).
TADIAS: Before you joined Gogol Bordello you worked with several other artists and managed an independent label. What was that like?
Tommy: Actually, I had a label with my brother called C-Side Entertainment. The whole idea was to give mainstream access to African artists. Obviously we started with our own people, such as members of Admas band. I then worked with Gigi and Grammy-nominated singer Wayna as a manager, and I was able to broaden my knowledge and my network.
Tadias: Your label C-Side Entertainment. Where does the name come from?
Tommy T: You know music records have an A-side and B-side. We are the C-side – the third dimension. Or should I add the undiscovered dimension. .
TADIAS: What adjectives would you use to describe your tour experience with Gogol Bordello?
Tommy: (laughs) Beautiful Life!
TADIAS: Can you elaborate?
Tommy: Why? I get to play in front of millions of people. In a world where there are so many things going wrong, this is one moment where music makes you feel inclusive, not excluded. We have band members from nine different countries and together we create a universal vibe. We have good people who come to see us play. Yesterday I played in Spain, then today another country. Different people, different language but same energy. It’s beautiful. It’s music without boundaries. We put on one of the best shows and it’s always fun. I also just want to say that in 2007 the BBC Awards for World Music went to Gogol Bordello in the Americas category, and to Ethiopia’s Mahmoud Ahmed in the Africa category. That was a great moment.
TADIAS:: What do you love most about playing music?
Tommy: People. I love people. I love hanging around people. I’m really the worst sort of loner. Music forces me to be with different people – from the fierce to the funny to the philosophical. Music is the best way to be with people – at least for me.
TADIAS:: What do you love least about touring?
Tommy: You know I love everything about touring. Of course there are always advantages and disadvantages, the disadvantage being that you’re away from home a lot and it gets physically tiring. It’s hard work. No time to get sick. No time to bullshit. If you have a 9-5 job you can call in sick sometimes.
TADIAS: Right.
Tommy: You better make sure you’re dying if you decide not to show up and play at a concert. There are thousands of people who buy tickets, and band members who are relying on you. With Gogol Bordello I tour 9 to 10 months out of the year. And being considered one of the best shows you have to come out full force, give 100% every night.
TADIAS: You just released your first solo album. Can you tell us how long you’ve been working on it?
Tommy: I’ve always thought of doing my own album, but I can say that I started sculpting this work about three years ago. I started going into the studio and it basically took us the past two years to finish the whole album.
TADIAS:Where was it recorded?
Tommy: In several studios in D.C.
TADIAS: Who are the some of the artists that you collaborated with and featured on your album?
Tommy: Some of the musicians are old friends, those whom I used to play with while I was living in the D.C. community. My friend Zaki plays with the Abyssinnia Roots Collective for example. I also feature singer Gigi, and Masinko player Setegn. I produced the songs “Brothers” and “East-West Express” with my brother Henock. And the bonus remix of the Oromo dub features my Gogol Bordello bandmates Eugene Hütz (Ukranian) and Pedro Erazo (Ecuadorian).
By the way, all the songs are given titles that help teach something about Ethiopia. For example the track Eighth Wonder has a Wollo beat, which is from the region where Lalibela – the Eighth Wonder of the World is located. I expect people to buy a record and read and learn something new. Music is a way to educate. The Beyond Fasilidas title is in reference to the castles of Emperor Fasilidas of Gondar, which used to be Ethiopia’s capital city in the 17th century. The music on this track uses traditional beats from the Gondar region.
TADIAS: There is also the Ethiopian literary tradition known as Sem Ena Worq (Wax and Gold). The tracks are modern songs carrying the diverse and rich sounds of Ethiopian music, as you say “the nuggets culled from one of the oldest cultures on earth, presented in all their shining beauty.” And so is the album title The Prestor John Sessions.
Tommy: The whole thing came about when I was reading Graham Hancock’s the Sign and the Seal. And in that book Hancock mentions that around the era of the Crusaders there was an unknown king that was sending letters throughout Europe about the might and massiveness of his army and his treasures. Initially Europeans thought this king was from Asia so they went to India to look for him. Eventually they figured out that he was from Ethiopia. They didn’t know his name so they dubbed him Prestor John. There are of course so many other versions of this legend. But once I heard the story I said there is nothing else that I could call this album but The Prestor John Sessions.
TADIAS: So the album cover is Tommy T as Prestor John?
Tommy: You got it. (laughs). Prestor John is the symbol that I use to bring Ethiopian culture to the rest of the world. I’m writing music that incorporates the rhythms of Ethiopia but is also multi-ethnic and global, much like the work that Gogol Bordello creates, taken to the next level. The music is Ethiopian, dub, jazz, reggae – it’s music without boundaries.
The Prestor John Sessions album cover.
Tommy T. Photo by Bossanostra.
TADIAS: What would you like to say to your fans and to Tadias readers?
Tommy: First I would like to say, listen to the music and give it a chance. The music that I put out is sort of representative of my life – starting with the song “Brothers,” which I produced with my brother Henock. The last song is one that I made with Gogol Bordello. I think it’s all great work. I know a lot of people enjoy listening to Ethiopian music, and mostly what they know is the Ethiopiques CD series. I think it’s about time that we include and represent more sounds, and I’m trying to introduce those diverse Ethiopian sounds. I hope it’s a true representation. I hope I won’t let anybody down.
TADIAS: In your spare time…what else besides music keeps you going?
Tommy: I don’t know man. I’m always around music. Whether I’m out at a club or at home. I do read once in a while, but I don’t want to make it sound like I do that all the time. Besides, coming out of a tour you need time to unwind and I spend quite a lot of time at home or visiting friends. But even then, I’m always around music. I’m always working on music. I don’t think that I could be without it.
TADIAS: Are there any upcoming gigs that you’d like to mention?
Tommy: I’m thinking of doing a CD release party possibly in D.C. and New York around Thanksgiving weekend. It’s not confirmed yet, but it may happen on the 27th and 28th since I’m going to be home on break from tour. For Christmas, Gogol Bordello will be playing in New York at Webster Hall for three nights. This is a time to expand your mind and lose your soul (laughs). I’m just making fun. It’s great music and it defies any kind of boundary. It’s one of the best shows that you’ll ever see. The best three nights.
TADIAS: Congratulations on your album Tommy!
—- The Prestor John Sessions are currently available exclusively on itunes. Purchase and download a copy and leave a comment!
Watch: Gogol Bordello – Wonderlust King (on David Letterman)
New York (TADIAS) – “It is the oldest medical cause in the world. There is currency dug out of pyramids containing images of fistula, yet in the 21st century it is the most neglected cause,” Dr. Catherine Hamlin tells us. While the last American hospital for fistula patients closed its doors in 1895, the first one of its kind opened almost 8 decades later in Ethiopia. Since its inception in 1974, the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital founded by Dr. Reginald and Catherine Hamlin has treated over 25,000 women, the majority of whom have been cured and have returned to their villages to live healthy, normal lives.
Obstetric fistula is a childbirth injury that affects one out of every 12 women in Africa and approximately three million women worldwide. In developing nations where access to hospitals in remote areas are difficult to find, young women suffer from obstructive labor which can otherwise be successfully alleviated with adequate medical support. Unassisted labor in such conditions may lead to bladder, vaginal, and rectum injuries that incapacitate and stigmatize these women. Most patients are ousted from their homes and isolated from their communities.
Until her journey to Ethiopia, Dr. Catherine Hamlin, a gynecologist and a native of Australia, noted “we had read in our textbooks about obstetric fistula but had never seen one.” After arriving in Ethiopia with her husband, she was warned by a colleague “the fistula patients will break your heart.”
“When we first arrived we were rather taken with the country because we saw our eucalyptus trees,” Dr. Catherine Hamlin recounts. “I come from Australia and I felt very much at home straight away because the scenery seemed very familiar to us. Of course the people were different but we got a really warm welcome so we didn’t really have culture shock.” She described their professional environment as one were they “worked in a hospital with other physicians who were trained in Beirut and London.” However as the only two gynecologists on staff they found it difficult to get away even for a weekend. For the first 10 years of their work with the hospital Reginald and Catherine took weekend breaks at alternate times so as to have at least one gynecologist on call at all times, barely managing to take a month off each year to travel to the coast in Kenya. It is during their time at Princess Tsehai hospital that they first encountered fistula patients.
Dr. Reginald and Catherine Hamlin.
Recounting their mutual desire to open a hospital primarily dedicated to the fistula patients, Dr. Catherine Hamlin emphasized their keen focus on raising money for this cause. Both Reginald and Catherine worked arduously to create a place that would pay more attention to the large number of women who lived in tremendous hardship as a result of their childbirth injuries. Since operations to cure fistula were not considered life-saving operations, few operating tables and beds were available for such patients at Princess Tsehai Hospital. Fistula patients were also not welcome and were despised by other patients and it wasn’t long before Reginald and Catherine decided to build a hospital designed to help these women, some of whom traveled hundreds of miles to seek treatment.
Speaking of her late husband, Catherine noted, “When he saw the first fistula patient he was really overwhelmed. He devoted his whole life to raising money to help these women. He was a compassionate man and if he took on anything he would take it in with his whole heart and soul. He worked day and night to build the hospital.” The dream was realized in 1974 and soon the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital received 1 to 10 fistula patients at its doorstep on a daily basis. Women who heard about the possibility of being cured traveled to the Capital from distant villages across the country. Today the Fistula Hospital treats approximately 1,500 women annually. Five surgeons conduct surgeries three times a week and work alongside Dr. Catherine Hamlin in an operating theatre equipped with four operating tables. The majority of operations become success stories and the women who are cured happily return to their homes.
A very small percentage of women (three to four annually) who arrive at the hospital, however, have irreparable damage and cannot be completely cured. For these women a 60-acre plot of land has been set aside as a place for them to stay. This compound is known as ‘Desta Mender’ – Village of Joy. Describing Desta Mender, Dr. Hamlin states, “women who are unable to resume normal lives in their villages are allowed to reside permanently in Desta Mender. Since there isn’t a lot of beds available at the hospital, those young girls who need to be strengthened prior to their operations are also allowed to stay temporarily at Desta Mender prior to their scheduled surgeries. It is called Desta Mender because it is a place of joy and it is designed for the women to be able to live lives similar to the ones they had in their villages.” Women who are unable to have surgery right away are able to undergo physical therapy and recuperate from their long walking travels at Desta Mender while those who cannot return to their villages even after surgeries are able to live in their new homes enjoying their work on the farm land and producing their own food.
Few individuals have dedicated a lifetime for a cause as noble as this. Asked what her greatest satisfaction has been in this endeavor, Dr. Catherine Hamlin responds “It is in knowing that I am working somewhere where God has placed me to work. And I think that we gained more by living there and working with these women than we lost by leaving our own countries.” She fondly speaks of her late husband and his infinite compassion for the fistula patients. “He loved the whole of Ethiopian society and when he was dying in England it was his final wish to return and be buried in Ethiopia,” she states.
Dr. Catherine Hamlin equally enthuses about her ‘home away from home’, emphasizing the joy she feels in seeing a happy, cured patient and her continued enjoyment of the landscape of Ethiopia. Amidst her busy schedule she has found time in the early hours of dawn to write down the story of her life in her book ‘The Hospital by the River’, which was a bestseller in Australia. Her humble personality is evident as she replies to our inquiries about her past nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize by saying she didn’t know about it. Indeed along with being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999 she has also been awarded the Gold Medal of Merit by Pope John Paul in 1987, and an Honorary Gold Medal from the Royal College of Surgeons in England in 1989. In 2003 she was nominated as an Honorary Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
Her message to Ethiopians in the Diaspora is clear and simple. “You can help spread the word,” she says. “There are approximately eight to nine thousand women annually who suffer from fistula in Ethiopia. We are currently working on building five regional hospitals and have received funding for two. We need doctors to come back to Ethiopia to help us in our work. There is no money in it but there is enormous joy to the doctors and nurses treating and curing these patients.” She challenges us to help raise awareness and the financial assistance needed to keep this work going. In light of her 50-year dedication to the eradication of fistula, answering her appeal is the very least that any one of us can do.
Tadias Magazine congratulates Dr. Catherine Hamlin on her well deserved recognition as the co-winner of the 2009 Right Livelihood Award!
— Interview with Dr. Hamlin conducted by Mahlet Teklemariam and Emmanuel Mekuria.
Above:Ethiopian painter Dawit Abebe stands in front of one
of his paintings.
AFP
By Aaron Maasho
ADDIS ABABA — Ethiopian art, which for centuries has been synonymous with portraits of saints and political figures, now has a new breed of “bohemian” painters tackling bolder subjects, including sex-themed works. In a studio littered with squeezed paint tubes and drab canvases, Dawit Abebe, one of the artists spearheading the revolution, gazes intently at his latest paintings that include nude portraits. “You know, years back they would have been way too extreme,” he said. “Now Ethiopians have begun to understand that they’re just art, and not meant to encourage sex.” In the olden days under the patronage of Ethiopian emperors, clerics and feudal lords, artists illustrated manuscripts, painted icons and adorned the country’s remote monasteries with depictions of doe-eyed saints and angels as their main profession. Read more.
Above: All proceeds from Teddy’s concert will go towards
helping Ethiopia’s street children and beggars.
AFP
DDIS ABABA — When Teddy Afro leaps onto the stage the crowd goes wild, clapping in the air and singing along with the man seen by many as the voice of Ethiopia’s conscience. Fresh from his prison cell, the singer known as Ethiopia’s Michael Jackson delighted tens of thousands of fans with his benefit concert for street children on Sunday. “He was in jail for more than a year because of his songs. He wants democracy and freedom for us the Ethiopian people. We love him,” shouted Alorachew, a student attending the show at the capital’s sports stadium. Read more.
The Election of Barack Obama HBO series Premieres
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 By The People: The Election of Barack Obama
While Obama’s meteoric rise to the White House has been well
documented in the press, few have witnessed the behind-the-
scenes story of the passionate campaigners who helped a young
African-American freshman senator attain the nation’s highest
office.
Above: Members of the Norwegian committee that gave Barack
Obama the Nobel Peace Prize are strongly defending their choice
against a storm of criticism that the award was premature and a
potential liability for the U.S. president. Read more from AP.
Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize The step-grandmother of the President of
the United States, Sarah Obama, reads
a local Kenyan paper Saturday for news
on the Nobel Peace Prize. (Azim/AP).
Video: Obama’s Statement:
Watch: Obama Brings Honor to America (Rachel Maddow)
Watch: Fareed Zakaria on Obama’s week of war and peace
Related: The Election of Barack Obama HBO series Premieres November 3
By The People: The Election of Barack Obama
While Obama’s meteoric rise to the White House has been well
documented in the press, few have witnessed the behind-the-
scenes story of the passionate campaigners who helped a
young African-American freshman senator attain the nation’s
highest office.
New York (Tadias) – Chef Marcus Samuelsson is releasing his new book New American Table on October 26th, 2009. Samuelsson is the author of Aquavit and the New Scandinavian Cuisine and Soul of a New Cuisine, which received the “Best International Cookbook” award given by the James Beard Foundation. Samuelsson is Chef and co-owner of Aquavit and Riingo restaurants in New York City, and C-House restaurant in Chicago. He was the youngest-ever chef to receive a three-star restaurant review from the New York Times in 1995. His television shows “Inner Chef” (Discovery Home Channel) and Urban Cuisine (BET J/Centric) aired in 2005 and 2008 respectively. He has been dubbed one of “The Great Chefs of America” by The Culinary Institute of America.
A book talk featuring Samuelsson’s New American Table will be held on November 4th, 2009 at 2pm at the Union League Club of Chicago.
Pre-orders for ‘New American Table’ can be made on Amazon.com.
Above:Dr. Ebba K. Ebba, founding member of The Gemini
Health Care Group, a non-profit established to provide
health care to children.
Source: 50 in 52 Journey
An Ethiopian born immigrant who became a Pediatrician Dr. Ebba wanted to make a difference in the lives of Children in his home country. Not content to just volunteer his time he wanted to make as big a difference as possible so he had undertaken a dream to build a Children’s Hospital so that it won’t just be the power of one but of many to help the children. Watch this powerful video of one man making a huge difference and listen to important advice he has for anyone who has a dream.
About 50 in 52 Journey 50 in 52 Journey is a non-profit company inspired by one woman, Dafna Michaelson, and supported by a wide network of businesses and individuals. The mission: “To find the people who are moving America forward; to share and celebrate the incredible ways in which ordinary people do extraordinary things every day; and to bring together both problems and solutions with idea-generators and problem-solvers through the 50 in 52 Journey foundation.” Learn more.
In her art, we are used to seeing Supermatist derived, large scale works with layers of freehand curvilinear forms often juxtaposed against structured forms such as the facades of Bauhaus-like edifice. Some of her drawings depart from the Supermatist heritage in a virtuoso display of biomorphic shapes. In one drawing done in a calligraphic hand (shown at the Project Gallery in 2005 and covered in our print issue), a fanciful fishing eagle of a bird hovers over spiraling surf and beach flotsam and jetsam.
Julie Mehretu, Immanence, 2004, ink and synthetic polymer on canvas, 72 x 96
inches, Mehretu-Rankin Collection, Courtesy of the artist and The Project, NYC.
Photo by Christian Capurro..
Julie Mehretu was born in 1970 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and raised in East Lansing, Michigan. She holds an undergraduate degree from Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan and a Master of Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design. She lives and works in New York.
Video: Excerpt from the show – Catch the episode on October 28
at 10pm (ET) on PBS (check local listings).
Above:A resident displays an x-ray at Jimma Referral Hospital
in Jimma, Ethiopia, on September 2, 2009. The resident is
helping teach health officers how to perform emergency
and obstetric surgeries. (Hanna Ingber Win).
Mothers Of Ethiopia Part V (Huffington Post) Editor’s note: Hanna Ingber Win, the Huffington Post‘s World Editor, was recently invited by the UN Population Fund to visit its maternal health programs in Ethiopia, which has one of the world’s worst health care systems. In the U.S., a woman has a 1 in 4,800 chance of dying from complications due to pregnancy or childbirth in her lifetime. In Ethiopia, a woman has a 1 in 27 chance of dying. This is the fifth of a five-part series on what she learned on her trip. Read more at: huffingtonpost.com.
Washington, D.C. – (Tadias) – Here are photos from the 09.25.09 event organized by Ethiopian-Americans for Change in partnership with the Major League baseball team, the Washington Nationals.
The Inaugural Ethiopian-American Appreciation Day, which included appearances by Mahmoud Ahmed and Grammy Nominee Wayna – among other artists – was held on September 25, 2009, at the Washington Nationals stadium roof top deck. Also, check out this video, which pays a musical and photography homage to the history of Ethiopians in America.
Photos: Courtesy of EA4C/Matt Andrea, photographer.
Above:Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (left) Rio
2016 bid President Carlos Arthur Nuzman (center) and
soccer great Pele (right) celebrate in Cophenhagen after
it was announced that Rio de Janeiro will host the 2016
Summer Olympic Games. (Charles Dharapak / AP).
AP
BREAKING NEWS
COPENHAGEN – The 2016 Olympics are going to Rio de Janeiro, putting the games in South America for the first time. Rio beat surprise finalist Madrid in the last round of voting. Chicago was knocked out in the first round — in one of the most shocking defeats ever handed down by the International Olympic Committee — and Tokyo was eliminated in the second round.
Leaders Make Their Cases to Host Olympics Above:President Obama, the First Lady and Chicago Mayor
Richard M. Daley delivered their presentations to IOC, the
International Olympic Committee in Copenhagen on Friday.
(Pool photo).
New York Times
By JULIET MACUR
Published: October 2, 2009
COPENHAGEN — Teams from the four candidate cities — Madrid, Rio de Janeiro, Chicago and Tokyo — are delivering their final presentations to the 104-member International Olympic Committee and answering every lingering question about the strengths and weaknesses of their bids to host the 2016 Summer Olympics. Read more.
Above:Sheba Sahlemariam will perform at Joe’s Pub in New
York City on Saturday, October 3, 2009 at 11:30 PM. The
after party will be held at Taj.
Tadias Events News Source: Joe’s Pub
Door Price: $15
A refugee from the majestic war-torn land of Ethiopia, Sheba Sahlemariam was reared among the concrete jungles of New York City, Europe, the Caribbean and Africa. Named after the Queen of Sheba, famed empress of Ethiopia, to whom her family traces direct ancestry – Sheba Sahlemariam is a cousin to Emperor Haile Selassie – which highlights the serendipitous circumstances that moved her family from Ethiopia to Guyana, where she spent her early childhood and later, Jamaica, which deepened her connection to Reggae and Dancehall, the glue to her global and urban sound. Sheba stirs up a unique musical brew that is a mélange of Reggae grooves, Afro-beat, Ethiopian traditional music and jazz, R&B riffs, 16 bar rhymes, and Dancehall Sing-Jaying –souvenirs from her nomadic life.
Sheba’s gorgeous four octave range, soul stirring, provocative lyrics and fierce ability to dial up a diversity of musical styles puts her at the razor’s edge and will expel you from preconceived definitions of urban, pop and world music.
Watch: “Love This Lifetime” by Sheba Sahlemariam
As early as the age of four, she was singing and making up songs, but it wasn’t until a random meeting in Brooklyn, when Sheba forged a musical partnership with Tommy “Madfly” Faragher, that she finally begin to chip away at her lifelong dream to write and record music. Together they began to collaborate on what would be the basis for her first album: The Lion of Sheba. Songs from the forthcoming album are for real music lovers: big vocals, powerful songwriting and beats that challenge your boundaries. The wait is over. You may not be able to get to Ethiopia, but The Lion of Sheba will bring Ethiopia home to you. The Lioness, Sheba…soon come.
Above:Artist’s conception of “Ardi”, short for Ardipithecus
ramidus. Per WaPo: “shattered skeleton that an international
team of scientists believes is a major breakthrough in the study
of human origins.” Ardi lived 4.4 million years ago in Ethiopia
and a “key moment” in her discovery occurred on Nov. 5, 1994,
“when a Berkeley graduate student, Yohannes Haile-Selassie of
Ethiopia, found fragments of two finger bones.”
(J.H. Matternes/Science/ABC News Photo Illustration).
The New York Times
CONSIDERED | Art by Lou Beach
Published: October 4, 2009
The Hominid Sisterhood
Lucy, you sweet young thing. No longer can you lay claim to being the oldest creature on the human branch of the primate family tree.
The honor goes to Ardi, who at 4.4 million years old has you beat by a little over a million. Her assembled bones were unveiled Thursday by scientists who had been analyzing the Ardipithecus specimen since fragments were found in Ethiopia in 1992.
The particulars: Taller and heavier than Lucy, she weighed about 120 pounds and stood four feet tall (yes, she probably walked upright, though she was still an agile tree-climber). Forget the high heels; her feet had no arches (Lucy’s did). Tim D. White of Berkeley, a leader of the study team, said, “We are getting so close to that common ancestor of hominids and chimps, and we’d love to find an earlier skeleton.”
Washington Post
By Joel Achenbach
Thursday, October 1, 2009;
“Ardi” is the nickname given to a remarkable, shattered skeleton that an international team of scientists believes is a major breakthrough in the study of human origins. The skeletal remains were painstakingly recovered from the Ethiopian desert along with bones from at least 35 other members of a species scientists call Ardipithecus ramidus. The 15-year investigation of Ardipithecus culminated Thursday in the publication of a raft of papers in the online edition of the journal Science, as well as dual press conferences in Washington and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. “This is huge. This is the biggest discovery really since the ‘Lucy’ skeleton of the 1970s,” said Carol Ward, a University of Missouri paleoanthropologist who was not involved with the research but had been given a preview so that she could offer an independent assessment.
Above:46-year-old Eleni Bekele of Davis, California,
was shot Tuesday morning during an eviction confrontation
with Davis police officers.
News10ABC
DAVIS, CA – The Davis Police Department says a woman was shot by a Yolo County sheriff’s deputy Tuesday morning. According to Lt. Colleen Turay, the deputy was in the process of enforcing an eviction notice on a 46-year-old woman from an apartment on the 1800 block of Hanover Drive when the woman threatened the deputy with a knife. That is when the deputy shot the woman once, said Turay. The deputy placed a call for help at 10:27 a.m.
Above:A damaged building and truck in Pago Pago, the capital
of American Samoa, after an 8.0-magnitude quake and tsunami
struck in the early morning of Sept. 29. The huge earthquake
churned up a giant tsunami that devastated the Samoa islands,
killing dozens as it tore through resorts and villages.
