New York (TADIAS) – Widespread news coverage of an Ethiopian migrant worker in Libya, Shweyga Mullah, who had cared for two of Moammar Gadhafi’s grandchildren and suffered abuse and severe burns, continue to elicit reactions from Ethiopians worldwide.
“A social media campaign for justice is raging among Ethiopians online after a CNN journalist, Dan Rivers, revealed the horrifying abuse of Shweye Mullah who was brutally injured after the wife of Gaddafi’s son Hannibal poured boiled water on her whole body for allegedly failing to keep a crying child quiet,” reportsGlobal Voices, an international community of bloggers and translators that track blogs and citizen media.
The recent inhumane treatment of Shweyga Mullah by Alaine Skaf, Gaddafi’s daughter-in-law, brought to light the unimaginable ordeal that our sisters in different countries around the world are going through. Luckily for her, despite the physical and psychological damage she sustained, this act of cruelty became a high profile case as it was first reported by CNN and linked to Gaddafi. Consequently CNN managed to organize fund raising and securing special treatment. However, countless other Shweygas are still suffering undiscovered, not to mention thousands more planning to cross the border only to possibly end up like Shweyga.
New York (TADIAS) – The following is a video coverage of “Brunch for the Horn of Africa,” the fundraiser for famine relief held last month at Marcus Samuelsson and Maya Haile’s home in Harlem. The sold-out event was attended by a diverse crowd from New York and nearby states.
“The big part of this event is to inspire people to do it in their homes” said Marcus. “A brunch like this can raise awareness about a part of the world that is very troubled right now.” He adds: “This is something that as Ethiopians we can’t avoid…12 million people whether it’s on the Somali side or Ethiopian side it doesn’t matter.”
“It sends a signal that it’s very possible for all of us to do something to organize small groups to work within our mahber, book clubs, schools and organizations and set something up to help those who are in our home and our country,” said the author Maaza Mengiste, who attended the event. “I am very proud that as Abehsa we are helping each other, whether we live in Ethiopia or we are in the Diaspora, we can still reach out to those in need.”
“Famine is terrible because it’s something that is preventable,” said Robert Kayinamura, a Harlem resident who also attened the brunch. “I think it’s important not only to create awareness about this event but to continue to be aware of things in Africa.”
Watch: Harlem to Horn: Fundraiser for Famine Relief (Taped on 9/18/2011)
Apple Computer co-founder Steve Jobs has died at age 56 after a long illness, and tributes have been pouring in from around the world. Jobs was an entrepreneur and innovator who changed several industries.
Apple chief executive Tim Cook called Jobs an amazing human being, a visionary and a creative genius. With his trademark black turtleneck shirt and jeans, Jobs was known a charismatic business leader and an innovator.
“We just try to build products we think are really wonderful and that people might want. And, sometimes we are right and sometimes we are wrong,” Jobs said.
Jobs had suffered from health problems since surgery for a rare form of pancreatic cancer in 2004. He underwent a liver transplant in 2009 but returned to work. He took a leave of absence last January, his third since his health problems started, but he announced in August he was stepping down as Apple’s chief executive. He stayed on as chairman of the board.
Jobs co-founded Apple with Steve Wozniak in 1976 and, after the experimental Apple I, they ushered in the age of personal computing with the Apple II. In 1984, Apple released the Macintosh, a pioneering device with a graphic interface that opened personal computing to the general public.
Media analyst Jonathan Taplin of the University of Southern California says Jobs had a keen sense of design that made successive products from the Macintosh to iPad and iPhone all successful.
“They have a very clean design that’s incredibly functional and a kind of natural sense of ease of use. And that’s what he always went for. I want to make this easy to use for anybody,” he said.
Taplin notes that Apple, with Jobs at its helm, also changed how we listen to music with creation of the music download service iTunes.
“The music business before Apple’s iTunes was a business of selling compact discs in stores. Today, there are hardly any stand-alone stores that sell compact discs because the business has moved online,” he said.
Jobs was forced out of Apple in 1985 by a hostile board of directors. He bought a small production house that became Pixar Studios the following year, and Taplin says Jobs turned it into a powerhouse of animated movies before selling it to the Disney Company five years ago the greatest of American innovators.
Jobs would again take the helm at Apple in 1997, and was widely seen as the force behind the company’s huge success.
Among those who offered condolences were President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, who said in a written statement that Jobs was “among the greatest of American innovators – brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it.”
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — An Ethiopian woman and a Kenyan man won $15,000 apiece on Sunday after their victories in the Twin Cities Marathon.
Sammy Malakwen, a 33-year-old Kenya native who lives and trains for part of the year in Two Harbors, finished in 2 hours, 13 minutes and 11 seconds in his first Twin Cities Marathon, just ahead of fellow Kenyans Joseph Mutinda, 37, in 2:13:24, and Weldon Kirui, 22, in 2:13:31.
Yeshimebet Tadesse-Bifa, 23, of Ethiopia, won the women’s race in 2:28:24.
A couple accused of starving their adopted 13-year-old Ethiopian-born daughter and locking her outside in the cold, where she died from exposure, pleaded not guilty on Thursday to homicide and child abuse charges.
Although investigators found the Washington state couple adhered to a harsh child-rearing regimen prescribed by a controversial Christian parenting book, the prosecutor said Thursday that religion was not relevant to the criminal case.
Larry and Carri Williams, of Sedro-Woolley — a town about halfway between Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia — were arrested September 29, more than four months after their daughter, Hana, died of hypothermia in their backyard.
A Skagit County Superior Court judge reduced their bail from $500,000 to $150,000 each on Thursday, and barred them from contact with their eight remaining children, who were placed into foster care in July, or with each other.
Each is charged with homicide by abuse in connection with their daughter’s death, and first-degree assault of a child stemming from mistreatment of her adopted 10-year-old brother from Ethiopia.
If convicted each faces a prison term of between 20 and 29 years, according to state sentencing guidelines.
A Washington state couple has been arrested on homicide charges in the death of Hana Williams, their 13-year-old daughter who was adopted from Ethiopia.
“Larry and Carri Williams were arrested Thursday and jailed on $500,000 bond,” The Skagit Valley Heraldreported. “Prosecutors say the girl, Hana Williams, lived in a closet and was denied meals for days at a time.”
According to the paper: “The parents were charged Thursday with homicide by abuse for the treatment of Hana Williams. They were also charged with first-degree child assault of Hana’s 10-year-old brother, who was adopted with her.”
Hana was found unconscious on May 12, 2011 in the backyard of the Williams’ home in Sedro-Woolley, a city about 70 miles north of Seattle. She was pronounced dead at Skagit Valley Hospital an hour later. The autopsy report indicates that she died of hypothermia, but malnutrition contributed to her death.
Court documents show that Carri Williams called police in the early morning hours of May 12 saying her daughter was not breathing. She told the 911 dispatcher that she found the girl face down in their backyard with mud in her mouth. She said that Hana was being “rebellious” and would not cooperate in coming back into the house.
Betsaida Abraham moved to California from her native Ethiopia at age 12. She didn’t know any English and had never attended school. Back then, her dream of being a doctor seemed unattainable.
Ten years later, the young woman who now goes by Betty is a senior at San Francisco State University, taking classes for her microbiology major and studying for the medical school admissions test.
For her triumph against the odds, Abraham learned this month that she had won the William Randolph Hearst Award, a $3,000 scholarship bestowed by the California State University trustees. She was one of 23 winners across the 400,000-student system.
“I’ve gone through so much,” Abraham said. “I feel like I’m finally hitting my stride and going where I want to go, whereas before I was just keeping my head above water.”
Abraham’s father fled political persecution in Ethiopia when Betty was a baby, leaving his wife and two daughters behind. They planned to follow him, but applying for asylum took longer than they expected.
Ethiopia has been plunged into mourning after nine artists were killed and 17 seriously injured in a car accident.
Police said the accident happened on Monday in the Amhara region while the artists were travelling to South Sudan for a concert that was scheduled for this weekend.
The well known artists are members of the Tigray Cultural Squad who played “significant roles” in the struggle against the military regime in Ethiopia.
The injured and bodies of their colleagues were evacuated from the area by helicopter
According to the Tigray Culture and Tourism Bureau, all of them are members of the Tigray Cultural Squad who “played significant roles in the bitter struggle to ensure equality, freedom and democracy in Ethiopia.”
They are Berhane Gebremeskel (Gano), Berhane Gebrehiwot (handebet), Berhane Andey (Kunama), Letemeskel Gbrehiwot (Agew), Tekie Tesfamariam, Haile Gerlasie, Berhane Gebremichael, Ashenafi Mengistu and Habtome.
Ethiopia has one of the highest number of traffic accidents on the continent with around 2,000 people being killed on the roads annually.
New York (TADIAS) – Governor Martin O’Malley of Maryland seemed in a jovial mood at the inauguration of Blessed Coffee in Takoma Park last week, sipping a cup of Ethiopian coffee, schmoozing with attendees, and surprising organizers by hanging out 45 minutes longer than expected. The Governor was spotlighting a local business established under the state’s Benefit Corporations law. The event was held at the Takoma Park Old Town Gazebo on Friday September 16th, 2011 and included traditional Ethiopian music and coffee ceremony, during which Mr. O’Malley was served a cup of joe brewed from Yergacheffe beans grown in Ethiopia.
“The Governer was supposed to stay for only 30 minutes, but he was having so much fun they had to drag him out after one hour and 15 minutes.” said Tebabu Assefa, the co-founder of Blessed Coffee.
“How did it go?”, a man was heard asking on the background during our phone interview with Mr. Assefa. “Wonderful, wonderful, oh man, it was a hit,” the affable Mr. Assefa replied, after aplogizing to us for the interuption. “Did you see the Washington Post article? I am elated.”
“It’s like hitting the jackpot,” Mr. Assefa said turning his attention back to our interview. “It’s like winning it all when elected officials, the community and the press show up to celebrate what I have been urging for a long time.”
Blessed Coffee, which promises to split its profits between community projects in Maryland and supporting the coffee growing region in Ethiopia, is the second organization created under Maryland’s new law. It was founded earlier this year by Mr. Assefa and his wife Sara Mussie. “I have worked very hard for the last 7 seven years to see this day,” Mr. Assefa said. “I have walked from the halls of Congress to the hills of Yirgatchefe to make this happen.” He added: There was a time when people thought I was a fool, but I stuck with it because as an activist, I believed in development and cultural promotion. And in the grander scheme of things, it contributes to the international business discourse of how to connect the farmer directly to the global market.”
Speaking of the international business discourse, we asked Mr. Assefa about recent news reports on how Ethiopian coffee beans are being pass up by boutique U.S. roasters and retailers because the rules of the Ethiopian Commodities Exchange make it impossible to know where most of the country’s beans are grown. Mr. Assefa noted that he is aware of the report, saying there is a loophole called a “relationship market” that allows outside buyers to develop direct link with the farmers. “Right now, we are buying it from the wholesaler Royal coffee, which has contact with the farmers in Ethiopia,” he said. ” They know where the beans are coming from and as demand increases, we also plan to do the same.”
The Washington Postreported that Governor O’Malley and state Senator Jamie B. Raskin (D-Montgomery), “who sponsored the legislation last year, offered words of encouragement during the ceremony. A ‘benefit corporation’ isn’t all about social responsibility, officials said. Companies that use the law need to make money, to thrive. The new law is as much about social responsibility as it is about job creation, O’Malley said. ‘It all comes back to jobs,’ he said.”
“The law allows community-minded companies to take the high road rather than the high bid,” Raskin said.
Among those who spoke at the event included Tadesse Meskela, Founder and Manager of the 200,000-member Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative, which produced the coffee served at the event. “Tadesse is my hero,” said Mr. Assefa. “He has been the voice of the Ethiopian coffee farmer on the international stage for many years.”
Mr. Assefa said: “The governer was so fascinated by his speech, he asked for a copy and posted it on his blog.”
Take a look at photos from the celebration below:
Popcorn being served at the opening ceremony of Blessed Coffee – one of Maryland’s first ventures to be formed under the state’s “benefit corporation” law. (Photo by Matt Andrea)
State Sen. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Montgomery) and Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) at the inauguration of Blessed Coffee on Friday September 16th, 2011. (Photo by Matt Andrea)
Governor O’Malley speaking at the event. (Photo by Tamirat Mekonen)
Children at the inauguration. (Photo by Matt Andrea)
Tebabu Assefa, the co-founder of Blessed Coffee, at the opening ceremony of his company at the Takoma Park Old Town Gazebo on Friday September 16th, 2011. (Photo by Matt Andrea)
The year was 1995 and Ethiopian Zemi Yunus had no idea what autism was. What she did know was that her four-year-old son, Jojo, was clearly “different from other children of his age.”
Then her husband watched a television programme in the United States where they were living at the time.
It suddenly dawned on them that perhaps Jojo was autistic – certainly the symptoms described all seemed to point to this.
On the brink of returning to Ethiopia, Mrs Zemi began in earnest to research the issue.
Like many parents of autistic children, Mrs Zemi says that she had long had concerns about her son’s speech, but many doctors had reassured her that boys are often “late talkers” and assuaged her fears.
But the more she found out independently, the more she recognised that her son’s delayed speech, as well as his repetitive actions and his behavioural difficulties, were clearly autistic.
Unfortunately, diagnosis of the condition, particularly in the developing world, is rare. On returning to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, Mrs Zemi – who was soon running a successful business – consulted psychologists, doctors and other professionals for several years, but failed to find any answers.
Finding a school also proved difficult; many teachers dismissed Jojo as “spoilt” and he was expelled from five schools in a row. One institution even asked to be paid triple the usual fee to keep him.
New York (TADIAS) – In a recent interview with Tadias Magazine Lady Kate Njeuma, CEO and Founder of Miss Africa USA, said her organization is making progress in its search for Miss Ethiopia to particpate in the upcoming annual competition.
The Miss Africa USA Pageant had reached out to Tadias last month saying that Ethiopian-Americans remained unrepresented as the group prepares to crown the 2011 Queen in November.
Ms. Njeuma said that has now changed: “We have been overwhelmed with responses from the community,” she said. “We are now at the point of finalizing our search to endorse one candidate to represent Ethiopia this year. We hope that after the interviews and selection process, our choice will be a good representative for Ethiopia.”
Regarding her reflections on the 25-year-old Leila Lopes of Angola, winner of the coveted Miss Universe prize, Ms. Njeuma said: It is very encouraging indeed for an African woman to win the Miss Universe Pageant. The first African woman to win was Miss Botswana in 1999, so Leila is the second in the pageant’s 60 year history. I think Africa has got to the point where people are not only seeing the negative things but they are realizing that Africa is very gifted.”
Leila Lopes, was among contestants hailing from 89 nations at the 60th anniversary of the beauty contest held in São Paulo, Brazil on September 12, 2011. Lopes dazzled the judges with her sharp replies to their questions. Asked what she would change to improve her appearance, Leila replied, “Nothing, I’m satisfied with what God has given me,” adding that “I consider myself a woman endowed with inner beauty. I have acquired many wonderful principles from my family, and I intend to follow these for the rest of my life.”
“Leila is such a beauty and she has the heart of an angel,” Ms. Njeuma said. “she has been involved in humanitarian work even before she won Miss Universe and has promised that with her crown she will do even more. She has made Africa proud and we are very proud of her too.”
Below is Lady Kate Njeuma’s recent interview with Voice of America on the same subject:
Watch: Voice of America’s Ndimyake Mwakalyelye spoke with Lady Kate Njeuma
Watch: Leila Lopes is crowned Miss Universe 2011 in Sao Paulo, Brazil – September 12th
New York (TADIAS) – Widespread news coverage of an Ethiopian migrant worker in Libya, Shweyga Mullah, who had cared for two of Moammar Gadhafi’s grandchildren and suffered abuse and severe burns, has elicited heated reactions from Ethiopians worldwide. Her story brings to the forefront the plight of thousands of female Ethiopian migrant workers who continue to work under dangerous conditions in various countries in the Middle East.
“My heart is burning,” said Rahel Zegeye, who left Ethiopia when she was 20 years old to work as a maid in Lebanon. She still works and resides there. “The Ethiopian government should press charges against the madam (Aline Skaf-Hannibal). I would like to see equal treatment of the case no matter who committed the crime.”
Rahel is also the Director of a new film called Beirut, which documents Ethiopian domestic workers in Lebanon.
We recently interviewed Rahel Zegeye about her movie and the living conditions of Ethiopian women in the Arab world.
TADIAS: Thank you Rahel for your time. Please tell us a bit about yourself. Where you were born, grew up, and when did you move to Lebanon and why?
Rahel Zegeye: I was born in Addis Ababa as the middle child of nine siblings. At school I took acting and film classes. When I was 20 years old I left Addis for Lebanon in order to work as a maid to earn money and help support my family back home. My father was a soldier and retired early. Since I was very young my dad has always been unemployed which was the main reason why I left to work.
TADIAS: Please tell us a bit about the film Beirut. What is it about?
RZ:Beirut is a drama about a group of Ethiopian girls in Lebanon working as domestic workers.
TADIAS: What inspired you to make the movie?
RZ: I want to shed light on the inner lives and thoughts of a domestic worker, an aspect which is usually hidden from the Lebanese and foreign public.
TADIAS: Are the characters fictional or are they based on people you know?
RZ: The characters are fictional but they are all based on the Ethiopian girls that I have encountered during my ten years working in the country.
TADIAS: Can you give us a brief description of the plot?
RZ: The story centers on Hiwot, Z, Zufan, Misir, Saba and Hana who are friends but lead very different lives. Hiwot, left her employer’s house a long time ago and started a life earning a living as a prostitute. She parties, smokes and drinks and seems very happy and free. The story starts when she wants to find a co-worker, another girl who could satisfy her clients (mainly Sudanese workers). Saba, still a housemaid, complains about her ‘madam’ and wishes to run away. One day she takes the courage and joins Hiwot in her free life, much against the objections of her two good friends Misir and Hana. Misir and Hana, both working as maids, represent the ‘good girls’ in the story. Although Hana is being mistreated by her madam she does not want to run away and join the ‘naughty girls’ but just wishes to return home to her country. The lives of the girls get intertwined once Saba, encouraged by Hiwot, goes and lives with an Ethiopian man named Yared. Yared is in fact married to Zufan, but is not a man to be trusted.
TADIAS: Your film also highlights prostitution prevalence among Ethiopian women in Lebanon.
RZ: Yes it does. Many girls who run away from their employers house resort to prostitution as a way to earn a living, especially if they cannot find work elsewhere.
TADIAS: What are the biggest problems that Ethiopian domestic-workers face with their employers?
RZ: There are many. Most common issues include bad treatment, abuse from employers, no rest and no day off. It is also very common that the maids are not paid on time or at all, and that the employers limit their food or let them stay without food. Many employers are very racist and do not treat their workers with respect, dignity or humanity. Sexual harassment and abuse by employers also occurs. For example I know three girls who were made pregnant by their mister and were threatened not to tell their madam, and had to leave the house to go to the hospital to make an abortion.
TADIAS: How true are some of the horror stories we hear and read about in the media? And what can women do to protect themselves from such violence?
RZ: The horror stories are real and they occur, there are many more horror stories that are not reported and written about. There is very little protection for the women coming to work in Lebanon. She can try to communicate with her employer but many times there will be language problems and if the employer is abusive then there is little chance they will listen to her. She can ask them to let her go to the embassy and to return home. If she returns to the agency that brought her here they will not help her, just change employers, which may be for the better or for the worse. If she runs away from her employers she will not have her passport and papers and cannot go back to Ethiopia.
TADIAS: What are their rights as domestic laborers? Can they report abuse without fear of retaliation by wealthy and powerful employers?
RZ: Migrant domestic workers have no rights and protection within the Lebanese labor law. They can report abuse to police but police tend not to look into these cases. Today when I took the taxi, the taxi driver physically harassed me and I refused to pay him. Although there was a police nearby that witness the incident he saw that the driver was Lebanese and I’m Ethiopian so he also said I had to pay the taxi driver. Racism like this occurs all the time. Another example is when my previous madam took 4,000 USD from my bag (money belonging to the Ethiopian girls at church which I was keeping safe for them). My madam claimed this was her money and I was devastated for one week not knowing what to do. I even thought about suicide. If I go to police he will beat me, keep me there and then when my employer comes the police will believe her and not me. In the end it was my madam’s son who came and told his mother to give back the money that didn’t belong to her. It’s these injustices that we endure and are powerless to do anything about that drives many domestic workers to choose suicide as the only way out.
TADIAS: What are your feelings about the case of Shweyga Mullah, the Ethiopian Nanny in Libya?
RZ: My heart is burning. The Ethiopian government should press charges against the madam. I would like to see equal treatment of the case no matter who committed the crime. The madam should not get a lighter sentence because she is a madam and not a maid.
TADIAS: We understand that you are having problems distributing your film. Can you tell us more about that?
RZ: As I worked on the project independently I didn’t have any support with the distribution when I finished the film in 2006. On top of that there was the July 2006 war in Lebanon and I had many problems with my employer which led to me leaving her. For four years I did not have any papers and could not return to Ethiopia. Now with the support of my employer and friends in Lebanon we have managed to get more interest in my project and I hope we can show the film to a broader audience.
TADIAS: How can interested distributors get in touch with you?
RZ: Send any email to me at barchzegeye@yahoo.com.
TADIAS: What is your advise to young girls in Ethiopia who may be thinking about taking a job as maids in the Middle-East?
RZ: First of all I would advise them not to come and work at all, it’s a very difficult life. Many regret the choice of coming to work and are crying every day. The stories that tempt them to come here are mainly untrue, it’s not a fast track to become rich. You don’t learn anything good from only overseeing the house and cleaning and you will not develop as a person. Also you must cope with isolation and face discrimination. For those that quit school in order to work, it’s better to finish your education back in Ethiopia and find a job, things are improving also in Ethiopia. If they still want to come then I would advise them to get all the information they possibly can from the embassy and agency and contacting their friends and family who are working abroad.
TADIAS: Is there anything else you would like to share with our audience?
RZ: I am now focusing my energy on my new ideas for a short film and welcome any advice, suggestions and support from the readers.
TADIAS: Thank you again, Rahel, and good luck!
— Tadias thanks Janie Shen for assisting with the interview.
New York (TADIAS) – World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will kick off their Annual Meetings in Washington D.C. later this month. According to the announcement, tentative schedule of events slated for September 23-25 include seminars, luncheons, and briefings exploring the world economic outlook, poverty eradication, economic development, and aid effectiveness.
On Saturday, September 24th, from 11:00am to 12:00pm, a panel discussion entitled “Africa Needs Growth That Delivers Jobs” will take place at the Wold Bank. Among the guests listed to address the panel include Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu, Founder of SoleRebels and one of the 2011 World Economic Forum Young Global Leaders. She was also recently named by Forbes magazine as one of ‘The 20 Youngest Power Women In Africa.’
“This is one of the key panels at this annual meeting and we wanted a very dynamic young African entrepreneur who has created jobs herself to give a real time business perspective,” said Obiageli Ezekwesili, World Bank Vice-President for Africa Region. “Bethlehem was top of our list. Her participation will inform the critical debate on inclusive growth in Africa and provide key insights for policy makers, development partners and other participants.”
“We are very excited to have her participating,” Ms. Ezekwesili said in a statement
We asked Bethlehem a few questions regarding her upcoming presentation:
TADIAS: What is your speech going to focus on?
Bethlehem: I have been asked to give a real time business perspective as an African entrepreneur who has created jobs, and I would like to focus on what the challenges have been and where I see opportunities lie. I will be drawing on my background to look at sustainable ways to create jobs, especially for Africa’s growing youth population.
TADIAS: Do you have a blueprint for change?
Bethlehem: Not sure about blueprint, but my hope is that I can be a catalyst for policy makers and development folks to add a key dimension to their thinking on job creation so that they understand that entrepreneurs, specifically grassroots entrepreneurs are the engine of job creation.
TADIAS: What’s your perspective on how Africa can achieve economic growth?
Bethlehem: I do strongly feel that finished goods, in particular branded finished goods, hold the seeds to economic development. Across the continent there is too much extraction and not enough finished products, which has historical roots. This can be addressed by looking at what grassroots entrepreneurs are doing. For example, there are huge opportunities for the continent in the area of digital commerce. As a continent we have been late out of the gate. Strong efforts need to be applied as there are immense opportunities in various fields. The bottom line is that African entrepreneurs can create world class brands. But they are drowned out by too many issues. My goal is to start unlocking that potential.
TADIAS: How can the Diaspora participate?
Bethlehem: The Diaspora is key. They are investors, entrepreneurs, and the market for made-in-Africa products. They are also ambassadors of these brands in their respective countries. The way I look at it is that the Diaspora and the motherland are one. And if we function as one, we will then increase both our prosperity and visibility on the global stage.
TADIAS: Thank you, Bethlehem, and wishing you continued success!
New York (TADIAS) – Organizers of the Miss Africa USA pageant say that Ethiopia remains unrepresented as they prepare to crown the 2011 Queen at their annual event in Silver Spring, Maryland in November.
“Right now we are still searching for a candidate to represent Ethiopia,” Constance Nkwantah, Communications Director of the pageant, told Tadias Magazine.
According to Ms. Nkwantah the scholarship pageant is open to delegates from all 54 countries. Past winners have gone on to join forces with Habitat for Humanity, Concern USA, as well as Russell Simmons’s Diamond Empowerment Fund, to help raise money for various causes benefiting communities in Africa and the United States.
Below is our recent interview with Constance Nkwantah:
Tadias: Please tell us a bit about the Miss Africa USA Pageant. When was it launched and what is the objective?
Constance Nkwantah: Miss Africa USA Pageant is a Scholarship and Beauty Pageant and our mission is to empower young girls as Goodwill Ambassadors promoting positive causes in their home countries and the world. It showcases African cultures and diversity, bringing together all African nations in a grand celebration.
Tadias: How many African countries are represented at the upcoming contest?
CN: Our closing date is Sept 30th and the competition is open to all 54 countries. We are looking at up to 25 countries for the 2011 Pageant.
Tadias: Is Ethiopia one of them?
CN: Right now we are still searching for a candidate to represent Ethiopia. Ethiopia has very beautiful and intelligent women and it will be great to have a representation. Last year Ethiopia was well represented and we hope this year will not be different. We encourage all ambitious and dynamic young women aged between 18 and 30 to participate. We are still accepting applicants up until Sept 30th.
Tadias: How do you select the girls? What is the criteria to participate?
CN: Our selection is done via an application process, then we audition the girls and carry out interviews for each country in order to make a final selection.
Tadias: How do you answer critics who say that beauty pageants are demeaning to women?
CN: Miss Africa USA Pageant has never received such a criticism because we focus on the substance of a woman rather than the physical appearance of a woman or her sexuality. The Miss Africa USA Pageant preserves the African culture and therefore we do not have bathing suits as a segment of the competition which is what draws criticism. Rather, we focus on leadership skills and talent. Our Queen has huge responsibilities.
Finalists at the 2010 Miss Africa USA Pageant. (Photo credit: H Greaves Photography)
Some of the contestants at the 2010 Miss Africa USA Pageant. (By H Greaves Photography)
Sofia Bushen (L) was a finalist representing Ethiopia at the 2010 Miss Africa USA contest, held July 24, 2010 in Silver Spring, MD. (Photo: H Greaves Photography)
Tadias: What are the challenges you face as a pageant organization?
CN: Over the last couple of years, it has been difficult to get new sponsorships so a lot of the financial commitments are met by personal sacrifice. We appeal each year for sponsors to keep the pageant going and will continue to do so. We are grateful to Western Union and our presenting sponsors who have been there over the years. We hope to win back MoneyGram this year and other corporate sponsors. The pageant is very costly to produce and we need the support of the community.
Tadias: Could you share with us some success stories of pass winners of Miss Africa USA Pageant or other participants?
CN: Our focus is on promoting goodwill. The current Queen Fifi Soumah from the Republic of Guinea is right now in Guinea to launch her Foundation called TEARS AWAY. She is focused on promoting education of young girls. The United Nations statistics show that 81% of girls in Guinea cannot read and write. Miss Africa USA Fifi Soumah has established a scholarship program to help these young girls go back to school and get an education. She herself is a student at Montgomery College in Maryland. And In 2008 Miss Mfonobong Essiet of Nigeria completed her medical project where she donated a 40ft container of medical equipment and supplies to five different hospitals in her country. It was a very successful project. She is currently a medical student studying to be a Cardiac Surgeon.
Tadias: What should people expect at 2011 MISS Africa USA Pageant?
CN: The 2011 pageant is full of excitement. On the 12th of November we are having the African Banquet at the Hilton Hotel in Silver Spring Maryland. We have invited members of the African Diplomatic Core, community leaders and our sponsors and VIPs to be our guests at the official opening of the pageant. Finalists will be presenting their platform projects. The following day at the same loaction, we will host the final competition and a coronation ceremony. It’s a red carpet affair showcasing the culture, beauty and diversity of Africa. The entire family can attend.
Tadias: Is there anything else you would like to share with our audience?
CN: We are asking the community to come out and support the 2011 finalists who are representing Africa. We thank Tadias for the opportunity to reach out to the Ethiopian American community.
Tadias: One more thing, we understand that you’ve partnered with Nollywood Critics to present The 2011 NAFCA: “The African Oscar.” Can you tell us more about it?
CN: The awards is open to African Film Makers and the executive producer Dr. Victor Adeyemi is very open to collaborate with film makers from all over the continent. I would encouarage all film makers and actors who are interested in participating to contact us for more information.
Tadias: Thank you.
— If You Go: The 2011 Pageant is slated for Sunday November 13th from 5pm – 11pm. Tickets are $45 in advance and $50 at the door. Tickets start selling on Friday, September 9th via the website www.missafricaunitedstates.com. The African Banquet takes place on Sat Nov 12 and tickets are $100 each. Both events will take place at the Hilton Hotel 8272 Colesville Rd, Silver Spring, MD. Free parking is available.
— Watch: Miss Africa USA 2010 Introduction Dance (Video courtesy of Miss Africa USA)
When you first glance at Samirawit Hallemariam – it’s almost impossible not to notice the growth protruding from the left side of her face.
But, after spending just a few moments with this spunky 4-year-old, all of that disappears, and instead you see the twinkle in her big brown eyes. What’s more, you see all of the strength she has mustered up in her short life.
New York (TADIAS) – CNN reports that it was inundated with offers to assist Shweyga Mullah, the 30-year-old migrant worker who had served as a nanny for Hannibal Ghadafi’s family. A fundraising effort is underway to raise money for her treatment and care. Shweyga says she was burned with boiling water multiple times by Hannibal Ghadafi’s wife, the former Lebanese model, Aline Skaf.
The fundraising page is set up by the world’s oldest human rights organisation Anti-Slavery International and CNN – whose news-crew discovered Shweyga last week while visiting a beachfront mansion in western Tripoli formerly owned by the Gadhafi family. She was found abandoned inside the luxury compound.
The website notes: “CNN is helping aid agencies arrange for Shweyga to be taken to an international burn clinic for treatment. It is estimated that it will take up to eight months for Shweyga to recuperate and the money raised will go to paying for any extra care she needs, including her living costs and flights. Money raised beyond the amount needed for Shweyga’s care will be used by Anti-Slavery International, the world’s oldest human rights organisation, which works to protect domestic workers from abuse and slavery across the world.”
— Click Here to Donate to Shweyga Mullah’s Fund Click Here To Read/Write Comments
New York (TADIAS) — CNN recently reported on an incident at a beachfront mansion in western Tripoli, where Hannibal Gadhafi – one of Moammar Gadhafi’s sons – and his wife Aline, had resided in luxury, all the while mistreating their domestic-staff with violence.
The cable news channel interviewed one of the workers, Shwygar Mullah of Ethiopia, who was employed as a nanny at Hannibal Gadhafi’s home. She told CNN that she had been burned with scalding water multiple times by Hannibal’s wife, Aline.
According to CNN, Shwygar reports Aline’s wrath as follows: ” ‘She took me to a bathroom. She tied my hands behind my back, and tied my feet. She taped my mouth, and she started pouring the boiling water on my head like this,’ she said, imitating the vessel of scalding hot water being poured over her head.”
“When she did all this to me, for three days, she wouldn’t let me sleep,” she said. “I stood outside in the cold, with no food. She would say to staff, ‘If anyone gives her food, I’ll do the same to you.’ I had no water — nothing.”
Watch: Luxury, horror lurk in Gadhafi family compound
Washington, DC – The U.S.-based African Services Committee (ASC) says its HIV Prevention and Treatment project in Ethiopia has proved highly successful. ASC director Asfaha Hadera said the program, which was launched eight years ago in the capital, Addis Ababa, is multi-faceted.
“It’s a one stop,” said Hadera. “It is counseling and testing, it is treatment, an outreach, reproductive health, family planning, nutrition, income generating activities for destitute mothers and their children.”
Hadera expressed gratitude to those who have been encouraging and helping ASC fulfill its mission. That so much has been accomplished with such limited resources is “magic and a blessing,” he said.
The funding for his organization, he said, comes from contributions by “generous Americans, United Nations Population Fund, as well as Ethiopia’s St. George Brewery and Castle Wineries.” Hadera said ASC has also partnered with the U.S. firm iTech on “mobile counseling and testing” activities.
The Ethiopian-born humanitarian activist said regional and federal health bureaus in Ethiopia have been supportive of his group’s project. He expressed hope that ASC’s efforts will be further recognized down the road so “we get our fair share and we can do more and better.”
In addition to the project in Ethiopia, CSI addresses the needs of newcomers in the United States. It provides health, housing, legal, educational, and social services to about 10,000 people a year.
African Services Committee was founded in 1981 in New York’s Harlem district. Hadera reflects on what inspired him to launch the organization.
“When I came (to the US) as a political refugee in 1979, there was no organization to guide and walk us through the system, access us to social security, healthcare, housing, employment and so forth.”
He couldn’t just stand by and watch, he said, and he decided he should fill the void. He said he launched his ambitious project by taking baby steps. “The program was initiated in my own small apartment.”
Hadera said his group’s efforts got a boost when “the Unitarian Universalist Society’s Community Church of New York offered us free office space in Manhattan.” But he said funding was in short supply.
The Ethiopian-born activist said nearly 30 years after its founding, resources remain a concern for the African Services Committee and its ever-increasing projects. All the same, Hadera said, he takes pride in what he and his colleagues have accomplished both in the United States and in Africa. He credits his wife, Kim Nichols, for her “unflinching support“ for the cause.
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Read more news at VOA. Click here to learn more about African Services Committee. Photo: transracial.net.
In May, 13-year-old Hana Williams died of hypothermia. And on Sunday, there was a remembrance vigil for her in Rainier Beach at the Ethiopian Community Mutual Association.
Moer than 100 people attended the vigil. And even though none of them knew Hana, some say they’re just broken-hearted over the child’s death – and they’re hoping to keep her story alive.
Organizers of the vigil say a lot of members were outraged when they first heard about Hana and her ordeal. Read more.
A senior official of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies warns many people in drought-stricken Ethiopia are at risk of dying if urgent action is not taken to assist them. The official, who has just returned from Ethiopia, says millions of drought affected people are being overlooked because of the focus on famine-stricken Somali refugees who have fled to Ethiopia in search of food.
Millions affected by the drought
The United Nations estimates more than 12 million people in the Horn of Africa are affected by drought. More than one-third of them are in Ethiopia. And, yet a senior official of the International Red Cross Federation says not enough attention is being paid to their plight.
Red Cross Operations Coordinator Christine South says the international community is focusing most strongly on the Somali refugees. She says this is quite understandable as Somalia is in the grips of a famine and its people are in desperate need of food and other assistance.
“But, at the same time, the host or indigenous communities are, particularly in some of these dry areas in the southeast, are pretty well on the edge…If you are in a camp, there is a structure in place to provide support,” South states. “I think these families live in very remote rural communities. Some of them are nomadic, so they are on the move. They are much harder to reach and to identify, and to assess. So, they are harder to work with in a sense. But, that does not mean that their needs are not grave and that they do not need to be met.”
Running out of options
Ethiopia has been without significant rain for three seasons in a row and, South says, the people are pessimistic that the next rains due in October will be good. This, she says, means people not only have to be able to survive the present crisis, they also must plan ahead for the coming months.
Unfortunately, she says, people are running out of options. “So, many of their options are just closed down to them. And, I think it is that lack of anywhere else to go, which means that their need for support is urgent,” South said. “And, we want to do it before we start seeing human deaths rather than wait until we have a more dire situation before reacting.”
The International Red Cross Federation estimates about two million of the 4.5 million drought-affected Ethiopians are in need of food. The agency has launched a $10 million preliminary appeal to assist 165,000 people. It only has received 29 percent of that amount.
Nevertheless, given the needs, the Red Cross says it plans to scale up its operations and will issue a revised appeal to meet the increased needs of a larger number of drought victims.
Priority – getting food to people
Christine South says getting food to hungry people is the priority. This, she says, can be done by food distributions or, in many cases, by providing cash vouchers so people can buy food in the markets.
New York (Tadias) – A new social media campaign, which kicked off earlier this week, hopes to harness the power of celebrities and a Bob Marley song to help bring awareness to the unfolding famine in the Horn of Africa,” CNN reports.
The name for the campaign – “I’m Gonna Be Your Friend” – is borrowed from Marley’s 1973 song “High Tide Or Low Tide.”
According to CNN: “It uses the song as the soundtrack to a short film on the East African crisis directed by award-winning director Kevin MacDonald. Among MacDonald’s movies is the critically acclaimed “Last King of Scotland.”
The report says “prominent celebrities — such as Eminem, Rihanna, Lady Gaga and Britney Spears — have pledged to promote the film by posting it on their Facebook pages or offering links on their Twitter feeds.”
Voice of America
Ethnic Politics Split US Ethiopians Community Center tries to bring them together
By Anna Boiko-Weyrauch | Seattle, Washington
August 09, 2011
America’s Ethiopian community has grown quickly since the 1980s and one of its hubs is the northwestern state of Washington. Yet, even though they live a half world away from Ethiopia, these immigrants are still influenced by politics back home.
Differences
In the middle of Seattle, a group of Ethiopian immigrants plays dominos at a community center for the city’s Tigray immigrants – one of the many ethnic groups from Ethiopia.
Many people come to hang out at the lively place which has a bar inside. Similar community centers for other East African ethnic groups are practically within walking distance of each other.
Washington State’s Ethiopian community is vibrant and growing, with anywhere from 10,000-40,000 people. No one knows exactly how many, since many don’t participate in census counts or don’t report their ancestry.
But the population is diverse, mirroring the variety of ethnicities, languages, religions and divisions in their homeland.
“Those social divisions sometimes also translate to political divisions because if you belong to a certain ethnic group you are automatically perceived or in reality you support a certain political ideology or grouping,” says Shakespear Feyissa, who came to America as teenager and is now a lawyer in Seattle.
According to Feyissa, at its worst, ethnic and political differences turn into economic discrimination against fellow Ethiopians.
“You could see people lobbying each other, saying, ‘Don’t go to this certain business because he belongs to certain political group or political party,’ or they say, ‘Don’t go to this business because he either opposes or supports the government.’”
Feyissa opposes the government of Meles Zenawi, who led a rebel takeover of the country 20 years ago, and says he’s lost Ethiopian clients because of it.
“It is difficult for me personally, sometimes. Because I would hear certain ethnicity or certain groups saying, ‘Oh don’t go to him, he doesn’t like certain groups’, just because of my strong political conviction, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth.”
The divisions are hard for people who support the Ethiopian government, too. Mekonnen Kassa works for Microsoft in a Seattle suburb while also heading a pro-government group in his spare time.
“I travel to Ethiopia and meet with the political party leaders,” says Kassa. “And my group also invites government officials to come to the U.S. and meet with Ethiopians here.”
His political involvement has had personal consequences. One time, a stranger who saw him in a restaurant called him selfish – accusing Kassa of supporting the Ethiopian government for personal gain – and told him to leave.
“And at that point I got upset, and we got into a very heated argument, almost very close to a fist fight,” says Kassa. “And those couple of guys who knew me that were at the restaurant had to drag me out of the restaurant.”
Since then, Kassa keeps to himself.
Coming together
Many people recognize that division is a problem within Washington state’s Ethiopian community, and at least one group is trying to move beyond it.
At a summer camp, young Ethiopian-Americans learn Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia. The program is run by the Ethiopian Community Center in Seattle. Even though there are community centers for different ethnic groups, the leaders here want to put ethnicity aside, and bring all Ethiopians together as Ethiopians.
“That is the first thing, and when people come here, we want them to feel that this is their home. This is their place equally,” says Mulumebet Retta, who heads the center. “What we are trying to do here is whether you are an Amhara, an Oromo, Tigrey, Guragi, Gambella, whatever ethnic group you are, you are an Ethiopian.”
Retta’s group supports Ethiopian immigrants by connecting them with social services. The center staff works to solve problems which affect everyone in the community, whether it’s taking care of their elders or educating their children.
Seattle lawyer Feyissa believes it’s up to the next generation of Ethiopian-Americans to look beyond ethnic politics.
“The most important things for them, is not belonging to a certain ethnicity, but being Ethiopian, being immigrant,” he says. “So I see hope in that regard.”
— Click here to listen to Boiko-Weyrauch’s Audio Report
New York (Tadias) – The National Endowment for Democracy has awarded Birtukan Mideksa, one of Ethiopia’s most prominent political figures, its Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellowship for 2011-2012.
The international exchange program – which was founded a decade ago with funding from the U.S. Congress and named in honor of former President Ronald Reagan and the late U.S. congressman Dante Fascell – provides an elite group of distinguished and promising leaders an opportunity to study the principles of democracy.
“The Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellows Program offers practitioners, scholars, and journalists from around the world the opportunity to spend five months at the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), in Washington DC, in order to conduct independent research on democracy in a particular country or region,” the private, nonprofit foundation notes on its website. “While in residence, fellows reflect on their experiences; engage with counterparts; conduct independent research and writing; consider best practices and lessons learned; and develop professional relationships within a global network of democracy advocates.”
Birtukan, who has been imprisoned multiple times on charges stemming from her leadership role in one of Ethiopia’s biggest political parties, was freed by pardon last fall after spending nearly two years behind bars. She was re-arrested in December 2008 for denying the conditions of a previous pardon in which she was sentenced to life in prison subsequent to the violence that followed the disputed 2005 national elections – when bloody riots and government crackdown claimed the lives of 193 protesters and seven policemen.
Birtukan, a former judge and single mother, says she is looking forward to her studies in the United States. “I am very pleased to join some of the most influential people from around the world that are selected for their leadership and commitment to freedom and democracy,” Birtukan toldAddis Voice.
“This is an honor that I accept with utmost humility on behalf of the people of Ethiopia,” she said.
— Learn more about the fellowship at The National Endowment for Democracy.
New York (Tadias) – After The New York Timespublished a cover story earlier this week featuring a heart-wrenching photograph depicting the worsening food crisis affecting millions of people in the Horn of Africa, the U.S. media may be about to boost its coverage of what’s being described as the “worst famine in a generation.”
According to The New York Times: “The famine in Africa has had to compete with the wrangling over the debt ceiling, the mobile phone hacking scandals in Britain, the killings in Norway and, in Africa itself, the birth of a new country, the Republic of South Sudan.”
“I’m asking myself where is everybody and how loud do I have to yell and from what mountaintop,” Caryl Stern, chief executive of the United States Fund for UNICEF, told NYT. “The overwhelming problem is that the American public is not seeing and feeling the urgency of this crisis.”
When a Rupert Murdoch-owned British newspaper published a cartoon last month showing starving Africans engrossed in the European phone-hacking scandal, it was swiftly and correctly criticized as a tasteless joke. “But the underlying point — that the media has largely ignored what’s happening in Africa — was well taken,” writes Dylan Stableford for The Cutline.
Until recently, ABC claimed that it is the only American news network to have a reporter at the epicenter of Africa’s largest famine in 60 years.
“But that may soon change,” says Stableford.
U.S. administration officials and lawmakers are ringing alarm bells and warning of dire consequences unless global partners urgently step up aid. AFP reports that “even though the famine is expected to worsen and eventually dwarf the 1984 famine in Ethiopia, which claimed nearly a million lives, the public is not stepping up to try to help as it did nearly 30 years ago, when the international community responded to the crisis with fundraisers like Live Aid.”
“It is the most severe humanitarian crisis in a generation, affecting food security for more than 12 million people across Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti and surrounding areas,” Democratic Senator Chris Coons said as as he opened a hearing on the crisis.
“Based on nutrition and mortality surveys… we estimate that more than 29,000 children under five — nearly four percent of children — have died in the last 90 days in southern Somalia,” Nancy Lindborg, assistant administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), told lawmakers.
Per the U.N.: The humanitarian disaster is likely to expand beyond Somalia in the next few weeks and spread into neighboring Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia.
Meanwhile, David Muir, the American TV journalist in Mogadishu, reported from the city on Monday’s “World News With Diane Sawyer,” describing the situation as the “worst famine in a generation.”
Mohammed Hussein Al-Amoudi was born in Ethiopia, but now spends his time at homes in central London, Surrey and Saudi Arabia.
The article was published on the online news website Ethiopian Review.
Judge Richard Parkes QC said it was difficult to imagine more serious allegations.
The site’s publisher and editor-in-chief, Elias Kifle, had denied liability.
The judge said that instead of apologising Mr Kifle had repeated the libel and abused Mr al-Amoudi and his lawyers.
The High Court in London heard Mr Kifle’s response to the initial complaint was: “Here is my formal statement: Screw yourself”.
The court heard Mr Kifle then went on to describe Mr al-Amoudi as a “scumbag bloodsucker” who was “funding al-Qaeda”.
Mr al-Amoudi, 65, gave evidence during the libel trial that he was completely opposed to all forms of terrorism.
The judge said the site alleged that Mr al-Amoudi had “disgracefully and callously” married off his daughter Sarah, then 13, to an elderly member of the Saudi royal family as a gift.
“In Ethiopia’s rain-starved eastern badlands, livestock is the sole asset for most. Swaddled in robes, pastoralist families traverse huge tracts searching for water and pasture for their herds, uprooting camps as they go. When seasonal rains fail, life becomes a battle for survival,” reports csmonitor.com.
“As aid agencies scramble to feed some 11.5 million people suffering from what is being called the Horn of Africa’s worst drought in 60 years, Ethiopia’s government is enacting a resettlement program that it hopes will be a longlasting solution to a longstanding burden.”
The World Bank Friday unveiled new details of its plan to help victims of drought in the Horn of Africa. The bulk of the effort focuses on Ethiopia and Kenya, not Somalia.
The bank’s Country Director for East Africa Johannes Zutt says over $600 million is being made available to those affected by the drought in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya.
But only $9 million is going directly toward disaster relief in Somalia, the worst hit country in East Africa.
Watch New Video: Horn of Africa Famine Puts 11 Million People at Risk of Hunger (PBS News)
— Related: World Reacts to Avert Famine in East Africa
Tadias Magazine
News Update
Thursday, July 28, 2011
New York (Tadias) – The UN’s World Food Program has started airlifting supplies of emergency food into the Somali capital Mogadishu, as relief and fundraising efforts continued for millions of people affected by the looming hunger crisis in drought-hit areas of East Africa.
At an emergency meeting held at the Food and Agriculture Organization headquarters in Rome recently, WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran warned the international community the problem could become a wider catastrophe unless immediate action is taken. “The drought has swept the Horn of Africa where more than 11 million people are in need of food assistance,” she said. “We are particularly worried about Somalia right now and it is vital that we reach those at the epicentre of the famine with food assistance.”
The United Nations says the developing crisis is the largest famine in 60 years. Nearly 12 million people are thought to be at risk of food insecurity in Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Eritrea and Djibouti. Ethiopians constitute 4.56 million of the current total food insecure populations in the region. According to UNICEF, 2.23 million children in Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya are estimated to be acutely malnourished. And nearly 720,000 children are at risk of death without urgent assistance.
“The area straddling Somalia, Ethiopia and northern Kenya, has been dubbed the “triangle of death” as the worst drought in more than fifty years grips the area,” writes Stewart M. Patrick, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and Director of the Program on International Institutions and Global Governance. “An estimated thirty percent of children are malnourished, many arriving in refugee camps so “emaciated and with skin lesions so deep that you could see their bones showing in their skulls and arms.” According to testimony by State Department official Reuben Brigety, acute malnutrition has reached 50% and 40%, respectively, in Ethiopia and Kenya—far above the 15% threshold for an international humanitarian emergency.”
Per AFP: “Officials said the UN had received about $US1 billion ($A924.56 million) since first launching an appeal for the region in November 2010 but needs a billion more by the end of the year to cope with the emergency. The World Bank on Monday pledged more than $500 million, with the bulk of the money set to go towards long-term projects to aid livestock farmers while $12 million would be for immediate assistance to those worst hit by the crisis. However charities have slammed low aid pledges and say not enough is being done.”
Read more.
— Cover image: A woman from southern Somalia struggles to build a makeshift shelter from tree branches at a new camp in Mogadishu, Somalia, on July 13. (Mohamed Sheikh Nor / AP)
New York (Tadias) – A humanitarian crisis of historic proportions is unfolding in drought-hit areas of East Africa, including Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. The United Nations says the pending disaster is the largest famine in 60 years.
The UN warns relief is needed urgently and should not be ignored or the world will once again be witnessing the repeat of history, this time on a much larger scale. Unless quickly prevented, nearly 12 million people are thought to be at risk of food insecurity in the Horn of Africa this year. That’s an alarmingly large number of people affected in contrast to the widely publicized 1984 famine that killed approximately one million people. Ethiopians constitute 4.56 million of the current total food insecure populations in the region.
Sadly, the familiar images of hungry children with skinny, malnourished bodies on television screens and front-pages of newspapers around the world, conjures depressing sense of déjà vu for the international community. According to UNICEF, in total 2.23 million children in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are estimated to be acutely malnourished. And nearly 720,000 children are at risk of death without immediate assistance.
Dr. Reuben Brigety, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration, said in a testimony before the House Subcommittee on Africa earlier this month that “in Ethiopia, global acute malnutrition rates close to 50% have been reported among newly arriving refugee children.” Dr. Brigety added: “This situation is substantially worse than when I last visited the Dolo Odo refugee camps in Ethiopia in February of this year. Newly arriving children are now dying in the refugee camp at the rate of two to three per day.”
The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization held an emergency meeting in Rome on Monday to discuss campaign strategy to moblize and deliver aid to the region. The meeting was attended by representatives from the G20 countries, ministers and senior officials from UN’s 191 member nations, other U.N. bodies, NGOs and regional development banks.
The UN has officially declared famine in parts of Somalia and it has designated large areas in Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya as a crisis or an emergency zone.
Watch: UN Declares Famine in Somalia, Channel 4 News
“This summer has been an unspeakable nightmare for millions of children in the Horn of Africa,” said President and CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF Caryl Stern. “We cannot control the weather patterns that have led to drought and famine, but we can do something about helping those who suffer from it. The sooner we act, the more children’s lives can be saved. As little as $10 can feed a child for 10 days.”
UNICEF estimates it will need $100 million over the next six months for a massive scale up of operations to reach children in the drought affected areas with emergency and preventative assistance.
“UNICEF is using every means possible to reach every child. There simply can be no compromise on the objective to keep children and their families alive,” said Elhadj As Sy, Regional Director for UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa. “We appreciate the generosity of the international community and those contributions are already making a difference. We urgently need more funds to meet the enormous need.”
————- For more information or to make a tax-deductible contribution to relief efforts in the Horn of Africa, please contact the U.S. Fund for UNICEF: Website: www.unicefusa.org/donate/horn. Or call toll free: 1-800-4UNICEF (1-800-486-4233). Text: Text “FOOD” to UNICEF (864233) to donate $10. Mail: 125 Maiden Lane, New York, NY 10038.
Cover photo: Aden Salaad, 2, looks up at his mother as she bathes him in a tub at a Doctors Without Borders hospital, where Aden is receiving treatment for malnutrition, in Dagahaley Camp, outside Dadaab, Kenya, on Monday, July 11. (Rebecca Blackwell / AP)
Video: East Africa Food Crisis – Somalia Faces Famine as al-Qaida Threat Halts International Aid
New York (Tadias) – Japan won the 2011 Women’s World Cup on Sunday, defeating the United States 3-1 in a penalty shootout. The country became the first Asian nation to win the World Cup.
The Japanese team, which provided much-needed inspiration and emotional relief for their fellow citizens at home who are still recovering from a devastating recent earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident, displayed a banner after every game reading: “To our Friends Around the World — Thank You for Your Support.”
The United States, which was not considered a favorite to win the tournament this year, made a dramatic rebound after it eliminated Brazil in a penalty-kick during the quarterfinals, raising hopes that the team might bring the cup home for the third time.
Team USA dominated much of Sunday’s final game in Frankfurt, Germany. Alex Morgan scored the team’s first goal in the 69th minute. But Japan tied the game when Aya Miyama scored an equalizer 12 minutes later. The Americans took the lead again during over time in the 104th minute when Abby Wambach made a goal with a header. But they blew the lead just six minutes from winning their third World Cup title when Homare Sawa of Japan scored another equalizer.
The U.S. had previously won the Women’s World Cup in 1991 and 1999.
Japan’s World Cup victory also marks the nation’s first win against the U.S. in 26 tries.
Video: Japan Wins the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup Soccer Title (The Associated Press)
Cover Image: Japan’s players celebrate after the FIFA Women’s Football World Cup final match after the shootout (Christof Stache / AFP – Getty Images)
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Team U.S.A Take on Japan in Women’s World Cup Final on Sunday
The U.S. women’s soccer team is set to play in the FIFA World Cup championship match for the first time since it won the title on home soil in 1999. An American team that has survived some pressure games will take on surprising Japan Sunday in Frankfurt, Germany.
Just like the U.S. women’s team in 1999 captured the imagination of the nation, this 2011 edition has finally achieved a similar following. But it has not been a smooth ride.
Though the Americans are ranked number one in the world and won the 2008 Olympic gold medal in Beijing, they almost failed to qualify for this 2011 World Cup in Germany.
Watch: US Women Take on Japan in World Cup Final on Sunday (PBS News Hour Video)
During qualifying last year, they shockingly lost to Mexico in a regional semifinal and needed to win a third-place match against Costa Rica just to reach a special two-game playoff against Italy. The U.S. team gained the 16th and final World Cup berth with slim 1-0 wins in those away and home matches.
In first round group play in Germany, the U.S. beat North Korea, 2-0, and newcomer Colombia, 3-0, but then lost to Sweden, 2-1. It was the first ever loss in the group phase of a World Cup for any U.S. women’s team.