Above:More than 23 million people are being pushed towards
severe hunger and destitution across East Africa, international
aid agency Oxfam warned today, as it launched an emergency
appeal to raise $15 million. In Ethiopia, 13.7 million people are
at risk.
Oxfam’s deputy humanitarian director says the famine is
reaching a “tipping point”. Watch the video on BBC.
A severe and persistent five-year drought, deepened by climate change, is now stretching across seven countries in the region and exacting a heavy human toll, made worse by high food prices and violent conflict. The worst affected countries are Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and Uganda. Other countries hit are Sudan, Djibouti and Tanzania.
Malnutrition is now above emergency levels in some areas and hundreds of thousands of cattle – people’s key source of income – are dying. This is the worst drought that Kenya has experienced for a decade, and the worst humanitarian situation Somalia has experienced since 1991.
The high numbers of people affected – more than double the number caught up in similar food crisis in 2006, when 11 million were at risk – underline the gravity of the situation and the urgent need for funding to prevent the crisis getting worse.
Paul Smith Lomas, Oxfam’s East Africa Director said:
“This is the worst humanitarian crisis Oxfam has seen in East Africa for over ten years. Failed and unpredictable rains are ever more regular across East Africa as raining seasons shorten due to the growing influence of climate change. Droughts have increased from once a decade to every two or three years. In Wajir, northern Kenya, almost 200 dead animals were recently found around one dried-up water source. People are surviving on 2 liters of water a day in some places – less water than a toilet flush. The conditions have never been so harsh or so inhospitable, and people desperately need our help to survive.”
In Kenya , 3.8 million, a tenth of the population, are in need of emergency aid. Food prices have spiraled to 180 percent above average. Areas such as Rift Valley, which have never previously experienced a drought of this intensity are now affected. Conflict over rapidly diminishing resources such as water and pasture for cattle is increasing. Desperate herders are taking their cattle further to look for water and food, sparking tensions with other groups competing for the same resources. Sixty-five people have been killed in Turkana, northern Kenya since June 2009.
One in six children are acutely malnourished in Somalia , and people are trekking for days to find water in the northern regions of the country. Conflict means that people are less able to grow the food, and drought is creating hardship in areas where people have fled. Half of the population – over 3.8 million people – are affected.
In Ethiopia, 13.7 million people are at risk of severe hunger and need assistance. Many are selling their cattle to buy food. In northern Uganda farmers have lost half of their crops and more than 2 million people across the country desperately need aid.
Some 160,000 people mainly around the wild life tourist area of Ngorongoro in north-eastern Tanzania are also at risk. In Djibouti there are worrying levels of increased malnutrition and in South Sudan conflict has put 88,000 people at particular risk.
The aid response to the crisis needs to rapidly expand, but it is desperately short of funds. The World Food Program is facing a $977 million donor shortfall for its work in the Horn of Africa over the next six months. The government of Uganda appealed for donor money to tackle the food crisis, but has so far received only 50 percent of the funding it needs.
Rains are due in October but are likely to bring scant relief or worse still, deluges that could dramatically worsen the situation. There are genuine fears that the region could be hit by floods as a result of the El Nino phenomenon, which could destroy crops and houses, and increase the spread of water-borne diseases. Even with normal rain, the harvest will not arrive until early 2010. People will still need aid to get them through a long hunger season.
Oxfam staff are on the ground helping those at risk but the organisation is appealing for help from the UK public to help scale up its efforts. The agency is expanding its aid effort to reach more than 750,000 people but is in desperate need for funds to do this work. Oxfam is supplying emergency clean water and access to food, and also carrying out long-term projects to strengthen people’s ability to cope with future shocks.
Above:On April 19, 2009, Ethiopians lost the greatest
popular musician the country has ever produced. Tilahun
Gessesse would have turned 69 on September 27, 2009.
Addis Fortune
Tewodros Kasahun, aka Teddy Afro, once said that the legendary Ethiopian singer, the late Tilahun Gessesse had carried him in his arms when he was a child and bought him Fanta. He praised Tilahun as “the other lion”, in line with Kenenisa Bekele – whom he honoured in an instantly popular single released immediately after his athletic victory at the 2004 Greek Olympics. Tilahun was sitting beside him on stage as Teddy made this remark. Today, September 27, 2009, the late king of Ethiopian music, Tilahun Gessesse, would have turned 69, had he lived. His death, however, has not been a deterrent to his friends’ and fans’ determination to celebrate his birthday. It will be at this event that Teddy Afro will make his first public performance since gaining his freedom, August 13, 2009. Read more.
Remembering Tilahun Gesesse
Ethiopia is mourning what many describe as one of the greatest –
if not THE greatest popular musician – the country has ever produced. Read more at BBC.
Washington DC (TADIAS) — Before Washington D.C.’s Ethiopian Community Center (ECC) commenced its operations in the early 80’s, newly arriving Ethiopians resettling from various refugee camps in Africa had very little resources to rebuild their lives. Majority of the refugees were fleeing harsh economic realities and civil war. “We needed to start something immediately,” says Ms. Hermela Kebede, who was present at ECC’s inception, and witnessed first-hand the large influx of Ethiopian refugees who were being assisted mainly by the United Nations Higher Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). The Voice of America news service recently cited U.S. Census Bureau statistics revealing that “there are now close to one million African immigrants in the United States and more than 50 percent of them entered and settled in the country between 1990 and 2000.”
It was important, according to Ms. Kebede, that “a community center of some sort was established.” ECC was set up after several elders in the community gathered together and drafted a plan. Ms. Kebede has been serving as ECC’s Executive Director since 1992. Since its founding, the ECC has provided legal information and referral services on issues ranging from education and health care resources to employment and immigration assistance.
Now, years later, new challenges are being raised by first generation Ethiopian-Americans. “Parents have a genuine concern that their children, many of whom were born and raised in the United States, presently face a cultural identity crisis,” says Ms. Kebede. In recent years this has prompted the ECC to secure funding and to provide a comprehensive Ethiopian culture program, which includes Amharic language lessons, workshops, and traditional dance classes in order to positively introduce first generation Ethiopian-Americans to their heritage.
“My two kids love to come and learn about Ethiopia,” said Tesfaye Mekuria, a former service user and father of two summer campers, Bethlehem and Abel Tesfaye. “They enjoy learning about the history, culture and way of life in Ethiopia. Every time they ask me a question such as how many provinces there are in Ethiopia, I turn to ECC because being away from home, I am clueless myself. Sending them to ECC is indirectly a learning process for me.” The summer camp that Mr. Tesfaye is talking about has successfully taught approximately 200 Ethiopian American children since it’s inception five summers ago.
Slideshow: Photos courtesy of ECC.
The Ethiopian American community is now one of the largest African immigrant communities in the United States. This has created increased pressure on community centers such as the ECC to seek greater funding and include English as a Second Language (ESL) courses for the target population. “ESL wasn’t a major issue at the beginning because the first wave of Ethiopian immigrants were fairly acquainted with English before they settled in America. To the contrary, there is a greater demand of ESL services now for more recent immigrants,” note Ms. Kebede.
“Before I came to the ECC to take ESL courses I was just struggling to work and communicate with my few words of English,” says Messeret Wasse, a frequent visitor to the center. “I couldn’t understand a word of the letters and documents that I received on the job.” The single mother of two who also sends her kids to the Ethiopian Summer camp says, “Thanks to the Community Center now, I can understand every letter that I receive, and I can communicate fairly easily in English.” ESL is among the most successful services provided by the ECC.
Ms. Hermela Kebede, Executive Director of ECC.
The demographics of the Ethiopian immigrant community has dramatically changed which requires ECC to come up with new, contemporary and innovative approaches for affordable and broader range of services. ECC now provides health referral services, an indispensable feature of its outreach program. “We assist people who reside in DC to obtain free health insurance,” said Ms. Woubedle Alemayehu, the HIV Coordinator for ECC. “Most immigrants and their children are uninsured and our goal is to inform them of available services through federal and city government services, and to advise them on how to use them.”
ECC works hand-in-hand with the DC government to provide health and educational services. “Through this important partnership ECC has held two Community Health Fairs, designed especially for the African immigrant community. The program entitled “Being Healthy is Your Responsibility” has provided HIV testing and health related information to members of the African immigrant population. ECC, like many non-profit organizations, struggles to sustain its services. The main challenge is the constant struggle to get funding and obtain new resources.
To address its recent demands from the community ECC developed several new initiatives which volunteerism, reorganizing the Board of Directors, and seeking and utilizing the larger community’s feedback. “Involving the community is one of our highest objectives,” said Professor Lemma Senbet, the new Chair of ECC’s Board of Directors and a renowned scholar and financial expert. “In order to improve services and implement them successfully the input from the community being served is vital.”
The Ethiopian community has generally had low volunteer turnout which have affected some areas of services such as outreach and advocacy. “We are at a critical stage now, and the Center currently faces five critical gaps: community involvement, technology-based communication, administrative, facility, and resources.” Senbet asserts. “Moving forward, the newly recognized Board, with five new members, is determined to grow the Center to the next level by narrowing these gaps in a significant way.”
Lemma W. Senbet, Professor of Finance at the Smith School
of the University of Maryland, is the new Chair of ECC’s Board
of Directors. (Courtesy photo).
Most programs that the ECC offers are grant funded, and according to Ms. Kebede, also must be executed by a specific timeline. At the end of the grant period, some programs continue to receive funding while others may run out of funding, making it very difficult for the Center to maintain and keep staff. The current economic situation and the fact that DC has one of the highest numbers of non-profit organizations make it even more competitive to secure funding,” says Ms. Kebede. So, the new Board has limited time to come up with fresh ideas that can generate new revenue which will enable the center to sustain the highly needed services. According to Dr. Senbet, ECC will be
holding a town hall meeting sometime in October to evaluate the current needs of the community.
Slideshow: Photos courtesy of ECC.
– ECC welcomes all to use their services and to volunteer at the Center. Its current location is 7603 Georgia Ave., NW, Suite 100 Washington, DC, 20012. For more information, call 202-726-0800 or email eth@prodigy.net.
Above:President Obama will travel to Copenhagen to make a
personal pitch for Chicago to get the 2016 Olympic Games.
NBC’s Savannah Guthrie reports. (Watch the video below)
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will travel to Denmark this week to support Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to the president, told The Associated Press on Monday morning that Obama will leave Thursday and join his wife, Michelle, in Copenhagen, where they’ll make the pitch to the International Olympic Committee. Obama would be the first U.S. president to take on such a direct role in lobbying for an Olympics event. The International Olympic Committee is meeting in Copenhagen to select a host city for the 2016 Summer Games. Chicago faces tough competition from Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Tokyo. The IOC is scheduled to decide the site on Friday.Read more.
Above: At the 2009 Ethiopian New Year’s celebration at SOB’s
in New York. (Photo by Kidane Mariam).
Tadias Magazine Events News
Published: Sunday, September 27, 2009
New York (Tadias) – The Sounds of Brazil (SOB’s) in New York City has been the host of Ethiopian New Year’s concerts for the last few years. The venue has featured its share of big name artists, including Aster Aweke and Kuku Sebsibe. SOB’s continued its tradition with this Year’s celebration held on Friday September 11, 2009 – featuring live performances by Efrem Tameru & Gosaye Tesfaye. The event was organized by the promotional group Massinko Entertainment. Here are photos by our contributing photographer Kidane Mariam.—
Above:Teff is an important food grain in Ethiopia and
Eritrea, where it is used to make injera, and less so in India
and Australia. It is now raised in the U.S. – Kansas and Idaho
in particular. (Wikimedia Commons).
NICODEMUS, Kan. — A new “it” grain is blooming in the fields of northwestern Kansas. Teff has a ready-made market of Ethiopian expatriates hungering for a taste of home with virtually no supply of the grain for their beloved injera bread. Teff packs more protein per pound than wheat. And because it produces gluten-free flour, it could open a buffet line of breads and pastas to people with celiac disease. It also can withstand drought and floods and, so far, it hasn’t fallen prey to pests that bedevil other Midwestern crops. Read more.
The lobby on behalf of Africans living in extreme poverty continued in full force yesterday as leaders of the G-20 nations arrived in town. On the streets, African immigrants and other protesters decried the G-20 member nations, which they said are to blame for the capitalist structures that continue to prop up brutal dictators on the continent. And at the August Wilson Center for African American Culture, which was used as the press center for various groups lobbying the G-20 leaders, international advocates challenged the efficacy of a summit that would fail to address the question of global poverty. Read more.
Video: Protest by Ethiopians at the G20 Summit
Video: Cops disperse Ethiopian protesters
‘Obama’s Red Carpet’ Moment with Ethiopia’s First Couple President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama laughed while they waited for
their guests to arrive. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)
The Times’s Helene Cooper has an entertaining pool report on tonight’s
dinner of world leaders at the Phipps Conservatory:
Well, there was no red carpet lining the walkway to the Phipps Conservatory for the leaders’ dinner tonight hosted by President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama…
At 6:15 p.m. Mr. and Mrs. Obama stepped out of the Phipps Conservatory, underneath an awning to greet their first guests. Mr. Obama in a dark blue suit, Mrs. Obama in a taupe, pink and green patterned cocktail dress with straps…
Next arrives Ethiopian President Meles Zenawi, who clearly did something in the car to anger his wife because she glares at him, Mr. Obama, Mrs. Obama, and anyone unfortunate enough to cross her line of vision. The Obamas both look slightly taken aback by her. Wonder what happened in the car? The Ethiopian First Couple are quickly dispatched inside.
Above:Recruited by Ethiopian-born singer Kenna, actress
Jessica Biel and her boyfriend Justin Timberlake plan to climb
Mount Kilimanjaro this fall to raise money for charity.
Actress Jessica Biel will join her boyfriend Justin Timberlake to climb Mount Kilimanjaro this fall to raise money for charity.
The Blade: Trinity star has joined the team of celebrities recruited by Ethiopian-born singer Kenna to scale the 9,000-foot African peak as part of a fundraising and awareness effort for the worldwide water crisis.
She admits she only signed up for the trek after being “astonished” that more than a billion people in the world have no access to drinkable water.
“This is a basic human necessity that needs to be addressed now. (I want) to help any way I can in order to raise awareness toward the life-threatening clean water crisis happening not only in Africa but around the world,” the star said.
Above:A proposed resolution in the Council of the District
of Columbia recognizes and celebrates the contributions of
the Ethiopian community to Washington, D.C.; and declares
September 25, 2009, as “Ethiopian-American Recognition
Day”.
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: Friday, September 25, 2009
Washington, D.C. (Tadias) – DC Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) introduced a resolution this week to recognize and celebrate the contributions of the Ethiopian community to the District of Columbia; and declare September 25, 2009, as “Ethiopian-American Recognition Day”.
Ethiopian-Americans for Change (EA4C), has announced a partnership with the Major League baseball team, the Washington Nationals— to stage the “Inaugural Ethiopian-American Appreciation Day.”
According to the organizers, the festivities will take place today at the Washington Nationals stadium roof top deck and will include an Ethiopian-American cultural celebration and an award ceremony.
Ethiopian Heritage Appreciation Day at Nationals Park Events News Washington City Paper
By Andrew Baujon
Posted: September 23, 2009
Mahmoud Ahmed is to Ethiopia what Cliff Richard is to Britain or Johnny Hallyday is to France—someone whose cultural importance far outstrips any recent musical output. The sextuagenarian singer is mostly known to Western audiences via the French “Ethiopiques” compilations, the best of which chronicle his mid-to-late-’70s recordings, during Ethiopia’s grim Derg years. Featuring Ahmed’s tremulous Amharic over Memphis-inspired grooves, the recordings sound like Nusrat Fateh Ali Kahn fronting Booker T. & the MG’s, and his idiosyncratic phrasing and allegiance to the pentatonic scale tilt his songs jazzward as well. It’s a boon of living in an area with a large Ethiopian expat community that a singer of Ahmed’s stature makes it over here; that you can see him and other artists, enjoy a free buffet and coffee tasting, and catch the Nats taking on the Braves all on the same ticket is a minor miracle.
ETHIOPIAN HERITAGE APPRECIATION DAY BEGINS AT 3 P.M. AT NATIONALS PARK,
1500 SOUTH CAPITOL ST. SE. $14.75–30.50. EAFC.ORG FOR TICKETS AND INFO.
Photos courtesy of Ethiopian-Americans for Change.
Above:“The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office has charged
a Tampa man in connection with an early morning apartment
fire… The man, 44-year-old Gezaheign Awasi, has been
arrested for starting the fire in his second floor apartment.”
(Watch video from ABC Action News).
New York (Tadias) – Ethiopian-American jazz saxophonist Danny Mekonnen, a PhD candidate in Ethnomusicology at Harvard University, founded Debo band in 2006. The band, which has been cultivating a small but enthusiastic following in the loft spaces, neighborhood bars, and church basements of Boston, explores the unique sounds that filled the dance floors of “Swinging Addis” – a period of prolific Ethiopian jazz recordings in the 1960s and 70s. Addis Ababa’s nightlife was buzzing with live Afro-pop, Swing, and Blues performances rivaling those in Paris or New York. The sounds of that era have been showcased on the Ethiopiques Buda CD series. The 60’s and 70’s also witnessed the rise of legendary stars such as Tilahun Gessesse, Mahmoud Ahmed, Alemayehu Eshete, Mulatu Astatke, and saxophonist Getatchew Mekuria, among others – some of whom Danny credits as his source of inspiration. He pays tribute to Menelik Wossenachew, a member of the Haile Sellasie Theatre Orchestra, led by the famous Armenian composer Nerses Nalbandian. Debo began making appearances outside of Boston this year, including shows in New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. We spoke with Danny prior to the band’s concert at L’Orange Bleue in New York City.
Above:Ethiopia’s marathon runner Haile Gebrselassie (L) and
his country fellow Atsede Habtamu Besuye greet the audience
after winning in the 36 Berlin marathon September 20, 2009.
Gebrselassie clocked 2:06:08 and Besuye 2:24:47. (Reuters)
BBC
Sunday, 20 September 2009
Haile Gebrselassie won the Berlin Marathon for the fourth year in a row on Sunday but missed out on breaking his own world record. His time was two hours, six minutes and eight seconds, but warm conditions ended any hopes of him breaking the record he set in last year’s race. “I expected more from my opponents, but I made sure I ran my best,” said the 36-year-old Ethiopian. “The last kilometres were really hard, it was too hot for a new world record.” He added: “I was tired, I pushed too much.” Read more.
New York (TADIAS) – For filmmaker Haile Gerima the travails of life are much like moving images – “a constant journey of restlessness and complexity, until the final rest.”
Haile’s latest film, the critically acclaimed Teza, focuses on the tumultuous years of the Mengistu era, as told by an idealistic Ethiopian doctor who recounts dreams and nightmares.
We spoke with Haile at his Sankofa bookstore, conveniently located across from Howard University where he has been teaching film since 1975.
But first, here is a sneak preview of Teza:
Teza’s main character, Anberber, experiences nightmares reflecting back to the chaotic years in Ethiopia following the overthrow of Emperor Haile Selassie. Do you think this painful memory is also collectively shared by Anberber’s generation in the Diaspora?
HG: Oh, Certainly. In fact, a lot of people would ask me, “Is it biographical?” I say, no it is a collective experience. It’s a stolen story of a whole lot of people. So the generation that this film speaks to is an idealistic generation, who were sent abroad by governments or by personal ambition, to bring the tonic that would transform their society. Therefore, you have a generation that was leaving the country as if they were sent to go and bring the medicine and cross the river and comeback. Yet, the journey is more complex. When you cross the Atlantic and the threshold of the so-called modern society, you enter in to a new orbit and your journey becomes more complicated. For me, and especially my generation of Ethiopians of the 1970’s and late 60’s, this is the dilemma that dramatized even their well-intended political dream into a nightmare. So it is a generational, I would say, biography.
What memories do you have of that time? Are they reflected in your film?
HG: Well I would say, how genuine young Ethiopian men and women were about changing Ethiopia. How much they cared, how much they loved their country was unquestionable, but at the same time you know you can destroy the object of love if it is possessively displaced. In other words, the dogmatic nature of that generation was such that they arrogantly thought they had the formula for transforming Ethiopia. It left them a confused generation.
The film was shot in Ethiopia and Germany but the story was based here in America. It was first written for America. I remember long ago weekend meetings (of Ethiopians) at the international student center near UCLA or at UCLA. We left all the priorities of our personal life to meet on the issue of country. That is the most amazing experience, but at the same time, we were also feeding a very dangerous dogma to each other. A dogma that swallowed the very generation in its prime age. I was in these meetings. Of course, I got out at a certain point because I couldn’t digest my own tendencies of disappearing in this generational political culture. When we shot the film in Germany we shot in the actual place where Ethiopian students were meeting. It doesn’t matter where we were, Ethiopian men and women of my generation in Paris, in Rome, in Cologne or Frankfurt or Seattle, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, or San Francisco. They were doing the same activity and basically reading almost the same books, and these books were taken as Biblical prophecies to transform Ethiopia. And, in the end, we lost so many powerful Ethiopian young men. Brilliant young men and women were lost in this confusion, in this chaotic period. So I know vividly these people that I dedicate the film to. I remember their eyes and how genuine they were. These are not bad people. They were not selfish. They just disappeared in the chaos.
Do you think the current generation is lost in the chaos of individualistic attitude?
HG: Well, you know I think it is a very different generation. Completely different generation. And I don’t know the historical circumstances. I don’t know what would become of them. But it is a generation that is so disillusioned it has no internal strength. Most Ethiopians are not strong inside, that is why they need external jackets and hair-dos, lipsticks, earrings, cars and TV to say “I am somebody.”
Some people would say well it is that political confusion that created this alienated generation, but I always say every generation has a responsibility to be compassionate to be collective-minded and fair and just. You see it in America – young people marching for poor people or against racism etc..so young Ethiopians at this point, they might have personal experiences to use as explanations, but in my view if I have to say it, I find them very confused and very external-oriented, materialistic-oriented. And to me I am not against hair change or lipstick or earrings, but I think inner strength is more important to say “I believe this and I am somebody inside.”
On the other hand you can see a lot of Ethiopians are very successfully involved in the economic foundation of America — they have restaurants. We never thought about restaurants, we never thought about businesses. We all thought we were sent to bring medicine from abroad and cure our people. There was so much trachoma in my village. When you come from those circumstances you don’t have time for personal ambitions. Instead you start thinking “There must be something I could do before I die” or “what is the purpose of living?”
What is purpose of living? Let me put it this way…what is life in the eyes of a cinematographer?
HG: Life is a cinema, constant journey of restlessness complexity, until the final rest. Life for me is constant struggle to have your say in this world to have your story be presented as a valid story.
What is the main message that you want the audience to take away from this film?
HG:The purpose of Teza is really like childhood morning dew. When I was growing up, I would sense the morning from the water caressing my legs while walking through the grass – the morning dew (English for Teza). This type of childhood experience is being lost, and so I am trying to preserve my childhood and I am trying to preserve my generation. And I am trying to remember the mistakes we made especially when we became brutal toward each other – shooting each other, killing each other. I don’t like killing, I never liked killing I don’t know how my generation made its cultural trademark to kill each other because of political differences. These are the reasons I try to work for myself first. People have to take it and see what it does for them, but for me, I am processing the whole confusion that I was part of.
Is Teza historical fiction or is it based on a true story? What in particular inspired you to make the film?
HG: Let me tell you, every time I go to Ethiopia I find mothers asking me to return their sons from the war. A war between two ‘families’ – Eritrea and Ethiopia. A woman who has ‘clogged’ her eyes crying for the past two or three years will lament “bring back my son to me. Can you give me my son? I don’t want your money, I want you to give me my son.” How does one deliver this woman’s request? You are only a filmmaker, you are not an army. How would you fulfill her request? This is the challenge that I face every time I go to Ethiopia. I am faced by the reality of peasants, working people, servants in homes – they all confront me. And so for me the film is like vomiting toxic. In doing so you exorcise your own.
I don’t have the power to make people see my movie, I have no other agenda. If they see it I am grateful. To me, the primary task of this movie is to vomit it, now the inspiration is really my helplessness. Teza’s main character, Amberber, felt completely helpless in one scene when soldiers come to take a son, and the mother was saying give me back my son, he is not armed, he is just confused scholar who got back to his country to his mother, to his umbilical cord in search of his childhood. He is always walking in the landscape because that is where he grew up but the reality kept coming in front of him like a stage play. So, my inspiration is my inability to do something about what the Ethiopian people are going through, then and now. This is what my helplessness is. Other people have a more dramatic source of inspiration. My inspiration is me being helpless, powerless, not having enough resources.