That set up a quarterfinal encounter last Sunday with five-time FIFA World Player of the year Marta and Brazil, the team that routed the U.S. in the World Cup semifinals four years ago, 4-0. The Americans had a player ejected against Brazil early in the second half but – even though shorthanded – clung to a 1-1 tie through regulation. When Marta scored early in the 30-minute overtime period and the clock wound down, it appeared the U.S. would be on its way home.
But in the dying moments of added, or stoppage, time, star striker Abby Wambach amazingly converted a header off a long high pass to tie the score at 2-2 and send the match to penalty kicks. Thanks to a diving save by U.S. goalie Hope Solo, the Americans prevailed in the shootout, 5-3.
Then on Wednesday in the semifinals against a French team that outplayed them for most of the match, the U.S. scored two goals in the final 15 minutes to win, 3-1.
Midfielder Megan Rapinoe shared her thoughts on what it means.
“It really is a dream come true,” said Rapinoe. “And it’s so cliché to say but you know being a footballer and reaching the World Cup finals, I mean that’s everything we’ve worked for, not only this whole year or the cycle leading up to this tournament, but pretty much our whole lives. Everybody wants to get to the World Cup final.”
So now the U.S. women play a surprising team from Japan in Sunday’s title game. Japan upset favorite and host Germany in the quarterfinals and then upset Sweden in the semifinals.
Leading up the World Cup, the U.S. played Japan in two home warm-up games in May and won both by scores of 2-0. But U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo says after the tsunami and earthquake in their country earlier this year, the Japanese are playing for more than just themselves.
“It is pretty clear to most of us that we’re not going to see the same Japan team that we saw in the last couple of friendlies,” said Solo. “They are playing for something bigger and better than the game. And when you’re playing with so much emotion and so much heart, that’s hard to play against. So I think it’s going to be an incredible final that people didn’t expect to see.”
Teammate Abby Wambach, playing in her third World Cup, said she will do everything she can to assure the U.S. comes out on top this time.
“Getting to the final is one thing and winning is another,” said Wambach. “This isn’t good enough for me. It doesn’t matter if I came in third place in 2003 and came in third place in 2007, getting to the final is only halfway part of our dream coming true, and we want to make sure that we’re on that top podium come Sunday.”
There is no doubt that there will be huge television audiences for the World Cup final in both the United States and Japan, with many more fans around the world tuning in to see how well the women at the highest level now play the so-called “beautiful game.”
— Related: Japan takes inspiration into Women’s World Cup final (Los Angeles Times)
Japan defender Aya Sameshima (15), defender Azusa Iwashimizu (center) and midfielder Homare
Sawa (10) celebrate after defeating Germany, 1-0, in the Women’s World Cup quarterfinals in
Wolfsburg, Germany. (Odd Andersen / AFP / Getty Images / July 9, 2011)
New York (Tadias) – Voice of America’s Acting Director and Executive Editor, Steve Redisch, has told Tadias Magazine that the recent controversy surrounding the removal of a June 23rd content from the broadcaster’s Amharic website was “consistent with VOA’s standards of accuracy.”
Redisch also said VOA’s characterization of a meeting on June 22nd, 2011 between members of the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors and Ethiopian Communication Affairs Minister Bereket Simon was ‘inaccurate.’
Abebe Gellaw had reported in his regular column published on Thursday, July 7, 2011 in Addis Voice, quoting “informed sources” inside the VOA, that the suspension of David Arnold, VOA’s Horn of Africa Chief, was a result of a dispute related to his comments in a news report that was broadcast on VOA Amharic service on June 23rd. According to Addis Voice, Mr. Arnold, who was part of a seven-member U.S delegation that met with Ethiopian officials in Addis Ababa last month, had said on VOA Amharic that the Ethiopian government had put forward a demand to the BBG delegation that VOA deny platform to its vocal critics as a precondition to cooperate with the station.
Mr. Redisch did not specifically deny Mr. Gellaw’s report concerning the circumstances of Mr. Arnold’s suspension.
“There have been inaccurate reports about the tone and substance of an official meeting on June 22 between members of the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors and Ethiopian Communication Affairs Minister Bereket Simon,” Mr. Redisch said in a letter response to a series of follow-up questions posed by Tadias Magazine. “I want to set the record straight.”
Mr. Redisch said: “BBG Governors Susan McCue, Dana Perino and Michael Meehan held a frank dialogue on a number of issues. Board members urged the Ethiopian government to allow VOA to broadcast on FM stations in Ethiopia, sought to advance the role of media freedom in the country, and stressed the importance of VOA’s mission to provide accurate news and information to audiences there. The government presented its list of complaints about VOA programming. The Governors promised to review those complaints, a process that is currently underway.”
And regarding the removal of audio and text files of a news report from VOA’s Amharic service website?
“A report that aired June 23 on VOA Horn of Africa programs and appeared on its website inaccurately characterized the nature of Ethiopian government complaints about VOA’s programs,” Mr. Redisch said. “Contrary to the VOA report, at no time did Ethiopian government officials ask the Board members to prohibit any individuals from appearing on VOA programs…Consistent with VOA’s standards of accuracy and not for reasons of self-censorship, the report was taken off the website.”
Mr. Redisch adds: “The inaccurate reporting of the meeting has overshadowed the intent of the Governor’s mission. Simply put, it was an opportunity to advance VOA’s mission: to provide reliable, accurate and balanced information to our audiences. And those audiences will be the barometer of our future success.”
—
New York (Tadias) – A humanitarian crisis of historic proportions is unfolding in drought-hit areas of East Africa, including Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. The United Nations says the pending disaster is the largest famine in 60 years.
The UN warns relief is needed urgently and should not be ignored or the world will once again be witnessing the repeat of history, this time on a much larger scale. Unless quickly prevented, nearly 12 million people are thought to be at risk of food insecurity in the Horn of Africa this year. That’s an alarmingly large number of people affected in contrast to the widely publicized 1984 famine that killed approximately one million people. Ethiopians constitute 4.56 million of the current total food insecure populations in the region.
Sadly, the familiar images of hungry children with skinny, malnourished bodies on television screens and front-pages of newspapers around the world, conjures depressing sense of déjà vu for the international community. According to UNICEF, in total 2.23 million children in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are estimated to be acutely malnourished. And nearly 720,000 children are at risk of death without immediate assistance.
Dr. Reuben Brigety, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration, said in a testimony before the House Subcommittee on Africa earlier this month that “in Ethiopia, global acute malnutrition rates close to 50% have been reported among newly arriving refugee children.” Dr. Brigety added: “This situation is substantially worse than when I last visited the Dolo Odo refugee camps in Ethiopia in February of this year. Newly arriving children are now dying in the refugee camp at the rate of two to three per day.”
The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization held an emergency meeting in Rome recently to discuss campaign strategy to moblize and deliver aid to the region. The meeting was attended by representatives from the G20 countries, ministers and senior officials from UN’s 191 member nations, other U.N. bodies, NGOs and regional development banks.
The UN has officially declared famine in parts of Somalia and it has designated large areas in Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya as a crisis or an emergency zone. But the organization says the disaster is likely to expand beyond Somalia in the next few weeks and spread into Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia.
Watch: UN Declares Famine in Somalia, Channel 4 News
“This summer has been an unspeakable nightmare for millions of children in the Horn of Africa,” said President and CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF Caryl Stern. “We cannot control the weather patterns that have led to drought and famine, but we can do something about helping those who suffer from it. The sooner we act, the more children’s lives can be saved. As little as $10 can feed a child for 10 days.”
UNICEF estimates it will need $100 million over the next six months for a massive scale up of operations to reach children in the drought affected areas with emergency and preventative assistance.
“UNICEF is using every means possible to reach every child. There simply can be no compromise on the objective to keep children and their families alive,” said Elhadj As Sy, Regional Director for UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa. “We appreciate the generosity of the international community and those contributions are already making a difference. We urgently need more funds to meet the enormous need.”
————- For more information or to make a tax-deductible contribution to relief efforts in the Horn of Africa, please contact the U.S. Fund for UNICEF: Website: www.unicefusa.org/donate/horn. Or call toll free: 1-800-4UNICEF (1-800-486-4233). Text: Text “FOOD” to UNICEF (864233) to donate $10. Mail: 125 Maiden Lane, New York, NY 10038.
New York (Tadias) – The Ethiopian government announced today that two journalists were among nine people that were arrested last week on charges of planning terrorist attacks.
According to press reports: “Government spokesman Shimeles Kemal said Wednesday that two journalists were among those arrested. He says they were involved in planning attacks on infrastructure, telecommunications and power lines. Shimeles says two other suspects are members of an opposition party. Shimeles says the suspects were supported by Ethiopia’s archenemy Eritrea and by an international terrorist group, which he did not name. International media rights groups have been calling for the release of Reeyot Alemu, a columnist for the independent weekly Feteh, and Woubshet Taye, deputy editor-in-chief of the weekly Awramba Times newspaper.”
In an interview with Bloomberg News, Kemal said the arrests of the two journalists had “nothing to do with viewpoints they have published.”
But The Committee to Protect Journalists says Alemu had recently criticized the government’s fundraising method for the Nile dam project, and Taye has critically covered local politics as the deputy editor of his newspaper.
“These accusations against Woubshet Taye and Reeyot Alemu must be viewed in light of the Ethiopian administration’s longstanding practice of using trumped-up charges to silence and jail critical independent journalists,” said CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita. “It is outrageous that a government spokesman should publicly accuse journalists of terrorism when they have not been charged with any crime and are unable to respond because they are in detention. They should be freed immediately.”
Above:Gejea Ejeta is recovering after being pushed through
a 7-11 window… Police say know who was driving the Dodge.
Tadias Magazine
News Update
Monday, June 27, 2011
Philadelphia – Yeadon police say the woman wanted for a shocking hit-and-run captured on surveillance video will turn herself in on Friday, NBC Philadelphia reports.
Surveillance cameras captured a car crashing into a 7-11 store and an employee – 24-year-old Gejea Ejeta – being thrown through the front of the building.
Per NBC: “On Thursday, June 9, around 10:30 p.m., police responded to a car accident at the 7-11 store on Church Lane in Yeadon.”
“The video shows a Dodge Caliber park in front of the 7-11. The female driver and a male passenger then get out of the car and walk to the side of the store…the two go back into the car several minutes later. The car is then seen backing up and then speeding forward toward the store, striking another car that was entering a parking spot,” according to NBC Philadelphia.
“The car careens off the other vehicle and accelerates over the curb, striking Ejeta who happened to be standing outside. Ejeta is seen flying through the front window as the car crashes into the store.”
“Ejeta, an Ethiopian immigrant who speaks little English, was taken to the hospital where he was treated for his injuries. Though Ejeta is recovering well, he’s still not healthy enough to return to work.”
Above:Ethiopia’s Gebre Gebremariam finished runner-up at
inaugural B.A.A. 10K race held in Boston on Sunday, June 26.
Tadias Magazine
Sports News
Updated: Sunday, June 26, 2011
New York (Tadias) – Defending Boston Marathon champion Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya won the inaugural B.A.A. 10K on Sunday morning in Boston, finishing the race in 27 minutes, 19 seconds.
The 29-year-old Kenyan bolted to the front after half-way, leaving Ethiopian Gebre Gebremariam and the rest of the pack behind.
Gebre Gebremariam, the reigning New York City marathon men’s champion, came in second.
Boston Marathon runner-up Moses Mosop of Kenya finished third.
In April, Mutai won the Boston Marathon in 2:03.02, the fastest marathon ever recorded.
Gebre Gebremariam, who is also scheduled to represent Ethiopia at the IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, in late August, finished the B.A.A. 10K race in 28:11.
On the women’s category, Caroline Kilel of Kenya finished first, while Kim Smith of New Zealand came in second. Misiker Demissie of Ethiopia was third.
2011 Boston inaugural B.A.A. 10K winners Geoffrey Mutai and Carolyn Kilel. (The Runners Vibe.com)
Below are the results from Sunday’s inaugural B.A.A. 10K competition held in Boston.
—- Cover Image: Gebre Gebremariam at a victory dinner on Monday, November 8, 2010 at Queen of Sheba Restaurant in Manhattan following his surprise win at the New York City Marathon on Sunday, November 07, 2010. (Photo by Marie Claire Andrea for Tadias Magazine)
New York (Tadias) – Yonathan Melaku, a 22-year-old Virginia resident and a Marine Corps Reserve lance corporal, has been charged with shootings at four D.C. area military sites that took place last fall.
Prosecutors said in court paper that they have evidence that the suspect videotaped himself shouting “Allah Akbar” after he fired shots into the windows of the U.S. Marine Corps museum, located in Triangle, Virginia, on October 16, 2010.
“Alright next time this video turns on, I will be shooting,” Melaku said on the video, court papers say. “That’s what they get. That’s my target. that’s the military building. It’s going to be attacked.”
The U.S. Attorney’s office said if he is convicted of these crimes, Melaku would face a minimum of 35 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison.
According to authorities, the museum shooting in Triangle caused nearly $90,000 of damage to the building. The other shooting incidents occurred at the Pentagon and two military recruiting centers between October and November of last year.
Melaku was taken into custody at Arlington National Cemetery on Friday, June 17 after he was found carrying a backpack containing suspicious items, including the bomb making material ammonium nitrate, spent 9mm shell casings, work gloves, a headlamp and pro-al Qaeda literature.
“Today’s charges allege a pattern of violent behavior…we believe his statements that he’s targeting military installations speak to his desire to engage in violent activity against the military,” U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride said.
Video: Yonathan Melaku of Virginia Charged With Military Shootings (The Associated Press)
According to The Washington Post, Melaku remains jailed in Virginia where he has been charged with four counts of grand larceny involving car vandalism and theft. Police records show he was also arrested on May 26 in Leesburg, Virginia, for allegedly smashing windows and stealing property from 27 cars.
“Its always disappointing when someone who wears this uniform gets in trouble with the law,” Lt.. Col Chris Hughes, a spokesman for the Marines, told the Washington Post.
According to the FBI, he serves as “a Marine Corps reservist Lance Cpl and a motor vehicle operator with Combat Engineer Support Company, 4th Combat Engineer Battalion, 4th Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve. He has previously been awarded the National Defense Service Medal and the Selected Marine Corps Reserve Medal. He has not deployed overseas.”
The military said paperwork has been filed for the Lance Corporal to be removed from the service. “Melaku was notified Tuesday at the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center that he will be processed for administrative separation due to charges of serious offense,” said the Marine Corps in a statement.
Melaku is a naturalized American citizen from Ethiopia.
— Watch: Pentagon scare suspect, Yonathan Melaku, charged in shootings
New York (Tadias) – A common misconception among U.S. runners and running enthusiasts is that Ethiopians are accustomed to hot weather and enjoy competing in it.
That association doubtlessly stems from the running prominence of Kenyans, their neighbors and athletic rivals to the South. However it is not necessarily true of Ethiopian runners, who develop their talent over high-altitude training grounds in and around the temperate capital of Addis Ababa.
Over the weekend Ethiopians triumphed in a range of weather conditions, claiming victories both in 80-degree heat at the Shelter Island 10K Run on Long Island, New York, and 48-degree chill at Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota.
Ethiopians won both the men’s and women’s divisions of the Saturday evening race in the Hamptons, where runners benefitted from a cloud cover but had to endure high humidity.
Kumsa Adugna, 25, the runner-up a year ago, this time won the race in 29:44. Ethiopians finishing in the top 10 were Girma Tolla, fourth, 30:04; Abiyot Endale, sixth, 30:49; Birhanu Feysa, seventh, 31:18 and Demesse Tefera, eighth, 32:50.
Tezeta Dengersa, 30, won the women’s race in 34:17, with Muliye Gurma, also of Washington, DC, finishing seventh in 38:57.
Saturday morning in the 35th Grandma’s Marathon in Minnesota, Yihunlish Delelecha Bekele, 29, won the female division in 2:30:38 while Teklu Deneke, 31, was the overall runner-up in a time of 2:12:17.
The runners set out on the course amid light rain and a temperature of 54 degrees that dropped to the high 40s as the race progressed. Many runners wore gloves, and their breath would fog as they exhaled.
It was Bekele’s second marathon victory in five weeks; she won the Dick’s Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon on May 15. Finishing under 2:31 on Sunday earned her a $2,500 bonus on top of the $10,000 winner’s prize money. The time also reset her personal best from the 2:35:36 run last month in Pittsburgh.
“This victory was even sweeter because the time was so much better,” she told The Forum of Fargo Moorhead, MN, after the race in which runners were aided by a tailwind. “The weather was helpful.”
Bekele is enjoying her best season as a professional runner, having quit her job at a 7Eleven convenience store in Washington, DC, after deciding in order to be a successful athlete she had to devote more time to running.
Aziza Aliyu finished eighth among women in 2:36:55 at the Grandma’s Marathon. In the overall results, Asnake Fekadu was eighth in 2:14:20 and Tesfaye Duba finished 19th in 2:18:22
Derese Deniboba captured the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon, a component of the marathon event in Duluth, by outsprinting fellow Ethiopian Tesfaye Alemayehu to finish in 1:02:19 and win by three seconds. Atalalech Asfaw was third in the women’s field, finishing in 1:16:49.
Deniboba broke the half-marathon course record, set in 2002, by two minutes.
“The weather was perfect,” said the Bronx, NY, resident. “It was not really that cold. The rain was not in your face, and there was a lot of downhill.”
The difference in weather was diametric on Long Island, where there was a 5:30 p.m. start for the 32nd Shelter Island 10K.
“I was very hot and humid,” said Endale, who added he pushed the pace early but was disappointed in his finish.
It did not take Endale long to begin feeling better. Sunday morning, 14 hours later, he finished runner-up to Adugna in the Portugal Day 5 Mile Run in New York City’s Central Park.
Ketema Nigusse was third, Girma Tolla was fourth, Fikadu Lemma was fifth and Girma Segni was sixth at that event, which started with a pleasant 71 degrees, 63 percent humidity and fair skies.
A week earlier in Central Park, women had started the NYRR New York Mini 10K with the mercury at 69 degrees but with 96 percent humidity and cloudy skies.
That world-class competition was won by Linet Masai of Kenya in 31:40, with Ethiopians Aheza Kiros (32:09) and Belainish Gebre (32:10) finishing second and third.
Aliyu was 20th in 34:25, Hirut Mandefro was 24th in 34:35, Gurma was 31st in 37:29 and Alem Ashebir was 32nd in 37:50
— About the Author: Jason Jett is a New York based freelance journalist.
Cover image: Kumsa Adugna of Ethiopia posted a winning time of 29 minutes 44 seconds at the
Shelter Island 10K Run on Long Island, New York. (Garret Meade/Riverhead News)
New York (Tadias) – Yonathan Melaku, a 22-year-old Alexandria resident and a Marine Corps Reserve lance corporal, has been charged with the series of shootings at D.C. area military sites that took place last fall.
Prosecutors said in court paper that they have evidence that the suspect videotaped himself shouting “Allah Akbar” after he fired shots into the windows of the U.S. Marine Corps museum, located in Triangle, Virginia, on October 16, 2010.
“Alright next time this video turns on, I will be shooting,” Melaku said on the video, court papers say. “That’s what they get. That’s my target. that’s the military building. It’s going to be attacked.”
Melaku was taken into custody at Arlington National Cemetery on Friday, June 17 after he was found carrying a backpack containing suspicious items, including the bomb making material ammonium nitrate, spent 9mm shell casings, work gloves, a headlamp and pro-al Qaeda literature.
“Today’s charges allege a pattern of violent behavior…we believe his statements that he’s targeting military installations speak to his desire to engage in violent activity against the military,” U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride said.
Video: Yonathan Melaku of Virginia Charged With Military Shootings (The Associated Press)
According to The Washington Post, Melaku remains jailed in Virginia where he has been charged with four counts of grand larceny involving car vandalism and theft. Police records show he was also arrested on May 26 in Leesburg, Virginia, for allegedly smashing windows and stealing property from 27 cars.
“Its always disappointing when someone who wears this uniform gets in trouble with the law,” Lt.. Col Chris Hughes, a spokesman for the Marines, told the Washington Post.
According to the FBI, he serves as “a Marine Corps reservist Lance Cpl and a motor vehicle operator with Combat Engineer Support Company, 4th Combat Engineer Battalion, 4th Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve. He has previously been awarded the National Defense Service Medal and the Selected Marine Corps Reserve Medal. He has not deployed overseas.”
The military said paperwork has been filed for the Lance Corporal to be removed from the service. “Melaku was notified Tuesday at the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center that he will be processed for administrative separation due to charges of serious offense,” said the Marine Corps in a statement.
Melaku is a naturalized American citizen from Ethiopia.
— Watch: Pentagon scare suspect, Yonathan Melaku, charged in shootings
—–
Tadias Magazine
News Update
June 20, 2011
Washington, D.C. (Tadias) – No explosives were found following last Friday’s dramatic bomb scare at the Pentagon. However, is Lance Corporal Yonathan Melaku, the 22-year old Ethiopian-American decorated Marine reservist, who was detained for trespass that morning at Arlington National Cemetery on suspicion of carrying bomb making materials near the Defense Department headquarters, “simply an unstable, misguided young man, or a cold-blooded lone wolf terrorist?”, ABC News asks, adding that an international investigation has been launched to find the answer. Authorities said Mr Melaku does not appear to have known ties to any terror organization.
Meanwhile, The Washington Post quoted a law enforcement official as saying “This looks like a whole big bunch of nothing” regarding Friday’s Pentagon bomb scare that brought local morning traffic to a standstill – triggered by a red 2011 Nissan and a backpack belonging to the suspect.
According to police records, Melaku also appears to have recent history of run-ins with the law involving car vandalism and theft. A man by the same name was arrested on May 26 in Leesburg, Virginia, for allegedly smashing windows and stealing property from 27 cars.
Lance Corporal Melaku was taken into custody at Arlington National Cemetery early Friday morning suspected of carrying bomb making materials, including what was believed to be ammonium nitrate, and pro-al Qaeda literature. The FBI, however, said no explosives were found in the car or bag and that the al Qaeda reference was mostly notes for a financial class.
The official also told The Washington Post that the agencies involved — including FBI’s Washington Field Office, United States Park Police, Pentagon Force Protection Agency, Ft. Myer Police, Arlington County Police Department and Arlington County Fire Department — were appropriately responding in high alert mode. “With what’s been going on in the world lately and what he said, unfortunately this is what we have to do,” the official said. “You have to go to Defcon 1 and then work your way back down to make sure…I’m sure people were upset sitting in traffic, but that’s the price you pay living in the nation’s capital.”
Authorities searched Melaku’s home located at the Autumn Chase development in Fairfax County and found nothing that would raise public safety concerns.
“We went into a residence … on the public safety provision to confirm [there were] no hazards. There is no public safety hazard at this time,” Andrew C. Ames, an FBI spokesman, said.
As to the contents of his backpack: “It didn’t burn, didn’t blow up, didn’t do anything,” an official with the FBI told The Washington Post. “We’re not certain what the materials were, but it wasn’t anything that was going to cause an explosion or even a fire.”
According to ABC News: “Sources also said there were pro-al Qaeda statements found in a notebook that contained mostly notes for a financial class. There was also was a page containing words “al qaeda,” “Taliban rules,” “mujahidin” and “defeated coalition forces.”
Melaku, a resident of Alexandria, has not been charged in the Pentagon incident, but faces four counts of grand larceny in connection with the series of car vandalism incidents in Leesburg.
Melaku is a naturalized American citizen. According to the FBI, he serves as “a Marine Corps reservist Lance Cpl and a motor vehicle operator with Combat Engineer Support Company, 4th Combat Engineer Battalion, 4th Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve. He has previously been awarded the National Defense Service Medal and the Selected Marine Corps Reserve Medal. He has not deployed overseas.”
Per The Washington Post: “The incident began about 1:30 a.m. when police found [Yonathan Melaku] at Arlington Cemetery, said Brenda Heck, a counterterrorism official for the FBI’s Washington field office. He fled officers, but was eventually taken into custody. Cemetery visiting hours are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Heck said the man’s backpack and behavior initially aroused concern. The sack contained items in bags, which initially appeared suspicious, Heck said. The man also refused to cooperate with officers and, after an interview, they decided it was important to find his car, Heck said. Arlington County police found the red 2011 Nissan off Washington Boulevard near the Pentagon shortly before the morning commute began, according to Heck. The investigation closed Routes 27 and 110, all ramps to and from Interstate 395 near the Pentagon and eastbound Interstate 66 to Route 110. The Pentagon remained open.”
“He’s a pretty normal person,” said Dagnachew Bizuwerk, an 11-year-old Ethiopian boy who lives across the street from Melaku’s family, speaking to reporters about Yonathan’s father who works as a taxi driver . “He was a person that doesn’t really talk a lot, a quiet man, doesn’t say much.”
—- Photo credit: Yonathan Melaku in a booking photo from an arrest in May. (Leesburg Police Department/Reuters/May 26, 2011)
New York (Tadias) – The ash cloud from the Eritrean volcano that erupted earlier this week has temporarily rendered parts of East Africa’s air space unsafe for commercial jets to fly.
More airline companies have followed Ethiopian and Lufthansa in announcing further suspensions of flights to the region.
According to BBC, Kenya Airways said it was no longer flying on the Ethiopia-Djibouti route and Dubai’s Emirates airline said it had canceled flights to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
Both Ethiopian Airlines and Lufthansa announced on Tuesday that some of their flights have been canceled.
“Due to the volcanic eruption that resulted in ash cloud, Ethiopian flights to Northern Ethiopia, Khartoum and Djibouti are currently affected,” Ethiopian Airlines said in a statement via its website.
According to Lufthansa’s website, flights from Frankfurt to Addis Ababa have been interrupted.
Turkish Airlines made similar announcement on Tuesday, listing cancellations of several destinations to East Africa – including Istanbul-Addis Ababa, Istanbul-Khartoum, Istanbul-Entebbe, Istanbul-Nairobi, Dar Es Salaam-Nairobi, Nairobi-Istanbul.
Sudan Tribune reports that the low-cost carrier Fly Dubai has also suspended service to the Ethiopian capital.
“We are closely monitoring” the situation, Getachew Tesfa, a spokesman for Ethiopian Airlines, told Bloomberg News. “As things get better we are ready to operate. All other flights are operating.”
EAL advised it’s customers to contact its ticket offices or their travel agents about the status of their flights, especially to the named destinations.
The long-dormant volcano erupted in the early hours of Monday morning in Eritrea, spewing ash cloud across East Africa, causing airlines to brace for air travel disruptions, and forcing U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to shorten her visit in Ethiopia.
Above:Initial reports from news agencies and the Volcanic Ash Advisory Center in Toulouse, France, proclaimed the eruption to be occurring at Dubbi, a volcano further south. But later reports from volcanologists, field scientists, and the satellite image above appear to confirm the eruption at Nabro. There are no historical reports of eruptions at Nabro before this. (NASA satellite image on June 13, 2011)
The independent earthquake monitoring website Earthquake-Report.com notes: “During the late afternoon and evening of June 12, 2011, a series of moderate earthquakes struck the Afambo, Eritrea area. The moderate earthquakes were followed by 2 strong 5.7 earthquakes.”
“Charts on the website of the France-based Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC) showed the eruption throwing an ash cloud 13.5 km (8.4 miles) up — a potential blight on airlines,” Reuters reported.
The news agency said Satellite images obtained by VAAC showed the cloud was moving towards Saudi Arabia.
Per BBC: “Atalay Ayele of the Geophysical Observatory Centre of Ethiopia’s Addis Ababa University said the size of the ash cloud was decreasing.”
“The ash’s direction and its intensity were very high on Sunday, but… the Modis [Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer] satellite shows a weakening,” he said.
— Video : Quake TV – This video was recorded just before [Quake TV] received the official notification from the Eritrean government that nobody was seriously injured in the explosion and eruption. It gives a better impression of the whole story.
Video: Quake TV – This is a video report explaining events [on June 13, 2011] in and around the Nabro volcano in Eritrea.
Video : Quake-TV – This is a 9 second Eumetsat weather satellite image series showing the eruption plume of the volcano in RGB color.
New York (Tadias) – During her recent trip to Ethiopia, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, focused on regional issues, visiting the African Union (AU) headquarters and meeting with AU Chairperson Jean Ping, in addition to bilateral meetings with Ethiopian officials, including Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
In a speech delivered at the African Union in Addis Ababa on Monday – prior to her hurried departure from the country due to a volcanic eruption in neighboring Eritrea – Clinton issued a warning to the continent’s leaders, reminding them to take note of fast-moving developments in North Africa and the Middle East.
Below is the video and full-text of Secretary Clinton’s Addis Ababa speech. Click here to view photos of her travel to Ethiopia.
Watch:
Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
June 13, 2011
SECRETARY CLINTON: Good afternoon. It is a great honor to join you here in Addis Ababa and to address the African Union. I want to thank Chairperson Ping, members of the African Union Commission, ambassadors to the AU, representatives of United Nations agencies, and, most of all, representatives of the nations and people of Africa. Thank you for the opportunity to be here with you. It is good to be back in Africa, and it is a singular honor to address this body.
During the past few days, I have traveled to Zambia, Tanzania, and now Ethiopia, meeting with leaders and citizens who are rising to meet challenges of all kinds with creativity, courage, and skill. And I am pleased to come to the African Union today as the first United States Secretary of State to address you, because I believe that in the 21st century, solving our greatest challenges cannot be the work only of individuals or individual nations. These challenges require communities of nations and peoples working together in alliances, partnerships, and institutions like the African Union.
Consider what it takes to solve global challenges, like climate change or terrorism, or regional ones, like the African Union’s work in Sudan and Somalia. Your efforts to end the brutal campaign of the Lord’s Resistance Army, your push to create a green revolution for Africa that drives down hunger and poverty, the challenge of helping refugees displaced by conflict, the fight against transnational crimes like piracy and trafficking: These are diplomatic and development challenges of enormous complexity. But institutions like this make it easier for us to address them, by helping nations turn common interests into common actions, by encouraging coalition building and effective compromising, by integrating emerging nations into a global community with clear obligations and expectations.
That is why, as Secretary of State, I have emphasized the work of regional institutions throughout the world, in Latin America, in Asia, in Europe, and in Africa. Now, regional institutions, of course, may differ, but increasingly they are called upon to be problem solvers and to deliver concrete results that produce positive change in people’s lives.
To solve the problems confronting Africa and the world, we need the African Union. We also need Africa’s sub-regional institutions, all of whom must help lead the way. Because the results you will achieve will shape the future, first and foremost, of course, for the people of Africa, but also for the people of my country, and indeed for people everywhere because what happens in Africa has global impact. Economic growth here spurs economic growth elsewhere. Breakthroughs in health research here can save and improve lives in other lands. And peace established here makes the world more secure.
So the United States seeks new and dynamic partnerships with African peoples, nations, and institutions. We want to help you accelerate the advances that are underway in many places and collaborate with you to reverse the dangerous trends and encourage political, economic, and social progress.
Today, I’d like briefly to discuss three areas, which are areas of emphasis for you and for us and where I think we can make particular progress through regional institutions like the AU. They are democracy, economic growth, and peace and security. These are, of course, the core areas of focus for the African Union, and that’s for a reason. All three are critical for a thriving region. All three must be the work both of individual nations and communities of nations. And all three present challenges, opportunities, and responsibilities we must address together.
First, democracy. Let me begin by saying this is an exciting time for African democracy. More than half the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have embraced democratic, constitutional, multi-party rule. Now, some, like Botswana, Ghana, and Tanzania, have spent decades building strong institutions and a tradition of peaceful, democratic transitions. (Interruption to audio.) When things like this happen, you just keep going. (Laughter.) (Applause.) Now, those countries that I mentioned are models, not only for their neighbors, but increasingly for countries everywhere.
Other African nations have been also making important advances. In Nigeria, President Jonathan was inaugurated 15 days ago after what many have called the fairest election in Nigeria’s recent history. Benin and Malawi both held successful elections this spring, building on previous successful multiparty contests. Kenya’s democracy got a boost from last year’s referendum on its new constitution. The vote took place without violence, and the constitution, which includes a bill of rights and limits on executive power, passed by a large margin. Niger and Guinea, both of which endured recent military coups, held successful elections in the past year. And in Cote d’Ivoire, the crisis that followed the 2010 elections was finally resolved two months ago with the help of the AU, and the elected winner is now serving as president.
These are just a few examples of Africa’s recent democratic gains. A complete list would fill all the time we have today. In several nations, the institutions of democracy are becoming stronger. There are freer medias, justice systems that administer justice equally, and impartially, honest legislatures, vibrant civil societies.
Now, much of the credit for these hard-won achievements rightly belongs to the people and leaders of these countries who have passionately and persistently, sometimes at great risk to themselves, demanded that their leaders protect the rule of law, honor election results, uphold rights and freedoms. But credit is also due to the African Union, which has prohibited new leaders who have come to power through military rule and coups from being seated in the organization. The AU and Africa’s other regional institutions have also played a pivotal role in ending crises and creating the conditions for successful, democratic transitions, with the AU’s work to monitor elections being an especially important contribution.
But, even as we celebrate this progress, we do know that too many people in Africa still live under longstanding rulers, men who care too much about the longevity of their reign, and too little about the legacy that should be built for their country’s future. Some even claim to believe in democracy – democracy defined as one election, one time. (Laughter.) (Applause.)
Now, this approach to governing is being rejected by countries on this continent and beyond. Consider the changes that have recently swept through North Africa and the Middle East. After years of living under dictatorships, people have demanded new leadership; in places where their voices have long been silenced, they are exercising their right to speak, often at the top of their lungs. In places where jobs are scarce and a tiny elite prospers while most of the population struggles, people – especially young people – are channeling their frustration into social, economic, and political change.
Their message is clear to us all: The status quo is broken; the old ways of governing are no longer acceptable; it is time for leaders to lead with accountability, treat their people with dignity, respect their rights, and deliver economic opportunity. And if they will not, then it is time for them to go.
Every country in the world stands to learn from these democracy movements, but this wave of activism, which came to be known as the Arab Spring, has particular significance for leaders in Africa and elsewhere who hold on to power at all costs, who suppress dissent, who enrich themselves and their supporters at the expense of their own people. To those leaders our message must be clear: Rise to this historic occasion; show leadership by embracing a true path that honors your people’s aspirations; create a future that your young people will believe in, defend, and help build. Because, if you do not – if you believe that the freedoms and opportunities that we speak about as universal should not be shared by your own people, men and women equally, or if you do not desire to help your own people work and live with dignity, you are on the wrong side of history, and time will prove that.
The United States pledges its support for those African nations that are committed to doing the difficult but rewarding work of building a free, peaceful, and prosperous future. And we look to institutions like the African Union, that are dedicated to democracy and good governance, to continue to encourage countries to walk that path or risk isolating themselves further.
Now, of course, creating the conditions that allow people and communities to flourish in a democracy cannot simply be a matter of holding elections; they are a necessary but not sufficient condition. Good governance requires free, fair, and transparent elections, a free media, independent judiciaries, and the protection of minorities. And democracy must also deliver results for people by providing economic opportunity, jobs, and a rising standard of living.
Now, here, again, the map of Africa is lit up with success stories. Six of the world’s 10 fastest growing economies in the last decade are in Sub-Saharan Africa, and that percentage is expected to grow in the next five years. At a time when investors everywhere are hunting for promising new markets and worthy new ventures, Africa is attracting attention from all corners.
But a prosperous future is not guaranteed. Several of Africa’s highest performing economies are dependent on a single industry or a single export, often a commodity, which we know can have both good and bad consequences. It can discourage the rise of new industries and the jobs that come with them, and it can concentrate a nation’s wealth among a privileged few. Meanwhile, even while growth rates skyrocket in some countries, in others they are rising too slowly and it can take too long for growth on paper to translate into jobs that are spread across a country. But it is this desire that is especially urgent among the youth of Africa that cannot be ignored.
When we saw the uprisings first in Tunisia and then in Egypt, they were about both political change and economic change. Too many young people said they had studied, they had worked hard. The tragic story of the young vegetable vendor who finally, in great frustration – because no matter how hard he tried, a corrupt regime would not give him the chance to have the sweat of his brow translated into economic benefits for himself and his family. More than 40 percent of the people living in Africa are under the age of 15. It rises to nearly two thirds if we look at under the age of 30. These young people are all coming of age at once and they are all connected. There are no more secrets because of social media, because that incredible technology can inform a young person in a rural area, where there are no roads, but there are cell phones, what is going on in his capital or in neighboring countries.
Creating jobs and opportunity for these young people is an enormous challenge, and one that I know the African Union is committed to addressing. Your summit later this month is focused on youth empowerment for sustainable development. You are right that young people must be brought into this work themselves, otherwise your hardest working, your best and your brightest, will either be frustrated and act out against the leaders of their country or they will leave to find opportunities in other lands. After all, the people who are speaking out most passionately across Africa are doing so with an eloquence and an advocacy that should, as the older generations, make us proud. These are young people who want to make something of themselves. All they need is the chance to do so.
Countries such as Zambia, Mali, Ghana, and Rwanda have had strong successes with their approaches to development. They have diversified their economies and created jobs across many sectors, which has helped to decrease poverty. They have continuously reinvested in the foundations of their economies, building roads and power plants and expanding access to financial services so more people can start or grow businesses. Based on lessons we’ve learned from our work around the world, the United States wants to deepen our partnerships with countries that take a broad-based, inclusive, sustainable approach to growth.
Now, I will be the first to admit that too much of our development work in the past provided only temporary aid and not the foundation for lasting change that helps people permanently improve their lives and communities. But the Obama Administration is taking a different approach. Our goal is to help countries’ economies grow over time so they can meet their own needs. Ultimately, we believe that the most effective development programs are the ones that put themselves out of business because they spark economic activity, they help create strong institutions, they nourish a private sector that, unleashed, will create more jobs.
And at the same time, we are asking our partners to do their part. How? Increased transparency, strengthen tax systems, fight corruption. Every bribe paid to a customs official or a government employee represents a hidden tax on the cost of doing business and a drag on economic growth. We are making this a priority in our diplomatic engagement, and we look to our partners to take concrete actions to stop corruption. One of the possible benefits of technology is doing what’s called electronic government, e-government, putting government services online so you don’t have to go through so many hands to get that permit to start a business. And we are encouraging and will work with countries interested in pursuing that kind of opportunity.
We’re also putting a new emphasis on trade. I spoke about this a few days ago at the AGOA Forum in Lusaka. During the past decade, Africa’s non-oil exports to the United States quadrupled, and we’ve only begun to tap the potential. We can and we will trade much more with each other. In fact, we are establishing, with a $120 million commitment over the next four years, trade hubs to help businesses write business plans; to learn how to market their products; to get the kind of technical advice that would not be affordable for a small or medium-sized business.
Trade should not only, however, increase across the ocean or the sea to Europe and the United States. Trade has to increase across this continent. There is less trade among the countries within Sub-Saharan Africa than within any other region in the world, and yet there are consumers and there are producers, but there are barriers – tariff barriers, non-tariff barriers, longstanding suspicions that have to be overcome in order to take advantage of the economic engine that Sub-Saharan Africa can be.
I commend those countries and institutions working to accelerate economic integration, such as the East African Community. And last year, the United States became the first country to nominate an ambassador to the EAC, and we are pursuing a partnership to help build a customs union and a common market. And we applaud the efforts that began with the meeting in South Africa, last week, to discuss a tripartite free trade agreement that will lower trade barriers across dozens of countries.
And the vision of an African common market is worth pursuing. This approach is reflected in our Millennium Challenge Compacts, which form partnerships with developing countries devoted to good governance, economic freedom, and investing in one’s citizens. You can see it in our Partnerships for Growth Program: We picked four countries in the world that we thought could put all the pieces together, and two of them are in Africa, Tanzania and Ghana. These nations have made strong commitments to democracy, to their own development progress, and we’re stepping up our economic relations with these top performers.
Another example of our new approach is our Feed the Future food security initiative. We’re investing $3.5 billion in 20 focus countries, including 12 in Africa, to revitalize agricultural sectors so you can increase food production and availability, raise your farmers’ incomes, decrease hunger and under-nutrition. And through the Feed the Future, we are supporting the AU’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program, which, we think, has laid the foundation for more effective agricultural policies across the continent. By investing in agriculture and strengthening nations’ food security, we will see economies grow and stability increase.
There’s another important element of sustainable economic development, and that is improvements in health. Right now, several African countries are making great strides in bringing life-saving health interventions to more of their people. Zambia has significantly reduced mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Nigeria has made great progress in fighting polio through renewed vaccination efforts. And Ethiopia has mobilized an army of 30,000 health workers to bring a basic package of care to remote regions. We are backing these kinds of improvements through our Global Health Initiative, which supports country-led programs and helps countries unite separate health programs into one sustainable health system.
So we are combining our efforts through PEPFAR, through AID, through CDC, and other U.S. Government approaches, because we think health is a critical element of a nation’s security. When epidemics are prevented from occurring or ended or controlled quickly, when people can get life-saving care when they need it and return to their jobs and their lives, families are stronger, communities are stronger, and nations are stronger.
And finally, when it comes to economic opportunity and development, we must empower the continent’s women. The women of Africa are the hardest working women in the world. And so often – (applause) – so often what they do is not included in the formal economy, it is not measured in the GDP. And yet, if all the women in Africa, from Cairo to Cape Town, decided they would stop working for a week, the economies of Africa would collapse. (Applause.)
So let’s include half the population. Let’s treat them with dignity. Let’s give them the right and responsibility to make a contribution to the 21st century of African growth and progress. And the United States will be your partner, because we have seen what a difference it makes when women are educated, when they have access to health care, when they can start businesses, when they can get credit, when they can help support their families. So let us make sure that that remains front and center in the work we do together.
And finally, let me address peace and security. In recent years, a quiet storyline has emerged out of the security challenges that have developed on the continent. More and more, the African Union and Africa’s sub-regional organizations and African states, working alone or in concert, are taking the lead in solving Africa’s crises. In Somalia, AMISOM, the African Union’s peacekeeping mission, thanks to heroic efforts by Ugandan and Burundian soldiers, has helped the Transitional Federal Government make remarkable security gains in Mogadishu over the past couple of months. Al-Shabaab, an affiliate of al-Qaida, is finally on the defensive, and we see that because they are increasingly resorting to suicide bombers and the targeting of civilians, a sign of desperation.
Now, we expect Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government to create political and economic progress to match AMISOM’s security progress. It cannot continue operating the way it has in the past. We look to the TFG to resolve their internal divisions and improve the lives of the millions of Somalis who continue to suffer, and we know that the AU will be their partner in doing so.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, we remain concerned about the continued violence against women and girls and the activities of armed groups in the eastern region of the country. Every effort by the AU and UN will be necessary to help the DRC respond to these continuing security crises.
And then there is the situation in Sudan: South Sudan is less than one month away from becoming the world’s newest state. And the governments of Sudan and South Sudan have made laudable progress in implementing certain provisions of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. But recent developments along the border, particularly in the Abyei region, are deeply troubling. The parties must resolve the remaining CPA issues peacefully through negotiations, not violence. And again, the African Union has played a critical role in facilitating negotiations in Sudan. And I also want to thank the prime minister of Ethiopia, our host country, for everything he has done and is doing as we speak today.
I will have the opportunity later this evening to meet with representatives from both the North and South to add my voice and that of President Obama and my government to the chorus of voices saying the same thing: Resolve your differences, settle the problem in Darfur. And we got some good news out of Doha today that we hope will translate into real progress. But come together and make it possible for both of these countries to have peaceful, prosperous futures.
And there is, of course, another country whose security matters to all of us, and that is Libya. Libya has been the subject of many of our discussions during the past few months. And I believe there is much on which we can agree. There is little question that the kind of activities that, unfortunately, have affected the Libyan people for more than 40 years run against the tide of history. And there is little question that despite having the highest nominal GDP in Africa, thanks to oil, Libya’s wealth was too concentrated within Qadhafi’s circle.
But of course, all the countries here are not in agreement about the steps that the international community, under the United Nations Security Council, have taken in Libya up to this point. Having looked at the information available, the Security Council, including the three African members, supported a UN mandate to protect civilians, prevent slaughter, and create conditions for a transition to a better future for the Libyan people themselves.
Now, I know there are some who still believe that the actions of the UN and NATO were not called for. And I know it’s true that over many years Mr. Qadhafi played a major role in providing financial support for many African nations and institutions, including the African Union. But it has become clearer by the day that he has lost his legitimacy to rule, and we are long past time when he can or should remain in power.
So I hope and believe that while we may disagree about some of what has brought us to this place, we can reach agreement about what must happen now. For as long as Mr. Qadhafi remains in Libya, the people of Libya will be in danger, refugee flows by the thousands will continue out of Libya, regional instability will likely increase, and Libya’s neighbors will bear more and more of the consequences. None of this is acceptable, and Qadhafi must leave power.
I urge all African states to call for a genuine ceasefire and to call for Qadhafi to step aside. I also urge you to suspend the operations of Qadhafi’s embassies in your countries, to expel pro-Qadhafi diplomats, and to increase contact and support for the Transitional National Council. Your words and your actions could make the difference in bringing this situation to finally close and allowing the people of Libya, on an inclusive basis, in a unified Libya, to get to work writing a constitution and rebuilding their country. The world needs the African Union to lead. The African Union can help guide Libya through the transition you described in your organization’s own statements, a transition to a new government based on democracy, economic opportunity, and security.
As we look to the future, we want to work with the African Union not only to react to conflicts and crises but to get ahead of them, to work together on a positive agenda that will stop crises before they start. And I think we can find many areas for collaboration.
On youth engagement, which is a priority for both the AU and President Obama, we seek to pursue a specific work plan with you. On democracy and good governance we already work together to monitor elections across Africa. Now we need to do more to help countries strengthen democratic institutions. On economic growth and trade the AU plays a major role in building Africa’s sub-regional architecture, and we stand ready to support you.
So I want to commend Africa’s institutions for what you have already accomplished, and in some cases, just a few years after your creation. And I will pledge my country’s support as you continue this work. Whether you seek to deepen the integration among your members, improve coordination, or reform your operations, we will be with you.
A good example that the chairman mentioned is what we can offer in the work we are doing to help reform the UN’s support for the African Union here in Addis Ababa. The UN and the African Union asked the United States to identify ways their work together could become more effective and strategic. We said yes, and now there are people at the State Department focused on this issue working closely with many of you in this room.
And as has already been announced, we are rejoining the UN Economic Commission for Africa, another sign of our commitment to engaging with Africa’s regional institutions. (Applause.)
On this trip to Africa, I am reminded every hour that for every challenge now facing Africa, a solution can be found somewhere in Africa. (Applause.) You do not have to look far afield to see political, economic, and social success.
Earlier I mentioned the Arab Spring, a name that suggests the blossoming of something new. And what is now blooming across the Arab states has already taken root in many African nations, commitment to democracy, recognition of human rights, investment in economic health and education programs, and an emphasis on meeting the needs of our young people.
Across this continent the work is underway, but there is a long season ahead. So I urge you not to be impatient; do not grow weary while doing good. Keep showing leadership. Keep building a path to a future worthy of the talents and aspirations of the young men and women of Africa. The United States believes deeply in these values. We believe passionately in the promise and potential of pluralistic democracies, of free markets. We welcome to our shores immigrants from every country represented here, and we can see the success stories that so many of them have built in the United States. But I have never met an immigrant from Africa who has not said he or she wished they could have done the very same in their own country, among their own people, close to their family, eating the food, smelling the flowers, seeing the sights that are in their blood. I want to see that for Africa, where people are coming home to Africa because this is where opportunity for the future resides.
New York (Tadias) – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday kicked off a three-nation diplomatic tour of Africa, which includes stops in Zambia, Tanzania and Ethiopia.
Clinton began her trip on June 10 in Lusaka, Zambia, where she delivered closing remarks at the African Growth and Opportunity Act Forum – which has been a centerpiece of U.S. trade, aid, and investment policy in Sub-Saharan Africa for the past decade. Also known as AGOA, the act was signed into law in 2000 by former President Bill Clinton, to provide eligible countries in Sub-Saharan Africa duty and quota free access to U.S. markets for certain African-made goods, particularly textiles and apparels.
“While in Zambia, she also met with Zambian President Rupiah Banda as well as participated in events to highlight U.S. Government initiatives,” the State Department said in a statement.
“From there, Secretary Clinton travels to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to meet with Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete and Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. In Tanzania, she will highlight our successful bilateral engagement including a host of programs including Feed the Future (FTF). In Ethiopia, Secretary Clinton will focus on regional issues, visiting the African Union (AU) headquarters and meeting with AU Chairperson Jean Ping, in addition to bilateral meetings. She will also meet with civil society to draw attention to their innovative and enterprising work.”
— Photo: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Zambia during an interview with Africa 360, a weekly TV current affairs program.
Video: Closing Remarks at 2011 African Growth and Opportunity Forum
—- Clinton’s Africa Trip to Include Ethiopia Visit
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Updated: Wednesday, June 1, 2011
New York (Tadias) – The State Department has announced that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be visiting Ethiopia at the end of next week as part of her upcoming Middle East and Africa diplomatic tour.
“In Ethiopia, Secretary Clinton will focus on regional issues, visiting the African Union (AU) headquarters and meeting with AU Chairperson Jean Ping, in addition to bilateral meetings,” Clinton’s Deputy Spokesperson Mark C. Toner said in a statement. “She will also meet with civil society to draw attention to their innovative and enterprising work.”
According to Mr. Toner, Clinton’s trip will begin on June 9th in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) where she will attend the meeting of the Libya Contact Group, which was formed back in March at an international ministerial conference in London and includes the nations of France, Britain, United States, Italy, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan, as well representatives of the Arab League, the African Union and the United Nations.
Ms. Clinton will then head to Lusaka, Zambia, on June 10th for the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Ministerial Forum. “She will showcase this centerpiece of our trade policy with Africa and engage with government, private sector, and civil society representatives from 37 different countries,” Toner said. “While in Zambia, she will also meet with Zambian President Rupiah Banda and will be participating in events to highlight U.S. government initiatives.”
Per the Deputy Spokesperson: “From there, Secretary Clinton will travel to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to meet with Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete and Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. In Tanzania, she will highlight our successful bilateral engagement including a host of programs [such as] Feed the Future (FTF).”
The press statement did not specify Clinton’s date of arrival in Ethiopia.
Above:Ethiopian women accomplished a 1-2-3 sweep in the
Ottawa Marathon Sunday. (Post-race photo: Tune & Keneni)
Tadias Magazine
By Jason Jett
Updated: Monday, May 30, 2011
Ottawa (Tadias) — Ethiopian runners narrowly missed a sweep of prize-money races at the 37th edition of the Ottawa Race Weekend, the largest running event in Canada.
Deriba Merga easily beat other male competitors in the feature Ottawa 10K on Saturday, but lost to Dire Tune in a gender competition in which elite women were given a three-minute, 44-second (3:44) head start. Both received $6,000 for winning their respective divisions, with Tune claiming the $4,000 bonus of the gender challenge.
Merga, the 2009 Boston Marathon winner, was on world-record pace through four kilometers but moderated somewhat in the latter stages to finish in 28:30. Tune, the 2008 marathon winner in Boston, fended-off his approach by running 31:43.
Ethiopian women accomplished a 1-2-3 sweep in the Ottawa Marathon on Sunday, while Ethiopian Dereje Abera Ali finished less than a second behind winner Laban Moiben of Kenya in the men’s field.
Ali later said he could have overtaken Moiben had he not paused at a chip-timing mat extended across the roadway some 50 yards from the finish line.
“I thought that was the finish line,” he said of the mat, shaking his head in disappointment after viewing a video replay of the marathon finish. Moiben’s winning time was 2:10:17.9. Ali finished in 2:10:18:8. Dino Sefir Kemal of Ethiopia was third in 2:10:57.5.
Kebebush Haile Lema won the women’s division of the marathon in 2:32:14, followed by Biruktawit Eshetu Degefa in 2:33:14 and Radiya Adilo Roba in 2:36:58. Lema received a $20,000 payout, with Degefa garnering $12,000 as the runner-up and Roba taking $10,000 for finishing third.
Most of the event’s drama occurred Saturday evening, when the stars came out amid threatening skies and humid conditions that neutralized a new course intended to produce fast times.
Merga had run 27:24 in 2009 to win and set a record over the old course. Last year he finished third in 28:41 to his designated pacemaker, Lelisa Desisa, and Moroccan Mohamed El Hachimi.
This year Merga was the lone Ethiopian elite male in the 10K field, and he had little competition in mostly running alone and beginning to overtake elite women just beyond five kilometers.
Tune ran an evenly paced race and gradually separated from the women’s elite field that included 2004 Olympian Ejegayehu Dibaba, who finished third in 32:57. Second was Samira Raif of Morocco in 32:47.
Ethiopia claimed four of the top six women’s 10K spots, with Aziza Aliyu finishing fifth in 33:50 and Alemtsehay Misganaw running 33:57 for sixth-place.
Tune was the lone star at the post-race news conference, as Merga demurred.
“I am very happy I beat the guys,” said Tune. “I really thought they would catch up to me. Somehow, I beat them.”
It was the second time in as many years Tune finished ahead of the top-male.
Dire Tune, flanked by her manager and an interpreter, gives post-race interviews.
Meanwhile, a dejected Merga declined interviews. For nearly 30 minutes after the race he sat with his head in his hands on a concrete slab in the designated elite runners’ area just off the finish line.
When asked what went wrong, Merga said he “expected to catch her” but the humidity made the race tough. The winner of the 10k, but loser of a race-within-the-race, Merga added he may have started too fast.
The next morning at brunch in the hotel that housed elite runners, Merga noted that he has been carrying a lot on his mind the past two weeks.
“Since Wanjiru died, I have been very saddened,” he said, speaking of the late Samuel Wanjiru of Kenya, a runner with whom Merga shared a 2008 Olympic Marathon stage that thrust both into the international spotlight. “He was my best friend, and I miss him. My sympathies go to his wife, mother and children.”
Wanjiru died May 15 in an apparent fall from the balcony of his home in Nayahururu, Kenya following a domestic dispute. Police are continuing an investigation into his death.
The Kenyan prevailed in a captivating, two-man battle with Merga through the streets of Beijing and in front of a worldwide TV audience during the event that cemented the bond between them. Wanjiru won Kenya’s first Olympic marathon gold medal that day, while Merga paid for his intense surges with and against his new friend and faded to a fourth-place finish that kept him off the podium at the medals presentation.
The morning after beginning the Ottawa 10K at world-record pace, Merga only smiled when asked if he had been thinking of his late friend.
“We have the same style,” he said of starting races fast, and doing periodic surges in an effort to break other runners. “He was a good, disciplined athlete. He was very tough.”