Teza said to have taken 14 years to make, why did it take so long? And what were the challenges in executing it?
HG: Many Ethiopians in my view do not understand the power of culture. When Westerners make film they know it is about their collective culture. We, on the other hand, don’t see how significant it is to preserve our people’s culture, from day one, as it is invoked by descendents. As it resonates through the younger generation. We don’t invest on culture. For instance, Ethiopians in America, if they put twenty dollars a month aside for the transformation of Ethiopian art, for the preservation of Ethiopian culture and tradition, Ethiopia would also have a population that is mentally restructured and confident and capable of making its own history. To create a critically brilliant society you have to have a dramatic cultural transaction.
Can you say a bit more about the leading actors in the film? How you found them and cast them?
HG: None of the characters had acted before. Most of them came to me raw, but they had amazing potential and gift that I was able to say ‘Oh! This person will give me what I want.’ Some of the actors in the village, like the woman who plays Amberber’s mother, has never acted. She doesn’t even know what acting is, but she knocked people out because she was so genuine, truthful, and most of all she understood and felt the story. She lived in the era and I was able to work with her to get what I wanted. So, for me there is what you call ‘gift,’ and in filmmaking half of it is luck. You know, you try and sometimes you mis-cast. I am proud of the cast in Teza, and I didn’t care if they didn’t know acting because I was very confident of making sure that I don’t paralyze them by mystifying acting. I know how to demystify acting, that is part of my education my orientation. I practiced a lot even during Sankofa, Bush Mama, I made movies with non-actors and actors too. The non-actors have done amazing work, so for me when auditioning people I am looking untangle a range of talent, and get the best out of what I want rather than cast corrupted actors who will not be genuine.
Actresses Araba Evelyn Johnston-Arthur, Veronika Avraham, director Haile Gerima and actors Abeye Tedla and Aaron Arefe attend the ‘Teza’ photocall at the Piazzale del Casino during the 65th Venice Film Festival on September 2, 2008 in Venice. (Getty Images)
What is your favorite film? Why?
HG: The problem with this question is that it is flawed. Favorite film doesn’t exist but what happens is, films inspire me. One of them is ‘The Hour of the Furnaces‘ from Argentina, but the most powerful film that resonates with my childhood experience is a Japanese film called The Island and another Swedish film called My Life as a Dog, and an Italian film called The Bicycle Thief. So it is a range of films – kind of like puzzle work. There are a lot of films that animated my life and resonated with me.
You talk about the influence your parents had on you growing up and how it inspired you to become a storyteller, can you talk about that?
HG: You know, when I was growing up we sat around the fire and my grandmother would always tell a story. And to me that is the foundation of film – storytelling. My father was a playwright and he wrote plays and I participated in different capacities in my father’s plays. And my mother was always full of stories and most nights we had no television, no film to go to. Our TV and TV dinner was fireside chats. Hearing stories from the elders played a major role in my development, as well as kept alive my continued quest to connect to their lifestyle, their aesthetics. I didn’t know it was important to do so then, but now I go out of my way to preserve it. To me, Ethiopia has a lot to offer to an artist. It is a country that has the audacity to invent without imitation. The storytelling is the kind of orientation that I am very blessed and grateful about.
What advice do you have for young aspiring Ethiopian filmmakers? Or anyone that wants to prosper in the artistic world of cinematography?
HG: One is to give your heart fully — to jump and get into it all the way. Not to apologize, not to be inhibited by going to school or not going to school. Or by ‘knowing’ film or not. If you have the urge to tell a story just jump with everything within you. But once you jump in, it is not enough to jump in, now you have to kick if you don’t want to drown, and so the hard work is the process of learning more by yourself through your work.
Every film that I make is my university. I learn so much from my mistakes and I consider my films the most imperfect films because I am always learning to do better from film to film. The kind of filmmakers that young people should aspire to be is to consistently learn from their own films. Watch movies, study paintings and color. Color as simple as it sounds is complex. Understand culture that is fundamental. Film in the end is built in this powerful development of your sensory organs to light, to shadows. This doesn’t come just by wanting to be a filmmaker. You have to go out of your way. Young people should know that one doesn’t become a filmmaker individually but, rather from a collective view. Don’t forget not only to learn what to do but also learn what not to do as well.
Many of your films are financed by independent sources outside the U.S or the community….what makes it easy for you to find funding outside but challenging in the U.S?
HG: I got tired of asking people who don’t value my story to fund my films. In Europe, I found individuals who said ‘Let me join this guy.’ Yes, it takes me years to convince people. that is why it took fourteen years to find the money I needed to start filming in 2004. The first shooting took place in Ethiopia for eight weeks. Then it took me two more years to find the German part – six day shoot. In the end it is luck that I found intellectuals who were predisposed to my right to tell my story and that they want to be part of the storytelling. Mostly because I prefer low budget, I have more freedom to control my film. Even by American standards, I am the freest independent filmmaker who owns his own films. And if I enter into a relationship I never relinquish the power of the filmmaker where other people come to decide for me. I would rather have less money and more freedom.
Where do you find the time and energy to do all this?
HG: From the story, the story keeps me charged.
Is there anything else you would like to share with our audience?
HG: Thank you to Tadias. I know how you guys insist to exist. And I know how difficult it is for magazines to exist. I hope you guys continue to sustain, to struggle to be innovative, to find an alternative way of making sure that you don’t disintegrate and close and collapse. I am impressed that you are at least here in the cyber world – you exist. I am very impressed with that.
Thank you so much Prof. Gerima and we wish you continued success!
Above:Former heavyweight world champion Evander Holyfield
(left) and Sammy Retta’s charity bout in Ethiopia has been
postponed to allow time for a bigger event to be prepared.
Straits Times
Sep 15, 2009
ADDIS ABABA – FORMER heavyweight world champion Evander Holyfield’s charity bout in Ethiopia has been postponed to allow time for a bigger event to be prepared, officials told AFP on Tuesday.
The match, to raise funds for AIDS charities, was initially set to take place in Addis Ababa on July 26, before being rescheduled for September 11 – the Ethiopian New Year – after a request from the government.
‘The promoters are working hard to make a real and spectacular event,’ Motuma Temesgen, an official from Ethiopia’s government communication affairs office, told AFP.
‘Holyfield and Sammy Retta will fight in Addis Ababa on October 30 while five other fights will also take place on the same day,’ he said. Read more.
Photo – Jolie with daughter Zahara, NYC, 2007 (Purseblog.com)
People Magazine
By Mary Green Originally posted Tuesday September 15, 2009 11:30 AM EDT
It turns out that Angelina Jolie’s recent goodwill mission in Kenya was also a homecoming for one member of the Jolie-Pitt family. While Jolie, 34, and Brad Pitt, 45, were “on a trip to Kenya with their children, Angelina stopped in Dabaab Refugee Camp, and also flew to Ethiopia with Zahara and Shiloh for two days,” a close family friend tells PEOPLE. The girls’ trip was “the first time Zahara had been back home since her adoption,” according to the friend. Zahara, 4, was adopted from Ethiopia in 2005. “The trip was about keeping up that culture for her.” Read more.
VIDEO: Angelina Jolie’s UNHCR Trip To Dadaab Refugee Camp (Kenya)
New York (Tadias) – Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie is reportedly planning to build an AIDS clinic in Ethiopia, her adopted daughter Zahara’s country of birth.
“We will be building a Tuberculosis/AIDS clinic in Ethiopia. The one we plan for Zahara to take over when she is older,” Jolie told Hello magazine, which printed its world exclusive pictures of her newborn twins Knox and Vivienne earlier this week.
Jolie and her partner Brad Pitt already have a daughter, Shiloh Nouvel, who was born in Namibia in 2006. In addition to Zahara (aged three from Ethiopia), they are also adopted parents to Maddox (six-year-old) from Cambodia, and Pax (four-year-old) from Vietnam.
According to Contactmusic.com, the clinic in Ethiopia is an initiative of the Jolie-Pitt Foundation, a charity the celebrity couple established in 2006 for international humanitarian aid.
Jolie also has plans for her Asian children. “The next trip for our foundation will most likely be Asia to follow up on the situation in Burma and our work in Cambodia. The boys have been asking to go there, so we will take them when Knox and Vivienne are a bit older,” she added.
New York (TADIAS) – A new prize named after Ethiopia’s Poet Laureate Tsegaye Gebremedhin has been established by the Institute of Language Studies at Addis Ababa University, Addis Journal reports.
The annual prize for students of literature and theater is intended to encourage academic excellence in the arts. The first prize was awarded to Berhanu Asfaw from the Department of Ethiopian Languages and Literature and to Tegegnto Sinshaw from the Theaters Arts Department.
The journal also notes volunteer efforts, spearheaded by Dr. Heran Serke-Berhan, to create a permanent annual stage production as a way to honor the late writer.
Tsegaye Gebremedhin, founder of the Department of Theatrical Arts at Addis Ababa University, was one of the most widely published African playwrights and poets. He is the recipient of the 1997 Honorable Poets Laureate Golden Laurel Award given by the Congress of World Poets and United Poets Laureate International. A prolific writer, both in Amharic and English, one of his best known poems “Proud to be African” has been adopted as an anthem by the African Union. He also translated the works of Shakespeare and Moliere into Amharic – including Macbeth, King Lear and Tartuffe.
Mr. Gebremedhin was born in Boda, a small village near Ambo, Ethiopia, on August 17, 1936. As a child, he received traditional church education and as a teenager attended Wingate High school in Addis Ababa. He later earned a degree from the Blackstone School of Law in Chicago (1959), followed by an educational tour to the Royal Court Theatre in London and the Comédie Française in Paris. He died on February 25, 2006, in New York, where he was receiving medical attention.
There’s a stack of seven large suitcases in the corner of Netsanet Alemayehu’s San Francisco living room. Some sit empty, dusted with bright remnants of Ethiopian oregano and mitmita, a combination of African bird’s-eye chile and cardamom. Others are so heavy, Alemayehu can barely lift them, full of fresh spices and sauce bases shipped from her family members in Harar, Ethiopia, the town where she was born. Read More.
New York (Tadias) – The Sounds of Brazil (SOB’s) has been the host of African Music and a gift to Afro-Latino diaspora in New York since it opened in 1982. And, over the years, it has featured its share of Ethiopian artists, including big names such as Aster Aweke and Kuku Sebsibe.
On Friday September 11, 2009, SOB’s will continue the tradition with an Ethiopian New Year 2002 celebration featuring live performances by Gosaye Tesfaye & Efrem Tameru.
———– Friday, September 11, 2009 at SOB’s (204 Varick St. New York, NY, 212-243-4940). Door opens at 11pm and showtime is Midnight. Price: $30. For more info., call More info @ 212 243 4940 or 201 220 3442
New Year Events in Other Cities Washington, DC
Lot of Three New Year Celebration Friday September 11
Lot of Three is hosting the Ethiopian 2002 New Year
celebration with midnight Champagne toast. The
newest lounge on historic U St starts kicks off
the evening with happy hour at 5pm.
For more information call 202-387-3333
Location: 1013 U St NW
Washington, DC 20001
Contact: 202-387-3333
Hours: 5 PM – 3AM
Clarkston, Georgia
Third Annual “Ethiopian Day” Fest
September 13, 2009
James Hallford Stadium
3789 Memorial College Avenue
Clarkston, GA 30021
Noon to Evening
New York, New York
Ethiopian New Year Celebrations
Featuring Gosye Tesfaye & Efrem Tameru
September 11, 2009 SOB’s (204 Varick Street @ W. Houston)
Door Opens at 11 and Show starts @ Midnight
$30 In advance
More info @ 212 243 4940 or 201 220 3442
On an early July morning in Awwadaay, Ethiopia, senior Emma McCormick was sick and contemplating the cancellation of her morning’s English class. As she lay on her bed in the eastern part of the country where she and six other GW students were volunteering for the summer, she heard a knock at the gate…Three Ethiopian military police officers stood in front of her, commanding McCormick to gather all her belongings – she was being detained.
According to Addis Fortune magazine, Kenenisa Bekele has specific plans on how he will spend his share of the jackpot earned in the IAAF Golden League events. Bekele won all six of his events in the Golden League series, which earned him a $333,333 check. The jackpot is $1 million, but the total was divided among three athletes who won their events — Bekele, sprinter Sanya Richards and pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva. Read More.
BRUSSELS – American 400-meter runner Sanya Richards, Pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva and 5,000 champion Kenenisa Bekele each secured a third of the $1 million Golden League jackpot by winning all six of their European meets. World champion Richards led the entire race at the Van Damme Memorial. She set the season’s leading time of 48.83 seconds to claim the prize. Olympic champion Christine Ohuruogu of Britain was second in 50.43. Isinbayeva only needed a vault of 15 feet, 5 inches to beat Poland’s Monika Pyrek. Bekele was not as dominant, but used a finishing kick to hold off fellow Ethiopian Imane Merga.
New York (TADIAS) – Earlier this year, Tadias reviewed Abraham Verghese’s Cutting for Stone, an epic novel about a young man’s coming of age in Ethiopia and America. From fascinating social and political portraits of Ethiopia in upheaval, Cutting for Stone zooms into a territory where few have gone before: the drama of the operating theater and the mysteries inside the human body. There can be no doubt that this novel is the work of a seasoned writer who has led many lives in many places.
Time and again, Dr. Verghese has dipped heavily into his own life for furnishing the material for his writing. His experience as a physician in the rural south, caring for terminally ill AIDS patients has been heartrendingly documented in his memoir My Own Country: A Doctor’s Story. Later, in The Tennis Partner: A Story of Friendship and Loss, he described a beloved friend’s struggle with drug addiction, rendering a poetic, raw tribute to male friendships. In his latest book and first novel, Cutting for Stone, the protagonist is a young doctor, raised in Ethiopia, who seeks his fortune in America.
Verghese’s own career as a physician in the United States has taken him from his grueling days as a foreign medical graduate (recounted in The New Yorker article, The Cowpath to America) to becoming the voice of empathetic medicine. As founding director of Center for Medical Humanities & Ethics at the University of Texas and in his current role as a senior professor at Stanford University, Dr. Verghese is a champion in the field of Medical Humanities. He is passionate about bedside medicine and physical examination and values the human element that these rituals bring to the facelessness of modern medicine.
In an exclusive interview, Tadias Magazine spoke with Abraham Verghese about writing, medicine, the healthcare crisis, and how to lead double lives.
Abraham Verghese (photo by Joanne Chan)
Can you begin by telling us a bit about all the different places that are a part of you?
My identification with place is complicated. Ethnically, I feel very much Indian. My parents are Indian and I feel very conscious of their legacy, But countrywise, I strongly identify with Ethiopia, having grown up there. And then of course, America is the place that welcomes everybody. So this is home unequivocally, and I am very proud to be American. So there are all these different threads that run through my life.
I remember the passage in the book where Hema speaks of Addis as an evolving city whereas Madras seems to have finished evolving. Was that something that struck you as a primary difference between both places?
Yes, when I went to India and lived in Madras, that was one of the things that struck me about the city. Traditions and ways of life were very established in Madras whereas so much was in transition in Addis. And then when I came to America, it was very different again. There’s a scene later in the book where Marion arrives in America and feels completely unprepared for the scale and scope of America.
You also show how, even through its upheavals, Addis was a cosmopolitan city of the twentieth century. You help the reader picture the different peoples who had congregated in Addis. Can you give us a sense of your relationship with Addis?
I don’t have any family in Addis but I do have friends there and I have strong connections to the medical world in Ethiopia. Also, the present Prime Minister of Ethiopia was a medical student one year behind me. When civil war broke out and the military took over the medical school, he became a guerilla fighter and I left. So I have been back twice – once to do an interview with him for a magazine and the other time for a medical symposium.
Could you tell us something about your writing process? You must have drawn a lot on your memories of growing up in Ethiopia but it is also clear you did a lot of research on Ethiopian history and politics.
I think the research happens in parallel with the writing. I was consciously trying to learn more about the Italian time in Ethiopia because it was a very colorful legacy. Every colonial power leaves their stamp on their country and we are very familiar with the English stamp on India or the French stamp on Cameroon but the Italian stamp on Ethiopia is not very well-known. So I spent a lot of time on that. But the research was in parallel with the writing because as I wrote I would stumble on something that I needed to know more about and so that would set me off in another direction. One of the great joys of research is that you find unexpected things in unexpected places. You are looking for one article but you find another right next to it that leads you to include something you might never have otherwise written about. There’s a lot of serendipity.
Elsewhere you talked about the incremental method of writing in which you write a little bit everyday.
I think I was talking about the incremental method of doing anything. If you do a little of something every day, you gradually get better at it. Instead of finding great blocks of time, you just have to find a little time every day.
So do you have a daily writing practice?
Not really. I write whenever I can and sometimes it winds up being everyday for several days at a stretch of time but sometimes I cannot get to it every day.
I also heard that you have a room on the campus, something like a secret bunker, where you can go and write. Tell me it is true and not a legend.
No, it is true. When I took this position I negotiated for a second office, separate from the student-related, that I could disappear into.
And you also negotiated two days a week to write.
Well, everybody here has protected time to do their research and so during my protected time, instead of going to a lab and doing experiments, I go to my lab and conduct my kind of experiments. In fiction, nonfiction. In any kind of writing, really.
How important is it as a writer to have a place for writing?
I actually don’t think it is very important. I think people make much too much of having a place and how it has to be just right. I can actually write anywhere and often do. The most important thing when you are trying to write is to simply sit down and try to write, it doesn’t matter where. If you are waiting for the right environment before you can write, then you are probably not prepared to write.
What would you say is the unlikeliest place that you have written in?
(Laughs) Probably airports. Everyone’s waiting to take off and frustrated that we are late or whatever and I am barely aware that anything is going on.
Pico Iyer talks about airports as the ultimate postmodern metropolis. He probably gets a lot of writing done in airports as well.
I am not surprised. He travels a whole lot more than I do.
In fact, in his book Global Soul, he talks about a new generation of transnationals who belong to so many cultures that they belong to nowhere. He calls them Nowherians, or fulltime citizens of nowhere. Do you think you are a global soul?
I feel I am not completely a global soul. I have sequential interactions with different countries and even within the US, I have steadily migrated from Tennessee to Iowa to Texas to California now. I hope this is the last stop. I hope I am not destined to go to Guam and Hawaii!
But even when our migrations are sequential, our memories are not, right?
Yes, very true. They are seamless and overlapping and the only constant is you. You are the only one linking the different places.
There is that beautiful passage in the book where you talk about how listening to Tizita takes the narrator right back to Ethiopia, whether he is in Adams Morgan or in Khartoum.
Yes, music is so mysterious that way in its connection to the brain and its ability to transform us. We all probably have a song that can transport us back to a different part of our life. And it is very difficult to make that song come alive for someone else us. I could not bring the song to the reader but I could try to bring that sense of identification, the nostalgia that it evoked. And of course, that song [tizita] itself is about nostalgia. I worried a great deal about whether I could pull it off. But we all have our tizitas, our songs of some kind.
To get back to the subject of medicine and writing. You speak in this book as well as in interviews about the ritual of examining the patient. Examining the patient is a lot like reading, isn’t it, with the patient as the text?
Yes, but it’s also much more than that. At one level the patient is a text to decode, a mystery to unravel, and that is certainly important, it’s the most attractive part of being a diagnostician. But this is not a natural relationship, between the doctor and the patient. In fact, it is terribly unnatural. They are coming to you because they are in some sort of distress and you are meeting them because you have made this career choice to help people and so it’s a very strange relationship and even though it seems routine, there is nothing routine about it. Its’ really quite loaded. So after you meet them and decode the text, you are, by your presence, by your engagement, providing the kind of comfort no one else can provide. The analogy I use is “when you are drowning, the only person who can save you is someone who knows how to swim”.
I find it terribly important to be conscious of that dynamic, even if the patient is not. Somebody else once described this by saying “one of our roles is to save the patient from their nihilistic tendencies.” A sick individual’s instinct is taking him or her towards nihilism, to imagine that the world is cruel, that there is nothing worth living for, and the doctor’s job is to counter that.
Have there been other writers who write about medicine whom you count among your influences?
There are a lot of writers who write well about the business of medicine. Atul Gawande for instance. And I have always admired that kind of writing. But I feel that by writing fiction about medicine, you are conveying a higher form of truth. I guess that’s my bias. (Laughs) If you pull it off well, like in “The Citadel” for instance, then you have captured the reader’s imagination. If I manage to get you to enter the world of the novel and completely forget your everyday life, you don’t just find out about medicine, you live medicine. You live it through Hema, you live it through Ghosh, through Marion, and you come out at the other end and its 2009, but you feel like you have lived a lifetime and you have all the lessons of a lifetime. So I am drawn to those fictional narratives, not necessarily written by physicians, but which convey medicine in a convincing and inspiring way.
And in many ways, reclaiming the humanity of medicine is also the focus of your field of medicine, isn’t it? Can you tell us a bit about why that is important?
I think we live in an age of tremendous fracturing in medical care. It’s very difficult to find one person to take care of you, you end up going to six different people. We are in great danger of getting lost in the technology. We can easily mistake data for wisdom but it is not the same as wisdom. So I have been emphasizing the physican-patient relationship, that this interaction is timeless. No matter how routine it seems, no matter how many imagings and scans can help us see the patient inside out, we still need our presence with the patient. We should never underestimate the patient’s desire to get some help and that subtext of wanting comfort to be comforted, and that all-important ritual of baring their soul and baring their body and allowing you to touch them. And if you shortchange all that, you lose the patient’s faith.
Is there more attention paid to medical humanities now than, say, fifty years before?
I think there is more conscious attention to it as a field of study. It is amazing to me that there is a label that says “medical humanities” on it. But it’s a double-edged sword because medical humanities as a discipline has been hijacked by the English literature and semantics people. In many medical schools, the medical humanities division is run by someone with a Ph.d in English Literature and they have made this into a discipline that I worry is getting disconnected from the field of medicine. Some of those people look down on a physician who wants to teach medical humanities as if the physician does not have the right credentials for teaching this. And I wonder what is their credential to teach this, if they have never walked in a physician’s shoes?
I ran a program on medical humanities in San Antonio and I felt that my mission there was to restore medical humanities to medicine and take it out of the abstract. I am not against someone getting a Ph.d in medical semiotics and breaking down narrative and all that, but let’s not confuse that with talking to a medical student who is trying to picture himself at the bedside of a dying patient and introducing that student to Tolstoy’s Death of Ivan Ilyich. And that’s what medical humanities is to me.
In a way it actually mirrors the other disconnect, the one between patients and doctors at the bedside.
That is exactly right. They are parallel disconnects and in both cases there is a hubris – “don’t talk to us about medicine, we know all about it though we have never seen a patient, and we have no idea what a medical student is going through, we know what’s best for them, we are going to teach them about medical humanity.”
What do you think of Obama’s vision for healthcare and how do you think that will affect medical humanities?
I am convinced that some change is forthcoming. But at what level? The bottom-line is that this is a very expensive healthcare system. And I worry that Obama’s plan is to expand coverage and do all these wonderful things but he’s going to find the money for it, not by saving costs but by saying, well if we do preventive medicine, we will save this much money; if we do IT, we will save so much money. And all those are laudable but it’s somewhat pie in the sky. I think what we really need to do is cut costs. But every dollar spent on healthcare is a dollar of income for someone. So when you try and cut costs as Hillary Clinton tried to do, you are taking away income from doctors and pharmaceutical companies and x-ray manufacturers, and you run into this buzz-saw of lobbying that will simply decimate you. So Obama is trying to sidestep that by not addressing the cost issue, but I really think the hard solutions are painful, and will cause a lot of people to make less money than they are making and that will make them unhappy but I really don’t think there is another real solution. Frankly, we badly need more primary healthcare providers so that when you are ill you can go to your doctor. But right now there are more people who can put a catheter up your coronary arteries than treat you if you have the common cold. I think as a nation we have to understand that we cannot replace the presence of the physician with machines.
You have a fulltime job as a doctor and then you have this other life as a writer. How do you balance both – what does a writer need to balance two completely different lives?
See, I don’t accept that premise, that these are two different lives. I see it as one seamless life. I am always puzzled when people make this distinction between writer and physician. Really, its all one enterprise. But in terms of getting a piece of writing out there, the fact that I am a physician has nothing to do with it and putting MD next to my name would be irrelevant. So in that sense, if you were asking me what is the primary ingredient a writer needs, whether they are also a doctor or an actor or a garbage collector, I think it comes down to perseverance, and the willingness to revise revise revise until you get it right. The art is really in the revision.
— About the Author: Shahnaz Habib is a freelance writer, based in Brooklyn.
New York (TADIAS) – As Ethiopians prepare to usher in the year 2002 later this week, official ceremonies are scheduled to mark the holiday in San Jose, California, and DeKalb County, Georgia.
According to a press release by the Ethiopian Americans Council (EAC), the fifth annual Ethiopian flag raising ceremony will take place in San Jose on Tuesday, September 8, 2009. The Mayor, Vice Mayor, and several City Council members are expected to attend.
In honor of the Ethiopian-American community in Georgia, the DeKalb county government CEO Burrell Ellis has declared September 13, 2009 to be “Ethiopian Day,” and this year’s celebration will include a soccer tournament as well as cultural celebrations.
Ethiopians inaugurated the third millennium in September 2007, the Ethiopian calendar being seven years behind the Gregorian calendar.
Happy New Year from all of us at Tadias!
If you go: San Jose, California
When: Tuesday Sep. 8th 2009
Time: 12:00 (Noon)
Place: 200 E Santa Clara Street Next to front water feature by the poles.
Clarkston, Georgia
Third Annual “Ethiopian Day” Fest
September 13, 2009
James Hallford Stadium
3789 Memorial College Avenue
Clarkston, GA 30021
Noon to Evening
New York, New York
Ethiopian New Year Celebrations
Featuring Gosye Tesfaye & Efrem Tameru
September 11, 2009 SOB’s (204 Varick Street @ W. Houston)
Door Opens at 11 and Show starts @ Midnight
$30 In advance
More info @ 212 243 4940 or 201 220 3442
Above:UW-Madison sophomore Rory Linnane began her
second year at the school Wednesday after a harrowing
summer experience of being held captive in Ethiopia. Read More or Watch the video report.
Above:Photo by Award-winning Photographer Aida Muluneh
from her upcoming book entitled Ethiopia: Past/Forward.
Tadias Magazine
Events News
Published: Friday, September 4, 2009
New York (Tadias) – “Aida Muluneh’s main fear is to lose her memory. She is afraid of losing the glances, hands, landscapes and everything that fate has presented to her. She wants to record them for the future, as testimony and confirmation that she has not made anything up; like evidence in a trial that is continually changing. What else could this trial represent but identity?” writes art critic Simon Njami in his introduction of the award-winning photographer’s upcoming book to be released in Antwerpen, Belgium, on September 16, 2009.
The book entitled Ethiopia: Past/Forward is a collection of images captured by Muluneh during her recent rediscovery of her birth country after a thirty-year absence.
Born in Ethiopia in 1974, Aïda Muluneh left the country at a young age and spent an itinerant childhood between Yemen and England. After several years in a boarding school in Cyprus, she finally settled in Canada in 1985. In high school, inspired partly by distorted media images of the Ethiopian famine, she began taking photographs. After studying film at Howard University in Washington, D.C., she went on to work as a freelance photographer for The Washington Post. Then in 2003, Aïda was chosen to be part of the groundbreaking show Ethiopian Passages : Dialogues in the Diaspora at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C. Later that same year, she made an appearance on Imágenes Havana, a group photography exhibition in Havana, Cuba. Aïda’s work can be found in permanent collections of several museums in the United States. She is also the recipient of the European Union Prize for her work on Ethiopia in the 2007 7th Rencontres Africaines de la Photographie festival in Bamako, Mali.
Aïda’s photography has been published in The Washington Post, New House News Service, BBC, and The New York Times. A collection of her exhibited work is also in the book Ethiopian Passages :Contemporary Art from the Diaspora.
Source: Africalia
— Ethiopia: Past /Forward, is the third edition in a new collection of photographic books, initiated by Africalia and dedicated to contemporary African photographers. Publisher: Africalia Editions / Roularta Books 2009. Available in bookstores or online at www.africalia.be
If you go: Program of the launching – 16 September 2009 – 16.30h
Zuiderpershuis / Antwerpen
Wereldculturencentrum Zuiderpershuis
Waalse Kaai 14 – 2000 Antwerpen
www.zuiderpershuis.be
WASHINGTON — Ethiopian-Americans for Change (EA4C) will hold their first community dialogue on Sept. 9th, 2009 in Washington D.C. at Hominy Restaurant and Lounge. The dialogue comes at a time when EA4C is eagerly preparing for its upcoming Ethiopian-American Appreciation Day on Sept. 25th.
“This is a chance for all Ethiopians and non-Ethiopians who are interested to know more about Ethiopian-Americans for a Change or the September 25th event to come out and ask any and all questions,” said Rahel Fikre, Communication Organizer for the group.
Formerly known as Ethiopians for Obama, EA4C successfully got thousands of Ethiopian-American voters to register and vote for President Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign.
“After the elections we had a choice to make, disband and go our normal routine, or to apply the knowledge we gained from the Obama campaign to reach out and organize our voices for the betterment of our community,” adds Fikre.
Rahel Fikre
The group is passionate about empowering the younger generation and is very cautious not to appear as a partisan organization. “We don’t want anyone to guess what we are about or what we stand for. Through the September 9th dialogue we want to stress our standpoints and are ready to answer any questions and concerns the public may have,” mentioned Teddy Fikre, founding member and Event Organizer.
EA4C has members and event organizers in major cities across the United States, and hopes to hold additional events, discussions, conference calls, and blog sessions with those outside of the Washington DC metro area. The group has also extended invitations to other community-based organizations and businesses to participate in the upcoming dialogue.
Apart from securing modest sponsorship, EA4C is a volunteer organization that is fully funded by its members. Future plans include formalizing the group as a non-profit organization before the end of 2009. EA4C invites all individuals who have the passion and interest to serve the Ethiopian-American community. Membership is free.
— Cover photo courtesy of EA4C.
If you go: Sept. 9th, 2009 @ 7:30 P.M.
Hominy Restaurant and Lounge
Located at: 2001 11th Street NW Washington DC 20001
Phone: Ph: 202-299-0800
New York (Tadias) – Liya Kebede stars in the new movie Desert Flower, based on the true story of a former African supermodel who rose from a nomadic life to the top of the international modeling business.
The movie is an adaptation of the autobiography of Waris Dirie, who was born in Somalia and moved to London at age of 13 primarily to break loose from an arranged-marriage to a much older man, and a culture that subjected her to female genital mutilation (FGM) when she was only 5-years old. While in London she struggled to make ends meet working at McDonald’s and other odd jobs until she was discovered by photographer Terence Donovan, whose portraits of her would propel her into international stardom. She eventually graced the catwalks of New York, London, Milan and Paris, and was featured on the covers of Vogue, Glamour and Elle magazines. She was depicted in the 1995 BBC documentary entitled A Nomad in New York. In 1997, she ended her modeling work to become a full-time advocate against female circumcision, and subsequently was named a UN ambassador for the abolition of FGM by former Secretary General Kofi Annan.
Kebede, a supermodel herself, appears to be making a smooth transition into the world of acting. Her previous movie stints includes a role in the epic drama The Good Shepherd, directed by Robert De Niro, and the movie Lord of War featuring Nicolas Cage and Bridget Moynahan.
The independent film is scheduled to appear at the Venice Film Festival this month and will be released in Germany on 24 September.
New York (Tadias) – Haile Gerima’s award-winning film Teza is set to make its U.S. premiere at the Avalon Theater in Washington D.C. on Thursday, September 17, 2009.
Teza has scooped several awards at prestigious international film festivals – including the Venice Film Festival, the Carthage Film Festival, and the Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (Fespaco). The film focuses on the tumultuous years of the Mengistu era told through the gripping story of a German-educated, idealistic Ethiopian doctor.
Teza’s U.S. premiere is sponsored by the European Commission, Positive Productions, and WPFW-FM. Tickets can be purchased at Sankofa.com.
Watch the Trailer:
“Set in Ethiopia and Germany, Teza examines the displacement of African intellectuals, both at home and abroad, through the story of a young, idealistic Ethiopian doctor – Anberber. The film chronicles Anberber’s internal struggle to stay true, both to himself and to his homeland, but above all, Teza explores the possession of memory – a right humanity mandates that each of us have – the right to own our pasts.” (tezathemovie.com)
New York (Tadias) – Ethiopian-Americans for Change announced a partnership with the Major League baseball team, the Washington Nationals— to stage the “Inaugural Ethiopian-American Appreciation Day.”
According to the group’s newly unveiled website the festivities will take place on September 25th, 2009 at the Washington Nationals stadium roof top deck and will include an Ethiopian-American cultural celebration and an award ceremony.
Tickets are available for $29 which includes pre-game celebration and food, music, and Ethiopian dancing. Event organizers note that “The Washington Nationals will be honoring the contributions that Ethiopian-Americans have made in the United States.”
Related from Tadias: Interview with the Organizers Ye Eyasu (Joshua) Generation Award for Ethiopian Americans From left: Emebet Bekele, Mike Endale, and Teddy Fikre (Courtesy photo).
Tadias interviewed three of the twenty organizers and volunteers of the
organization to get more details.
Can you please tell us a bit about the “Ye Eyasu (Joshua) Generation
Inaugural Award”? What is the objective?
Emebet: The Eyasu Generation Award is an award that recognizes and celebrates the accomplishments of the next generation. Too often, young Ethiopians are not recognized for their participation and contributions in our community. The truth is, there are countless Ethiopians who make tremendous contributions in the areas of science, law, medicine, sports, and more. Ethiopian-Americans for Change wants to show the riches of talent that we have in our community by celebrating outstanding young Ethiopians who have and continue to make an impact in their communities. In the process, we aim to motivate and encourage the next generation to aim for the heavens and excel in their endeavors—that they are not too young to make a change.
What is Ethiopian Americans for Change? and how did it come about?
Teddy: Ethiopian-Americans for Change is the evolution of Ethiopians for Obama. During the 2008 Presidential election, Ethiopians for Obama registered thousands of Ethiopian-Americans who had never voted before. Our hard work led to the Obama campaign releasing a letter thanking our community for the contributions that we have and continue to make in America. This was truly a historic milestone; never before has a presidential candidate sought our vote and thanked us for our contributions. In our own small way, we took part in a momentous event as America elected the first African-American—and a man whose father came from our next door neighbor in Africa — to the White House. America started noticing the Ethiopian community after seeing our “Yechalal” poster plastered at every Ethiopian restaurant and market and even non-Ethiopian restaurants like Bus Boys and Poets in DC. In fact, a major article was written about the Ethiopian community after a reporter noticed the Yechalal poster while eating at an American restaurant. After the election, we had a choice to make. Disband Ethiopians for Obama and go back to our usual routine, or have the audacity to believe that we can organize our community and make our vote one that is valued by every politicians and our voice heard by every opinion and policy maker. After months of brainstorming, we put together the blueprint and started seeking out Ethiopians that we had met along the way last year to form the backbone of Ethiopian-Americans for Change. As a result, we have over 20 amazing Ethiopians working across the nation to turn an audacious thought into a realistic idea. Ethiopian-Americans for Change combines the best of grass-roots organization with the efficiency of a well lubed machine. Our motto is “Leadership is what you do not what you are,” thus there is no such thing as the president, chief, executive, or head honcho. We all have the title of organizer and volunteer, and we sit at a figurative circular table, no one more important or no voice less valuable than the next. There is diversity and abundance of talent inside Ethiopian-Americans for Change, we range from our 20s, 30s, and 40s. We have lawyers, teachers, musicians, technicians, engineers, artists, multiple organizers who have attained their MBA and Masters in various fields. Individually, we have made our own impacts in various ways; by forming Ethiopian-Americans for Change, we have decided that now is the time to have the fierce urgency to make a big change.
Are you a formal organization or is the group still a social network of like-minded people from the 2008 Presidential campaign?
Mike: Ethiopian-Americans for Change is a formal organization. We are currently pursuing a 501 (3) C status and have the goal of being a formal non-profit organization before the end of this calendar year. However, we maintain our core identity of being a network of like-minded people who have a passion to be a part of a big change and give back to our community and to our country.
Please describe the award process and your selection criteria.
Emebet: Nominees are received from the general public via info@ethiopiansforchange.com Upon receipt of nomination, we do a cursory vetting to ensure that the person is legitimate and meets the requirements of the award rules. The nomination process runs through September 12, 2009. Once September 13th comes around, we will take all the nominations and submit them to a judging panel that consists of well known and respected Ethiopians. Their job is to narrow the field down to a list of 30, three in each category. The top 30 candidates will then be posted online so that people can vote for their favorite nominee. The top ten will be selected to be highlighted at the 09.25.09 event. The overall winner will receive a grant and a special trophy recognizing his/her contributions. But in the end, all nominees will be celebrated in the weeks leading up to 09.25.09.
Why limit the age group to only 30?
Teddy: We are not making a statement that we only value Ethiopians under the age of 30. To the contrary, I am 34 years old, I would have loved nothing better than to make the age requirement 35 or younger. And I am sure that someone else in our group who is 38 would love for the age requirement to be 40 or younger. At the end of the day, we hope that this award is not seen as a slight on those who are not 30 or seen as a generational disrespect. We are after all the products of our mothers and fathers, in our community, no voice is valued more and no respect given to more than those who have sacrificed so that we can thrive in America. However, this award is meant to encourage and motivate the next generation and let them know that there are countless positive voices amongst their peers whose voices get drowned out by the noise of contemporary lifestyle and focus on self-indulgence. This is a way to celebrate those who work hard and are rarely given a platform to be recognized.
Will there be an official ceremony where the awards are given out?
Emebet: The award will take place as part of the 09.25.09 events. On that day we will celebrate a milestone for the Ethiopian community in the United States. We encourage everyone to come out with their children, family and friends and join the festivities. stay tuned for more information.
Why is the website so cryptic? It simply says “09.25.09: History will be Made.” What does that mean?
Mike: 09.25.09 simply means that there will be a historic moment that will take place on September 25th, 2009. We promise that full details of 09.25.09 will be released very shortly. In fact, if you follow us on Facebook or twitter, you will be one of the first to find out about the details of 09.25.09.
What happens after the award process? Are there opportunities for sponsorships, scholarships or any other perks attached to the award?
Teddy: Yes, we are working with sponsors to provide a significant grant for the overall winner of the Eyasu Generation Award. This grant will be either in the shape of a scholarship or a check that will further the awardee’s endeavor in his/her particular area of expertise.
How do people join Ethiopian Americans for change? What are the requirements?
Teddy: We will be releasing our website very shortly with detailed information about Ethiopian-Americans for Change and ways that people can get involved in the 09.25.09 event and other events we are planning into the future. If you are interested in learning more, email us at info@ethiopiansforchange.com
Thank you all and good luck
Teddy: Thank you to Tadias Magazine for giving us this time and the platform to get our message out. At the end of the day, that is what Ethiopian-Americans for Change is all about, Ethiopians working side by side with other Ethiopians to make a change and to let our collective voices be heard.
Above: Senator Tedd Kennedy in Ethiopia during the 1984
famine appears in a photograph published on the cover of
People Magazine.
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: Thursday, August 27, 2009
In 1984, Senator Tedd Kennedy of Massachusetts who died this week at age 77, traveled to Ethiopia and Sudan on a fact-finding mission to assess the devastation of the 1984 famine in his capacity as a member of the Senate Refugee Subcommittee. On the trip he was joined by his daughter Kara and his son Ted, who spent a week with the Senator touring several feeding centers. Upon their return to the United States, Tedd Kennedy penned a journal chronicling the painful trip from Mekele to Bati and from Jijiga to Khartoum and Kassala. The journal was published in the January 28, 1985, issue of People Magazine. Images of the family’s journey graced the cover of the publication.
Above:African Mosaique was created by Anna Getaneh, its
Managing and Creative Director. Anna is a fashion-cultural
enthusiast, humanitarian, and an acclaimed former imodel.
From her base in Paris and New York City , her modeling
career spanned close to 10 years, working with renowned
designers such as Christian Lacroix, Ungaro, Yves St.
Laurent, Ralph Lauren, Escada, and Donna Karan.
Source: Studio 53
August 26th, 2009
According to many, the most exciting of Africa’s new fashion arrivals has to be the African Mosaique label, headed up by the stunning beauty, Anna Getaneh. This Ethiopian pioneer is paving the catwalks of the world for the continents couture contingent, while acting as a platform for, and raising funds for, disadvantaged children. She now has a shop in South Africa and exports to the United States (Read more).
Video: Anna Getaneh on SABC 3 Flash, talks about her latest
African Mosaique Collection
Above:Ethiopian marathon runner Haile Gebrselassie and
American sprinter Tyson Gay go neck and neck in an Adidas
spot that offers an interesting insight into the running men
and their best performances. (ADweek)
Above: In this March 15, 1967 photo, Kennedy, left, and
Robert Kennedy, D-N.Y., sit together during a session of
the Senate Labor Subcommittee in Washington, D.C. Both
were members of the subcommittee. Legendary Senator
Ted Kennedy has died at age 77, losing his battle to brain
cancer. In May 2008 doctors diagnosed Kennedy, one of
the most influential and longest-serving senators in U.S.
history, with a malignant brain tumor. (Read more.)
Video: Family Announces Kennedy’s Funeral Plans
(The Associated Press)
Above:Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele won a historic distance
double at the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin.
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: Sunday, August 23, 2009
New York (Tadias) – Ethiopian Olympic Champion Kenenisa Bekele won the gold medal in the 5000m race in Berlin on Sunday, marking the first time an athlete has ever won distance double at the IAAF World Athletics Championships. He won the 10,000-meter final race last Monday.
The reigning double Olympic champion finished the race in 13 minutes 17.09 seconds.
We congratulate Kenenisa Bekele on his unprecedented victory!
Video Interview: Kenenisa Bekele 5k Champ 2009 (Flotrack)
Above:Aster Tareken says she is in shock after her ordeal.
“More victims are surfacing in connection with a local travel
agency that suddenly closed its doors earlier this summer –
leaving an untold number of customers holding the bag.”
(KOMO News)
Watch the Story
Video – Problems at Travel Agency in Seattle:
Ethiopia-Bound Ticketholders Stuck
New York (Tadias) – You may have noticed the 09.25.09 poster released by a group called Ethiopian-Americans for Change. The group says a website will be launched next week. Meanwhile, the group has informed us of their preparations to host Ye Eyasu (Joshua) Generation Inaugural Award, along with several other events scheduled for September 25th, 2009 in Washington D.C. They are currently accepting nominations for the award. Tadias interviewed three of the twenty organizers and volunteers of the organization to get more details. Emebet Bekele, Mike Endale, and Teddy Fikre gave the following collective answers.
From left: Emebet Bekele, Mike Endale, and Teddy Fikre (Courtesy photo).
Can you please tell us a bit about the “Ye Eyasu (Joshua) Generation
Inaugural Award”? What is the objective?
Emebet: The Eyasu Generation Award is an award that recognizes and celebrates the accomplishments of the next generation. Too often, young Ethiopians are not recognized for their participation and contributions in our community. The truth is, there are countless Ethiopians who make tremendous contributions in the areas of science, law, medicine, sports, and more. Ethiopian-Americans for Change wants to show the riches of talent that we have in our community by celebrating outstanding young Ethiopians who have and continue to make an impact in their communities. In the process, we aim to motivate and encourage the next generation to aim for the heavens and excel in their endeavors—that they are not too young to make a change.
What is Ethiopian Americans for Change? and how did it come about?
Teddy: Ethiopian-Americans for Change is the evolution of Ethiopians for Obama. During the 2008 Presidential election, Ethiopians for Obama registered thousands of Ethiopian-Americans who had never voted before. Our hard work led to the Obama campaign releasing a letter thanking our community for the contributions that we have and continue to make in America. This was truly a historic milestone; never before has a presidential candidate sought our vote and thanked us for our contributions. In our own small way, we took part in a momentous event as America elected the first African-American—and a man whose father came from our next door neighbor in Africa — to the White House. America started noticing the Ethiopian community after seeing our “Yechalal” poster plastered at every Ethiopian restaurant and market and even non-Ethiopian restaurants like Bus Boys and Poets in DC. In fact, a major article was written about the Ethiopian community after a reporter noticed the Yechalal poster while eating at an American restaurant. After the election, we had a choice to make. Disband Ethiopians for Obama and go back to our usual routine, or have the audacity to believe that we can organize our community and make our vote one that is valued by every politicians and our voice heard by every opinion and policy maker. After months of brainstorming, we put together the blueprint and started seeking out Ethiopians that we had met along the way last year to form the backbone of Ethiopian-Americans for Change. As a result, we have over 20 amazing Ethiopians working across the nation to turn an audacious thought into a realistic idea. Ethiopian-Americans for Change combines the best of grass-roots organization with the efficiency of a well lubed machine. Our motto is “Leadership is what you do not what you are,” thus there is no such thing as the president, chief, executive, or head honcho. We all have the title of organizer and volunteer, and we sit at a figurative circular table, no one more important or no voice less valuable than the next. There is diversity and abundance of talent inside Ethiopian-Americans for Change, we range from our 20s, 30s, and 40s. We have lawyers, teachers, musicians, technicians, engineers, artists, multiple organizers who have attained their MBA and Masters in various fields. Individually, we have made our own impacts in various ways; by forming Ethiopian-Americans for Change, we have decided that now is the time to have the fierce urgency to make a big change.
Are you a formal organization or is the group still a social network of like-minded people from the 2008 Presidential campaign?
Mike: Ethiopian-Americans for Change is a formal organization. We are currently pursuing a 501 (3) C status and have the goal of being a formal non-profit organization before the end of this calendar year. However, we maintain our core identity of being a network of like-minded people who have a passion to be a part of a big change and give back to our community and to our country.
Please describe the award process and your selection criteria.
Emebet: Nominees are received from the general public via info@ethiopiansforchange.com Upon receipt of nomination, we do a cursory vetting to ensure that the person is legitimate and meets the requirements of the award rules. The nomination process runs through September 12, 2009. Once September 13th comes around, we will take all the nominations and submit them to a judging panel that consists of well known and respected Ethiopians. Their job is to narrow the field down to a list of 30, three in each category. The top 30 candidates will then be posted online so that people can vote for their favorite nominee. The top ten will be selected to be highlighted at the 09.25.09 event. The overall winner will receive a grant and a special trophy recognizing his/her contributions. But in the end, all nominees will be celebrated in the weeks leading up to 09.25.09.
Why limit the age group to only 30?
Teddy: We are not making a statement that we only value Ethiopians under the age of 30. To the contrary, I am 34 years old, I would have loved nothing better than to make the age requirement 35 or younger. And I am sure that someone else in our group who is 38 would love for the age requirement to be 40 or younger. At the end of the day, we hope that this award is not seen as a slight on those who are not 30 or seen as a generational disrespect. We are after all the products of our mothers and fathers, in our community, no voice is valued more and no respect given to more than those who have sacrificed so that we can thrive in America. However, this award is meant to encourage and motivate the next generation and let them know that there are countless positive voices amongst their peers whose voices get drowned out by the noise of contemporary lifestyle and focus on self-indulgence. This is a way to celebrate those who work hard and are rarely given a platform to be recognized.
Will there be an official ceremony where the awards are given out?
Emebet: The award will take place as part of the 09.25.09 events. On that day we will celebrate a milestone for the Ethiopian community in the United States. We encourage everyone to come out with their children, family and friends and join the festivities. stay tuned for more information.
Why is the website so cryptic? It simply says “09.25.09: History will be Made.” What does that mean?
Mike: 09.25.09 simply means that there will be a historic moment that will take place on September 25th, 2009. We promise that full details of 09.25.09 will be released very shortly. In fact, if you follow us on Facebook or twitter, you will be one of the first to find out about the details of 09.25.09.
What happens after the award process? Are there opportunities for sponsorships, scholarships or any other perks attached to the award?
Teddy: Yes, we are working with sponsors to provide a significant grant for the overall winner of the Eyasu Generation Award. This grant will be either in the shape of a scholarship or a check that will further the awardee’s endeavor in his/her particular area of expertise.
How do people join Ethiopian Americans for change? What are the requirements?