“After he died, for two days I cried,” said Merga, reflecting a deep respect between the two runners despite the fierce rivalry of their nations in athletics. “I did not eat. I did not train. I still cry.”
—
More event photos: 37th annual Ottawa Race Weekend (All images courtesy of Jason Jett)
Merga acknowledges support from Radiya Adilo Roba, left with head covering, who finished third in
the marathon Sunday, as local fans take photos with the silent winner and other runners look on.
Dire Tune and Ejegayehu Dibaba Keneni.
Dire Tune approaches the finish line.
Dire Tune, Alemtsehay Misganaw, Deriba Merga and Ejegayehu Dibaba, the morning after doing battle
in the ottawa 10K.
—
About the Author: Jason Jett is a New York based freelance journalist.
—
New York (Tadias) – The Award-winning Ethiopian journalist and independent newspaper Editor Dawit Kebede is the subject of this week’s CNN’s African Voices, which according to the cable news channel “highlights Africa’s most engaging personalities, exploring the lives and passions of people who rarely open themselves up to the camera.”
Dawit Kebede, Founder and Managing Editor of Awramba Times, was one of four journalists who was honored at the Committee to Protect Journalists’ 20th Annual International Press Freedom Awards benefit dinner on the evening of Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010 at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria. He was one of the first journalists to be jailed for reporting on the violence following Ethiopia’s 2005 national elections. He was released two years later by presidential pardon. He continues to live and work in Addis Ababa where he publishes an independent political Amharic newspaper.
Above:Tesfaye Girma will be chasing a new personal record
in Ottawa following his performance at the NYC half-marathon.
Source: The Ottawa Race Weekend
May 18, 2011
Ottawa – The Ottawa Marathon is expected to be a battleground for Kenyan and Ethiopian men and women elite athletes.
Running his debut marathon in Ottawa, 23-year-old Dino Sefir Kemal from Ethiopia comes with impressive race credentials, having placed 12th at the 2011 World Cross-Country Championships and running 59:42 in an early May half-marathon in France.
“With this being my debut marathon, I hope that my recent good form shows off and I win the Ottawa Marathon with a very fast time,” says Sefir.
One of his toughest opponents might be fellow countryman Tesfaye Girma, who will be chasing a new personal best after a breakthrough time of 1:00:38 recorded in the New York half-marathon on March 20.
But a large contingent of Kenyans will give the Ethiopians hot competition. Laban Moiben is returning to Ottawa for his third try at first place, having placed second in Ottawa last year with a finish of 2:09:44. Hosea Rotich is also coming, with an impressive 2:07:24 finish in Paris in 2008. Also in contention is 32-year-old Silas Sang, who posted 1:00:38 in a half-marathon in Lisboa, Portugal in March and boasts a 2:11 personal best time in the marathon distance. Hillary Kimaiyo is returning to Ottawa on a hot streak, with a 2:08:17 marathon finish in March in Torreon Mexico. Kimaiyo has run Ottawa twice – in 2007 (placing fifth with 2:11) and 2010 (placing fourth with 2:10:21). After pacing the London marathon, debut marathoner Jairus Chanchima hopes for his own podium finish. He comes to Ottawa with a fast 1:00:31 personal best in the half-marathon set in 2010.
There should also be a strong competition for the Canadian National championships. Twenty-eight-year-old Derek Nakluski comes to Ottawa with an Around the Bay (Hamilton) first place medal to his credit. Lucas McAneney has a solid 2:23 posted in Mississauga in 2010, and up-and-comer Brandon Laan has a marathon personal best time of 2:23 and a recently posted 1:06 in a half-marathon in New York.
“I expect the race will be a toss-up between Kenyan and Ethiopian runners,” says Manny Rodrigues, Elite Athlete Coordinator, Run Ottawa.
A similar battle is being waged among women marathon athletes.
Ethiopian Elfenesh Alemu is a 2:24 marathoner who has had podium finishes at the Boston and Chicago marathons and placed 4th in the Olympics. After laying low last year with injuries, she’s making a strong come-back.
“After missing all of 2010 with some injuries,” says Elfenesh’s agent, Matt McCarron. “Elfenesh came back to take third at Mumbai this year with 2:29:04 and is looking to improve her season’s best at a spring marathon.”
Fellow Ethiopian Kebebush Haile, 25, will give Alemu strong competition, with an impressive finish time of 2:25:31 in Rome in 2010.
“I hope to improve my personal best in Ottawa this year as I have run there before and I know it is a very good and favorable course,” says Haile, who came in third in the 2008 Ottawa Marathon.
Rounding out the Ethiopian contingent is Goitetom Haftu, placing second in this year’s Rome marathon in 2:26:21.
Among the Kenyan athletes who could overtake the Ethiopians is 26-year-old Irene Mogake, who ran 2:30 in Los Angeles two years ago and was the Commonwealth Games silver medalist in 2010.
Canadian women to watch are 28-year-old Emily Kroshus, who ran Philadelphia in 2005 with 2:43:07, and debut marathoner Lanni Marchant, who ran her half-marathon personal best of 1:15:05 in Detroit last year.
The 2011 Ottawa Race Weekend will take place May 28-29, 2011.
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About the Ottawa Race Weekend The Ottawa Marathon and Ottawa 10K are both designated Silver Label IAAF events by the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF). Run Ottawa, the organization behind the Ottawa Race Weekend, is run by a volunteer Board of Directors, and is dedicated to promoting the sport of running and enhancing the health and well-being of our community by organizing distinctive world-class and local races, and managing an active, membership-based running club.
Haile Gebrselassie sighs, a long deep exhalation of air, as he leans back in his chair and remembers back to a strange few days in New York last November.
The 38-year-old says he still finds it hard to understand his emotional reaction when, running over Queensboro Bridge on the 16th mile of the marathon, he felt his knee give way. Somehow it was more than just his knee, something inside him snapped and, after a 20-year career in which he amassed two Olympic titles, four world titles and 27 world records, the greatest distance runner of all time suddenly decided enough was enough. Right then and there, the Ethiopian announced his retirement from competition. His revelation shocked athletics. Read more.
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Washington, D.C. – The D.C. Attorney General’s Office announced Wednesday that it has launched antitrust probe against the city’s largest owner of gas stations, The Washington Postreports.
As part of a crack down on price gouging at the pump, Attorney General Irvin B. Nathan said he is investigating Capitol Petroleum Group for potential wrongdoing related to the city’s soaring gasoline prices. “Everyone knows that gasoline prices are high,” Nathan said, “and we’re going to do everything we can to bring them down and be sure that it is a competitive market.”
Per The Washington Post: “Capitol Petroleum, based in Springfield, is a regional behemoth, netting $778 million in revenue in 2010, according to its Web site. It “owns, operates or supplies” 164 stations in the D.C. area and 71 stations in New York City. Its primary owner, Eyob “Joe” Mamo, has built the company over nearly 25 years, buying up dozens of service stations in the region — particularly in the past three years. A February Washington City Paper profile of Mamo said the Ethiopian immigrant owned 45 gas stations in the city limits, about half the District’s total, and about one-fourth of the region’s stations.” Read more.
Watch: DC Attorney General Begins Gas Station Probe (WUSA 9)
Related: Joe Mamo: Meet the Guy Who Owns Half of D.C.’s Filling Stations
To hear him tell it, Joe Mamo’s move from Ethiopia to North Dakota in 1981 was accidental.
Mamo’s father, Yenberber Mamo, was a public transit mogul who manufactured buses and ran the first fleet to provide service across Ethiopia. The operation made his father’s Mamo Kacha bus line a household name in the East African country. It provided a nice life for his family. But it rendered him distinctly unpopular with the Marxist junta that ruled Ethiopia between 1974 and 1991. The elder Mamo was jailed two or three times by the regime. Some of his property was confiscated. As his son approached draft age, the patriarch looked for ways to send him overseas.
That’s how Joe, at the age of 13, found himself attending Catholic boarding school in North Dakota.
THE SPRAWLING CITY of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital and home to almost four million people, is not the most obvious location for a flourishing global fashion company. It’s a long way from Los Angeles, where the cool footwear styles created by a young Ethiopian entrepreneur and sold on the internet became an overnight hit with thousands of hip American urbanites. When Bethlehem Alemu created Sole Rebels in 2005, making shoes from worn-out truck tyres in Addis Ababa’s poorest and most disadvantaged area, she became one of the country’s most remarkable international success stories.
Everybody knows about Alemu in Addis. Her commitment to development and trade has made the 30-year-old an inspirational figure at home and abroad. In March, she was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum; this week she joined Archbishop Desmond Tutu as a speaker at the WWF 50th anniversary conference in Switzerland. Her fans include Hillary Clinton and the president of the World Bank. Read more at The Irish Times.
Related: Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu addressing joint World Bank/ United Nations session at The Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries 2011
Above:Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu, Founder and Managing Director of SoleRebels. (Courtesy photo)
Source: Sole Rebels (Press Release)
9 May 2011
Istanbul, Turkey – SoleRebels founder and 2011 World Economic Forum Young Global Leader Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu is set to address The Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries [LDC’s] 2011. This marks a historic first as Bethlehem becomes the first Woman from the African private sector to address this policy forum.
World Bank Managing Director Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala believed that bethlehems proven track as a successful global entrepreneur gave her a very unique position to advise the body .
“I am honored that the managing director has thought to include me in these critical discussions that will shape the way LDC’s trade their way to greater prosperity in the coming decade. I have always believed that increased trade , conducted on fair and equitable terms, is the best opportunity for LDC countries like Ethiopia to achieve widespread prosperity , ” stated Bethlehem.
The UN LDC-IV Special Event, “Aid for Trade for the LDCs: Policy Reform, Effectiveness, and the Private Sector” aims to identify ways in which the World Bank, other multilateral institutions, and bilateral donors might further assist the LDCs with respect to trade facilitation reform and aid for trade effectiveness. Discussions at this panel will inform the new LDC Programme of Action, to be endorsed in Istanbul, for the coming decade. Trade-related policies and goals will figure prominently in this new agenda. To this end the discussions by bethlehems panel will lead to concrete recommendations and consensus vis-à-vis trade facilitation reform and aid effectiveness initiatives as they relate to the broader development agenda for the LDCs.
The roundtable Bethlehem will address is chaired by the World Banks Managing Director and takes place on May 9, 2011 in Istanbul Turkey. It features Senior World Bank economists including the banks Lead Economist John Wilson, who will outline key policy priorities for the LDCs with respect to trade competitiveness and aid effectiveness. Discussion will center on how the Bank and developed countries assist the LDCs in research, data, and operational assistance on the ground in trade projects.
Bethlehem will present her views on opportunities to expand trade in developing countries over the next decade. Her remarks will focus on shedding insight as to policy and reform priorities for the LDCs in terms of trade facilitation and competitiveness based on her own experiences in business and interactions with country governments.
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AMSTERDAM—Seeing high-growth potential in Ethiopia, Heineken NV plans to buy two state-owned breweries for $163 million.
The Dutch brewer said Thursday it has been named preferred bidder for the Bedele and Harar breweries, which it plans to acquire for $85 million and $78 million, respectively.
Heineken, which expects to finalize the deal in the coming weeks, said it will continue to brew local brands such as Bedele, Harar and Hakim Stout, which have a combined market share of 18% in Ethiopia. The breweries have a total capacity of about 15 million gallons a year.
The deal will make Heineken the No. 2 brewer in Ethiopia, after BGI Castel. The unit of closely held French drinks company Groupe Castel has a 50% market share.
Every week CNN International’s African Voices highlights Africa’s most engaging personalities, exploring the lives and passions of people who rarely open themselves up to the camera. This week we profile Bruktawit Tigabu, co-creator of Ethiopian children’s TV show “Tsehai Loves Learning.”
(CNN) — For millions of Ethiopian children, it’s the most cherished moment of their day: a wide-eyed, smiling giraffe hops in front of them, crooning funny songs in a language they can understand.
The beloved sock puppet, known as Tsehai, is the star of a ground-breaking TV show that’s been revolutionizing childhood education in the east African country.
The brainchild of Ethiopian educator Bruktawit Tigabu and her husband Shane Etzenhouser, “Tsehai Loves Learning” is the only children’s TV show in Ethiopia in Amharic, the nation’s official and most widely spoken language. Read more.
President Obama has announced his intent to appoint two World Food Prize laureates to the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development (BIFAD). He has named 2009 World Food Prize Laureate Gebisa Ejeta and 2010 World Food Prize Laureate Jo Luck.
Two other experts with ties to the World Food Prize have have also served on this critical board: 2003 World Food Prize Laureate Catherine Bertini is a past member; and Council of Advisors member Peter McPherson is a past chairman of the board.
Gebisa Ejeta is currently a Professor at Purdue University and serves as the Executive Director of the Purdue Center for Global Food Security. He previously served as Principal Plant Breeder for the International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics assigned to Sudan. Dr. Ejeta serves on the Consortium Board of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research, the Sasakawa Africa Association, and the Chicago Council for Global Affairs Agricultural Development Program. He is a Fellow of the American Association of the Advancement of Sciences, the Crop Science Society of Agronomy, and the American Society of Agronomy. Dr. Ejeta was the recipient of the 2009 World Food Prize. He holds a B.S. in Plant Sciences from Alemaya College of Agriculture in Ethiopia, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Plant Genetics and Breeding from Purdue University.
Jo Luck is President of Heifer International, a global organization working to end hunger and poverty. She previously served as president/CEO of Heifer International beginning in 1992 until 2010. During her academic tenure, she attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where she served on the Executive Committee of the Alumni Advisory Board, and the Harvard Business School’s Executive Education Session on Governing for Nonprofit Excellence. Jo Luck was co-recipient of the 2010 World Food Prize. She holds a B.A. from Lipscomb College and honorary doctorates from several colleges and universities.
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Above:Newspaper landlords in Ethiopia rent out newspapers to
people too poor to buy them. Dozens of readers rent the papers
for up to 30 minutes, looking for news and jobs. (CNN reports.)
Ethiopian owner-musician Zeleke Gessesse will close his club and prepare
to open a new one in his homeland. (Andrew A. Nelles/Chicago Tribune)
April 19, 2011
Chicago – Wild Hare, the Ethiopian owned iconic reggae club in Chicago is preparing to close shop. The owner says he is returning to Ethiopia to open a similar nightspot, the Chicago Tribune reports.
“We came to Chicago as political refugees from Ethiopia – it was a tough time and there was civil war,” says Gessesse, remembering the arduous journey he, a brother and a bandmate endured to get here in 1978 (including several days of trekking through the African desert).
“I think now is a good time to go home and get involved in the transformation of the country.”
Per the newspaper: “Ethiopia, says Gessesse, is now booming economically, its surging population of citizens under age 35 making the place ripe for his planned Wild Hare Ethiopia.”
“There is not a club like this in that country,” says Gessesse, 53.
Alas, without the Wild Hare, there won’t be one in Chicago, either.
“It’s really the only club – aside from maybe Exedus and some offerings here and there – where you can hear reggae on a daily basis,” says Carlos Tortolero, program manager for the Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture. (Tortolero refers to Exedus II, at 3477 N. Clark St., which presents reggae four nights a week).
New York (TADIAS) – “United We Stand, Divided We Fall,” was the theme for the Ethiopian government’s Five-Year Growth and Transformation Plan Convention in Harlem last Saturday. Both government and opposition supporters came out to fill the seats at the convention, while protesters held a demonstration outside.
New York City was one of 14 cities in North America where the Ethiopian Embassy launched the continental tour last week.
From Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles, Ethiopians across the country appeared divided as the events were met by protests in most venues.
“These people over here, they should be ignored,” government supporter, Mehretab Assefa said of the protesting opposition. “It’s like talking to a deaf man because, really, to me, they are irrelevant.”
Government opposition chanted, “Meles is a criminal!” and “Down with EPRDF!” referring to the country’s long-serving Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, and his ruling party, the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front.
Outside of the Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building, the opposition was protesting alleged human rights violations and unfair distribution of wealth. Inside the building, the Ethiopian government was promoting investment from the Ethiopian Diaspora to Ethiopia, to help build its economy.
“There is no opportunity for investment without freedom,” protester Abate Kassah said. “Ethiopia is receiving so much international aid, and yet it’s among the poorest countries in the world.”
Director General of the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange Authority, Ambassador Dr. Addisalem Balema, led the discussion during the convention. Balema said the country’s goal is to become a middle-income country in the next 12 years, although he admits that it is an ambitious plan.
According to the Heritage Foundation 2011 Index of Economic Freedom, Ethiopia rates 144th in the world, in economic freedom. When asked how Ethiopia can expect to grow its economy through private investments and entrepreneurship with such low ratings in economic freedom, Balema cast The Heritage Foundation aside as an agency that was acting as an agitator. He said that the audience should not worry itself with Ethiopia’s ranking in frivolous polls. However, Balema added that Ethiopia might have to change its economic-freedom policies if it wanted to be accepted into the World Trade Organization, as it is currently bidding for enrollment.
Balema added that the government plans to achieve these goals through a variety of efforts: bolstering a currently inefficient national tax collection program; opening Ethiopia’s agricultural economy to large and small foreign business by leasing fertile land and offering tax incentives; and promoting social justice and democratic rule around the country; among other things.
Ethiopia’s low-lease costs and tax incentives for fertile land in the country are attracting big businesses around the world to farm their products in Ethiopia. News reports say that farmers in Gambella, in southwestern Ethiopia, are being forced off of their property to make way for these large companies.
“As we speak, now, they are jailing people, they are jamming radios, they are jamming Internet,” protester Tedla Asfaw said. “Investment in a society where you have no right? What kind of investment is that? That is a joke!”
When asked of the reports of social injustices by forcing local farmers to leave their livelihoods to accommodate large foreign companies, Balema replied that “not one farmer” has been involuntarily moved off of their land. He assured the audience not to trust the reports. Balema added that the only land that is being leased to foreign companies is unsettled. It doesn’t make any sense for the Ethiopian economy to not use unsettled, fertile land, Balema said.
According to Darryl Vhugen, a senior attorney and land tenure specialist with Landesa, a non-profit organization that partners with governments to secure land rights to the rural poor, just because a farmer doesn’t have documented rights to a property, it doesn’t mean, in many developing countries, that they don’t have legitimate, longstanding rights to the land.
According to Vhugen there would be a greater chance of long-term agricultural, economical and social success if governments incorporate local farmers into land deals with the foreign investors. His argument is that in most cases small farms are more productive than large farms and if the small farmers are involved in the negotiations, they are less likely to cause unrest in the region.
In so many words, Vhugen is saying, “United You Stand, Divided You Fall.”
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About the Author: Tesfaye Negussie is an Ethiopian-American journalist and videographer. He has freelanced for NBC’s TheGrio.com, The Washington Post, PBS, NPR, The Village Voice, and several other media outlets. He holds a Masters degree in broadcast journalism from Columbia University. He is currently the Co-Founder and Executive Producer of United Nile Media.
Editors’ Note: Tesfaye Negussie attended the meeting in Harlem and participated in the question and answer session. He was not allowed to bring recording devices such as video camera or audio recorder inside the meeting. As a result, the following video was shot outside the convention and shows only the protesters.
Above:Tigist Tufa, left, and Alemteshay Misganaw after their
third- and fourth-place finishes in the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile.
Tadias Magazine
By Jason Jett
Published: Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Washington, D.C. (Tadias) – Ethiopian runners demonstrated swagger aplenty at major road races across the U.S. last weekend.
“Yes, I expected to win,” Lelisa Desisa said to a question about his confidence level after winning the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run here Sunday morning, some 24 hours following a victory at the Cooper River Bridge Run in Charleston, S. C. “He wants to compete all the time,” said Haddis Tafari in translating for Desisa immediately after the Sunday morning race that started and finished beside the Washington Monument as part of the nation’s capital annual Cherry Blossom Festival. When asked were he fatigued, Desisa nonchalantly replied “a little bit,” then added it is not too tiring to run back-to-back races when you win both.
“I am happy,” he said smiling
Tigist Tufa of Ethiopia completed the same back-to back challenge in the women’s division of the two events, finishing third in both Washington and Charleston.
Sharwege Alene of Ethiopia won the women’s race of the Cooper River Bridge 10K in 33:06. “I came here to win, and that’s what I did,” Alene told reporters after the race.
Finishing two seconds behind Alene was Janet Cherobon Bawcom, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Kenya. Tufa’s time was 34:02 and Aziza Aliyu of Ethiopia was fourth in 34:29. Four-time Boston Marathon winner Catherine Ndereba of Kenya finished fifth in 34:34.
Kenyan Julliah Tinega won the women’s division at the Cherry Blossom, with countrywoman Risper Gesabwa a second back at 54:03. Tufa was third in 54:13 and Alemtsehay Misganaw of Ethiopia was fourth in 55:17.
Misganaw also doubled during the weekend, finishing fifth in 33:52 at the Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10K in Richmond, Va.
Four Ethiopian men finished in the Top 10 of that Saturday-morning event, won by Julius Kojo of Kenya in 29:02. Tesfaye Dube finished second in 29:07 and Abiyot Endale was third in 29:18. Derese Deniboa was eighth in 29:43, and Ketema Nigusse finished ninth in 29:43.
Lelisa Desisa, Allan Kiprono, Ridouane Harroufi, Lani Kiplagat, Macdonard Odara, Tesfaye Sendeku, Stephen Muange, Simon Cheprot, Joseph Boit and Girma Tola with their awards at the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run.
A victorious Lelisa Desisa celebrates with Girma Tola, left, and Derese Deniboa.
From left: Julliah Tinega, Risper Gesabwa, Tigist Tufa, Alemtsehay Misganaw, Claire Hallissey, Kelly Jaske, Michelle Miller and Sharon Lemberger with their awards.
Tesfaye Dube finishing second in the Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10K in Richmond, VA.
In California, Ethiopians swept the Carlsbad 5000 — a 5k event that in past years featured Meseret Defar, Tirunesh Dibaba and Markos Geneti and which perennially is dominated by runners from Ethiopia and Kenya.
Dejan Gebremeskel won the competition in 13:11, defeating Eluid Kipchoge of Kenya by three seconds. The competitors swapped finishing positions from a year ago, when the Ethiopian was runner-up.
Aheza Kiros (15:13) claimed the women’s victory by a second over Kenya’s Pauling Korikwiang. Kiros also won the event in 2009, and finished second to Defar last year.
Overall some 8,500 runners participated in Carlsbad, a record 41,314 registered in Richmond, all 15,000 available slots were filled in the 10-mile event and another 1,000 for a 5K run-walk here at the Cherry Blossom, and there were more than 34,690 finishers in Charleston.
Desisa won the South Carolina competition with a decisive kick for a two-second gap over Kenyan Simon Ndrangu in 28:59. Ethiopia’s Bado Worku Merdessa was third in 29:15, the same time as fourth-place finisher Ezkyas Sisay — yet another runner who competed in two races in two days along the East Coast.
The weekend’s focus was on Washington, were Desisa broke the course record by two seconds with his 45:36 finish. The race was virtually an African championship event, with the Top 12 comprised of six Kenyans, five Ethiopians and a Moroccan.
In addition to Desisa, for Ethiopia Tesfaye Sendeku was sixth, Girma Tola, 10th, Sisay, 11th, and Tesfaye Assefa 12th.
Desisa battled side by side with Kenyan Allan Kiprono over the final two miles of the race, twice surging ahead only for Kirprono to close the gap until decisively pulling away in the homestretch.
“He’s a good runner,” Desisa said of Kiprono and the back-and-forth during the final miles. “I was testing him. I realized he was a good runner, so..”
So Desisa said he waited until the end to out sprint Kiprono because he knew his finishing kick was stronger than the Kenyan’s.
Desisa was runner-up at the 2010 Cherry Blossom in a controversial finish. He charged Kenyan Stephen Tum used an elbow to nudge him off a straight path to the finish-line tape, but after a review of photos and video race officials declared Tum the winner.
Two months later Desisa’s experience in winning the 2010 Bolder Boulder10K in Colorado was in sharp contrast to that contentious finish in Washington. He was declared the winner in Boulder after joining hands with countrymen Tilahen Regassa and Tadese Tola in a show of camaraderie that saw them cross the finish line in a 1-2-3 Ethiopian sweep that was as stunning as exemplary in a sport that obsesses over individualism.
Asked if he considered such a gesture as he and Kiprono approached the finish line Sunday, Desisa smiled and said emphatically, “No, no, no.”
“We (he, Regassa and Tola) are the same group,” Desisa stressed, noting that national pride is a big motivation for Ethiopian runners.
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About the Author: Jason Jett is a New York based freelance journalist. He writes on human interest stories as well as specialized reports for niche audiences on various subjects including sports and fitness. He has worked in the news business for thirty years.
New York (Tadias) – Last night, President Barack Obama made an appearance at Marcus Samuelsson’s Red Rooster Harlem, where the Democratic National Committee was holding a fundraiser. The event marked Obama’s first trip to Harlem since being elected as the nation’s first African American President.
The gala ($30,800-a-person) was attended by about 50 people, including Harlem’s long-serving congressman Charles B. Rangel. Reporters were briefly allowed inside the private event “at the new and wildly popular Red Rooster restaurant,” which is owned by Ethiopian-born Chef and Entrepreneur Marcus Samuelsson. Per NYT: “Telling the donors this is “a challenging time,” Mr. Obama said, “I could not do what I do” without the knowledge “that I have a lot of people rooting for me, a lot of people supporting me.”’
“It was an honor to host the event and to share the food with the President, his team, and all the guests at our restaurant,” Samuelsson, who also prepared the Obama’s first State dinner, posted on his website. “After an amazing experience cooking at the State Dinner back in 2009, I am proud to host Mr. Obama at Red Rooster. It means a lot to bring the conversation to Harlem, and I wish him the best as his campaign continues.”
The President also made a stop at the Studio Museum, a few blocks away, where he met with about 125 special guests and supporters.
A much larger crowd, though not all rooting for Obama, had stood outside the restaurant hoping to get at least a glimpse of him. According to AP: “Among the people gathered at barricades on 125th Street and Lenox Avenue was Elizabeth Simmons. The 29-year-old teacher said she was excited the president was visiting a restaurant in the neighborhood Tuesday. She said she was glad to see him supporting a community establishment. Others talked about his tenure, saying he had lacked the time to deal with the problems facing urban communities like Harlem. Thirty-year-old Malcolm Woods said, “He’s only one man.””
Others said Obama needs to do more to alleviate the nation’s economic woes. Nellie Hester-Bailey, director of the Harlem Tenants’ Council, told Sky News: “There is a real sense of anger that there is this major disconnect. It’s a slap in the face when people, not just in this community but across America, cannot find jobs or support themselves. It is particularly difficult when you look at the cost of America’s actions in Libya, and working people are being asked to bear the brunt of budget cuts.”
And per New York political consultant Hank Sheinkopf: “Harlem is the symbolic African-American capital of America, the most Democratic of places. He’s got to re-energise the people who helped get him to the White House. Obama is saying ‘Hey, remember me? The Republicans are coming and I need your help’. The 2012 presidential race is really not that far away, and in classic American style, it’s starting now.”
The Harlem events were expected to net $1.5 Million for the Democrats.
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Above:Ezkyas Sisay (L), and Gebre Gebremariam (R) head
the field rounding a curve in Central Park early into the 2011
New York City Half Marathon – Photo credit: OhSnapper.com.
Tadias Magazine
By Jason Jett
Published: Wednesday, March 23, 2011
New York (Tadias) – Just as sure as March in North America brings the return of foliage, warm weather and long days, it signals the continuation of Ethiopian domination of foot-race competitions in city streets and parks across the United States.
The fickleness of spring, however, did prompt a number of “what ifs” from runners on both coasts last weekend.
Gebre Gebremariam, who last November won the ING New York City Marathon, was runner-up Sunday in the New York City Half Marathon which looped Central Park before coursing through Times Square and finishing in Lower Manhattan.
Gebremariam, a favorite to win the race, pulled away from Mo Farah, a native Somali who now lives in Great Britain, in the last 25 meters only for Farah to counter with a victorious sprint to the finish line. Farah finished the 13.1-mile event in 60:23, with Gebremariam two seconds back.
“I don’t like the cold,” Gebremariam said after the narrow loss to Farah, one of the hottest runners in the world the past year who was making his half-marathon debut.
Girma Tesfaye, an Ethiopian who splits residency between his homeland and the Bronx, NY, finished fourth in 60:35, and Ezkyas Sisay, an Ethiopian who trains in Flagstaff, AZ, was 10th in 61:56. Girma Tola, who was fifth in the 2008 competition, finished 14th this time in 62:46.
The only Ethiopian runner who said he did not mind the cold weather was Girma, who after the race chastised himself for not finding the reserve in the homestretch to overtake third-place finisher Galen Rupp of the United States.
“For me, the weather was very nice,” Girma said, noting a year ago he finished 10th at the event. “I like it cold. It was fantastic for me. The weather, and the course.”
From left: Ezkyas Sisay and Tesfaye Girma, both of Ethiopia, Gomes Dos Santos Marilson of Brazil, Alistair Cragg of Ireland, Galen Rupp of the United States, Mo Farah of Great Britain, Kigen Kipkosgei Moses of Kenya and Gebre Gebremariam of Ethiopia, near Mile 2 in Central Park during the New York City Half Marathon – which took place on a perfect day for running, March 20, 2011. (Photo credit: OhSnapper.com)
Ethiopians also represented in the women’s division of the NYC Half. Werknesh Kidane, Gebremariam’s wife and a pre-race favorite, finished fifth in 1:09:32, acknowledging afterwards that she was slowed as the first morning of spring mustered temperatures only in the 30s. Shewarge Alene, the sister of noted Ethiopian runner Alene Reta, was fourth in 1:09:25.
“It was good, but not very good because of the weather,” said Alene. “I am happy with the time in my first half-marathon in New York. I will keep training and keep trying to do my best.”
Gebremariam’s second-place finish was worth $10,000, while Girma earned $3,500 and Sisay $400. Alene was awarded $3,500, and Kidane $2,500.
Across the country in a rain-deluged Southern California, Ethiopians swept the Honda Los Angeles Marathon.
Markos Geneti, who trains in Flagstaff, AZ, was the overall winner in a course record 2:06:35. He won the first-place award of $25,000 and a Honda Insight EX car valued at $23,000, plus the $100,000 prize for the first person to cross the finish line under a gender challenge in which professional women were given a 17:03 head start.
The women’s division winner was Buzunesh Deba, who lives in the Bronx and trains in New Mexico, in 2:26:34. The bronze medal for third-place was claimed by Mare Dibaba of Ethiopia in 2:30:35. Deba won $25,000 and a car, while Dibaba won $10,000.
“I didn’t like the rain,” Deba said afterwards. “My husband (Ethiopian runner Worku Beyi) wanted me to run 2:24, but I don’t like running in the rain.”
At the Yeungling Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach, VA, Alemtsehay Misganaw of Manhattan was runner-up Sunday in the half marathon, finishing the windy, waterfront course in 1:15:06. A day earlier Misganaw won the women’s division of the event’s 8K competition in 26:59. Misganaw’s weekend earnings totaled $2,000.
“It was funny,” Misganaw said of her runner-up finish in the feature event, adding she did not know whether to laugh or cry.
“The last two miles I was taking it kind of easy and a lady passed me, but I didn’t see her,” she explained. “It was windy, and my eyes were watery. She looked like a boy, and had on a cap. The race official leading the women’s field was riding his bike beside me the whole way. He didn’t see her either. He thought I was the first woman, too.
Misganaw continued, “At the finish line the announcer said, ‘Yesterday’s winner is second today,’ and I said ‘What?’ The bicycle guy was upset too, and apologized. I smiled, but wanted to cry. I told the winner, ‘You’re lucky,’ and she said, ‘I know.'”
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About the Author: Jason Jett is a New York based freelance journalist. He writes on human interest stories as well as specialized reports for niche audiences on various subjects including sports and fitness. He has worked in the news business for thirty years.
Watch: 2011 New York City Half Marathon- Highlight Video (NYRR)
New York (Tadias) – Gemini Health Care Group (GHCG), a U.S.-based Ethiopian American NGO that focuses on pediatric training and assistance to medical professionals in Ethiopia, launched its 4th annual educational and medical mission in March 2011.
“Beginning on March 18th, the GHCC Board members as well as eighteen health care professionals will be in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to provide teaching and service,” says Dr. Ebba K. Ebba, the group’s Founder and President. “The pediatric sub-specialists in the areas of pediatric ENT, Ophthalmology, Audiology, Anesthesia, and Urology will be providing training and medical assistance at Black Lion Hospital, Cure Hospital and Mekanissa School for the Deaf. This portion of the medical mission is being organized in collaboration with Healing the Children, Greater Philadelphia Chapter.”
During the team’s last trip to Addis they treated young people including 8-year-old Zemen Toshome, whose story was highlighted by Opinion Columnist Harold Jackson in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Jackson wrote: “For more than six years, Zemen has lived at Tikur Anbesa (Black Lion) Hospital in Addis Ababa. He goes outside only briefly on the hospital grounds. He can’t shout because of his medical condition. Zemen has laryngeal papillomatosis, a disease in which tumors grow inside the larynx, vocal cords, or respiratory tract. The disease occurs when the human papillomavirus (HPV) is transferred from a mother to her child at birth. The tumors can grow quickly and cause difficulty in breathing, which if not corrected can lead to death.”
“The second part of our medical mission includes a one‐week educational mission to pediatric residents and medical students at the Black Lion Hospital as well as to other community pediatricians,” Dr. Ebba says. “We have recruited four pediatric specialists in the areas of pediatric Pulmonology, Endocrinology, Neurology and Emergency medicine to be participants at the First Annual Pediatrics by the Nile.”
The latter is a medical education conference to be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The conference, which is being co‐sponsored by the Ethiopian Pediatric Society, is scheduled to take place on Thursday March 31, 2011 and Friday, April 1, 2011 at the Addis Ababa Hilton.
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You can learn more about Gemini Health Care Group at: www.GHCG.org.
Cover photo courtesy of GHCG.
Video: Dr. Ebba K. Ebba, Founder of Gemini Health Care Group, on 50 in 52 interview (2009)
NewYork (Tadias) – Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu, Founder and Managing Director of the eco-fashion footwear company SoleRebels, has been honored as one of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders in 2011. The honor bestowed each year by the Forum recognizes and acknowledges outstanding young leaders from around the world for their professional accomplishments, commitment to society and potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world.
Bethlehem joins the ranks of a distinguished list of previous winners including Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Newsweek columnist Fareed Zakaria, as well as Ethiopian-American supermodel Liya Kebede and journalist Abebe Gellaw.
“On a personal level it is humbling. It’s beyond anything I ever expected,” Bethlehem said in an interview with Tadias. “I am excited because the award represents a recognition of the power of our core aim at soleRebels — to show that development and trade go hand in hand, and that delivering a world class brand to the global marketplace is perhaps the most potent key to creating real and sustained prosperity in Ethiopia.”
Beethlehem, who was born and raised in the Zenabwok (Total) area of Addis Ababa, one of the city’s most impoverished neighborhoods, established soleRebels in 2005 in order to help increase community-based jobs. Since then the venture has created over 75 full time and over 120 part-time jobs while becoming an internationally recognized brand. SoleRebels is now available in major global retail outlets such as Urban Outfitters as well as online including at Endless.com and Amazon.com.
Bethlehem’s company was also winner of the 2010 Eco-Bold Green Award — a recognition of soleRebel’s environmentally friendly, vegan footwear that is produced using indigenous materials such as hand-spun organic cotton and artisan hand-loomed fabric. Tires are also recycled and used for soles.
XoDus iration (Photograph courtesy of SoleRebels).
As featured on African Entrepreneur Ads – PureLOVE homegrown LUX. (Courtesy photo)
EasyRidin sunrise (Photograph courtesy of SoleRebels).
Asked about her secret to success, Bethlehem says, “My ‘secret to success’ is to be committed 100% to my goals and to the people I have entrusted to help me achieve those goals. Here we are like a big family so an achievement like this is an achievement for each and every person at soleRebels.”
Drawn from a pool of more than 5,000 high level global candidates, the 2011 honorees will become part of the broader Forum of Young Global Leaders community that currently comprises of 660 outstanding individuals. “The World Economic Forum is a true multi-stakeholder community of global decision-makers in which the Young Global Leaders represent the voice for the future and the hopes of the next generation. The diversity of the YGL community and its commitment to shaping a better future through action-oriented initiatives of public interest is even more important at a time when the world is in need of new energy to solve intractable challenges,” said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.
The Young Global Leaders participate in an annual summit – this year it will be taking place in Dalian, China from September 12th through 16th – as well as in additional World Economic Forum events throughout the year. As Young Global Leaders these promising individuals will have the opportunity to engage in initiatives that help build stronger and more diverse communities, and to engender a better understanding of global and regional agendas.
And what’s Bethlehem’s advice to young people worldwide who aspire to become entrepreneurs and business leaders? “I would say have a clear vision of what you want to achieve and the path to get there. Then work hard, and then work extra hard. Seek advice and counsel from diverse places – don’t just stick to one “voice” or source for input. And never ever be deterred no matter the obstacle or the setback. Setbacks and obstacles are a natural part of life. It is how you overcome those obstacles and setbacks that will make you a great person no matter what endeavor you choose to devote yourself to. ”
We congratulate Bethlehem on her accomplishments and wish her continued success.
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Update: Photos: Bethlehem addresses the 50th anniversary of the World Wildlife Fund (May 1, 2011)
Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu, Founder and Managing Director of SoleRebels, speaks at the Opening Conference Symposium panel discussion facilitated by Veronica Pedrosa of Al-Jazeera, Malaysia. Speakers left to right are Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever, Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO, Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu, Founder and Managing Director of SoleRebels, Orazio Bellittini Cedeno, co-founder & Director of Grupo Faro, and Wang Shi, chairman of China Vanke, at the WWF Annual Conference in St. Gallen, Switzerland on May 1, 2011.
Speakers left to right: Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever, Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO, Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu, Founder and Managing Director of SoleRebels, and Orazio Bell.
Speakers left to right: Paul Polman, Tim Brown, Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu, Orazio Bellittini Cedeno and Wang Shi at the WWF Annual Conference in St. Gallen, Switzerland on May 1, 2011.
Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu Founder and Managing Director of SoleRebels speaks at the Opening Conference Symposium panel discussion at the WWF Annual Conference in St. Gallen, Switzerland on May 1, 2011.
Panel discussion facilitated by Veronica Pedrosa of Al-Jazeera, Malaysia. Speakers left to right: Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever, Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO, Bethlehem Tilahun, Alemu Founder and Managing Director of SoleRebels, Orazio Bell.
Left to right Paul Polman, Tim Brown, Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu, Orazio Bellittini Cedeno, and Wang Shi at the WWF Annual Conference, St Gallen, Switzerland on May 1, 2011.
Yolanda Kakabadse presents Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu, Founder and Managing Director of SoleRebels with a gift after the Opening Conference Symposium panel discussion facilitated at the WWF Annual Conference in St. Gallen, Switzerland on May 1, 2011.
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Photo credit: All images are courtesy of Solerebels.
Above:Members of the Armenian Diaspora of Ethiopia (1929)
included the conductor K. Nalbandian – whose nephew Nerses
Nalbandian later became music director at the main Theater.
Tadias Magazine
Events News
Published: Thursday, March 3, 2011
New York (Tadias) – The Either/Orchestra, which in 2004 became the first U.S. big band to appear in Ethiopia since Duke Ellington’s Orchestra in 1973, has launched a Kickstarter.com campaign to raise funds for a return trip to the country. This time, the group hopes to participate in a musical tribute celebrating the work of Nerses Nalbandian, an Armenian musician who found a home as Ethiopia’s maestro from the 1930s to the 1970s.
Seven decades prior to the E/O’s arrival in Ethiopia, Mr. Nalbandian, who had cultivated hundreds of musicians and arranged numerous Ethiopian compositions, had left an imprint on modern Ethiopian music. Nerses Nalbandian, was the nephew of Kevork Nalbandian, the bandleader of Ethiopia’s first official orchestra. The elder Nalbandian moved to Addis from Jerusalem in 1924 as a music instructor for Arba Lijoch, a group of 40 Armenian orphans who had survived the Armenian Genocide in Turkey, and were later adopted by Haile Selassie then Crown Prince Ras Tafari. Wiki notes: “He had met them while visiting the Armenian monastery in Jerusalem. They impressed him so much that he obtained permission from the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem to adopt and bring them to Ethiopia, where he then arranged for them to receive musical instruction.”
Kevork Nalbandian would eventually compose the sound for Marsh Teferi, the Imperial Anthem (words by Yoftehé Negusé), which served as the national hymn from 1930 to 1974. His nephew, Nerses Nalbandian, who was appointed the first music director of Ethiopia’s National Theater in 1956, is also credited for his contribution to modern Ethiopian music through his mentorship of some of the country’s talented musicians.
Photo courtesy of ArmeniansWorld.com
The Either/Orchestra recently celebrated its 25th anniversary, and in a recent press release stated that the band was invited by Alliance Ethio-Francaise to return to Addis Ababa. The upcoming tour will be the second collaboration between the Addis Ababa branch of the French cultural organization and the Either/Orchestra. During their previous trip to Ethiopia the band was introduced to Mr. Nalbandian’s children who suggested that the group, under the leadership of its founder Russ Gershon, help to revive the works of their late father. Per the E/O: “Daughter Mary and her siblings invited the band to their home for a sumptuous Ethio-Armenian feast during the visit, and after dinner began pulling out boxes of their father’s old scores. By the end of the festivities, Mr. Gershon had been convinced that the E/O should play one of Maestro Nalbandian’s arrangements at their concert. A few days later, they performed a song called Eyeye in the ballroom of the Hilton Hotel, the first time this arrangement had been played in a half century. ”
The band hopes to repeat the same experience in May of 2011. The Kickstarter.com campaign aimes to raise $10,000 in 30 days to partially fund the tour. The band is also preparing for two more concerts this month featuring Mahmoud Ahmed. The E/O and Mahmoud have been collaborating for five years, but this is the first time they will perform together in the band’s home state of Massachusetts.
New York (Tadias) – Since protests erupted two weeks ago in Libya, demanding an end to Muammar el-Gadhafi’s 42-year rule, the government has employed unimaginable lethal force, including fighter jets, to quell the revolt. The Libyan people have shown remarkable fortitude by continuing to stand up against the violent crackdown.
As members of the Libyan army are switching sides in support of the growing opposition movement, Gadhafi who is known to have relied on foreign fighters and bodyguards to prop up his power has once again turned to mercenaries in order to save his crumbling regime.
The hired guns are largely from other African nations, and their presence has created a backlash and unsafe conditions for refugees and residents of African descent – most of whom migrated to Libya in search of safe haven from economic and political disenfranchisement in their own countries. In an interview aired on Deutsche Welle radio last week, Ethiopian residents in Tripoli appealed for help saying that they have now become targets of mob attacks in the capital and various other towns in Libya. According to the interviewees, those who work as domestic helpers (mostly women) may be safe under the protection of their employers, but the rest are exposed to vigilante justice. And as of today, no one has come to their rescue. (Update: Via AllAfrica.com on March 3, 2011 – Ethiopia Says Will Evacuate Citizens Stranded in Libya).
New York Times cites IOM statistics that document more than 1.5 million migrant workers in Libya, most of whom worked in construction businesses and arrived from Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Thailand. Although better off workers from China and Bosnia are managing to leave Libyan ports, migrant workers from poorer nations have found themselves stranded and with fewer options. The case is more alarming for African migrant workers and refugees, some of whom say are unable to leave their houses for fear of retaliation in the streets.
According to the advocacy group CSW, “refugees report that in detention centres, the government is attempting to recruit African prisoners as mercenaries, and prison guards who object are allegedly being killed. Homes where large numbers of refugees have gathered are being attacked, and they are subject to threatening phone calls and physical assault with knives and stones as angry Libyans mistake them for mercenaries.”
On Saturday night, the United Nations Security Council voted unanimously to launch an international war crimes investigation into “widespread and systemic attacks” carried out by Gadhafi’s forces, and imposed an international travel ban on high-ranking Libyan officials who are believed to have played a role in the violence against civilians.
President Obama has stated that Gadhafi had “lost the legitimacy to rule” and asked him step down immediately. The U.S. also froze Libyan government assets worth billions of dollars, and may do the same with the assets of officials who participated in the violent crackdown.
We also hope international organizations adequately address the safety of foreign migrant workers in Libyan towns and cities, and provide safe passage out of the country if necessary.
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New York (Tadias) – This video features upcoming events in March 2011, as well as a highlight of various programs that took place last month, including clips from Aster Aweke’s NYC concert.
Highlight of Upcoming Events
Chester Higgins Jr., Staff Photographer for the New York Times since 1975, will be exhibiting a series of 13 Ethiopian portraits at NYU’s Kimmel Center. The selection of photographs for the outdoor exhibit were taken by Higgins between 2007 and 2010 in Ethiopia, and will be on 24-hour display at Windows at Kimmel Center from March 1st through May 1st, 2011. An opening reception will be held on Friday, March 11th at the 2nd floor lounge of Kimmel Center from 6:30 to 8:30pm.
Ethiopian Students Association International (ESAI) will hold its 11th annual summit at the University of Pennsylvania, from March 18th to March 19th, 2011. Learn more at ESAI.org.
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If you would like to suggest an event for our consideration, please email us at info@tadias.com.
DULLES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Va. (WUSA) — Nefissa Yesuf was flying from Atlanta to Dulles to visit her grandchildren. She ended up about 400 miles away in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Her granddaughter, Malika Adem, was on her way to Dulles to pick up her 80-year-old grandmother.
“We got a phone call at 4:30 from the airport saying, ‘Your grandmother was in baggage claim. Where are you guys?'” said Adem.
It was too early for her flight on Delta to have landed. That’s when the airline employee on the phone told her Grandma was in Charlotte, North Carolina.
“She was crying,” Adem said.
Yesuf is from Ethiopia and doesn’t speak English. Her family wanted to make sure she was being looked after. Adem said her cousin took Grandma to the airport.
She says an airline employee escorted her through the airport in a wheelchair and was the one holding onto her plane ticket.
Adem says Delta gave Grandma someone else’s ticket.
Above:The owners of the DC9 bar are trying to mend fences
with the community after a rift caused by violence in October.
Tadias Magazine
News Update
Updated: Thursday, February 17, 2011
New York (Tadias) – The owners of the DC9 nightclub are reaching out to their Ethiopian neighbors, in hopes of healing the wounds caused by a violent incident last October in which five former club employees were accused of beating 27-year old Ethiopian immigrant Ali Ahmed Mohammed. Mr. Mohammed died a short while later at a hospital after he was found unconscious outside the popular nightspot. The city’s Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration had encouraged the bar to bridge the rift with the community during a January 19 hearing.
Per Washington City Paper: On Tuesday, “DC9 held a fundraiser for Ethiopian charities from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Though the event wasn’t advertised via the club’s event calendar, fliers were distributed in the vicinity of the establishment. At a January 19 Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration hearing, the liquor board urged the club to reach out to members of the local Ethiopian community in light of the death of Ethiopian-American Ali Ahmed Mohammed outside the club in October. The club had another hearing today, at which the board inquired about DC9’s efforts to heal the rift that may have been caused by Mohammed’s death. DC9 owner Joe Englert mentioned that his “neighbors have been very nice,” and that he has “an extensive partnership with several people in Little Ethiopia.” He also mentioned DC9’s fundraiser, and how it netted $2000 in pledges. Thirty people attended, Englert said.”
Ali Ahmed Mohammed (Family photo)
According to the newspaper, during the most recent hearing a board member suggested that DC9 change its name: “Remaining open under the same moniker could be seen as an affront to Little Ethiopia,” the board member explained. But the club owner didn’t seem too enthused: “I’m glad to change the outside of the place,” he said. “A different color. A different look.”
Meanwhile, the factual inquiry into Ali’s case continues. In December, the city’s Medical Examiner’s office ruled that the manner of death was “homicide.”
The former employees have stated that they are innocent.
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New York (TADIAS) – 19-year-old Samuel Gebru has ambitious plans. The Founder of the Ethiopian American Youth Initiative (EAYI), now called the Ethiopian Global Initiative (EGI), wants to transform Ethiopia one project at a time, using strategies and programs to reverse the brain drain or retain skilled professionals at home. The undergraduate student at Concordia College, a private liberal arts school in Moorhead, Minnesota, says he was drawn to action by two events that deeply affected him when he was just 13-years old. He tells us that in 2004, he traveled to Ethiopia and was exposed to the odd juxtaposition of poverty and wealth. But the real catalyst for his organization did not come until later that year when he watched Oprah Winfrey’s highlight of the problems associated with obstetric fistula in Ethiopia. Oprah’s guest was Dr. Catherine Hamlin, the Australian gynecologist who in 1959 moved to Ethiopia and eventually founded the Addis Ababa Fitsula Hospital. “As a young 13-year-old, I was shocked to hear about obstetric fistula’s existence and I was further embarrassed that an Australian, and not an Ethiopian, committed over 50 years of her life to help the women of Ethiopia,” says Samuel. “It was shocking obviously because the last fistula case in the United States, for instance, was in the 1800s with the closing of the New York City Fistula Hospital…It was also embarrassing because when most Ethiopian professionals left Ethiopia, she stayed and did our job. Regardless, I was inspired and decided it would be best to organize an effort in the Boston area to raise funds for their work. We called ourselves the Ethiopian Team (E Team).”
Samuel says the E Team evolved into the Ethiopian American Youth Initiative (EAYI). “I reached out to the Ethiopian Community Mutual Assistance Association of Massachusetts, and they helped me organize a group of 13 people, the youngest in 6th grade and the oldest in 12th. I was in 8th grade,” he recalls. “We mobilized the community and sponsored 11 women for fistula repair surgery just from April to December 2005! This was a collective effort that I will forever remain grateful to the youth that I worked with and the community that supported us, financially and morally. From there, the Ethiopian American Youth Initiative (EAYI) was established in October 2006.” Since then the group has changed its name to the Ethiopian Global Initiative (EGI).
We recently asked Samuel Gebru a few more questions:
Samuel Gebru at President’s Day Lecture and Panel Discussion (CAMBRIDGE, MA, February 16, 2009, PHOTO BY JODI HILTON)
Why did you change your name from the Ethiopian American Youth Initiative to the Ethiopian Global Initiative?
Samuel Gebru: That was a tough decision. It took us from January to June 2010 to decide on a new name. I received dozens of name submissions that we had to sift out. We took “Youth” out of the title because there were many adults and professionals that wanted to support our work and they did not define themselves as being youth, hence they disqualified themselves from being a part of our efforts. Global refers to the global mindset of the organization’s members and the ability to act collectively, think critically, and be open-minded in a globalized world. Initiative refers to the capacity and responsibility to undertake worthwhile endeavors.
How do you define “Youth?”
SG: Personally, I will be youth forever, until I die. The United Nations defines youth as anyone from 15-24. Particular states have their own definitions of what constitutes a youth. Culturally, we even refer to Barack Obama and John F. Kennedy as “youthful presidents.” Youth, to me, does not have a particular number, it is more of a mindset. I was recently watching YouTube videos of Aster Aweke, Mahmoud Ahmed and Alemayehu Eshete. Now, my mother vividly remembers them when she was a child, which would make them old, but their stage presence makes them youthful! [laughter]
What is the objective of your organization?
SG: EAYI was a way for E Team’s vision to continue as a long-lasting organization and not simply an ad-hoc group for one purpose. In 2009, people began contacting me from Europe, Canada, Africa and Asia urging EAYI to become an international organization so they could participate. At the time we had folks in Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania, the West Coast and the D.C. Metropolitan Area. I agreed and told them to wait for the first EAYI Conference in 2010 at Howard University in Washington, D.C., when we changed our name to the Ethiopian Global Initiative (EGI).
What ultimately does EGI wants to accomplish?
SG: Some of the major goals we plan to accomplish by 2015 include serving as an incubator for future projects pertaining to Ethiopia’s social and economic development. We aim to repair the damage done [as a result] of lost skilled workforce.
How do you plan to do that? What projects are you working on now?
SG: One of the current projects we are working on include the EGI Midwives Scholarship Fund. It is our way of continuing our five-year relationship with the Hamlin Fistula Hospital in Ethiopia. Instead of supporting the hospital’s fistula-repair efforts, we are making a long-term commitment to completely fund the education of eight women to earn their Bachelor of Science in Midwifery at the new Hamlin College of Midwives. The scholarships we provide to these students will be part of our wider partnership with the hospital, which is to enhance the number of maternal health professionals in Ethiopia by prompting a homegrown effort thereby eliminating the root causes of fistula, which continue to be lack of preventative efforts and the scarcity of maternal health professionals.
We also have another project we developed last year called U.S. College Students for Ethiopia (USCSE). The program provides college students from the United States the opportunity to intern or volunteer in Ethiopia with Ethiopian-led organizations. The students are diverse, both Ethiopian and non-Ethiopian. We give them the opportunity to work and learn in a new cultural environment while allowing them to share their pre-existing skills with the local organizations they are working with. Lastly, they will be returning to the United States with the ability to share their new appreciation for Ethiopia.
Please tell us a bit about yourself. Where were you born? Where did you grow-up? School?
SG: Sure. Well, I am currently 19-years-old. I was born in Khartoum, Sudan in 1991. My parents are both Ethiopians who were working in the Sudanese capital. My father worked in the shoes industry where he repaired and sold shoes while my mother worked managing the housekeeping of the homes of Chinese and American businessmen. In 1995 I arrived in the United States and settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts after briefly living in Boston. Since then, I have been living in my adopted hometown, Cambridge. I’m fortunate to say that my childhood, both in Khartoum and in Cambridge was great. I grew up in a nice working neighborhood of Khartoum and similarly in Cambridge I’ve been lucky to have the things I’ve always needed. I grew up with a strong emphasis on family and moral values, keeping in tune with my Ethiopian heritage. I learned Arabic, my first language, and Tigrinya in Sudan. While in the U.S. I quickly picked up English. Because of the many trips I have taken to Ethiopia, I have been able to sharpen my Tigrinya and pick up Amharic. While I am still working to master Amharic, my listening skills are very good. A few years ago I picked up an obsession to learn Ge’ez, and that’s been an interesting battle. It hasn’t been as hard as I thought, but certainly not easy. Moving forward, my goal is to continue learning Mandarin Chinese and re-mastering Arabic, since it has been over a decade since I last used it. I completed primary school at the Cambridgeport Elementary School and high school at the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. Currently, I am studying to earn a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a minor in Business at Concordia College, a private liberal arts school in Moorhead, Minnesota.
How do you balance school and your ambitious extracurricular projects?