Teddy: We will be releasing our website very shortly with detailed information about Ethiopian-Americans for Change and ways that people can get involved in the 09.25.09 event and other events we are planning into the future. If you are interested in learning more, email us at info@ethiopiansforchange.com
Thank you all and good luck
Teddy: Thank you to Tadias Magazine for giving us this time and the platform to get our message out. At the end of the day, that is what Ethiopian-Americans for Change is all about, Ethiopians working side by side with other Ethiopians to make a change and to let our collective voices be heard.
Above: A woman found dead in a Williamson County, Texas,
on Monday has been identified as Senait Worku Abebe, 26,
according to the County sheriff’s office. “Abebe appears to
be the victim of a murder-suicide at the Rattan Creek Luxury
Apartment Homes, at Parmer Lane and Dallas Drive, according
to sheriff’s reports. The body of a man believed to have killed
Abebe also was found in the apartment. The sheriff’s office has
not released the man’s name pending notification of his family.”
Police say both the woman and the man are of “Ethiopian descent”
(Read more at statesman.com).
Above:From L: Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele, Great Britain’s
Mohammed Farah and Kenya’s Joseph Ebuya
AFP
By Luke Phillips
BERLIN — Olympic champion Kenenisa Bekele remained on course for an unprecedented distance double at the World Athletics Championships after moving seamlessly into the men’s 5000m final. The Ethiopian used his trademark last-lap kick to win his semi-final in 13min 19.77sec, far off his own world record of 12:37.35. Read more.
Kenenisa Bekele Goes for Double Gold Above:Ethiopian double Olympic champion Kenenisa Bekele,
pictured here after his victory in men’s 10,000m final at
the IAAF World Championships in Berlin on Monday,
announced that he will compete in the 5,000-mete race –
which starts today with the final scheduled for Sunday – Reuters reports. (Photo: Getty Images)
Related: VIDEO: Kenenisa Bekele wins 10000 meters in Berlin (EthioTube.net)Related: Kenya Breaks Ethiopia’s Decade-long Dominance at
The World Championships Above:Kenya’s Linet Chepkwemoi Masai, left, races to the
line to beat Ethiopia’s Meselech Melkamu, center, and Meseret
Defar to win the gold medal in the final of the Women’s 10,000
meter during the World Athletics Championships in Berlin on
Saturday, Aug. 15, 2009. (AP)
USA Today
BERLIN (AP) — Linet Masai of Kenya won the 10,000 meters
Saturday at the world championships, breaking a decade-
long hold of Ethiopia. Read more.
Related: Tola, Radcliffe dominate the field at the New York City
Half Marathon (Video) Above:Tola (left) bolted to an early lead and Paula Radcliffe
left her rivals behind in the eighth mile as she powered down
Seventh Avenue. (Photo: New York Road Runners.)
Examiner.com
By Tanya Menoni
August 16
Tadese Tola of Ethiopia and Paula Radcliffe of Great Britain cruised to victory in the men’s and women’s races at the NYC Half Marathon this morning. Both Tola and Radcliffe ran the late stages of the race by themselves, with their competitors nowhere in sight. By the end of the New York City Half Marathon, Tola had built up a lead of over one minute from the second place finisher. Radcliffe passed a number of elite men as she barreled her way to the finish. Read more.
Above:Double Olympic champion Tirunesh Dibaba, pictured
here at the 3rd Annual Reebok Grand Prix in New York two
years ago, will not participate in the 5000m competition at
the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin due to
injury. She had already pulled out of the 10000m race last
weekend (Photo: Tadias Magazine).
AFP
By Luke Phillips
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
BERLIN — Ethiopian world medal hopes were dealt a further blow Wednesday when Olympic champion and world recorder holder Tirunesh Dibaba pulled out of the women’s 5000m here. Read more.
Related from Tadias Archives: Tirunesh Dibaba Takes Second at 2009 Reebok Grand
Prix in New York
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: Sunday, May 31, 2009
New York (Tadias) – Ethiopian double Olympic champion Tirunesh Dibaba, who headlined one of the many high powered competitions at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York City on 30 May, finished second in the Women 5000 meter run. Linet Masai of Kenya was first.
Dibaba was challenged by, among others, Genzebe Dibaba, her younger sister who came in third, and Kim Smith from New Zealand, the national record holder at 5000 and 10,000m.
The Reebok Grand Prix is the fourth stop of USA Track & Field’s Visa Championship Series and it was held at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island.
Here are the top five results for Women 5000 meter run
1. Linet Masai (Kenya) at 14:35.39A
2 Tirunesh Dibaba (Ethiopia ) at 14:40.93A
3 Genzebe Dibaba (Ethiopia ) at 15:00.79
4 Kim Smith (New Zealand ) at 15:26.00
5 Jen Rhines (United States) at 15:32.39
Press Conference Tirunesh Dibaba and Kim Smith – 2009 Reebok Grand Prix2009 Reebok Grand Prix PreviewTadias photos from the 2007 Reebok Grand Prix in New York
New York (Tadias) – Melat Woldesenbet Yante, the reigning Miss Ethiopia, will represent her country at the 58th annual Miss Universe pageant at the Atlantis Paradise Island, in Nassau, Bahamas on August 23, 2009.
The glamorous annual event, a joint venture between Donald J. Trump and NBC Universal, features contestants from more than 80 countries and will be televised live on NBC and Telemundo.
Melat, 19, who attended the Italian School in Addis Ababa and speaks three languages – Amharic, Italian, English – is also the current Ethiopia’s Top Model.
The final Miss Universe pageant will take place on August 23, 2009.
The Miami Herald
By JENNIFER KAY
Associated Press Writer
MIAMI — Federal immigration authorities on Monday identified an Ethiopian man who died in their custody in Florida last week and 10 other detainees who had been left off the agency’s list of deaths. Including Huluf Guangle Negusse, 104 detainees have died in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement since October 2003. Negusse died Friday at a Tallahassee hospital. The 24-year-old had attempted suicide, but no other details about his detention or death were available, ICE spokeswoman Gillian Brigham said. Read More.
Above:Ethiopia’s most popular singer, Teddy Afro, was freed
early from prison on Thursday after serving 18 months of a
two-year sentence for hit-and-run manslaughter. (Read more).
He was sentenced for the 2006 killing of a homeless man in a hit-and-run incident, but denied driving the car. His supporters say he was the victim of a political vendetta as his lyrics were identified with the opposition. After his release eight months early for good behaviour, he told state TV that he had had “a nice time” in jail and met many good people. “I would like to express my respect and gratitude to all the people of our country,” he said. “I was able to meet many good people in prison, from the lowest-ranking policemen to the highest administrator. I had a nice time. My relations with other prisoners were also good.”
New York (Tadias) – HELM, a fashion, pop culture, and entertainment magazine focusing on the Ethiopian Diaspora – announced today that it is suspending production after six years of service.
“Our devoted readers and supporters have made HELM synonymous with style and quality. We have enjoyed bringing you the best of Ethiopian fashion, beauty, health, entertainment, philanthropy, and features on artists and other notable individuals,” the magazine said in their statement. “HELM magazine is widely read around the world even as far as Australia and South Africa, and it has been a pleasure to witness its success.”
The latest issue of HELM Magazine
The glossy publication , best known for its elegant design and layout, said it is working on comeback plans. HELM will be revising its business model under new management and promises to apprise its readers of its progress via Facebook.
New York (TADIAS) – Sirak Seyoum, an Electrical Engineer living in Nevada, has bold plans. After hiking over 27 peaks in the U.S., some more than twice, he has set his heart on becoming the first Ethiopian to climb Mount Everest. His website states “No peak is too high or too rugged for an Ethiopian man who discovered a passion for hiking.”
Tell us a bit more about yourself. Where you grew up? Who are the main influences in your life?
As a toddler I grew up in Gondar, When my parents came to the states for school, I moved with my aunt in Addis and was enrolled in St. Joseph kindergarten class briefly before moving back to Gondar. I remember visiting my grandparents every weekend. They resided a few blocks away from the castles and the church Abajale where my grandfather was the head “Aleka.” As a teenager I grew up in Addis before coming to the United States. My main influences growing up as a kid were my parents who taught me always to strive for a goal no matter how hard. My aunts and uncles also played an important role in my teenage to adulthood transformation and I always looked up to them during my teenage years. Growing up as a kid I have always idolized Abebe Bikela, considered as the greatest marathon racer in the history of marathon, and Pele, the Brazilian soccer legend. I also have great admiration and pride for all our Olympic heroes, like Haile Gebrselassie and Kenenisa Bekele.
Sirak Seyoum (Courtesy Photo)
You blogged a bit about the role of education in your life? Can you tell us more about your outdoor endeavors and academic/work?
Academic work always took precedence above any activities like sports, music or any outdoor activity. Without my parents knowledge, I took up playing the Kirar (traditional Ethiopian harp). As a kid, I picked it up easily from a neighborhood musician who would play the Kirar near our home where I grew up in Addis and had the pleasure of performing at Yared Music hall along with my late cousin Leul Fikre who also played the Kirar. In college, I was active in all outdoor related endeavors events including soccer. My university didn’t fund soccer as the selected inter-mural sports. My South African friend, Godfred Webster and I organized the Michigan Technological University (MTU) soccer team, soliciting American soccer players to join the team. We were good enough to travel around Michigan at our own expense and earn the respect to play Division-A universities located in Duluth, Wisconsin and surrounding cities.
What was your reaction after climbing your first peak?
My first reaction was, “GEEZ, What have I been doing all these years?” What I was feeling I just can’t put in words. It felt nothing like any sport I have ever participated in. It was different because it seemed so easy at first but yet so difficult once I started. Team work and helping others is also one of the rewards of climbing, I remember a fellow hiker telling me to take deep breaths as we ascended to higher elevation. During one of my first hikes, I decided to wear a jacket weighing 22-pounds. A rookie with a weight jacket was pushing it for most of them, but everyone encouraged me. To my surprise the 22lb jacket was becoming heavier and heavier as we gained altitude and the effort it took to wear it was beyond my expectation. I was literally leaving a trail of sweat as I went to the top and never knew a human could sweat this much. The thought of removing the weight jacket was never an option. I wore it all the way to the top. After getting to the top I felt exhilarated more complete than ever and at peace. I knew right away that I have developed a burning desire to do it more and more. Throughout the years, I was lucky enough to participate in various sports and challenges other than soccer. On my second day of ever putting on ski boots, I was skiing down the steepest slopes instead of the bunny hills. Windsurfing was one of the hardest things to learn. On the very first day when I didn’t wipe out I went across Lake Lansing in Michigan without turning back. I participated in lots of other sports like cliff diving, tennis, racquetball, biking, volleyball and swimming. I knew after climbing my first peak, I have found my passion. A passion similar to life itself, life doesn’t stop if the going gets hard, we simply rise up and keep moving.
Tell us about what prompted you to seek climbing Everest?
The main player who prompted me to climb Everest is my friend Abate Sebsibe, a PhD student currently so busy, he spends all his free time buried in the library. I wish him success. He has been very positive and supportive throughout this mission, he would always say, “Of all the people I think of, that can make it to Mt. Everest, I know YOU will make it to the top.” I will be one of the nine or ten people with Peak Freaks Expedition Team. Once the mission was born, I started researching expedition companies on the internet and various sources. Peak Freaks Expedition Company had a crew that valued quality rather than quantity. They have flawless record of safety and are the only expedition company that sign on less than ten clients. More information of the expedition can be found on Peakfreaks.com. In 2008, the first Saudi who summited Mt. Everest teamed up with Peak Freaks and successfully made it all the way to the top.
What’s your daily routine?
I have been following the training schedule set up by my Mountaineer Expedition expert. I will post it on my website on the blog section. Though I would love to train full time, I still have a career to follow during the day. My professional work takes up my days Monday through Friday. After 5pm I shoot for a 45-60 minutes of running, and about 30 minutes of weight training. On days that I don’t run I substitute with swimming. In the next few months I will include cycling as an alternative to running and swimming. On the weekends I hike between 6-7 hours with a weight pack of 25-30 lbs or more. My goal is to ascend to 2,000 meters with a pack weighing between 22-30 kg in 2-3 hours period. I will strive to make improvements beyond the required goal so that I will be able to climb Mt. Everest.
You’ve completed hiking 27 peaks (some more than twice), and you plan to complete 2 more before Everest Mission, what thoughts are running through your head at the moment?
Well, it’s hard to believe that I am actually doing it. I will be hiking throughout the year until it’s time to go. I am looking forward to climbing Mt Rainier located in Washington, in late September. Mt Shasta has been a favorite by the locals as well. I will feel more confident after climbing Mt. Rainier. I feel I will be well prepared by staying on track on my training and focusing on my goals. As the saying goes, “Practice makes perfect.” Practice will be my top priority until the day comes for me to do this mission.
How can the Diaspora Ethiopian community assist with your fundraising?
Since I started talking about my plans I have gotten lot of encouragement from people I know and from people that came across my website. I have been interviewed by Admas radio and VOC, when I told a friend I was nervous, she said, “A certain someone is climbing Everest and he’s nervous from an interview?!” I have received unparalleled support from various Ethiopian websites for which I am grateful. I believe this endeavor will benefit other Ethiopians in terms of publicity and attention to circumstances in Ethiopia at present and in the future. Any kinds of support, be it donations or words of support means a lot to me. I would also like to take this opportunity to say that any remaining funds from the mission donated above the required goal will be used to support water.org projects in Ethiopia. When I was employed by US-filter Corp. one of my projects was to design a programmable logic controller (PLC) controller for water purification and distribution system to support irrigation usage for farming and potable water usage to a remote village in Venezuela. The controller I implemented was accessible via English and Spanish languages. I remember thinking back then, how a project such as this would be helpful for our country and wishing someday that I might do the same for Ethiopia.
Any plans to climb some peaks in Ethiopia?
Upon my return from Everest, I am planning to summit Ras Dashen located in Simien Mountains, 4,620 meters elevation, the highest peak in Ethiopia. I plan to do this around second week of June 2010. I would love to summit along with my Ethiopian brothers and sisters, provided that they’ve had all the training necessary for such a task.
Sirak Seyoum (Courtesy Photo)
Sirak Seyoum (Courtesy Photo)
Sirak Seyoum (Courtesy Photo)
Do you ever listen to music while hiking?
I do listen to music often while hiking, low volume. Its critical to listen to your surrounding at all times, climbers ahead of you might yell ” ROCK” which means one needs to avoid a possible rock coming down the slopes heading straight at anyone on its path. The same principle in snow areas as well, heads up for “Avalanche”. One cannot ignore the true nature’s music as well. The calmness of the area and the wind at those altitudes is like music by itself if one listens closely.
And your favorite movie with subtitles?
One of my favorites is Black Orpheus. This superb retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice Greek legend is set against Rio de Janeiro’s madness during Carnival. Orpheus (Breno Mello), a trolley car conductor, is engaged to Mira (Lourdes De Oliveira) but in love with Eurydice (Marpessa Dawn). A vengeful Mira and Eurydice’s ex-lover, costumed as Death, pursue Orpheus and his new paramour through the feverish Carnival night. Black Orpheus earned an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Superb Movie about Brazilian culture and history.
Thank you Sirak and best wishes with your training and climbing Mount Everest!
Aida Muluneh is an award-winning photographer based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In her photography book Ethiopia: Past/Forward (Africalila, 2009,) Aida explores the country through, identity, personal journey and family nostalgia after a 30-year absence. The photographs are a collection of images that show cases a return to a society juxtaposed between past, present and future.
Aida is founder of D.E.S.T.A FOR AFRICA, a non-profit cultural organization in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. D.E.S.T.A FOR AFRICA stands for Developing and Educating Society Through Art, it also means “happiness” in the Ethiopian language Amharic. D.E.S.T.A FOR AFRICA promotes cultural development through the use of photography by providing workshops, exhibitions and creative exchanges.
Follow her on Twitter @aidamuluneh. Read the interview at Dodge & Burn
Related past article from Tadias archives Reshaping our global image through photography
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: Thursday, December 18, 2008
New York (Tadias) – Desta, the Amharic word for happiness, is the name of a popular candy brand in Ethiopia. It’s also the acronym of choice for Photographer Aida Muluneh’s ambitious new project to reform the African continent’s long history with negative imagery.
Through photography, Muluneh has found a medium of transformation. Incorporating natural light from a crisp, dawn Ethiopian morning, or that of a sentimental sunny afternoon, Muluneh projects inspiration captured in moments of daily life – portraits of cab riders, priests, and street children in bustling Ethiopian cities and towns.
Her new organization, appropriately named DESTA for Africa, is a local NGO based in Addis Ababa. Muluneh (pictured above) hopes to encourage a new generation of African Photographers who are able to compete in the global media industry while reshaping the image of Africa reflecting their personal experiences.
“I have spent most of my artistic career promoting alternative images of Africa. DESTA For Africa was born out of my belief that we have to be accountable for how the world perceives us. Even though Africa is ever growing and rapidly changing, the images that we see in the mass media are not reflective of that, ” Muluneh says in a recent interview with Tadias Magazine.
“I feel that African artists have a responsibility to manage how the continent’s image is portrayed, and we can do that by actually providing the necessary education and resources to those who are interested in documenting their own realities.”
School is over for the day. These boys enjoy their time-off playing in their
neighborhood streets in Addis. (Photo by Aida Muluneh. Image featured on BBC)
BBC: A dignified Ethiopia – Aida Muluneh living in New York sent these images
depicting life in Ethiopia. She hopes these photos will show her country in a
different perspective.
Timkat (Epiphany) is the most colourful event in Ethiopia when churches parade
their Tabots (Replica of the. Ark of the Covenant) to a nearby body of water. Here
priests and deacons begin the religious procession from their individual churches and
walk, carrying flags, to Meskel Square where they all assemble.
(Photo by Aida Muluneh. This image was also featured on BBC).
The organization’s first batch of trainees is from Addis Ababa University, which lacks a permanent department of photography. ” We offer our workshop to undergraduates and graduates of the Addis Ababa School of Fine Arts and Design, with the aim to provide them with viable and self-sustainable opportunities in the photography industry,” Muluneh explains.
Yet the giving is reciprocal. Muluneh is learning from her students as they receive training. “My students are an example of what can happen when countries invest in cultural production, and support efforts to reshape Africa’s image. And they also give me strength and inspiration to continue on this mission,” she says.
Muluneh’s biggest stumbling block is lack of basic teaching resources. “You won’t believe how much of a difference it makes to have one photography book or art book,” she says. “I have been teaching with three cameras shared among 13 students, yet the students have been with me since February 2008 with the same enthusiasm and passion as on their first day.”
And what can the Diaspora do to help?
“We are continuously looking for photography books, cameras, film…the list goes on, but the first thing I would like to stress to the Ethiopian American community is the importance of cultural preservation, and managing cultural production, she says. “Culture determines not only how we experience daily life, but how we transmit vital information about our history, health, and general economic and political development.”
For those who are interested, Muluneh will be hosting a fundraiser and introduction of DFA at Almaz Restaurant tonight in Washington D.C. (The event took place on Thursday, December 18th, 2008). “We will be showcasing the works of the students and also selling prints to help continue our work in Ethiopia, and beyond,” she says. “For those who are not able to attend, it is possible to make donations through our website at www.destaforafrica.org.”
Here are few recent images from Muluneh’s students in Ethiopia.
Above:A scene from Shmuel Beru’s film “Zrubavel,” which
portrays some of the difficulties faced by Ethiopian immigrants.
Even as it tells of discrimination and difficulties, Beru pulls no
punches when portraying his own community’s faults. His
characters often wallow in self-pity, drink and use drugs,
steal and beat their wives. (Transfax Film Productions)
Los Angeles Times Shmuel Beru, who arrived in Israel in 1984 in the first wave of Ethiopian Jewish immigrants, tells his people’s story in the award-winning ‘Zrubavel.’ But not that many white Israelis are listening.
By Edmund Sanders
August 10, 2009
Reporting from Tel Aviv — Growing up, they called him the “chocolate boy” and worse. Shmuel Beru arrived in Israel at age 8 with the first wave of Ethiopian immigrants in 1984. Classmates, who’d never seen a black person before, rubbed his skin to see if the color would come off. Read more.
Related past stories:
The Ethiopian ‘Spike Lee’
Above: The film shows the story of Almaz (above) and her
family. An Ethiopian immigrant dreams of becoming
the Spike Lee of Israel and decides to video document
his community. “Much of the story is told through
the lens of his personal video camera as he travels
his neighborhood filming everyone and everything
from the mundane to the criminal.”
(Amharic and Hebrew w/English subtitles).
Events News
July 2, 2009
New York – Zrubavel, the first domestic film about Ethiopians in Israel, which screened in New York at the 6th Annual Sheba Film Festival in May 2009, will open in theaters today.
Even after three decades, all that most Israelis know about this population of more than 110,000 is what they read in newspaper reports: problems of integration, juvenile delinquency, domestic violence – or, more rarely, one successful Ethiopian immigrant who becomes a doctor, a pilot or a famous singer or actor. But what do we really know about the Ethiopian Jews of Israel – their values, their traditions, their language, their music, their food, their dreams, their problems and how they deal with them, their feelings?.
New York (TADIAS) – The award-winning Ethiopian film Guzo premiered at Helen Mills Theatre in New York City on Saturday, August 8, 2009 and received big thumbs up from the audience.
Robel and Lydia, two Addis Ababa urbanites, felt they had what it takes to live and survive in the countryside, doing the daily chores and farming with their respective host families. By day 17 they “wanted to go home.” Guzo does a spectacular job of capturing rural life, from grueling long walks to the market to late night Areqe inspired talk and dance. Robel and Lydia learn it is no small feat to survive and raise a family under such harsh and oftentimes monotonous conditions. Robel’s host mentions he will not miss Robel at work but bends his head and weeps when he realizes their days are numbered. A farmer’s wife, Belge, confesses that Lydia is the first female friend she’s had, and knows she will miss her for years to come. Guzo pulls at your heartstrings, often making you laugh till your belly aches and then suddenly forcing tears to well up in your eyes. It captures the beauty of Ethiopian culture, tradition, and all the heartache that comes with living with little resources. Although both Robel and Lydia claim that one cannot fully understand and appreciate rural life until they live it everyday, watching them work and survive 20 days brings one as close to the feeling as one could ever get.
The following Tadias video captures the audience’s reaction to Guzo.
In the late 1970s Ethiopia’s Marxist military rulers tortured and murdered hundreds of thousands in brutal repressions. Now, one survivor is trying to create a permanent online archive of the so-called Red Terror using the documents the Communist regime, known as the Derg, left behind, reports the BBC’s Elizabeth Blunt.
Hirut Abebe-Jiri was in her early teens when Emperor Haile Selassie was overthrown.
She had had a happy and privileged childhood, part of a well-off and well-connected family.
But the revolution made people like them liable to be viewed as suspicious. Read more.
Related Book Excerpt: My Rediscovery of Ethiopia by Rebecca Haile
Publisher’s Note
Rebecca Haile was born in Ethiopia in 1965 and lived there until she was eleven years old. When the Emperor was deposed by a military coup, Rebecca’s father, a leading academic in Addis Ababa, was shot while “resisting arrest.” Barely surviving, he escaped with his family and settled in central Minnesota where they struggled with the cultural and financial strain of their drastically changed circumstances.
Rebecca grew up in America harboring her precious childhood memories, but in time saw herself as more American than Ethiopian. She attended Williams College and went on to graduate from Harvard Law School. In 2001, she was the first member of her family to return to Ethiopia.
The following is an excerpt from her book Held at a Distance: My Rediscovery of Ethiopia (Academy Chicago Publishers, Paper, 183pp, $17.95, 0-89733-556-2).
“I want the two of you to pack some clothes tonight because this weekend we’re going to drive to Nazareth town to visit Ababa Haile and Tye Emete. If we don’t do that, we will probably take a plane to join your mother and father in America.”
With those casual words, my Aunt Mimi tried to prepare my sister Sossina and me to leave Ethiopia even as she downplayed the voyage by equating it with a Sunday drive to my grandparents’ home in the country. Mimi dared not promise us the trip to the United States, much less name a specific date. Those were unpredictable days in Ethiopia—days when people who disagreed with the regime didn’t know whether they would see the sun rise the following morning, days when, my uncle Tadesse swore, you couldn’t trust your own shadow. By then, government soldiers had nearly killed my father, and my parents had fled the country. How could my aunt and uncle assure us that no one would block our family’s reunion?
Now, twenty-five years after those final tense days, I am on an overnight flight back to Addis Ababa. I am sitting next to my husband, Jean, staring restlessly out the window at the inky ground below. As we cross from southern Egypt into northern Ethiopia, an hour or so before we are to land, the horizon finally begins to lighten. Soon, the sky over the vast highland plateau is awash in a deep, clay red. Jetlagged and on edge, uncertain what to expect from the country I am not sure I can still call home, I am grateful for this beautiful prologue to the month that lies ahead.
I left Ethiopia in 1976, two years after the army deposed Emperor Haile Selassie and sent a powerful wave of turmoil and state-sponsored violence crashing across the country. Along with countless others, my parents were swept up in that wave and soon the life they had built together had been completely washed away. In the summer of 1976, my parents, my sisters and I found ourselves abruptly deposited in the United States, stripped of our possessions and expectations and left to start over financially, professionally and emotionally. I was ten when it became clear we could not stay in Addis Ababa and had just turned eleven when my sisters and I reunited with our parents in a small central Minnesota town. That first summer, as we watched our host country celebrate its bicentennial birthday with fireworks and cheers of freedom along the banks of the Mississippi, not one of us imagined how long it would be before we would see Ethiopia again. When I returned in the spring of 2001, I was the first in my family to do so.
— From Held at a Distance by Rebecca Haile. Copyright (c) 2007 Rebecca Haile, Published by Academy Chicago Publishers, all rights reserved.
I know, I know. The response to this question is always “does it matter?” And the answer is usually “no.”
Still, it’s occasionally useful to explore. And this year, there seems to be some balking at the inclusion of Ethopian groove music pioneer Mulatu Astatke within the jazz umbrella. I heard it privately from a few people when Bob Boilen, host/creator of NPR Music’s All Songs Considered, called Astatke’s new album Inspiration Information 3 “the best jazz record I’ve heard in 2009.” Recently, the voracious listener known as Free Jazz Stef also expressed some reservations:
This album is OK, but nothing more than that. It is a mixture of stuff, often characterless, but the Ethopian’s music is so compelling, that it even withstands the treatment given here. I hope it will lead listeners to the real music. Read more. Yekermo Sew: Mulatu Astatke and Heliocentrics Live
Ace to Ace interview with Mulatu Astatke
In the Ethiopian musical world Mulatu Astatke is atypical, totally
unique, a legend unto himself. He was the first Ethiopian musician
educated abroad, object of tribute and admiration. Mulatu is the
the inventor and maybe the only musician of Ethio-Jazz (Jazz
instrumentals with strong brass rhythms and traditional elements
of Ethiopian music).
New York (Tadias) – Guzo, an award-winning Ethiopian film, is scheduled to screen at Helen Mills Theatre in New York City on Saturday, August 8, 2009.
Guzo, which won best picture at the 2009 Addis International Film Festival, disperses humor among more sober points of the film to delicately highlight the social, cultural and economical differences between Ethiopian urban elite and the larger rural-based majority who struggle for their daily survival. Staged as part documentary and part reality show with no real actors or script, Guzo chronicles the interaction between two young residents of Addis Ababa and their peers in the Ethiopian countryside over the course of 20 days as the characters confront stereotypes about each other and grapple with matters of gender and privilege, among other issues.
“Basically, we transplanted two urban Addis young adults and gave them a taste of rural Ethiopia,” says Aida Ashenafi, the film’s director.
“I have always loved the art of storytelling and engaging behind the lens of the camera. Guzo was a project that both inspired and intrigued me from the beginning. As my filmmaking background is mostly fiction films, not documentary, I feel that Guzo is more entertaining. One can relate tremendously whether you come from the city, the countryside, Ethiopia, America, Europe etc. It crosses many boundaries while touching on human issues that bond us all.”
The film has also earned the distinction of becoming the very first Ethiopian film selected to be shown on all current Ethiopian Airlines international flights.
If you Go: Guzo is scheduled to screen at Helen Mills Theatre (39 west 26th street between 6th & 7th ave) in New York City on Saturday, August 8, 2009 at 1:30 and 3:30 PM. Click here to purchase your ticket. For more information, please call: 917.512.5416.
Interview with Guzo’s Cinematographer Zeresenay B. Mehari
View photos from Guzo’s Premier in Washington D.C.
New York (Tadias) – Bernos, which we first featured in March 2008, is an upstart clothing company founded by young Ethiopian and Eritrean American entrepreneurs and artists. In recent months, celebrities were spotted sporting the label’s hip tees on media appearances. Earlier this year, a member of the music group started by Somali-born rapper K’naan was seen wearing the Bernos Made in Africashirt in their music video. And today, we discovered another series of videos in our inbox showing Damian Marley, the youngest son of the late reggae legend Bob Marley, wearing one of the company’s inaugural designs Addis Ababa Classic during his interview on Boston’s Hot 97.5 station. Enjoy the videos:
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: March 28, 2008
New York (Tadias) – It all started with a boring job that left graphic designer Nolawi Petros itching to do something artistic.
Designing test booklets for No Child Left Behind at his day job did little to satisfy Petros’ appetite for artistic creation.
“The truth is, I was at a job where I didn’t have a lot of creative things to do,” Nolawi says.
So he decided it was time to launch Bernos, an online t-shirt vending company that now doubles as a sort of virtual Ethiopian community center through an active blog.
He had been kicking around the idea of starting a t-shirt designing and making venture for some time.
“If it works, it works; if doesn’t, it doesn’t,” Petros said at the time, but he thought it was at least worth a try.
It did work.
In May 2005, launched Bernos with three designs: Addis Ababa Classic, a red shirt with the words “Addis Ababa” written in a font resembling Coca-Cola’s, an Abebe Bekila shirt, and a shirt featuring Desta Keremela, the staple candy brand found in pretty much every souk in Ethiopia.
Above:Bernos shirt with the words “Addis Ababa” written in a font resembling
Coca-Cola’s. (Photo: Bernos.org).
Above:A shirt featuring Desta Keremela, the staple candy brand found in pretty
much every neighborhood shop in Ethiopia. (Photo: Bernos.org).
The business is named after the heavy wool cloak that became a status symbol after being introduced to Ethiopia by the Arabs.
“Wearing the Bernos in Ethiopia was a lot like wearing a sheriff’s badge in the American West,” Bernos says on its website.
“Today, anyone can capture and celebrate some of Ethiopia’s history and the status of the Bernos by wearing one of our unique t-shirts.”
And if the fact that they’ve sold out of many of their designs is any indication, the Bernos t-shirt is a status symbol that more than a few people have bought into.
Petros says that for the 13 designs that the website has now, he’s probably designed another 30 that he’s decided to toss out or hold on to for later.
While Petros handles much of the design work, he has business partners handle the other elements of running a business: Dawit Kahsai handles finances, Meron Samuel is the head of marketing and sales, and Beshou Gedamu is Bernos’ t-shirt model and photographer.
So far, the venture has been built on volunteer labor—the partners view their time as their primary investment in the business, Petros says.
The Bernos site gets about 500 hits a day, mostly Abeshas on the East Coast, Petros says, but although the Bernos team are Ethiopians (Dawit Kahsai is Eritrean), they don’t see their venture as an “Abesha” or even an “African” brand.
Most orders do come from major U.S. cities with big Abesha populations: Oakland, Seattle, Washington, DC, and New York City, some order have popped up from more far flung locations—everywhere from Fargo, North Dakota to Mississipi.
Even though they’ve cornered the internet-savvy Abesha market that likes hip T-shirts, Petros says a little number-crunching reveals that market is still pretty small.
“Let’s say there are 500,000 Ethiopians in the U.S.—out of those, 20 percent use the internet, (and of those, some) are into fashion or T-shirts. So, when you think about it, we don’t have a big market,” says Petros.
About 30 percent of the T-shirts go to non-Ethiopians, and Petros says they’re trying to expand that number. That trend has been reflected in the shift in designs from the “Addis Ababa Classic” that launched the site to more recent designs named “Roots,” and “d’Afrique,” which have more pan-African appeal.
Above:Another recent design named “Roots,” which has a more pan-African
appeal. (Photo: Bernos.org).
But Petros says he wants to branch out of that niche too.
“These t-shirts have mass appeal for all black people but also for white people,” Petros said.
With t-shirts that garner a broader following, Bernos hopes their line will eventually be carried by a national clothing chain like Urban Outfitters.
Teddy Afro is one of Ethiopia’s most popular singers. Afro, whom fans call Ethiopia’s Bob Marley, is in prison. Many are convinced that his legal troubles are related to his music. Some of Afro’s songs seem critical of Ethiopia’s government.
Listen Now
Cover Photo:Teddy Afro performing at the Rosewater Hall in
San Jose, California on January 20th, 2007 during his last U.S.
tour (Photo by D.J. Fitsum).
Two years ago. when I chronicled the work of two International Crisis Aid mission teams in Ethiopia. I had the privilege of meeting many great people. Among them was Dr. Henok Gebre Hiwot.
An OB-GYN physician by training, in Ethiopia and Germany, the 46-year old directs ICA’s medical operations in his native country. Prior to this he directed a project whose aim of which was to prevent the spread of the HIV-AIDS virus from mothers to children.
Dr. Henok lived and worked in Israel for 14 years, where he also met his wife Betty. They were married in Haifa on Mount Carmel in Israel, and they have four children: Hila, Chenniel, Sasson and Yael.
Recently I had an opportunity to visit with Dr. Henok during only his second visit ever to the United States. He provided me with an update on ICA’s operations in Ethiopia. Read more.
This piece was last updated on Wednesday, October 1, 2008
New York (Tadias) – Ethiopian-born Sosena Kebede (pictured above left) served as an Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine at Hanover Regional Medical Center until April 2006. She spent her childhood in Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Botswana before settling in the United States in 1988. She holds a B.S. from Duke University, and an M.D. from the University of North Carolina. Dr. Sosena spent five weeks volunteering at Tikur Anbessa (Black Lion) Hospital in Addis Ababa in the spring of 2006. The following is an excerpt of her memoir (first published on Tadias Magazine in 2007) that details her personal experience at one of the largest health care facilities in Ethiopia.
We hope Dr. Sosena’s observations will spark a healthy debate on the subject and hopefully the discussion will focus on finding solutions . As always, we warmly welcome your comments.
A Doctor’s Memoir
By Sosena Kebede
May 3, 2006
So I woke up at 8:45am after going to bed at 11:00pm last night and I reported to duty at Tikur Anbessa Hospital (hereto referred to as TAH).
The hospital is run down, there is barely enough lighting to see your way in the hallways, the wards reek of a mixture of antiseptics, body odors, and whatever else. Medical equipments are scarce, outdated and in some cases out of commission.
Above: There is barely enough lighting to see your way in the hallways.
Photography by Sosena Kebede
The Out patient Clinic (OPD) is mainly run by resident physicians. Consultants usually see subspecialty patients and are available for consultations. Patient rights including a right to privacy or modesty is barely existent. Patients are examined in a semi-office type room with one stretcher in the room. There is no gown, no privacy in that small room. Patients have to undress in the full view of the doctor and the nurse as well as who ever else may be around at the time in that small room. (Oh, the cell phone of the doctors rings at times in the middle of exams and the doctor interrupts the exam while the patient is lying half naked and talks on the phone. Later on, I found out that the cell phone is used as a pager equivalent in this hospital so to be fair most calls seem to be work related). What topped my experience today was when the examining physician at one time literally pinched an older woman’s pendulous left breast by the nipple and raised the whole breast up in the air like a tent while listening to her heart! I was mortified, and I so badly wanted to slap his hand off of her.
Above: The Out patient Clinic (OPD). Photography by Sosena Kebede.
Because not all patients can be seen by a consultant some complicated cases are seen by residents alone which made me feel uncomfortable to say the least. Today, one of the residents came to ask the cardiologist’s opinion on how to manage an elderly gentleman who apparently is in third degree heart block intermittently (A heart conduction abnormality that can be fatal). There is no pacer (a pacer, as the name implies, is a device used to” pace” the heart when its intrinsic ability to pace its own rhythm fails) and the gentleman declined admission for monitoring purposes citing financial reasons. It turned out that he couldn’t afford any medications either. Decision was made to send him out and have him come back in three weeks!! Wow. I felt helpless; as I am sure these physicians have million times over. I gave the old man some money for medications. He kissed my hands and I walked out chocked up, knowing that he is one of many, and one couldn’t possibly help all… I saw the physicians exchange glances as I walked out. Perhaps they were amused by what they perceived to be a naïve gesture on my part. Perhaps, they thought here is another American trying to be a hero.
Clearly the volume and the acuity of care is way above what these exhausted and frustrated physicians can handle. The system seems to be crumbling and I wondered how they make it day to day, patients and physicians alike.
At the end of a long day, I stood looking outside the window on 8th floor while waiting for my ride to go home. I saw a beautiful landscape of Addis. A spectacular chain of mountains cradle rows of shacks and rusty tin roofs. The high rises that pop their heads above the shacks don’t hide the story of this city. This city holds some of the wretched of this world.
Above:8th floor offices. Photography by Sosena Kebede.
May 4, 2006
I attended grand rounds today and was once again impressed by the quality and clarity of presentation and the professional attitudes of the residents and even more impressed by how bright they are as demonstrated by their wide differential diagnoses. I sat at the back of the conference room proud to call them my people. I don’t think my residents in America with all the information excess at their fingertips and a lot of spoon feeding could generate as much differential and show such insight into disease processes as these residents.
In the department of Internal medicine, there is one lap top and LCD projector that is kept in the main office but the residents use overhead slides for their presentations. The screen for projection is torn at the corner and is held by a wide masking tape and creates an indentation on some of the hand written words that project on its surface. I struggled to read their hand written presentation but I preferred to listen to them anyway, so it didn’t matter.
Diagnostic modalities such as CTs and echos are hard to come by. The hospital does not have an MR. The single CT scanner the hospital has, I am told is broken and has been so for the last 12 months! Patients who require CTs will have to go to private clinics to get them done. With a prohibitive cost for these diagnostic procedures most patients who need them can’t get them.
The physicians here work under some of the most emotionally devastating circumstances, with very little reward and no job satisfaction whatsoever. I found out that every physician now works at a private clinic to supplement their income at the government hospital. This includes the resident physicians as well.
There is no heart hard enough and a mind so callus that it can’t feel pain, outrage, disbelief, and despair at what I am seeing in Ethiopia.
Out of the many sad cases here are a couple that I will probably never forget. We saw a 20 some year old male who came to the cardiology clinic for follow-up of his cyanotic heart disease. He was born with “a hole in his heart” and because of this defect the oxygenated and deoxygenated blood mix and gives patients such as this one “cyanosis”( bluish hue to their coloring), which is one of the hallmarks of low oxygen in the blood. During this visit, the patient is told to continue taking his medications (which will not fix the problem!) and “try and pursue his chance to go abroad to get definitive treatment”. The only way to cure this type of defect is by surgical method and that is not available in Ethiopia. Of course this young man, who is a college student can’t go abroad and he will die here. I wondered what he is studying and how long he will stay alive. Ethiopia’s life expectancy is about 43 years of age, I don’t think he will make it that far.
An 18 year old girl who looks not a day older than 13 (she is severely malnourished) came with her dad for follow-up of her shortness of breath and trouble lying flat. During physical exam her heart looked like it’d pop out between her left sided rib spaces and you barely have to put your stethoscope on her chest to hear the loud booming murmur (a heart murmur is a sound made as blood rushes out of the heart chambers via its valves and can be a sign of heart valve problems). She had distended neck veins and is breathing heavy. This girl has a very sick heart, and you didn’t need to be a doctor to see that. I saw her echo live and the cardiologist, (who is clearly very bright and in my opinion second to none) pointed out the girl’s massively stretched heart chambers and the severe valve leakages. She is clearly a surgical case but he pointed out because of her malnourishment he didn’t think that ENAHPA (Ethiopian North American Health Professionals Association, a group of Ethiopian and non-Ethiopian health professionals from North America that are expected to come mid May to do cardiac surgeries) will consider her to be a good surgical candidate. The girl’s father who accompanied her has sad eyes and didn’t say a word and seems to have no clue as to what is going on with his daughter. The little girl spoke in whispers I could barely hear, and she kept her eyes down cast and continuously wrung her fingers that were folded on her lap. The name and the body frame may change but this case and the whole scenario was déjà vu all over again for me.
There is a frighteningly minimal amount of conversation that goes on between patients/their families and these doctors. The patients and their families who at times travel several kilometers to make it to this hospital are so mishandled starting at the hospital gate all the way to the clinics. Part of this ill-treatment that I perceive (the Amharic word “Mengelatat” I think fits the bill better than any other English term I can come up with) I believe may stem from a general lack-luster “customer service” practice in our culture. Also, my experience has been that harsh words are freely hurled by people in “authority” to people who are perceived to be either inferiors or subordinates in some ways without fear of repercussions. A hospital guard who carries a gun is at liberty to scold a family member of a patient at the hospital gate; as would an older man in car to a female pedestrian, an adult to a child or a physician to a patient, just to name a few. Added to that, the frustrations that come from working under such difficult conditions may make people appear to be heartless. Regardless, it is a sad state of affairs.
Above: B8. Photography by Sosena Kebede.
Today, I felt overwhelmed by all I saw. After work I met with a friend of mine at a café (there is a miracle right there, my good old southern friend from Wilmington North Carolina, now sitting across the table from me in the country of my origin!) and I broke down and cried about this whole package of life in Ethiopia. He cried with me.
May 8, 2006
The residents essentially manage most of the patients. While I rounded on hematology patients with one of the Hematologist, I was impressed by these residents as they discussed the management of leukemias, multiple myelomas etc. They know the chemotherapeutic agent dosages, all the side-effects. They administer and monitor treatment after consultation with the sub specialist. Infectious diseases are plentiful in kind and number in Ethiopia. I had to acquaint myself anew with some of the tropical diseases such as Leishmaniasis and Schistosomaisis etc, which I was once taught in the US as topics of historical significance in the western world.
Before rounds I was listening to a bunch of residents discuss a case of pleural effusion (fluid in the lungs) and its managements. They know what they are talking about and the camaraderie and team play exhibited seems to be far superior to what I have seen in America. I was also very happy to overhear that they do most of the medical procedures and although limited, do have access to ultrasound guided thoracentesis,(a method by which fluid from the lungs is drained using ultrasound guidance). Most of these guys (unfortunately with the exception of two females they are all guys) seem to be highly motivated, after having arrived at this stage of their lives after much trials and tribulations. (Naturally, there are exceptions to the rule). They work under such suboptimal conditions, with very limited support system, and meager educational resources. Their motivation to learn makes me wonder if I will ever want to teach in
America again.
May 10, 2006
I had a very full day today-long rounds and lectures to the residents. What a pleasure though.
I have had some opportunities to mingle with people and form friends in the hospital and outside of it. The recurring theme among physicians and non-physicians is that people in Ethiopia are increasingly being made to abandon intellectual/ academic pursuits for entrepreneurships in order to survive. (There is nothing wrong with entrepreneurship or business if done honestly, but it should not be the only means of existence in a modern society). One young professional couple shared with me how some of their close friends who have only high school education have gone into “business” and are living large, whereas people like them who have invested a significant number of years in education are left to struggle to make ends meet. Their expertise for knowledge transfer and their contribution to pulling Ethiopians out of the dark ages of ignorance seems to be overlooked. The way I see it, Ethiopian intellectuals are given very little incentive to make this country their home.
While discussing this topic with one individual I heard very disturbing news about a parliamentary discussion that was televised recently. Apparently, the prime minister of Ethiopia was discussing with members of the parliament on how Ethiopia can improve its Chat business in the international market. Chat is a marijuana like substance that is grown in Ethiopia and has an addictive and mind altering properties. This recreational drug is now creating a huge problem among the youth and adults alike and is blamed for a significant number of road fatalities especially among long distance truck drivers who drive while under the influence. Everyone can list many bad public policies, but this one defies explanation and borders on insanity.
May 11, 2006
I saw an elderly male carrying an emaciated adolescent kid and walking up the steep hill via the Radio Fana road going to TAH today. Beside him, also was a middle aged guy carrying a plastic bag. I saw them trudging up that steep hill in silence, obviously exhausted from a long journey, and quite clearly unable to afford a taxi fare to bring a sick child to the hospital. I wondered how long they traveled today and where they came from. I wondered what illness the child had and what other “mengelatat” (harassment) awaits them starting at the TAH gate. I wondered when they will eventually be able to see a physician. I also wondered if that child was going to walk out of TAH alive…
I see many elderly and sick people climbing the stairs at TAH all the way up to the 8th floor because the only one functioning elevator (that sometimes fails to function) is reserved for those who are severely sick such as those who require stretchers. I helped carry a heavy bag for a lady walking up the stairs this afternoon. She was very happy to share the burden and was talking to me in between halting breaths until one of the ladies who works in house keeping on 5th floor addressed me as “doctor”. At that point, the lady I was climbing the stairs with took the plastic bag I was helping carry from my hands, thanked me profusely and went her way, without even giving me a chance to say that it was no big deal.
I also see rows of people sitting on the benches and on the floors of the hospital waiting for their turns to see a doctor. Some look like they need to be in ICU immediately. Not that the medical ICU which has 4 beds and the most rudimentary cardiac monitors and not much else, will avail much of anything, but at least they will be in a bed of some sort. From what I gathered there are only two mechanical ventilators in the ICU; there are two “crash carts” (carts that hold emergency medications and defibrillators in the event of cardiopulmonary arrest)-one in the ICU the other in the OPD area. Emergency medications are not always available, therefore medical emergencies in general have a predictable dismal outcome.
During lunch break today a very soft spoken and pleasant laboratory technician was talking about how tuition for her daughter has increased by 50% and she and her husband don’t know how they are going to be able to keep their only child in the same school. Everywhere I turn I hear “sekoka” (woes). Sometimes it is almost impossible to comprehend this level of social devastation in one country. The poor have clearly grown poorer over the past decade or two, and the minority of “middle class” are frantically struggling not to join others into the quick sand of poverty. There is wide spread sense of hopelessness and dejection in people of all ages, and gender. People are preoccupied with trying to figure out how they can make it from one day to another.
I talk about misery sitting in an upscale café/bookstore, eating grilled veggie sandwich, drinking green tea, and working on my lap top. I have my palm pilot and cell phone on the table, both very much operational and invaluable even here in Ethiopia. On the bottom floor of this beautiful contemporary café called Lime Tree café is a snazzy day spa called “Boston Day Spa, Where luxury and Glamour Meet”. I am very comfortable. When I am done writing this piece I will walk across the street of Bole, where rows of internet cafes, pastry shops, high end boutiques and shiny high rises are lined up. I might as well be in America. I will eventually walk into a two storey beautiful house where the maids will wait on me. Now that is much better than I have it in America. This is what I call the “artificial” life of Addis Ababa. This is a life that only a very small minority of Ethiopians live.
Many things annoy me even infuriate me, but none like people who measure developmental advances of the country using these “artificial” methods. Rome was not built in a day, and nor will Ethiopia be. I am not against road constructions and the erection of high rises. I am not necessarily against the SUV driving, designer clothing wearing, Sheraton Hotel partying, Europe vacationing crowds. I am however against those who use this minute fraction of the reality in Ethiopia to measure “development”. I am against complacency and indifference to the pressing issues of basic human needs food, shelter, clothing, health care, education and safety to all the people of Ethiopia.
May 12th 2006
There were four successive bomb blasts in Addis today. One was close to TAH and it occurred while I was giving a lecture on Sub acute Bacterial Endocarditis to the medical students. Everyone looked pretty unmoved by the whole thing and outside the building it was business as usual. People on the street either talked about something entirely different, or they casually made comments about how they believe the government itself is responsible for these blasts. Two of the four blasts happened in a taxi and a bus (I could very well have been in one of those taxis), and a total of four people died with over 20 injured, some very seriously. Waiting for a taxi to go home right after the blast I saw a group of people sitting at a café near Ambassador Hotel having a good old time. The thought that came to mind was that Ethiopians have become accustomed to death and dying of all forms including terrorist killings that they carry on their lives pretty much how the Israelis and the Palestinians must carry on. Just when I thought it couldn’t possibly get any worse…!!