SG: Balancing has always been very hard. I have a calendar that I try to follow to the best of my ability. My family and friends often complain that they don’t hear from me as much as they would like. I jokingly said to some friends that they should have a spinoff of the television game show “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego” for me! [laughter] . Ultimately, because EGI is not a one-man operation, there are many people who work together to get the job done. Although I founded EGI, the entire Executive Committee shoulders the responsibility of implementing our vision. The EGI family also consists of dozens of fantastic members who work worldwide to achieve our goals. I am only one part of this ambitious operation.
How often do you travel to Ethiopia?
SG: My mother has always reminded me of how fortunate I am to have traveled to Ethiopia more times than most of my Ethiopian friends and relatives in Boston. Since 1998 I have traveled five times. As EGI operations increase in Ethiopia, I might have to travel at more frequent times, perhaps once or twice a year.
What do you plan to do after you graduate from college?
SG: Once I finish with my undergraduate plans, I plan to earn graduate degree and use those skills and knowledge for the betterment of Ethiopia. Ultimately, my plan is to permanently return to Ethiopia.
What are the requirements to be a member of EGI?
SG: EGI members are students and professionals who deeply share the goals and vision of the organization. Location doesn’t matter, but skills do. We aim to be a treasure chest of students and professionals who can pool in their skills, knowledge and experiences for the transformation of Ethiopia. Of course, while this goal is lofty, it is happening today in EGI. We have people from various sectors, interests and backgrounds working hand-in-hand to launch and implement projects in Ethiopia and in the Ethiopian diaspora. There is a membership application that each prospective member must complete, and that is then reviewed by our Member Committee, which makes final determinations. Beyond membership, the EGI community has grown into our friends, donors, sponsors, partners and volunteers. By extension, anyone who cares for Ethiopia is a stakeholder in the EGI community.
Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?
SG: The EGI community includes you. Participate in our activities, help make Ethiopia a better place. In late February we will announce the 2011 EGI Global Summit. I welcome everyone to attend this, in what will be a paramount exchange of ideas, experiences and solutions.
— You can learn more about the Ethiopian Global Initiative at www.ethgi.org.
Above:Using word of mouth coupled with old technology like
dial-up, Egyptians are circumventing Internet shut down. (AP)
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: Wednesday, February 2, 2011
New York (Tadias) – News agencies worldwide were quick to dub the recent protests in North African and Middle Eastern nations as the “The Facebook Revolution.” Fearing the resourcefulness of young people using social media tools such as Twitter and Facebook to organize the toppling of regimes, government authorities decided to turn off mobile and internet connections.
In the case of Egypt, a nation that is home to Africa’s largest blogging community and where a quarter of its 80 million people enjoy online access, the impact of the lock-down was immediate. “We’re seeing a uniquely draconian measure by the Egyptian authorities to completely cut off an entire country which was previously integrated into the Internet,” says Neil Hicks, policy advisor of the non-profit advocacy group Human Rights First. “It shows the level of desperation the government currently has in face of the protests.” As a result, leaders have turned to traditional methods of organizing says Hicks: “They’re using old-fashioned word of mouth…They’re aware of the possibilities of surveillance if they use these technologies. So they get on a motorbike or car, and go to the next neighborhood and arrange things.”
Companies such as Google and an international group of savvy techies are also working hard to put more tools at the hands of those being silenced. On Monday, Google announced that it had launched “Speak to Tweet“, a collaborative effort by three companies – including Twitter and SayNow, which is designed to bypass the internet censorship.
“Like many people we’ve been glued to the news unfolding in Egypt and thinking of what we could do to help people on the ground,” said Ujwal Singh, co-founder of SayNow and Abdel Karim Mardini, Google’s product manager for the Middle East and North Africa. “Over the weekend we came up with the idea of a speak-to-tweet service—the ability for anyone to tweet using just a voice connection.”
According to the group’s blog post: “anyone can tweet by simply leaving a voicemail on one of these international phone numbers (+16504194196 or +390662207294 or +97316199855) and the service will instantly tweet the message using the hashtag #egypt. No Internet connection is required. People can listen to the messages by dialing the same phone numbers or going to twitter.com/speak2tweet.”
In his article entitled “5 Ways the Protesters Are Beating the Blackout” Steven Hoffer of AOL News highlights landlines as another method that Egyptians have employed to bypass the net blockade: “That’s right, dial-up. International numbers to connect through this seemingly outdated method of accessing the Internet are circulating throughout Egypt,” writes Hoffer. “After a little static, pinging and waiting, the dial-up numbers are allowing some users to hop back on the Internet.” Among those providing such a service is the Paris-based French Data Network, which has extended dozens of lines to Egyptian users.
A global network of free speech activists on the Internet under the umbrella organization Telecomix are also utilizing new media tools to bypass the information blackout. Per The Huffington Post, the group is organized using chat rooms, wikis, and collaborative writing tools. This largely decentralized group of activists has worked “to inform Egyptians about their communications options while receiving incoming messages from them. Telecomix has previously worked on free speech efforts in Tunisia, Iran, China and other countries who have tried to censor or block parts of the Internet.”
The Canadian company HootSuite, which offers users a social media dashboard for posting to Twitter, Facebook and other social networks, is also helping Egyptians overcome Internet shutdown. The venture has reported a sevenfold increase in Egyptian subscriptions during January.
As Google noted: “We hope that this will go some way to helping people in Egypt stay connected at this very difficult time. Our thoughts are with everyone there.”
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Above:In the 1990s Anna Getaneh was a supermodel. A trip
to a refugee camp on the border of Ethiopia and Kenya in 1995
with Pharmacists Without Borders changed her life. (Photo AM)
(CNN) — In the 1990s Ethiopian supermodel Anna Getaneh walked the runways of Paris and Milan. These days she is putting her flair for fashion to good use, helping deprived children in rural areas of her home country.
“I was working in an industry where I felt that there were very few Africans that were represented,” says Getaneh, who modeled for Yves Saint Laurent, among others.
“Africa’s presence was sort of very vague or reduced to being different,” she adds.
In 1995 Getaneh visited a refugee camp on the border of Ethiopia and Kenya with Pharmacists Without Borders. She returned to New York “moved” and inspired to make a difference.
Ethiopian voyage of discovery went so very wrong for young Santa Clara athlete and student
Posted: 01/20/2011 06:42:15 PM PST
The first time Arefany Wynn traveled the 9,000 miles from California to Ethiopia, he loved the country and received such a warm welcome from the people of his mother’s homeland that he promised to return.
But on his second visit, the 20-year-old Santa Clara athlete and student got a very different welcome. One night, an uncle was showing his American nephew the night life in the upscale Bole Road district of Addis Ababa. But when they walked into a club and a fight broke out, the two men decided to leave.
As they started to drive away, a police officer came out of the club after them. Young Arefany, riding in the back seat, turned around to see what was happening — just as the officer fired his AK-47 at the car, sending a bullet into the young man’s side and through his body. He died on the way to the hospital.
Watch:
Now Arefany’s anguished family is observing the Ethiopian 40-day mourning period, and they are desperately in search of answers. They want to know whether the police officer, whom witnesses say shot the young man, will be charged with a crime. They want to know why the body was shipped home without being embalmed, and where they will find money for funeral expenses.
But, most of all, they want to know why this gentle young man, a San Jose City College student who journeyed halfway around the world to immerse himself in Ethiopian culture, was taken from them so suddenly, so tragically.
New York (Tadias) – Beyenne Jagama, the 26-year-old independent filmmaker of the reality film Habeshan Felega, which documents the lifestyles of Ethiopians in Atlanta, has been killed following a shooting at a convenience store inside a CITGO gas station in southeast Atlanta. Beyenne was employed as the night-shift clerk at the mini-mart for only a few weeks.
(Left: photo of Beyenne Jagama)
Per FOX 5 News: “Major Keith Meadows of the Atlanta Police Department says the suspect entered the store with a handgun and demanded money from the clerk, 26-year-old Beyenne Jagama. At some point the suspect fired his weapon four or five times, hitting Jagama in the lower abdomen.” Police say the store’s cash drawer was emptied and they’re looking for a red pick-up truck with at least three men inside. Investigators say they’re also talking to two witnesses for more answers. Police say they are reviewing surveillance video. Jagama was transported to Grady Hospital, where he later died.”
According to local media reports, Beyenne, who is known to his family and friends as “J”, is the city’s sixth homicide victim this month alone.
Las Vegas – Social Entrepreneur Ted Alemayhu, Founder and Chairman of US Doctors for Africa, will be launching the Africa-USA Business Executive Conference in Las Vegas from February 14-16th, 2011.
The event is the first of its kind and is a venture by the California-based private firm Africa-USA Trade & Investment. The conference aims to support strategic business networking opportunities between US and African-based private firms as well as their respective governmental entities. The event web site states: “Top executives from key industries, such as banking & finance, agriculture, oil & gas, telecom, aviation, travel & tourism, construction & development, information technology, health & education, and mining will be attending this historic convention. Events for the final night of the conference will include the Chairman’s Dinner Reception with the theme “America Honors Africa.” The dinner will honor African Ministors and business leaders and will be hosted by Mr. Alemayhu and the Mayor of Las Vegas.
Above: A screen shot from an animation video capturing the
festive spirit of Genna (Ethiopian x-mas) celebrated on Jan 7.
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: Friday, January 7, 2011
New York (Tadias) – Today is Christmas for followers of the Orthodox and Coptic Christian traditions around the world including in Ethiopia, Egypt, Greece, Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, Syria, and India. The birth of Jesus is observed 13 days after December 25, in accordance with the Julian calendar.
One of our readers submitted the following animation video, which captures the day’s festive Ethiopian spirit. Wishing our readers Melkam Genna and a Happy New Year!
Fairfax Avenue, where the smells of cumin and roasting coffee carry down the street. With handshakes and cries of “Salaam!” he greets a dozen men and women who have gathered in the back room of a friend’s restaurant to organize a fundraiser for Seifu Makonnen, a fellow Ethiopian immigrant who is ill.
Nearly every month in Los Angeles, Ethiopians host a benefit like this one. Earlier this year, at events for two compatriots with cancer, Abebe’s group raised more than $55,000.
It’s not as if they have time or money to spare. Many Ethiopians here work as taxicab drivers or parking attendants, and most send large remittances to relatives back home. But they give because they know that if ever they need help, they will get it. They give because this is a community that takes care of its own. Read more.
Photo credit: Brian van der Brug, Los Angeles Times / December 31, 2010.
Samuel Getachew is the first to admit he’s an ambitious man, and over steaming mugs of bitter kaffa at Wanza Restaurant, he makes no apologies for his big dreams or the people who oppose them.
“I’m proposing changes,” he said matter-of-factly in the Danforth Avenue Ethiopian eatery. “Change always gets attacked when it’s moving forward.”
And Mr. Getachew’s dream of a “Little Ethiopia” on Danforth Avenue, as improbable as it seems, is moving forward. After more than a year of being told “no” by the board of one of the biggest Business Improvement Areas in the city, the 34-year-old helped organize a new slate of board candidates for the Danforth Mosaic BIA elections.
Twelve of the new candidates were elected on Dec. 2, effectively usurping the old board. Three of the 12 are Ethiopian – two own restaurants in the area and one is an accountant. Mr. Getachew said he’s confident Little Ethiopia will now be back on the table.
“Hopefully, we are the BIA this time and now they will listen to us,” Mr. Getachew said with a grin.
Bonnie F. Jacobs, a paleobotanist at Southern Methodist University, writes from Ethiopia, where she is studying fossils of ancient plant and animal life. The current field season in the Mush Valley of Ethiopia is financed by a grant to Ellen Currano of Miami University, Ohio, from the National Geographic Society Committee on Research and Exploration.
Monday, Dec. 27
This winter’s field season in Ethiopia is my tenth since I began working there, and despite my experience I am filled with anticipation. Our project is a relatively new one — studying rocks and fossils from an important period of history, 22 million years ago — and the location, Mush Valley, is also somewhat new to our team (last year was our first collecting trip here).
Mush Valley is only about 160 kilometers northeast of the modern capital city, Addis Ababa, but it feels as though it could be a thousand miles away. Very little of city life intrudes into the villages of Upper and Lower Mush.
What really takes me away from it all are the rocks and fossils exposed by and alongside the Mush River. They provide us an exciting opportunity to document life, climate, landscape and atmosphere 22 million years ago. As we excavate blocks of fine-grained sediment — primarily shale — looking for clues to the past, the pivotal role played by that ancient time period is always on our mind.
Why is it important to know about the Ethiopian Plateau 22 million years ago? The Mush Valley preserves plants and animals from a time soon after a land connection was established between Afro-Arabia and Eurasia — a land connection that marked the end of Africa’s island status and that was used by animals to migrate between the two previously separated land masses. By looking at the fossil record from that period of time — before the Red Sea was formed — we can gain a clearer view of which species survived this great migration and which did not.
Above: Ali Ahmed Mohammed’s parents are asking for more
details from the District government about their son’s death.
Tadias Magazine
News Update
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Washington, D.C. – The family of Ali Ahmed Mohammed, the young man who died outside the DC9 bar in October, has requested for a copy of the autopsy report from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Washington City Paperreports.
According to the paper: “The family of Ali Ahmed Mohammed wants more details from the District government about how Mohammed died outside DC9 on Oct. 15. A source close to the family tells City Desk Mohammed’s relatives have requested his autopsy report from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. OCME spokesperson Beverly Fields couldn’t immediately confirm the request, but says, ‘That would be routine. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had’…The medical examiner reported last week that Mohammed’s death was a homicide, with heart trouble, alcohol, physical exertion and restraint among the contributing factors.” Read more.
—
Above:The tragic death of a young man that sparked outrage
in the Ethiopian community has been ruled a homicide. (File)
Tadias Magazine
News Update
Updated: Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Washington, D.C. (Tadias) – The death of 27-year old Ethiopian immigrant Ali Ahmed Mohammed, who died in October after a physical confrontation with five men associated with DC9 nightclub, has been ruled a homicide by the city’s medical examiner’s office.
“The family wishes to commend those at the Medical Examiner’s office for their hard work and dedication in helping to uncover that Ali’s death was a homicide,” family attorney Billy Martin said in the statement. “The family is confident that law enforcement will continue its investigation into Ali’s tragic death and that the Medical Examiner’s report is a step toward justice for Ali. The Medical Examiner’s findings, however, also reminds us that Ali suffered a cruel and senseless death. Ali did not deserve to die for allegedly breaking a window. The family remains heartbroken and cannot have peace until those responsible for Ali’s death are brought to justice.”
The victim died of “excited delirium associated with arrhythmogenic cardiac anomalies, alcohol intoxication and physical exertion with restraint manner,” the medical examiner’s office said – citing the manner of death as “homicide.” Per WaPo: “Although criminal charges in the case were dismissed because of the initial lack of autopsy findings, authorities said they would not be legally barred from refiling charges if new information warranted such a move. The autopsy finding of homicide appears to make a new criminal case likely.”
However, the U.S. attorney’s office issued the following press release saying the case is still under investigation: “The Medical Examiner has now completed an autopsy related to the unfortunate death of Ali Ahmed Mohammed. The Medical Examiner’s forensics examination has concluded that a variety of factors led to the death of Mr. Mohammed, and we intend to carefully study these conclusions as part of our legal analysis of this tragic incident. Our deliberate and comprehensive factual inquiry continues, and we again express our sincere appreciation to the family of Mr. Mohammed for their patience and understanding as we work to reach a just conclusion to our investigation.”
Ali, who was a resident of Silver Spring, Maryland, came to the United States from Ethiopia in 1997. He graduated from Coolidge Senior High School in Washington, D.C. He died on the morning of Friday, October 15, 2010 after the five DC9 employees allegedly chased, then tackled and beat him. The incident happened after he was denied entrance to the bar around 2:30 a.m., and after he allegedly returned to throw a brick through the window. “In my opinion, you talk about a beating like this as a result of property damage, someone has lost his life in a savage beating in what appears to be vigilante justice, it’s ridiculous,” Washington, D.C’s police chief Cathy Lanier had said at the time.
District prosecutors had initially charged the men with second-degree murder – which were later reduced to charges of aggravated assault – but eventually dropped all charges noting insufficient evidence to support the case. “Dropping the charges enabled authorities to continue their investigation and preserved their option to refile charges,” according to The Washington Post. “The death and investigation has prompted intense responses both from supporters of the DC9 employees and from family and friends of Mohammed.”
The employees have said they are innocent.
Watch: Ali Ahmed’s Family Says Death Ruled Homicide
Above:Beejhy Barhany, founder and director of BINA, and Bizu
Riki Mullu, founder of Chassida-Shmella. (Bizu photo via UJF.org)
Tadias Magazine
By Dana Rapoport
Published: Monday, December 20, 2010
New York (Tadias) – “My journey is nothing special,” said Beejhy Barhany at the Hue-Man Bookstore, on 125th street in Harlem. “It’s the every-Israeli, ordinary path.”
In many ways she was right. The curly-haired young Ethiopian woman with a pearl knitted sweater and a ton of charisma, Barhany, 34, pursued a common route for a young Israeli: graduation, military service, backpacking in South America, and finally – New York.
Barhany, founder and director of BINA, Beta Israel of North America, an Ethiopian-Jewish organization in New York, is driven by the same curiosity and entrepreneurial instinct that brought some 25,000 Israelis as immigrants to the city. But going three decades back, Barhany and approximately 500 Ethiopian Jews living in New York, share a saga of traveling that is everything but ordinary.
“We left everything behind — land, property, cattle — when my relatives in Israel wrote to us in a letter: “Now is the time to come,” she recalled of that middle-of-the night in 1980, when the three-year journey began from the northern province of Tigray, Ethiopia. Barhany was four-years–old.
The term for Ethiopian Jews in Amharic is Falasha, a term of derision as outsiders or foreigners. They call themselves Beta Israel, ”The House of Israel.”
For over 2,500 years the Beta Israel community observed Orthodox Judaism, but for hundreds of years, the Ethiopian Jewry was unknown or disregarded by the rest of the Jewish world.
The regime of Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam, and persecution by different tribes in Ethiopia, prompted the Israeli government, with no diplomatic relations with Ethiopia, to facilitate the rescue of thousands of Beta Israel.
Barhany and the group of people from her village walked for two months, until they arrived in Sudan. Three years later, they were given the green light to leave, by car, from Khartoum to Kenya, from Kenya to Uganda, then to Italy and finally – to Israel.
With a huge support and millions of Jewish American dollars, in 1991 a secret negotiation with the Ethiopian government was made, and within 36 hours, with 34 jumbo jets, “Operation Solomon” brought a total of 15,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel.
One of those young children who landed in Israel that year is Angosh Goshu (Dorit). After six years in Brooklyn, her memory of the emotional arrival in Israel seemed even more contrasted. “We saw toilets, bathrooms and things like that, things we never saw before,” she said during an interview in a busy, fluorescent-lit Dunkin’ Donuts shop.
For the thirty thousand agriculturally trained, Amharic speaking Ethiopian immigrants, Israel, in the midst of the high-tech boom, was a very different landscape.
After she completed her Army service, like Barhany, Gogshu too, found herself emigrating for the second time in her life. This time, to New York.
She lives with her brother Neo, on Church Avenue and is studying to be a nurse. Between her job and her studies she helps Bizu Riki Mullu, founder of Chassida Shmella, to foster a community and promote Ethiopian culture and tradition.
There’s another advantage to life in New York. “In Israel we are different, we stand out more than we do here,“ Barhany said. “It might be easier for a non-Ethiopian to find a job there, than it is for Ethiopians… here it can be easier, no one will categorize you.”
A recent Israeli study found that, roughly 20 years after they came to Israel, unemployment in the Ethiopian community is more than double than in the whole Jewish population in Israel. Forty percent of Ethiopians are jobless or are not looking for one. It also found that only sixteen percent of Ethiopian Israelis are high-school graduates.
Like many of their peers in their early twenties, they decided to come to New York. Unlike most, however, they founded, or helped to start two non-profits: BINA and Chassida Shmella.
Chassida Shmella is the word stork in Hebrew and Amharic. It echoes an old tradition, of asking the storks as they migrate from Europe, (over Israel) to Africa: “Stork, stork, how is our beloved Jerusalem?”
These two organizations help Ethiopians network in the big city as well as help them to preserve their tradition.
Above:The renowned Ethiopian-Israeli BETA Dance Troupe was one of the highlights at the 2010 Sigd
festival in New York hosted by Chassida Shmella, The Ethiopian Jewish Community of North America,
and the 92nd Street Y Resource Center for Jewish Diversity.
The community has grown in the last five years but these organizations still struggle for support. Their community is too small to receive funding from larger organizations, and they are having trouble growing, because they lack support for education, for Jews and non-Jews about Ethiopia’s Jewish heritage.
Shabbat Dinners with Ethiopian food, Annual Ethiopian Film Festival and other cultural programs by BINA and Chassida Shmella are much needed. It’s crucial not only to strengthen the sense of community, but also to overcome ignorance from American Jews and even Israeli New Yorkers.
“Ninety Nine percent of people did not believe that I was Jewish,” said Goshu, 28, wearing a silver Star-of-David pendant. “And then, there were the Israelis, who asked ‘What, are you Ethiopian? What are you doing here? Were you unhappy in Israel?’” She replied with the same question. “Why are you here? Were you unhappy there?”
American Jewish foundations, which were key players in the Ethiopian Jews’ exodus, replied to Barhany’s request: “Isn’t it enough we brought them to Israel?”
During the Sigd holiday festival in the Upper East Side 92Y in September, Mullu, dressed in a traditionally-embroidered white dress, said they still need a lot of help.
“We are reaching out for everybody, every organization, every individual to be involved, to help us grow this organization, to help a younger generation be a part of the Jewish nation.”
Reaching out to everyone has worked. Barhany said that more than thirty percent of the Ethiopian-American community supports and participates in the community’s events. With fewer resources but a lot of enthusiasm, their help is crucial for these organizations’ growth.
After ten years in New York, Barhany is no longer a stranger, but she’s not ready to announce the end of her journey just yet.
“I call myself the wandering Jew,” she said.
Like the storks, she will keep traveling. Israel, and Ethiopia are her next stops, but not the last.
— About the Author: Dana Rapoport is a journalist based in New York. She worked as a foreign news editor for Israel’s largest broadcast news channel, Channel2, before attending the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. Rapoport also holds a BA in History and Theatre from Tel Aviv University. She hopes to keep covering the Ethiopian community here, and in Israel.
Above:Mengistu Worku (Bottom R) was an Ethiopian soccer
player recognised as Ethiopia’s best soccer player of all time.
(The victorious Ethiopian team at the 3rd African Cup, 1962.)
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – Mengistu Worku 70, Ethiopia’s greatest footballer of all time and the last head coach who took the Ethiopian national football team to the African Nations Cup in Libya in 1982, has died here today.
Mengistu recently returned home after undergoing medical treatment in Bangkok, Thailand for the two years.
The 3rd African Cup winner has been in Bangkok for two years undergoing medical treatment but his condition has worsened. Mengistu was said to have returned home along with a medical doctor and special medical equipments for follow-up treatment. {Read more}
New York (Tadias) – Artists for Charity hosted its 4th Annual Holiday Benefit Art Auction this past weekend. The network of artists, volunteers and donors operate a home for HIV positive orphans in Addis Ababa. The 2010 gathering took place on Saturday, December 4th at the WVSA Gallery in Washington, D.C.
Here are images from the event:
Auctioneer Steven Talbot, AFC Founder Abezash Tamerat and her daughter getting ready to start the live auction.
A painting of Cherkos up for bid.
Omo Valley portrait.
Addis street scene by Solomon Asfaw.
Steven Talbot and Michael Astatkie discuss an AFC child’s art.
Bidders at the 2010 AFC art Auction.
At the 2010 Artists for Charity Fundraiser.
— Learn more about AFC at Artistsforcharity.org.
New York (Tadias) – Washington, D.C.’s Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration has voted to reinstate the liquor license for DC9, the nightclub that was shut down following an October incident in which five club employees – including former co-owner William Spieler – were accused of beating a man who died outside the bar. The city’s Police Chief Cathy Lanier had acted to suspend the liquor license after noting the circumstances of Ali Mohammed’s death on the morning of Friday, October 15, 2010. The men had allegedly chased Ali then tackled and beat him after he was denied entrance to the bar around 2:30 a.m., and after he allegedly returned to throw a brick through the window. The employees have said they are innocent and prosecutors have dropped all charges, citing insufficient evidence to support the case.
Ali, who was a resident of Silver Spring, Maryland, came to the United States from Ethiopia in 1997. He graduated from Coolidge Senior High School in Washington, D.C.
According to Cynthia Simms, spokeswoman for the liquor licensing board, the reopening of DC9 on Dec. 15 is attached to certain conditions. Simms said the decision will be reviewed at another hearing scheduled for January 19, 2011.
Per the The Washington Post: “Among other conditions of DC9’s reopening, the club will not be allowed to employ Spieler of any of the four other men involved in the Oct. 15 incident, Simms said. She said the board’s ruling could be reversed or altered Jan. 19 if more information about Mohammed’s death becomes available. Police and the medical examiner’s office are continuing to investigate the encounter on the street that night and Mohammed’s medical condition and injuries at the time, authorities said. They said they would not be legally barred from refiling criminal charges in the case if new information warranted such a move.”
—
Photographs from Wednesday Dec. 1st, 2010 (Outside the ABRA office) Friends brave rainy day to gather outside 1250 U street. (Photo: Samson Balekier)
Taken on December 1, 2010 at 1250 U street in D.C. Photo by Samson Balekier.
Related: Tadias TV: Reactions to the beating death of Ali A. Mohammed
Liquor board rejects DC9 reopening
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
The owners of District club DC9 lost a bid Wednesday to reopen after members of the District’s Alcohol Beverage Regulation Administration unanimously voted to keep it shuttered in the wake of an October incident in which five club employees were accused of beating a man who died outside the popular nightspot.
District prosecutors dropped charges against the five employees on Nov. 5, saying evidence available at that point did not support the case.
The employees have said they are innocent.
DC9 is on Ninth Street near U Street in Northwest.
Another hearing on the club’s reopening is set for Dec. 1, said alcohol board spokeswoman Cynthia Simms. Read the story at The Washington Post.
Today’s photo: Friends and family stage a rally (Wednesday, November 17, 2010) Friends and family staged another rally on Wednesday morning, Nov 17 outside the hearing.
Photos by Samson Balekier.
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DC9 Poised to Regain Liquor License, Ali’s Friends Prepare to Protest Tadias Magazine
Video and Editorial
Published: Sunday, November 14, 2010
New York (Tadias) – The beating death of 27-year old Ethiopian immigrant Ali Ahmed Mohammed continues to spark outrage and dismay in the Ethiopian American community. The murder charges filed against DC9 nightclub co-owner and four of its employees, which were later reduced to charges of aggravated assault, have since been dismissed entirely citing the medical examiner’s determination that the victim’s injuries were not consistent with a brutal beating.
While the liquor license for DC9 was revoked following the incident, the bar has been granted a new hearing before the city’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, scheduled for Wednesday, November 17 at 9:30 a.m. “That hearing has been set because representatives for DC9 filed a request to the board that it reconsider its Nov. 1 decision to continue the bar’s suspension for at least 30 more days,” TBD reports. “This new hearing doesn’t necessarily supplant the already scheduled Dec. 1 status hearing, but if the Board decides to go ahead and take action on the case on Wednesday, it theoretically could.”