May 15, 2006
I keep fairly busy at TAH, and I am enjoying getting to know people a little bit better everyday. One of the physicians asked me today why I wanted to come to Ethiopia to work. This is a well seasoned physician that has served in the institution for a long time and I think he wanted to know if I knew what I would be getting myself into. I know that Ethiopia’s problems are complex and individual efforts may be miniscule but if there is enough of us I believe the scale will eventually tip. The scale may not tip in my life time but I am willing to leave my “negligible” contribution on the offering plate.
It is easy to get overwhelmed by all that is wrong around here, but in my simplistic personal view, there is still a lot of untapped sources. These sources are easy to miss because they are not big and they don’t leave visible dents on the surface of our problems, and they certainly don’t make the headlines. Most of these sources are also not measured in monetary in kind, and thus may appear not to be that valuable. I am thinking of the power of compassion that moves us to own the pain and suffering of others and make it our own. I am thinking of daily acts of simple kindness at individual levels. I am thinking of touching other human beings, both literally and figuratively. During rounds I made sure I laid my hands on each patient and addressed them by their names. I also always asked the patients and their families if they had any questions before we left their bedside. I made it my business to communicate to them by words, attitudes and actions that their issues concern me and they matter to me. Two days ago, the father of a 15 year girl with leukemia shook my hand and said to me in Oromiffa (was translated to me by one of the residents who speaks the language) that for them to” be touched by a doctor is like medicine itself ‘.
I will always remember what someone said to me: “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care”. If the students and the residents I worked with this month will remember only this piece of advice my time with them has been worth it.
Talking of simple kind acts, today’s was a special one. I was leaving TAH when a woman asked me where the “cherer kifle” (radiation room) was. Of course I didn’t know where it was but since she and a young man are bringing a very sick elderly woman who could barely walk, (she was moaning and looked like she was about to collapse), I offered to investigate for them. Once I found out it was on 2nd floor, they asked if the “lift” (elevator) will automatically stop on the floor, apparently it was their first time to take an elevator. I took the elevator with them and walked them to radiation oncology and gave their chart to the nurse and inquired for them when they will be seen. There are no wheel chairs, no hospital staff that help triage these sickly patients. The radiation/oncology area it turned out was quite a walk and I kept looking behind me at the sick woman and the man supporting her and said words of encouragement such as “Ayezwot desrsenale” (loosely translated: hang in there, we are almost there”). After we arrived in the radiation room the elderly lady sat on the bench she took my hand and kissed it (for the second time in 10 days, and it brought tears to my eyes. Such deep gratitude, for such a small act…) and said some of the most beautiful merekat (blessings) to me. The one that stood out the most was “Enkifat enkwan ayemtash” (“may you not even stumble”). I loved hearing that. I bowed my head several times, in acknowledgement, Ethiopian style, and said my Amens to all the blessings. It touched me so much, that it surprised me. In a land where verbal cursing is not uncommon it is good to hear a torrent of blessing for a change.
Above:With one of my favorite patients. Photography by Sosena Kebede.
June 16, 2006
I was rushing out through the OPD gate to meet someone for lunch when I run into one of the residents I know. We talked about what it is like to work and live in Ethiopia as a physician. My conversations with the same physician although not entirely based on a new theme gave me a reinforcement of what most intellectuals/professionals in this country are feeling. He told me that his salary rated among the highest but for a family of seven (five kids and a wife) it will be sufficient for two weeks only. Like many others he is also supplementing his income with a second job in the form of a private clinic work. He recounted that once upon a time, he too had great aspirations and dreams to bring about a change in the society. He told me after several episodes of banging his head against a brick wall he has decided to lead a quite life and support his family. This physician, who is soft spoken and accomplished, like many others has contributed a lot to that institution and to the country at large. How many peoples’ dreams and visions have died, I wondered.
I am reminded of the Biblical verse that says “a small yeast will leaven up an entire dough”. This is true of good as well as bad influence (“leaven”). I do believe, that though we might not see this happen in our generation, if we are determined we can be the leaven, the catalyst, to bring about a paradigm shift in this country. We can be the catalysts who will initiate the process of change from the cycles of poverty to self sufficiency.
I was very fortunate and truly feel honored to have met so many people that have done so much and have the potential to do so much more in Ethiopia. Some are tired, others are tiring out. That is why we need reinforcements to be deployed to them. With all the apprehensions that I feel at times, I can’t wait till I go back to Ethiopia. One of my self assigned missions now is to recruit as many as are willing to be part of that reinforcement.
New York (Tadias) – A fundraiser was held last night for Mayor Adrian M. Fenty at Etete, a popular Ethiopian restaurant in Washington, D.C.
The event was hosted by Ethiopian-American businessman Henok Tesfaye, President of U Street Parking, Inc., who was featured in a December 2006 issue of the Washington Post as one of D.C.’s young, successful entrepreneurs.
The fundraiser attracted a diverse crowd of both Ethiopians and non-Ethiopians who paid between $500 and $2000 per contributor in support of the the Mayor’s 2010 re-election campaign.
The Washington Metropolitan Area is home to one of the largest Ethiopian communities in the country, and the District of Columbia government has officially recognized the Amharic language as a way to provide services within the growing community.
Tadias Magazine attended the event and we had the opportunity to ask the Mayor a few questions. Stay tuned for Senait Assefa’s interview with Mayor Fenty. Photos from the event are posted below courtesy of DJ Photography.
Mayor Adrian M. Fenty at a fundraiser held in D.C at Etete on Thursday, July 30,
2009. (courtesy of DJ Photography).
A fundraiser for Mayor Adrian M. Fenty at Etete on Thursday, July 30, 2009.
(Courtesy of DJ Photography)
The event was hosted by Ethiopian-American businessman Henok Tesfaye,
right. (Thursday, July 30, 2009. Courtesy of DJ Photography)
Senait Assefa (Tadias) interviewed the Mayor at the event. (Thursday, July 30,
2009. Courtesy of DJ Photography)
New York (Tadias) – Sitota.com is the perfect way to share the joys of holidays and special occasions with your loved ones in Ethiopia. Sitota, the Amharic word for gift, is an online retail space where you can buy flowers, cake, liquor, and yes even live sheep! Within 24-72 hours of processing your Sitota order via Merkatomall.com, your gift will be delivered to your loved ones in Ethiopia.
We caught up with the Co-Founder of Sitota.com, Selam Zemenu, and chatted with her about her growing business catering to Diaspora Ethiopians.
Selam Zemenu, Co-Founder of Sitota.com.
What got you started to open an online gift store?
It is a combination of things. First of, we wanted to demonstrate to our merchant customers how an online store would work on MerkatoMall.com. Secondly, we wanted to fill a void in the market – a way to send gifts to Ethiopia during holidays and special occasions such as weddings, birthdays and graduations.
Tell us a little bit more about Sitota?
Sitota.com is an online store for buying and sending gifts to Ethiopia. Sitota, meaning gift
in Amharic, is chosen as the name of the business in order to keep it simple and help
customers remember the website address.
What kind of products do you offer?
Customers can buy gifts like sheep, cake and flowers and whiskey. We will also start offering oxen and perfumes soon. On top of these, we have delivered special items in the past per our customers’ request such as clothes and baby products during baby showers.
Where are you located? Where do you run your operations from?
We are in Atlanta, Georgia, and currently run this operation entirely via the internet and telephone from the U.S.. This is possible because we accept all orders via credit card and checks. That being said, we plan to open an office soon to meet the growing demand of customers who prefer to pay by cash. We also have an office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to run our logistics operations. It is also available for some of our customers’ friends/family who would rather pick up their gifts in person.
How does the logistics of delivery work in Ethiopia?
As you know addresses in Ethiopia don’t have street numbers and zip codes. Instead we ask for phone numbers, Kebele/Wereda, Keftegna and house numbers to locate addresses. This process can be challenging at times when customers don’t know those numbers and they still want us to deliver the gifts as a surprise. So we rely the ingenuity of our agent there in these situations. In our 1.5 years of business, we haven’t missed a delivery date or been late for any special occasion.
How long does it take for the customer to receive their gift in Ethiopia?
We deliver the gifts to our customer family/friends’ residences within 24-72 hours of your order depending on the city in Ethiopia. Although most of our deliveries have been within Addis Ababa, we have delivered to cities as far as Nekemt, Welega and Mekelle.
Tell us a little bit about you, to help people get to know the person behind the site. How long have you been in business?
Sitota.com is made possible and still running by a team effort. I run the day-to-day
operations. My 5 years of marketing and customer relations skills has helped many customers grow to understand and appreciate the service we are providing. The website is designed as part of MerkatoMall.com by Henock Gashaw, a software engineer with about 10 years of experience. Fesseha (Fish), Our agent in Addis makes sure that all gifts are delivered on time. He also makes sure that our customers’ family/friends are happy and plesantly surprised.
What makes Sitota different from other sites?
It’s very easy for our customers to send gifts to their family and friends anywhere in Ethiopia. We do this by allowing customers to either use our website or toll free telephone number from the comfort of their home. Our secured and reliable website provides a simple ordering process and allows customers choose the delivery date of their gifts.
Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?
First of we would like to thank our customers for their support. Close to 70% of our business has come from referrals and we appreciate that. We value our integrity, on-time delivery of quality gifts to your friends and family and invite you to try our service. Most of all we enjoy doing it.
Above: That’s why some say that despite all the accusations
and emotions hindering the resolution of the Henry Louis Gates
Jr. imbroglio, there is opportunity for racial progress in President
Barack Obama’s “teachable moment” sitdown with Gates and
Sgt. James Crowley. (AP)
Video: Black Scholar Accepts White House Meeting Offer The Associated Press
Audio: Henry Louis Gates Reacts To Obama’s Remarks
during an interview with Gayle King on Sirius/XM radio
Obama on Skip Gates
At a press conference mainly on health care on Wednesday,
Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times asked President Obama
to comment on the controversial arrest. Watch the President’s
comments here.
SEATTLE, July 28 (Reuters) – Boeing Co (BA.N) announced one of its largest plane orders of the year on Tuesday as African carrier Ethiopian Airlines [ETHA.UL] agreed to buy five twin-aisle 777s worth $1.3 billion at list prices. Read more
About Ethiopian Airlines
Ethiopian Airlines (Ethiopian) is the flag carrier of Ethiopia. During the past sixty plus years, Ethiopian has become one of the continent’s leading carriers, unrivalled in Africa for efficiency and operational success, turning profits for almost all the years of its existence.
Operating at the forefront of technology, it has also become one of Ethiopia’s major industries and a veritable institution in Africa. It commands a lion’s share of the pan African network including the only daily east-west flight across the continent. Ethiopian serves 53 international destinations with 157 weekly international departures from Addis Ababa and a total of 410 weekly international departures worldwide.
Further more, it is working diligently to make the Ethiopian Aviation Academy the leading aviation academy in Africa. Ethiopian is one of the airlines, in the world, operating the newest and youngest fleets.
Source: Ethiopianairlines.com
New York (Tadias) – Melat Woldesenbet Yante, who was crowned last month “Ethiopia’s Top Model 2009”, will represent her country at the 58th annual Miss Universe pageant at the Atlantis Paradise Island, in Nassau, Bahamas on August 23, 2009.
The glamorous annual event, a joint venture between Donald J. Trump and NBC Universal, features contestants from more than 80 countries and will be televised live on NBC and Telemundo.
“The people of The Bahamas are very proud and excited at the opportunity to host some of the most beautiful people in the universe in some of the most beautiful islands in the universe,” said The Bahamas’ Minister of Tourism & Aviation, Senator Hon. Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace. “This feels like the perfect match. We look forward to showcasing the hospitality of our people, the clarity of our waters, the vibrancy of our music, dance, food and spirit.”
Melat Yante will represent Ethiopia at Miss Universe 2009
Melat, 19, who attends the Italian School in Addis Ababa and speaks three languages (Amharic, Italian, English), is also the reigning Miss Ethiopia Universe 2009.
During the closing ceremonies on August 23rd, the current Miss Universe, Dayana Mendoza of Venezuela, will hand the crown to the new winner, who will go on to serve as an ambassador on women’s health and reproductive issues.
We wish Ethiopia’s delegate in the Miss Universe 2009 Pageant all the best.
Above:If you’re wondering what a legitimate heavyweight
fight (anywhere) and a relatively obscure exhibition in Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia, have in common, we just found out: At some
point, a guy needs to get paid. Evander Holyfield was scheduled
to receive up to $1 million to fight Sammy Retta this past weekend
in Ethiopia, a fundraiser to fight the spread of AIDS in the country.
But according to Holyfield’s manager, Ken Sanders, payment never
was received. So the event was postponed (if not canceled).
Read more at the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
AFP
ADDIS ABABA — Former world heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield’s exhibition match in Ethiopia has been postponed for September, his opponent Sammy Retta told AFP on Monday. The fight, to raise funds for AIDS, was set to take place in Addis Ababa on July 26, but organisers had to reschedule after a request from the government. “The government wanted the match to correspond with Ethiopia’s new year celebrations on September 11, so we both agreed,” Retta said in a phone interview. Read more.
Above:Ethiopian-American Researcher Mesfin Tsige, Ph.D.,
an assitant professor in the College of Science at Southern
Illinois University has earned a prestigious grant from the
federal government to study solar cell efficiency. (Read More).
New York (TADIAS) – 24-year-old Kidan Tesfahun, Ethiopia’s Miss Millennium Queen, has been named Best Female Model of the World 2009 at a fashion modeling contest organized by Sukier Models International in Alicante, Spain, on 24th July 2009, her representatives announced.
According to the competition’s director and founder Sukier Vallejo Marte: “The contest was created with the idea of attracting new faces and talent for future projects both domestically (in Spain) and internationally…”
Tesfahun, who had previously represented Ethiopia at the Miss International 2007 and Miss Earth 2008, says her newly gained title adds confidence to her future prospects in the modeling industry.
“From here on I guess the sky is the limit for me,” the aspiring model said. “I have gained the professional acceptance I always knew I should have, and I am indeed grateful to the Almighty Lord for guiding me and making my dreams come true.”
She is the second Ethiopian model this year from the Ethiopian Millennium pageant to win an international beauty competition. Bewunetwa Abebe, 19, was crowned Model of Africa at the 2009 International Beauty and Model festival in China.
24-year-old Kidan Tesfahun – Best Female Model of the World 2009.
Kidan Tesfahun pictured here at the Miss Earth 2008 contest.
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff Photos by Oliver S
Published: Saturday, July 25, 2009
New York (Tadias) – Sarah Nuru, who was named Germany’s Top Model this past spring, hopes to make her New York Fashion Week debut in September.
It is rumored that Justin Timberlake may offer the 19-year-old a modeling gig for his fashion label William Rast, best known for its quality jeans.
Nuru said Timberlake had seen her photo and is very impressed:
“He has a photo of my view. This has given him so much that he immediately wanted to work with me,” enthused the model from Munich, whose parents immigrated from Ethiopia.
She beat out 21,000 contestants to claim the coveted Top Model title in Germany.
We interviewed Sara soon after she was crowned Germany’s
Top Model:
Photo by Oliver S.
Tadias: Sara, thank you for your time and congratulations on your tremendous
accomplishments. How does it feel to be crowned Germany’s Next Top Model?
Sara: Thank you very much, I feel very happy. Yes it is quite amazing what is going on right now. It will probably take time until I really recognize this amazing development. But so far, it is a wonderful experience and right now a very exciting time for me.
Tadias: What does this title mean for your future career?
Sara: To be honest, the title is a great door-opener but I will not lay back and enjoy the title . I have a great chance to make the very best of my benefit. Since the 21st of May, the day I became Germany’s next Top-model, I was hardly at home, worked day and night and really enjoyed my new life as a model! That’s how I imagined it.
Tadias: This is historical in a sense that the media is saying that you are the first black person to be crowned Germany’s Next Top Model. Did you feel additional pressure because of your cultural background?
Sara: Well, I feel honored that you call it “historical”, but I wouldn’t make a big thing of it . For me, it is of course fantastic to be a black model. I’m very happy that I became the winner of Germany’s next Top-model beside so many beautiful and talented girls. I’m Ethiopian through my parents that’s a fact and I’m absolutely proud of it. But I can’t imagine that my skin color had a big effect for my victory at this show .
Tadias: Where do you see yourself in a few years?
Sara: It is quite difficult to predict a career, but I have a reliable agency and already great jobs and four big campaigns to work for. Of course, it is desirable for every model to be successful in the international model business. But I am someone who is down to earth and I, of course, will work hard and be calm and serene in attending to my ways.
Tadias: Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?
Sara: Thank you to everyone who believed in me. And, yes, just like I said stay true to yourself and never forget were you came from.
Tadias: Good luck Sara.
Sara: Thank you very much and all the best.
Sara Nuru – One of Her First Interviews After Her Victory
Above:Meaza Zemedu at her namesake restaurant. Her
Arlington, Virginia, Ethiopian eatery is one of the 50
restaurants featured on this year’s Young & Hungry
Dining Guide on Washington city paper.
Washingtoncitypaper.com
Because the Ethiopian community has historically been tied to the District, whether in Adams Morgan or the U Street corridor, the suburbs typically get overlooked as a source for fine injera-based food. Yet I can’t escape the simple fact that Meaza is often far superior to the restaurants on that strip of 9th Street NW known as Little Ethiopia. Read More.
Above: Ethiopian-born Sammy Retta is readying for his
upcoming match against Evander Holyfield.
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: Thursday, July 23, 2009
New York (Tadias) – Ethiopian American boxer Sammy Retta is preparing for his highly anticipated fight against former undisputed heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield later this month.
The July 26 exhibition match in Addis Ababa will mark Holyfield’s first boxing gig since his controversial loss to Nikolai Valuev.
The event, billed as a fund raiser for AIDS victims, has been described by by the press “as one of the highest-profile all-American boxing bouts on African soil since the legendary 1974 ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ that pitted Muhammad Ali against Joe Frazier in the former Zaire.”
The 35-year-old Ethiopian has a record of 18 wins and three losses in super-middleweight fights.
Above: President Obama has asked police Sgt. James Crowley
and professor Henry Louis Gates to meet at the White House. Read more at U.S.A. Today.
Video: Black Scholar Accepts White House Meeting Offer The Associated Press
Audio: Henry Louis Gates Reacts To Obama’s Remarks
during an interview with Gayle King on Sirius/XM radio
Obama on Skip Gates
At a press conference mainly on health care on Wednesday,
Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times asked President Obama
to comment on the controversial arrest. Watch the President’s
comments here or read the text below:
Well, I should say at the outset that Skip Gates is a friend, so I may be a little biased here. I don’t know all the facts. What’s been reported, though, is that the guy forgot his keys. He jimmied his way to get into the house. There was a report called into the police station that there might be a burglary taking place. so far so good. Right? I mean, if I was trying to jigger in — well, I guess this is my house now so it probably wouldn’t happen. Let’s say my old house in Chicago. Here I’d get shot. But so far so good. They’re reporting, the police are doing what they should. There’s a call. They go investigate what happens. My understanding is at that point Professor Gates is already in his house. The police officer comes in. I’m sure there’s some exchange of words but my understanding is that Professor Gates then shows his I.D. to show that this is his house. And at that point he gets arrested for disorderly conduct, charges which are later dropped. Now, I don’t know, not having been there and not seeing all the facts what role race played in that, but I think it’s fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry. Number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home and, number three, what I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there is a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately. And that’s just a fact.
As you know, Lynn, when I was in the state legislature in Illinois we worked on a racial profiling bill because there was indisputable evidence that blacks and hispanics were being stopped disproportionately. And that is a sign, an example of how, you know, race remains a factor in this society. That doesn’t lessen the incredible progress that has been made. I am standing here as testimony to the progress that’s been made. And yet, the fact of the matter is that, you know, this still haunts us. And even when there are honest misunderstandings, the fact that blacks and hispanics are picked up more frequently and often time for no cause cast suspicion even when there is good cause, and that’s why I think the more that we’re working with local law enforcement to improve policing techniques so that we’re eliminating potential bias, the safer everybody’s going to be.
10 Questions for Henry Louis Gates TIME
By Henry Louis Gates Jr.
“If we all traced our family trees 50,000
years back, we’re all in Ethiopia. There’s no
question about that.” – Henry Louis Gates
You recently wrote about the complex feelings Abraham Lincoln held toward black people. Could you expand on that? Bill Bre, BREMEN, GERMANY
A fundamental part of Lincoln’s moral compass was his opposition to slavery. But it took him a long time to embrace black people. We were raised with a fairy-tale representation that because he hated slavery, he loved the slaves. He didn’t. He was a recovering racist. He used to use the N word. He told darky jokes. He resisted abolition as long as he could. But in the end, he was on an upward arc, one that was quite noble.
Can you define the word race? Treva Gholston STONE MOUNTAIN, GA.
People use the words ethnicity and race interchangeably. But race is not a biological concept. It’s socially constructed. We are [influenced by] the environment in which we live, but our physical features are inherited from our biology. If we all traced our family trees 50,000 years back, we’re all in Ethiopia. There’s no question about that. Read more.
Above:Dr. Eleni Gabre-Madhin, CEO of the Ethiopian
Commodity Exchange, is being featured on PBS tonight.
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: Wednesday, July 22, 2009
New York (Tadias) – Wide Angle, PBS’s Emmy-award winning, international current affairs documentary series, will be hosting a live web discussion about its latest film ‘The Market Maker,’ featuring Dr. Eleni Gabre-Madhin, CEO of the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange.
The film is scheduled to air tonight at 10:00 p.m., however broadcast times vary from region to region, so check your local listings here.
The live chat will take place on Thursday 23rd July 11:00 am EST at www.pbs.org/wideangle. You can participate in the conversation with Gabre-Madhin, Wide Angle host Aaron Brown, and the filmmakers, Eli Cane and Hugo Berkeley.
The number you can call to join the live discussion is (718) 506-1351 and you can listen to it here.
New York (TADIAS) – We first featured Ethiopian-American artist Yonie in our May 2003 issue as he single-handedly and successfully promoted his music on Seattle’s KUBE 93 FM and X104.5 FM radio stations. Citing Michael Jackson as his childhood music hero, Yonie didn’t wait for large labels to pick him up. Instead, he worked alongside some of the industry’s best mixing engineers to produce his own songs.
Yonie caught up with us recently and let us know that he’s still on the fast track. “Since we last spoke I’ve been up to lot,” he said. ” I moved to LA in 2005 to pursue acting. ”
Within three months of moving from Seattle to Hollywood he earned himself a position as a Music Video Casting Director and found himself “engulfed in a world of pretty women, million-dollar mansions and A-list celebrities like Mariah Carey, 50 Cent, Lil Wayne and more.” Not surprisingly, Yonie caught the attention of producers who approached him about having a TV show based on his new life in Hollywood. The trailer for the film, Sunset, was recently released online and the producers are currently in negotiations with Viacom, owners of MTV, as well a few other networks. The show is expected to begin airing in January 2010.
In addition to the TV show, Yonie has also produced a film entitled ‘The Heart Specialist’ featuring stars such as Zoe Saldana (Star Trek), Wood Harris (The Wire), Brian White (Stomp the Yard) and R & B Singer Mya. The film won ‘Best Film’ award at the 2008 BET Urban World Film Festival in New York.
Yonie’s new show features Lil Wayne, T-Pain, Pharrell, Bow Wow and several other artists. We’re looking forward to the premiere!
Above:Per Bloomberg News: “Coffee shipments fell 22
percent to 133,993 metric tons from 170,888 tons a
year ago, the lowest since fiscal 2003, when they
measured 126,100 tons, the Ministry of Trade and
Industry said in an e-mailed statement, dated July 17.
Coffee earnings declined to $375.8 million in the fiscal
year through July 7 from $525.2 million a year earlier,
it said.”
By Jason McLure
Last Updated: July 20, 2009
July 20 (Bloomberg) — Coffee exports from Ethiopia, Africa’s largest producer of the beans, fell 28 percent to the lowest level in six years after a drought cut harvests. Read more.
New York (Tadias) – While Starbucks lags behind on their promise to open a support center for its coffee farmers in Ethiopia, Kansas-based Revocup Coffee Roasters is giving back 10 cents for every cup of coffee and 1 dollar for every pound of coffee sold. After revisiting their birth place, the founders of Revocup wanted to change what they saw as the “deteriorating life” of Ethiopian coffee farmers (well-described in the documentary Black Gold). Ethiopia is known as the birthplace of coffee, and the coffee ceremony is an integral part of the nation’s heritage, which is yet another reason Revocup is keen on promoting fair trade for Ethiopian coffee. Tadias recently interviewed Habte Mesfin about Revocup: Read more.