The city’s Police Chief Cathy Lanier had acted to suspend the liquor license last month after noting the circumstances of Ali’s death on the morning of Friday, October 15, 2010. According to initial police reports, the young man who worked as a security guard at a local deli, was denied entry to the DC9 nightclub around 2:30 a.m., but he returned to throw a brick through the window. What followed next was described by Lanier as extralegal punishment against the victim. Five men chased Ali— including the club’s owner Bill Spieler and employees Darryl Carter, Reginald Phillips, Evan Preller, and Arthur Zaloga – then tackled and beat him, police said. When officers arrived, all five men were still on the scene and Ali was in critical condition, Lanier said. He was pronounced dead a short time later. “In my opinion, you talk about a beating like this as a result of property damage, someone has lost his life in a savage beating in what appears to be vigilante justice, it’s ridiculous,” the police chief had said.
Attorneys for the defendants have been aggressive in their attack of the police version of events, accusing the cops of rushing to judgement. According to the Washington City Paper, during an ABRA hearing earlier this month, “The defense played a radio call placed by the EMTs who picked up Mohammed the night he died. In a call to Howard University hospital, the emergency workers describe Mohammed as being a victim of cardiac arrest, not bludgeoning. They explain that Mohammed has had a “cardiac arrest after a fight.” They also recount that he went unconscious in the presence of police, contradicting the police version of events—which claims Mohammed was dead or very close to it when the first officer arrived on the scene. Throwing the wrench into the credibility of the EMTs, though, is the fact that they refer to the young Mohammed as a ’45-year-old.'”
Meanwhile, Ali’s parents are still awaiting proper explanation of what exactly happened to their son. Friends and family say they plan to stage another rally on Wednesday morning. At a gathering held last week outside the U.S. attorney’s office, the mother, Sashie Bule, who carried a sign bearing her son’s photo is reported by The Washington Post to have stated: “I need answers…I want to know what happened to my son. He didn’t deserve this.” Nunu Waco, Ali’s cousin, told The Washington Post, her family was shocked by the prosecutors’ decision to drop all charges. “Our family deserves better,” she said. “American citizens deserve better.”
U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. insists the investigation is continuing. “Our work is not done,” Machen said in a statement after all charges were dismissed by his office. “The tragic death of Ali Ahmed Mohammed demands that we undertake a careful and comprehensive investigation to determine precisely how he died. . . . The search for justice cannot be rushed, and we will continue to pursue an active and vigorous inquiry.”
Organizers say Wednesday’s gathering is scheduled near 12th and U street.
In the following video, Tadias TV documents the reactions of Ali’s friends and individuals in the community to the prosecutors’ decision to drop all charges.
Tadias TV: Reactions to the beating death of Ali A. Mohammed
Related News Videos:
Related: Man Died After Beating Outside DC9 Nightclub (WUSA 9)
Above:Dawit Kebede, Editor of Awramba Times newspaper in
Ethiopia, was honored with CPJ’s 2010 press freedom award.
Tadias TV
Events News
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
New York (Tadias) – Ethiopian journalist Dawit Kebede, Founder and Managing Editor of Awramba Times, was one of four journalists who were honored at the Committee to Protect Journalists’ 20th Annual International Press Freedom Awards benefit dinner on the evening of Tuesday, November 23rd at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria. Dawit Kebede was one of the first journalists to be jailed for reporting on the violence following Ethiopia’s 2005 national elections. He was released two years later by presidential pardon. He continues to live and work in Addis Ababa where he publishes the last independent political Amharic newspaper in the country.
The CPJ event, which attracted nearly 1000 guests, also paid tribute to award winners Nadira Isayeva of Russia, Laureano Márquez of Venezuela and Mohammad Davari of Iran (Davari did not attend the ceremony because he remains imprisoned in Iran).
The awards dinner raised a record of nearly $1.5 million for CPJ. It was chaired by Sir Howard Stringer, Chairman and President of Sony Corporation, and hosted by former “NBC Nightly News” Anchor Tom Brokaw. The award presenters included Christiane Amanpour, Host of ABC News’ “This Week,” Victor Navasky, Chairman of the Columbia Journalism Review, and Robert Thomson, Editor-in-Chief of Dow Jones & Managing Editor of The Wall Street Journal.
Above: Ethiopian Airlines took delivery of of its first 777, the
African continent’s first -200LR and the 900th 777 to roll off
of Boeing’s assembly lines. (Photograph by Jeremy Lindgren) Click here for Exclusive Photo Gallery at NYC Aviation
Video: Africa seen as a growing market for Boeing – (KING 5 News)
By Glenn Farley – KING 5 News Aviation Specialist NWCN.com
Posted on November 17, 2010 at 6:46 PM
EVERETT, WA. — Outside of Boeing’s gigantic factory, the company reached a milestone Wednesday. Boeing delivered its 900th 777 airliner.
The buyer of the 900th 777 (and four other 777-200LR’s) is Ethiopian Airlines. The east African country is the link that connects Africa to the rest of the world.
The LR in 777-200LR stands for “long range,” and the planes Ethiopian Airlines bought should do the job, for example, connecting Washington, D.C. direct to Addis Ababa, the airline’s hub.
Ethiopian Airlines already has a sizable Boeing fleet, with 737’s, 757’s, and 767’s. It has standing orders for 787 Dreamliners and more 737’s, in addition to the big continent-connecting 777’s. Their fleet is one of the world’s youngest.
Above:NYT said it stands by its story after Haile criticized the
paper regarding an article on his retirement, un-retirement and
political pressure during an appearance on Ethiopian Television.
Haile Gebrselassie Reconsiders and Won’t Quit Racing The New York Times
By JERÉ LONGMAN
Published: November 15, 2010
Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia, the distance-running star who stunningly announced his retirement after dropping out of the New York City Marathon on Nov. 7, said Monday that he had reconsidered and would continue racing.
“Running is in my blood, and I decided to continue competing,” Gebrselassie wrote on his Twitter account. “My announcement in New York was my first reaction after a disappointing race.”
Jos Hermens, Gebrselassie’s agent, said from Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, that Gebrselassie had reacted emotionally after leaving the New York course at 16 miles of the 26.2-mile race. He also felt guilty for having dropped out of a half-marathon in New York earlier this year.
“He wasn’t thinking when he said he wanted to stop,” Hermens said. “He was too emotional.” Read more.
The owners of District club DC9 lost a bid Wednesday to reopen after members of the District’s Alcohol Beverage Regulation Administration unanimously voted to keep it shuttered in the wake of an October incident in which five club employees were accused of beating a man who died outside the popular nightspot.
District prosecutors dropped charges against the five employees on Nov. 5, saying evidence available at that point did not support the case.
The employees have said they are innocent.
DC9 is on Ninth Street near U Street in Northwest.
Another hearing on the club’s reopening is set for Dec. 1, said alcohol board spokeswoman Cynthia Simms. Read the story at The Washington Post.
Today’s photo: Friends and family stage a rally (Wednesday, November 17, 2010) Friends and family staged another rally on Wednesday morning, Nov 17 outside the hearing.
Photos by Samson Balekier.
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DC9 Poised to Regain Liquor License, Ali’s Friends Prepare to Protest Tadias Magazine
Video and Editorial
Published: Sunday, November 14, 2010
New York (Tadias) – The beating death of 27-year old Ethiopian immigrant Ali Ahmed Mohammed continues to spark outrage and dismay in the Ethiopian American community. The murder charges filed against DC9 nightclub co-owner and four of its employees, which were later reduced to charges of aggravated assault, have since been dismissed entirely citing the medical examiner’s determination that the victim’s injuries were not consistent with a brutal beating.
While the liquor license for DC9 was revoked following the incident, the bar has been granted a new hearing before the city’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, scheduled for Wednesday, November 17 at 9:30 a.m. “That hearing has been set because representatives for DC9 filed a request to the board that it reconsider its Nov. 1 decision to continue the bar’s suspension for at least 30 more days,” TBD reports. “This new hearing doesn’t necessarily supplant the already scheduled Dec. 1 status hearing, but if the Board decides to go ahead and take action on the case on Wednesday, it theoretically could.”
The city’s Police Chief Cathy Lanier had acted to suspend the liquor license last month after noting the circumstances of Ali’s death on the morning of Friday, October 15, 2010. According to initial police reports, the young man who worked as a security guard at a local deli, was denied entry to the DC9 nightclub around 2:30 a.m., but he returned to throw a brick through the window. What followed next was described by Lanier as extralegal punishment against the victim. Five men chased Ali— including the club’s owner Bill Spieler and employees Darryl Carter, Reginald Phillips, Evan Preller, and Arthur Zaloga – then tackled and beat him, police said. When officers arrived, all five men were still on the scene and Ali was in critical condition, Lanier said. He was pronounced dead a short time later. “In my opinion, you talk about a beating like this as a result of property damage, someone has lost his life in a savage beating in what appears to be vigilante justice, it’s ridiculous,” the police chief had said.
Attorneys for the defendants have been aggressive in their attack of the police version of events, accusing the cops of rushing to judgement. According to the Washington City Paper, during an ABRA hearing earlier this month, “The defense played a radio call placed by the EMTs who picked up Mohammed the night he died. In a call to Howard University hospital, the emergency workers describe Mohammed as being a victim of cardiac arrest, not bludgeoning. They explain that Mohammed has had a “cardiac arrest after a fight.” They also recount that he went unconscious in the presence of police, contradicting the police version of events—which claims Mohammed was dead or very close to it when the first officer arrived on the scene. Throwing the wrench into the credibility of the EMTs, though, is the fact that they refer to the young Mohammed as a ’45-year-old.'”
Meanwhile, Ali’s parents are still awaiting proper explanation of what exactly happened to their son. Friends and family say they plan to stage another rally on Wednesday morning. At a gathering held last week outside the U.S. attorney’s office, the mother, Sashie Bule, who carried a sign bearing her son’s photo is reported by The Washington Post to have stated: “I need answers…I want to know what happened to my son. He didn’t deserve this.” Nunu Waco, Ali’s cousin, told The Washington Post, her family was shocked by the prosecutors’ decision to drop all charges. “Our family deserves better,” she said. “American citizens deserve better.”
U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. insists the investigation is continuing. “Our work is not done,” Machen said in a statement after all charges were dismissed by his office. “The tragic death of Ali Ahmed Mohammed demands that we undertake a careful and comprehensive investigation to determine precisely how he died. . . . The search for justice cannot be rushed, and we will continue to pursue an active and vigorous inquiry.”
Organizers say Wednesday’s gathering is scheduled near 12th and U street.
In the following video, Tadias TV documents the reactions of Ali’s friends and individuals in the community to the prosecutors’ decision to drop all charges.
Tadias TV: Reactions to the beating death of Ali A. Mohammed
Related News Videos:
Related: Man Died After Beating Outside DC9 Nightclub (WUSA 9)
Above:Ethiopia’s Gebre Gebremariam poses for Tadias.com
at Queen of Sheba restaurant on Monday, November 8, 2010.
Tadias Magazine
Events News
Photos by Marie Claire Andrea
Published: Friday, November 12, 2010
New York (Tadias) – Gebre Gebremariam, last Sunday’s surprise winner of the New York City Marathon, was treated to a victory dinner on Monday night at Queen of Sheba – the popular Ethiopian restaurant located in Midtown Manhattan.
Gebremariam gave Ethiopians something to cheer about after the highly anticipated appearance by Haile Gebrselassie ended in mid-course due to injury, forcing the legendary runner to prematurely announce his retirement. He has since changed his mind about the retirement decision. Haile was also a no-show on Monday evening in Chevy Chase, Maryland, where he was the scheduled speaker at Girls Got To Run Foundation’s fundraiser. (Click here for Tadias TV’s coverage of this event)
Below are exclusive images from Gebre Gebremariam’s victory dinner at Queen of Sheba restaurant on Monday, November 8, 2010.
Gebre Gebremariam at Queen of Sheba restaurant, Nov 8.
Victory dinner for Gebre Gebremariam at Queen of Sheba in Manhattan.
Philipos Mengistu, owner of Queen of Sheba, opens the Champagne.
Cheers for Gebre Gebremariam – Winner of the 2010 New York City Marathon
Gebre Gebremariam poses with Queen of Sheba staff. (November 8, 2010)
Above:Marcus Samuelsson near his new Red Rooster in
Harlem. (Photo: Christian Hansen for The New York Times)
Tadias Magazine
Events News
Published: Sunday, October 31, 2010
New York (Tadias) – Red Rooster, Marcus Samuelsson’s highly anticipated new restaurant in Harlem, will open later this month.
Located at 310 Lenox Avenue, between West 125th and West 126th streets, Red Rooster pays tribute to a legendary speakeasy of the same name from the Harlem Renaissance.
For Samuelsson the goal is bigger than fine dining . “I always wanted to live in Harlem. Harlem was the community that I knew about when I was in Sweden. It was what I knew about America and African-American culture. I’ve always thought about Harlem. Harlem is not going to change because we talk about it. It’s going to change because we do something,” he had said during an interview with Tadias Magazine following the White House dinner he prepared for the Obamas’ first State Dinner last year. Samuelsson has chosen Harlem as his home and states: “I put my money in the economy. For me it’s not a PR stint. For me it’s a lifestyle. I sold my place and moved to Harlem to experience it.”
BlackAtlas.com, the premier travel website for African Americans, has produced the following video of Samuelsson giving a tour of Harlem, starting from the location of his new restaurant and passing by several popular spots including the Abesha-owned cafe Settepani, a popular hangout for Harlem’s young elite.
BlackAtlas will also hold a pre-opening celebration of Red Rooster in mid-November and invite you to participate. You may have a chance to win two tickets to NYC for the event.
For more details email Editor@blackatlas.com or click here to register.
Video: BlackAtlas.com with Chef Marcus Samuelsson
Video: Be the First to Dine at Chef Marcus Samuelsson’s Red Rooster Harlem
Above: Haile Gebrselassie, who is preparing for the 2010 NYC
Marathon, will keynote an event to benefit Girls Gotta Run Org.
Tadias Magazine
Events News
Published: Thursday, October 21, 2010
New York (Tadias) – Long-distance legend Haile Gebrselassie will be the featured speaker at a fundraiser for the Girls Gotta Run Foundation on Monday, November 8, 2010 at the Chevy Chase Running Company, located in Chevy Chase, Maryland, organizers announced. The event will take place the day after the athlete’s highly-anticipated debut at the upcoming New York City Marathon.
“Haile Gebrselassie, arguably the greatest living distance runner in history, has graciously agreed to be our featured speaker,” said Patricia E. Ortman, GGRF’s Executive Director. “He will speak about his life and career and answer questions from the audience.”
The foundation – which was profiled here last year – was established in 2006 to provide funds for athletic shoes, clothes, meals, coach subsidies, and other training-related expenses for disadvantaged Ethiopian girls who are training to be professional runners. One of its sponsored athletes, Dinknesh Mekash Tefer of Running Across Borders, recently broke the women’s course record for the Baxters Loch Ness Marathon in Scotland, while winning her first international race.
Organizers hope that portions of the proceeds from the Maryland gathering will help “subsidize scholarships for girls to attend training at the Yaya Africa Athletics Village, an athletic center in Sululta, Ethiopia, which is presently under construction and in which Mr.Gebrselassie is a partner.”
The event, co-sponsored and hosted by the Chevy Chase Running Company, will take place at the Chevy Chase Running Company store.
If you go:
Haile Gebrselassie Featured Speaker at GGRF Fundraiser
Monday, November 8, 2010.
From 7 to 9 p.m.
4461 Willard Avenue
Chevy Chase, Maryland,
Tickets will be $25.00 and sold only at the door
Learn more at: girlsgottarun.org
Cover Image: The 2010 New York City Marathon Poster bearing Haile Gebrselassie’s photo at the 155 Street “C” train station in Manhattan. (Tadias)
Above:One of the memorials honoring Ali Mohammed during
the candelight vigil. He was killed by a gang of men last week.
The Hilltop
The Student Voice of Howard University
By Genet Lakew
Managing Editor
The block of Ali Mohammed’s death also served as the site of his vigil.
Friends, family, and members of the Ethiopian and D.C. community came together to remember the life of the 27-year-old man who died early Friday morning.
Attendees held up neon green and bright yellow signs that read “The Truth Shall Prevail,” “We Want Justice” and “Any Death Should Not Go Unpunished.” Some shined white and pink candles and another person hoisted the green, yellow and red Ethiopian flag. A few women were clad in all black attire, a way to show mourning after a death in Ethiopian culture.
While the debate over whether Ali’s death was homicide or if he died from preexisting conditions continues, his family and friends mourned his loss.
“My son was not a violent man and did not deserve to die as he did,” said his father, Ahmed Mohammed Galtchu, Tuesday evening, holding back tears.
Galtchu said he and his family hope for justice for his son and punishment for those responsible for his death. He thanked the crowd for coming out to show their support.
Ali died at approximately 3:15 Friday morning at Howard University hospital. Earlier, at 2:30 a.m., he was on 9th Street NW trying to get into the DC9 bar and club. To his disappointment, Mohammed was turned away from the party.
He allegedly threw a brick through the windows of the venue in frustration. Soon after, five men who worked at the club, including the owner, chased him down the 2000 block of 9th Street. According to statements made by D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier, these men allegedly “savagely beat” Mohammed to death.
The employees were arrested and initially charged with second-degree murder. That charge was later reduced to aggravated assault, a move that upset Mohammed’s family.
Ali’s cousin Nunu Wako, who spoke during the vigil, said she had never seen him raise a hand on others and the beating of “five to one is utterly barbaric, is savage.”
Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham was present and expressed support for the Mohammed family.
“We share the loss today of Ali,” said Graham. “We will have justice in this case.”
Graham emphasized his close relationship with the Ethiopian community in D.C. and particularly the unofficial “Little Ethiopia” neighborhood of 9th Street.
He announced that there is “evidence sufficient to justify charge of murder” in the case.
“Igziabeher yimesgen, amen, amen,” Graham said, meaning “Thank God” in Amharic, a few of the terms he picked up when he visited Ethiopia in 2004 and in his dealings with his Ethiopian constituents.
He urged the crowd to please let the situation run its course and allow the authorities to handle the case.
A woman from D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty’s African Affairs office read a letter from the Mayor, who shared his condolences for the Mohammed family.
Above: The owner of DC9 club and four employees have been
charged in a fatal beating of Ali Ahmed Mohammed of Ethiopia.
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Washington, D.C. (Tadias) – Friends and family of Ali Ahmed Mohammed, who was beaten to death last week by a gang of five men here, will gather for a candlelight vigil Tuesday evening.
According to the city’s Police Chief Cathy Lanier, the 27-year-old Ethiopian immigrant was denied entry to the DC9 nightclub around 2:30 a.m. on Friday October 15, but he returned to throw a brick through the window. What followed next was described by Lanier as extralegal punishment against the victim.
Five men chased Ali— including the club’s owner Bill Spieler and employees Darryl Carter, Reginald Phillips, Evan Preller, and Arthur Zaloga – then tackled and beat him, police said. When officers arrived, all five men were still on the scene and Ali was in critical condition, Lanier said. He was pronounced dead a short time later.
“In my opinion, you talk about a beating like this as a result of property damage, someone has lost his life in a savage beating in what appears to be vigilante justice, it’s ridiculous,” the police chief said.
All five men were initially charged with second degree murder, but they were later released after the chargers were reduced to aggravated assault. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Kerkhoff signaled in court that the charges might change again, depending on the findings of the D.C. Medical Examiner.
Meanwhile, a police source tells the Washington City Paper that he is certain at least one of the five accused will face murder charges. According to the paper, the cop said a witness had “watched the defendants Carter, Zaloga, Speiler and Phillips kick and stomp the victim on the head and the body as defendant Preller held the victim down.” The witness claims to have watched Spieler “kick Mr. Mohammed several times, then stop when the police approached and attempt to flag down police.”
“The source offers that the five suspects may have been on automatic pilot: ‘Sometimes people do things and they regret what they do afterward,'” the newspaper reported.
Per FOX 5 News: “One of the attorneys put forth an ‘initial discovery request’ that any security video of the incident be preserved.”
The next court hearing will take place on November 8.
The candlelight vigil is scheduled for 6:00 PM at the corner of 9th and U Street.
Video: Man Died After Beating Outside DC9 Nightclub (WUSA 9 Online)
Above:Negrero Debero, the missing Ethiopian limo driver in
DeKalb County, Georgia, has been found alive, sources say.
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Updated: Friday, October 15, 2010
Atlanta (Tadias) – The 33-year-old Ethiopian limo driver from DeKalb County who had been missing since early Saturday has been found alive.
A family friend says Negrero Debero was found on Thursday and has been admitted to Gwinnett Medical Center for treatment.
Negrero disappeared after he was last seen Saturday morning at about 6 a.m. According to police, he was last seen driving a black Lincoln Town Car with the license plate number 355 REJ, which authorities located last week, smashed and abandoned on Interstate 85.
Per WSBTV.com: “Friends of Debero told Channel 2 Action News the circumstances of the disappearance seem very odd, and how he was located was more bizarre. ‘He was found in the bushes without his clothing. We’re hoping detectives on the case are still going to be working,’ said Surafel Asmamaw.”
“We still want answers to what happened that Saturday morning when he disappeared,” said Getachew Techill, Debero’s friend.
Earlier in the week, “Family and friends {who put up a $10,000 reward for information} told Channel 2 Action News reporter Kerry Kavanaugh that about 100 members of the Ethiopian community came together Tuesday night to distribute fliers and to ask for people to spread the word about the missing man.”
“We’ve gone to gas stations, apartments and streets…,” said searcher Yeshr Teklu.
Negrero has a fiancée and a 4-year-old daughter.
According to WSBTV.com, witnesses claim Debero was drinking at a bar the day he disappeared.
—
When Haile Gebrselassie, the world-record holder from Ethiopia, competes in the New York City Marathon on Nov. 7, he will be both a star and a growing anachronism.
Gebrselassie is classically trained as a runner. He competed in cross-country and won two Olympic gold medals on the track at 10,000 meters before turning his full attention to the 26.2 miles of the marathon. He is the only man to have run under 2 hours 4 minutes, setting his world mark of 2:03:59 at the 2008 Berlin Marathon.
Now 37, Gebrselassie was also groomed in a relatively closed system of Soviet-influenced coaching and training techniques in the East African nation, which was run by a Marxist military junta from the mid-1970s until the early-1990s.
Ethiopia has long produced great marathoners: Abebe Bikila won the Olympic marathon in 1960 and 1964, becoming the first black African to win a gold medal. His countryman Mamo Wolde won the 1968 Olympic marathon. Fatuma Roba won the women’s Olympic marathon in 1996 and three Boston Marathons. Derartu Tulu, a two-time Olympic champion at 10,000 meters, is the defending women’s champion in New York. Many consider Gebrselassie the greatest distance runner ever.
The difference now is that individual greatness is being enhanced by billowing numbers. In recent years, a flood of Ethiopian runners has challenged the international marathoning supremacy of neighboring Kenya. While Sammy Wanjiru of Kenya, the reigning Olympic champion, won the Chicago Marathon on Sunday, Tsegaye Kebede and Feyisa Lilesa of Ethiopia finished second and third.
“Tune-In” Anywhere Watch the ING New York City Marathon on TV, Web, and Mobile
Television In New York: The race will be broadcast live exclusively on NBC 4 New York beginning at 9:00 a.m. with the pre-race warm up and continuing through the race across all five boroughs, the bridges, and to the finish line until 2:00 p.m. A two-hour highlight show will follow on NBC Sports (NBC 4 in New York) from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
In the United States: NBC Sports will broadcast a two-hour highlight show nationwide, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. on November 7; check local listings for details. Universal Sports will also air the race live from 9:00 a.m. EST on their digital network. In the New York metro area, NBC Sports is on NBC 4 New York.
Around the World: A highlight show will be carried in nearly 125 countries worldwide. Check your local listings for details.
Web
The Marathon will be streamed LIVE on UniversalSports.com, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Coverage includes the main race, pro men’s, and pro women’s feeds. You can also watch the archived race on demand.
Mobile
Coming in late-October, download the ING New York City Marathon iPhone/iPad app from the iTunes store and take the Marathon with you anywhere! The app will feature:
Live race-day video feeds of the professional race
The five-hour NBC 4 New York show
Real-time photos
Elite runner leaderboard
Individual runner split tracking
“Cross-Path” feature displays your location with respect to the runner
New York (Tadias) – The Hub of Africa Fashion Week, which took place in Addis Ababa last month, showcased the latest collections in clothing, footwear and accessories from emerging local designers hailing from several African countries. The event was coordinated by Clairvoyant Marketing Agency and Yoha Entertainment.
The fashion week highlighted local designers and international models. The runway show featured, among others, New York-based Ethiopian American model Maya Gate Haile.
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – Ethiopia released the country’s most prominent opposition leader from jail on Wednesday, four months after the government’s landslide win in elections criticised by Western powers.
Birtukan Mideksa, a former judge, is the leader of Ethiopia’s biggest opposition party, Unity for Democracy and Justice. She left Kaliti prison in Addis Ababa with her daughter and mother.
Her car slowed to a crawl as about a thousand supporters lined narrow streets decorated with flags and posters near her home on the outskirts of the capital.
Supporters, some in T-shirts bearing her image, chanted and sang “Birtukan is our Mandela” and “No government is stronger than God” as they threw flowers on a red carpet that marked out the last few hundred metres to her house.
Government opponents say she was jailed because she was a threat to the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) at the May 23 election, which gave Prime Minister Meles Zenawi another five-year mandate. The government denies that. Read more.
Photos: Ethiopian opposition leader Birtukan Mideksa freed Birtukan Mideksa speaks to reporters from the window of a prison van after
being freed from prison in Addis Ababa. (Photograph by REUTERS)
Ethiopian opposition leader Birtukan Mideksa (R) returns home to her family (AFP)
Birtukan Mideksa had been in prison since December 2008 (AFP)
Above:Dr. Gebisa Ejeta is one of three eminent Americans
who are selected to represent the U.S. as scientist-diplomats.
Tadias Magazine
Events news
Updated: Tuesday, October 5, 2010
New York (Tadias) – Dr. Gebisa Ejeta, a distinguished Professor of Agronomy at Purdue University and an acclaimed plant breeder and geneticist, has been named an envoy in the U.S. Science Envoy Program, established to nurture science and technology collaborations between the United States and nations throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and South and Southeast Asia.
Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) made the announcement on September 17 at an event hosted by the U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation. “The Science Envoy program, announced by President Obama in Cairo in June 2009, is a centerpiece program to implement U.S. global engagement in science and technology,” the State Department said in a press release. “These preeminent scientists will seek to deepen existing ties and foster new relationships with foreign counterparts and gain insights from other nations about potential areas of collaboration that will help address global challenges and realize shared goals.”
The Ethiopian-born scientist, who was also winner of the 2009 World Food Prize, is one of three Americans who are selected to represent the U.S. as scientist-diplomats, including Dr. Rita Colwell, a Professor at both the University of Maryland College Park and Johns Hopkins University, and Dr. Alice Gast, President of Lehigh University.
Professor Gebisa, whom along with a Purdue colleague, discovered the chemical basis of the relationship between the deadly parasitic weed striga and sorghum and was able to produce sorghum varieties resistant to both drought and striga, won the 2009 World Food Prize for his major contributions in the production of sorghum, one of the world’s five principal grains. His work has dramatically enhanced the food supply for millions of people in sub-Sahara Africa.
Per the U.S. State Department: “Secretary Clinton announced the first three science envoys in November 2009: Dr. Bruce Alberts, Dr. Elias Zerhouni, and Dr. Ahmed