Above:Walter Cronkite, the legendary TV news anchor
once known as the “most trusted man in America,” has died
at the age of 92. Cronkite anchored the CBS Evening News
from 1962 to 1981 with his trademark sign-off, “And that’s
the way it is…” (More at huffingtonpost.com).
Above:Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele, pictured here in AFP
photo as he celebrates winning the men’s 10,000m final
at the “Bird’s Nest” National Stadium during the 2008
Beijing Olympic Games on August 17, 2008, “rebuffed the
challenge from his American rival Bernard Lagat (Friday in
Paris), finishing the 3000m contest in 7:28.64. Lagat, who
had given the challenge everything he had, finished in a
personal best of 7:33.15 but was no match for his Ethiopian
rival. France’s Mourad Amdouni was third in a European
season’s lead of 7:37.50.” (Read more at european-athletics.org).
Source: Radio France Internationale
Kenenisa Bekele arrived in Paris this week hoping to significantly boost his bank balance later this year. A one-million-dollar jackpot is on offer for athletes who win an event at all six Golden League meetings during the season and, at the halfway stage, Bekele is the last man standing.
At Friday’s event in the French capital though, the Olympic champion and world-record holder over 5,000 and 10,000 metres will be presented with a different challenge. Unlike the previous meetings this year, there is no 5,000 metre race in Paris. Instead Bekele will have to win over 3,000 metres if his pursuit of the jackpot can continue. This means Bekele should face stiff competition from Kenyan-born US athlete Bernard Lagat at the Stade de France, but the 27-year-old is not too disappointed at having to run over a shorter distance. Read More.
New York (Tadias) – Dr. Eleni Gabre-Madhin, CEO of the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange, is being featured in a PBS documentary hosted by Aaron Brown on July 22nd 10pm EST.
Brown recently visited the newly opened exchange, and asserted that if this project, the first of its kind in Africa, succeeds, then it can serve as a model for the rest of the continent.
Dr. Gabre-Madhin completed her undergraduate studies at Cornell University and her doctorate in Economics at Stanford University before embarking on her vision to create Ethiopia’s first commodities exchange. Crop failures and recurrent famines prompted Gabre-Madhin to focus on food security and improving buyer/seller communication in rural agricultural communities in Ethiopia.
Having followed Dr. Gabre-Madhin’s work over the course of the exchange’s first year, Brown notes that despite the global economic downturn, several key milestones have been achieved. “It is really the story of one person’s vision and how tenacious she has been, the sacrifices she has made, the intelligence she has applied, to feed a country,” Brown says.
Tune in to watch the PBS feature on Gabre-Madhin entitled “The Market Maker” on July 22nd.
———- The film will be screened on Friday, July 24th at the Four Points by Sheraton in Washington DC (12th & K), followed by a brief speech by Aaron Brown and Dr. Eleni Gabre-Madhin. Attendance is by RSVP. Please contact Hanna Tadesse at: hanna.tadesse@gmail.com.
Above:Still image from “Migration of Beauty” showing
protesters in D.C. (Courtesy of SandyBeagle Productions).
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: Thursday, July 16, 2009
New York (Tadias) – In May 2010 Ethiopians will once again be heading to the polls, and Filmmaker Chris Flaherty has released his film, Migration of Beauty, just in time for us to reflect on the aftermath of the 2005 elections.
Flaherty, whom we interviewed last May, has spent time examining how Ethiopian Americans reacted to the violence that erupted following the controversial 2005 national election. Flaherty had originally intended to focus on the achievements of Ethiopian Americans, but later decided to focus on a feature length film that captures the Ethiopian-American experience of political participation in America in comparison to Ethiopia.
Migration of Beauty is scheduled to be shown at the 2009 African Diaspora Film Festival (ADFF) in New York City in August and November. The ADFF is a 17-day festival featuring over a 100 films focusing on the diversity of the global African diaspora experience.
Here are more still images from the film, courtesy of SandyBeagle Productions.
Congressman Donald Payne persides over a hearing to mark up HR 2003.
Abdul Kamus, one of the characters featured in the film.
Abdul Kamus visits the Statue of Liberty with his children.
New York (TADIAS) – The following is an interview with the critically acclaimed Theatre Director Weyni Mengesha, one of the founding artists of Sound the Horn – the organization behind the annual Selam Youth Festival in Toronto, Canada.
The event, which marks its 5th anniversary this year, was initially developed to empower Ethiopian and Eritrean youth in Canada through education in the arts to raise awareness about the growing number of HIV cases in both communities. Here is an interview with Weyni Mengesha:
TADIAS: How did the concept for Sound the Horn and the Selam Youth Festival come about?
Weyni Mengesha: In 2004 I was a member of People to People Canada’s youth committee along with Jerry Luleseged, Maraki Fikre, Eden Hagos and Shae Zeru. We were asked to create a panel to address the rising rate of HIV within the young members of our community. We felt that it was an important issue but that a panel would not be engaging for youth, and that we needed to do more than deliver statistics. We developed a youth arts festival because we thought the rising rate could also be a symptom of a larger problem. We started thinking of our own confusion around our identity as Ethiopian-Canadians, culture gaps with our Canadian peers, misunderstandings with our parent’s generation and the culture of silence around sexuality. Being misunderstood and lost without open communication within your household could leave young people vulnerable to risky behavior and poor choices around healthy relationships and sexuality. Sound the Horn was developed after the great success of the first festival when we decided to develop the idea further and name ourselves. We have been working together since, developing the festival and training the next generation of artists and community leaders. Sound the Horn leadership program trains ten members a year in different artistic disciplines, health education and leadership skills.
TADIAS: With all the major obstacles that plague African and other third world countries, what was the driving factor in choosing the fight against HIV/AIDS as a main cause for Sound the Horn and the Selam Youth Festival?
Weyni: The original idea was developed with People to People Canada whose focus is HIV education and support, locally and back home. It is a reality we need to be educated about, but it is also an entry point for many discussions around what is causing this to be such a big problem among people 15-26. We thought the best way to find this out is to promote communication between this age group and our community. The festival provides a platform for them to express themselves. There is content around HIV education but there are also many other issues raised through the artists who are free to perform what they want. Ultimately it is a festival built to empower and connect our community and make it healthier.
TADIAS: What can people look forward to in this year’s installment of SYF?
Weyni: We are excited to be bringing Wayna to the festival this year. This will be her first performance in Canada and we are always happy to connect our community to artists from different cities who are gaining success in their respective fields. I think our audiences will be inspired by her story of dedication, hard work and passion that lead her to her dreams. We are also excited to have Aida Ashenafi’s film Guzo which is also a Canadian premiere. I think it will offer many of the young people who have not been back home a better perspective of it. I am also very proud of our own film built by the Sound the Horn leaders that is premiering before Guzo. It is a ten minute short called “The Gap”. It is about mothers and daughters and the generation gap. I think there are lots of important issues raised with heart and humor.
TADIAS: Where do you see STH & SYF in the next 5 years?
Weyni: We have moved from a one day to a three day festival within the five years and I look forward to being able to develop it further, especially in the film section. We would love to present up to four films a year. We would also like to connect with different cities and maybe make a ‘best of’ show and take it on the road.
TADIAS: What inspires you to get involved in the community?
Weyni: I was frustrated growing up in Vancouver as one of the three people of color in my school when the only reference others had for me was from the “we are the world” music video. I remember being excited about the Ethiopian actress on general hospital. I was so hungry to see a reflection of myself in society. This is how I got into the arts, and I credit it with keeping me on the right path. If you don’t find a true reflection you can be vulnerable to investing in whatever images you find. Some of the images I found in the media around what it meant to be black were not productive. I started to create my own expressions, which is a skill I want to offer to the next generation. Sound the horn leaders create work through film, theatre, poetry that is true to who they are and their cultural realities. They become confident and skilled in speaking out and expressing their ideas with their peers and society. I feel the arts can have a huge impact on a community.
TADIAS: You are a well known and critically acclaimed Theatre Director in Canada. What are some of your exciting career highlights?
Weyni: I feel very blessed with my career thus far, I have been able to play shows across Canada, in New York and London. I love traveling because you learn so much about a society by the different ways they receive your art, I find it fascinating and very rewarding.
TADIAS: What is your advice to Diaspora Ethiopian/Eritrean up and coming artists, directors, musicians, etc.?
Weyni: I am afraid it is not going to be anything new but I do feel it is true, stick to your dreams. The more you believe in your dreams and couple them with hard work, the more you will see things fall in into place. Make time for yourself to check in , keep asking yourself what you really want to create. As an artist one of my key tools are my instincts, time alone with your thoughts can sharpen your instincts and keep them unaltered from everything around you which could water down your unique quality.
TADIAS: What should we be looking forward to from you, artistically? Any future projects in the works?
Weyni: My next main stage production is called Yellowman by Dael Orlander-Smith. I am directing it for the 30th anniversary season of Nighwood Theatre Company. It is a piece about shadism, the discrimination between us as black people for our dark or light skin.
TADIAS: Any plans to produce and direct in the US? Ethiopia?
Weyni: I have directed a couple pieces in New York, I love traveling and collaborating with new artists. I look forward to those opportunities arising. All you artists out there who want to collaborate or be involved in our festival please contact me at weyni@soundthehorn.com!
— If you go:
5th Annual Selam Youth Festival
From July 17th – 19th, 2009
104 Cedarvale Avenue
Toronto, ON, M4C 4J8
Phone: 416 690 8005
Above:Six-year-old Abiyu Baker took on the role of his favorite
superhero for a day. The playful young boy from Ethiopia came
to the U.S. seven-month ago, adopted by John and Marissa
Baker. He was born with a blood disorder and is currently
receiving treatment.
New York (TADIAS) – The award-winning Ethiopian film Guzo and Grammy-nominated singer Wayna will be featured at the 5th Annual Selam Youth Festival from July 17th – 19th, 2009 in Toronto, Canada.
The annual festival, organized by a group of artists including the artistic director Weyni Mengesha, aims to empower Ethiopian and Eritrean youth in Canada through education in the arts to raise awareness about the growing number of HIV cases in both communities. Per the event’s flier, the festival showcases spoken word, dance, film, theater, hip-hop and more.
The film Guzo, which won best picture at the 2009 Addis International Film Festival, chronicles the interaction between two young residents of Addis Ababa and their peers in the Ethiopian countryside. Over the course of 20-days both the urbanites and country folks were forced to confront stereotypes about each other and grapple with issues of gender and privilege. The film made its U.S. premiere in Washington D.C. on May 9th at GMU’s Lisner Theater.
— If you go:
5th Annual Selam Youth Festival
From July 17th – 19th, 2009
104 Cedarvale Avenue
Toronto, ON, M4C 4J8
Phone: 416 690 8005
July 13 (Bloomberg) — Ethiopia devalued its currency, the
birr, 9.9 percent against the dollar on July 10 after difficulty
obtaining foreign exchange led to shortages of imported
goods such as auto parts and medical supplies. Read more.
Examiner.com
By Shirlene Alusa-Brown
Baltimore Ethnic Events Examiner
July 12, 2009
The Walters Art Museum has one of the largest collections of Ethiopian art outside of Ethiopia. The collection of Ethiopian Art at the Walters Art Museum is exhibited with those of Byzantium and Russia in a permanent gallery devoted to the art of the Orthodox world. The Ethiopian collection of art is very large and rivals the Byzantium and Russian collections. Read more.
New York – (Tadias) – Walters Art Museum Director Gary Vikan’s fascination with Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Christian art began in a Washington D.C. basement during the 1960s.
——————————————————————————————– Listen on WNYC:Dr. Gary Vikan, Director of the Walters
Art Museum, talks about the significance of Ethiopian
religious icons and other objects of worship on display
at the Museum of Biblical Art.
——————————————————————————————-
“I do remember going into somebody’s house in Washington [D.C.] and seeing the Virgin [Mary] with these huge, dark eyes,” Vikan said during a recent interview. “And I remember the moment I saw it and where I was standing. The memory is very strong.”
Private collections throughout the world, like those protected beneath a Washington D.C. house, inside rock-hewn Christian monasteries in Ethiopia, or above ground in a New York City SoHo loft, have provided the Walters Art Museum with a majority of its Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Christian art, Vikan said.
Vikan only began collecting Ethiopian Orthodox Christian art for the Walters in 1993, the same year he curated “African Zion: The Sacred Art of Ethiopia,” an historical exhibition he said served as a “flashpoint” for the current strife occurring in Ethiopia at the time.
“In the context of doing the exhibition, it was not easy. It was a troubled moment historically” in Ethiopia, Vikan said, with Mengistu Haile Mariam’s reign of Red Terror having just ended. The trial that would prosecute members of the communist Derg, mostly in absentia, would soon begin.
“These aspects put people on edge, and they kind of spilled over, not into the exhibition itself, but the different views, it was very interesting,” he said. “The exhibition had facets that most exhibitions don’t have.”
A year later, Vikan, a medieval orthodox art scholar and trained Byzantinist, moved from chief curator to director of the Walters and began collecting Ethiopian Orthodox Christian art in earnest. The Walters now boasts the largest collection of this type of Ethiopian devotional art outside of Ethiopia in the world.
“Certainly the best, from some very interesting private collections,” Vikan said. “I was attracted to it before anyone paid much attention to it.”
When the collection of a sub-Saharan art dealer who passed away was being sold off, Vikan got a call.
“Somebody selling off the collection who knew about me – this would’ve been in 1995 in New York in a loft in SoHo – they invited me down to look at this and I thought, ‘This is really amazing,’” Vikan recalled. A stock market windfall allowed Vikan to buy a number of those pieces for the Walters, and they are now included in the museum’s 100-piece collection of metalwork, icon painting, woodcarvings and ancient manuscripts that span 1,500 years of Ethiopian Christian devotion. The collection is now the central exhibit on the medieval floor of the Walters Art Museum.
“It’s in the pride position because it is so visually powerful that nothing else could dominate it,” Vikan said. “It dominates the Byzantine art around it.”
The Ethiopian Orthodox Christian collection also shares the medieval floor with Russian, Byzantine, and Georgian Orthodox art in the Baltimore museum.
“The others revolve around Ethiopia,” Vikan said. “It would make the room look funny [if they didn’t] because the others are not as visually strong.”
New Yorkers were recently given an opportunity to view about half of the Walters’ collection when the Museum of Biblical Art in New York City hosted “Angels of Light: Ethiopian Art from The Walters Art Museum” from March 23 through May 20.
If museum-goers had a feeling they were being watched as they entered the “Angels of Light” exhibition at the MOBIA, they had good reason. Huge, dark eyes similar to those that greeted Vikan in that Washington D.C. basement over 40 years ago were looking out from various devotional icon paintings depicting Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary, almost always flanked by angels with equally large eyes that symbolize holiness.
Above:Anonymous painter. Triptych with Virgin and Child
Flanked by archangels, scenes from the life of Christ,
apostles and Saint George and Saint Mercurius. Ethiopia
(Gojjam?), late 17th century. Tempera on panel. 14 78 x
4 5/16 inches left; 15 1/8 x 9 inches center; 15 1/16 x 4
7/16 inches right. 36.7 museum purchased, the W. Alton
Jones Foundation Acquisition Fund, 1996, from the Nancy
and Robert Nooter Collection.
Most of the iconic paintings date between the 15th to 17th centuries in diptychs and triptychs depicting familiar Christian scenes – Christ on the cross; the Virgin Mary, seated, with the Christ child holding a book in his left hand, and embraced in Mary’s left arm with the first two fingers of her right hand pointing downward; Christ with a crown of thorns, Christ teaching the apostles.
While the compositions of these depictions can be traced to visiting missionaries and artists carrying with them Byzantine and Western examples of Christian iconic devotional paintings after the 14th century, the Ethiopian depictions are unique from any other depiction of Christian scenes in the world, MOBIA curator Holly Flora said.
“Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity has a very close relationship to angels that is not always found elsewhere,” said Flora. “Objects relating to healing as well are emphasized in Ethiopian art.”
Also unique to the art of Ethiopian Orthodoxy is the artists’ use of vibrant colors in paintings and manuscripts.
Above:Diptych with Virgin and Child flanked by archangels, apostles,
and Saint George. Ethiopia, late 15th century. Tempera on panel.
To understand what makes Ethiopian Orthodox Christian art unique, one must understand the role African traditional religions and Judaism played in Ethiopian culture prior to the introduction to Christianity, said Ayele Bekerie, assistant professor at Cornell University’s Africana Studies and Research Center.
“The influence of ancient religious traditions are manifested in what we now call Ethiopian Christianity, particularly in reaching out to angels and visualizing the biblical stories in colors and styles inspired by the material culture and environment,” Bekerie said. “It is important to note that most monasteries and some churches are built on top of hills and mountains where you experience remarkable and colorful views of the sunrise and sunset. Besides, the landscape is always a panorama of rainbow colors.”
Ethiopian Christianity also evolved out of a Judaic culture as well, established over 3,000 years ago. Bekerie tells the story:
“Judaism is introduced to Ethiopia at the time of Empress Makeda (She is also called Azeb and Queen of Sheba) and her son, Menelik I, the founder of the Solomonic Dynasty in Ethiopia. According to Ethiopian oral tradition, Empress Makeda paid a visit to King Solomon in Jerusalem where she made a deliberate journey in order to learn from the reported wisdom of the king. She did achieve her objective and even more by giving birth to Menelik, the son of the king. Menelik’s rite of passage was to travel to Jerusalem to meet with his father. The overjoyed king asked him to become the king of Israel, but the son wanted to return back to Ethiopia.”
“His return (there are many versions) resulted in the establishment of Judaism (a new tradition of believing in one God) in Ethiopia with the most important sacred symbol of the Ark at the center of the new belief system. When later on, Christianity emerged in Ethiopia, we observe a logical evolution of the faith from Judaism. This is because the Ethiopian Christianity is the only Christianity in the world that embraces and holds the Ark of the Covenant as its defining sacred symbol.”
“Ethiopians believe the Ark of the Covenant is in Ethiopia,” Flora said. “They will tell you unequivocally the Ark is there.”
Ethiopians believe the Ark is located in the Aksumite Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion, but every church in Ethiopia and throughout the world must have a replica of the Ark in order affirm their legitimacy, Bekerie said.
Ethiopia is one of the oldest Christian civilizations in the world. The religion was practiced along the Ethiopian coastline as early as 42 A.D., Bekerie said, after a Meroë (in what is modern day Sudan) merchant introduced commoners to the religion. Due to the inclusive nature of African traditional religions, Christians were able to worship openly without fear of persecution.
Perhaps more significantly, Ethiopia became one of the first countries in the world to take Christianity as its state religion approximately 300 years later when, according to legend, Frumentius, a Christian merchant seaman from Tyre on his way to India with relatives, became shipwrecked and was delivered to the king in Axum, a powerful world empire in the fourth century, Bekerie said.
“He was raised with special care and managed to master the language and traditions of the Aksumites,” said Bekerie. When the king’s son Ezana, came to power, the long-trusted Frumentius convinced him to make Christianity the state religion.
Proof of the conversion is part of the Walters Art Museum collection. Two silver coins, slightly larger in diameter than a pencil eraser, and crafted in the 4th century, show on one side the likeness of Aksumite King Ousanas, on the other, a cross. Aksumite coins are the first in the world to carry the cross, pre-dating Constantinople.
African traditional religious practices were also incorporated into the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian religion.
Protective scrolls, made for those who were ill or believed to be possessed by demons, were created (and still are today in some remote villages, Flora said), by clerics known as däbtära. The däbtära would sacrifice a goat, sprinkle the ill or those believed to be possessed with the goat’s blood, then fashion the scroll from the sacrificed goat’s skin, Flora said.
A healing scroll from the 18th century obtained by the Walters Museum and on display there, was created for a woman named “Martha.” The scrolls combined Christian imagery with magical incantations written in Ge´ez, a liturgical language developed in Ethiopia in the 4th century. The incantations were book-ended by talismans drawn at the top and bottom of the scroll and are believed to protect their owners, Flora said. The scrolls’ recipients then wore the prayer scrolls until they were believed healed.
Above:Prayer Scroll. Ethiopia,
19th century. Ink on parchment.
65 9/16 x 3 7/16 inches. W.788,
gift of Mr. James St. Lawrence
O’Toole, 1978.
Another prayer object that is unique to Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity and features the well-honed abilities of Ethiopian metalworkers are processional crosses. Draped in purple textiles, the MOBIA featured six such crosses, almost six feet in height, dating as far back as the 13th century. Made of gold or silver, these crosses are carried by priests during processions and feature intricate geometrical patterns, Flora said.
“Priests carried these during mass and also used them as instruments of blessing,” she said.
Above:Hand Cross. Ethiopia, 18th–19th century.
While Ethiopian artists were almost unquestionably influenced by Western and Byzantine devotional icon painting in the 15th century, due in part, museum curators suggest, to the destruction of many church murals and liturgical objects during the Muslim invasions of the 1530s and 1540s, Bekerie said some observers are too quick to see overt Western influence in Ethiopian artists’ creative thought.
“It seems to me there is some sort of mental block not to acknowledge originality and creativity in the Ethiopian artists,” he said. “I always advise scholars to use the example of the architecture of the Debre Damo Monastery, the oldest monastery in Ethiopia.”
The monastery is constructed of stone blocks and logs, creating a distinct architectural feature, Bekerie said. Distinct painting traditions have also emerged in different regions of Ethiopia and are pursued by students over the centuries.
The monarchy and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Christian Church were institutional pillars that guided culture and politics in Ethiopia until the monarchy’s fall in 1974, Bekerie said.
“The monarchy is gone and the church is still place,” he said. “It is true that there are other religious institutions, including Islamic, Catholic and Protestant institutions. The oldest and by far the most influential is the Tewahedo Church. [Its] influence is apparent in art, music, social relations, food habits and literature.”
And as the collection of Ethiopian art becomes more popular, the sources for these collections become fewer, said Vikan.
“All of it’s drying up and that’s a good thing,” he said. “We need this art to be shown outside of the country, but [its distribution] needs to be controlled and shown in a way that acknowledges the dignity of the culture from which it comes.”
— About the Author: Colleen Lutolf is a reporter for Tadias Magazine.
Above:While the history of the moment was lost on no
one and Mr. Obama bathed in the rapturous welcome, he also
delivered a strong and at times even stern message.
(Photo: Saul Loeb/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images)
CAPE COAST, Ghana — President Obama traveled in his father’s often-troubled home continent on Saturday as a potent symbol of a new political era but also as a messenger with a tough-love theme: American aid must be matched by Africa’s responsibility for its own problems. “We must start from the simple premise that Africa’s future is up to Africans,” Mr. Obama said in an address to Parliament in the capital, Accra, that was televised across the continent. Read More.
Video: Obama on Africa’s Role as Global Partner EUX.TV
WATCH: Obama Visits Historic Slave Trading Site In Ghana
Obama’s Ghana Trip Sends Message Across Africa (Video) Story Highlights
-People in Ghana wearing Obama clothing ahead of U.S. President’s visit
-Obama has singled Ghana out for praise over its democratic commitment
-Some in other countries view Obama’s Ghana visit as a snub to them
The president later heads to Ghana today, and that trip also will carry plenty of symbolic significance — and could demonstrate why Obama has the opportunity to do something in Africa that just isn’t about throwing money at the challenges that continent faces. In fact, at his press conference this morning, Obama told a personal story about his family struggles in Kenya. He mentioned that he still has relatives living in poverty there. And he stressed that Africa’s problems didn’t have to do with history or colonialism — but were instead a result of the governmental problems there. “The telling point is when my father traveled to the United States from Kenya to study … the per capita income of Kenya was higher than South Korea’s,” he said, per the AP. He also said people in Kenya can’t find a job without paying a bribe; that’s not the fault of the G8. “If you talk to people on the ground in Africa, certainly in Kenya… they will say that part of the issue is that the institutions are not working for ordinary people,” he said. So when Obama says these governments needs to stop blaming the West or stop blaming history, Africa really might listen to Obama.
Above:“The 36-year-old Gebrselassie is probably the best
example of an Ethiopian rags-to-riches story. He has come
a long way from the deprivation he grew up in in the fertile
Arsi region.”
AFP
By Aaron Maasho
ADDIS ABABA (AFP) — On the concrete tiers of Meskel Square, a vast rallying point in Addis Ababa, armies of aspiring athletes scamper around despite biting, pre-dawn cold as they wait for their trainers to arrive. Read more.
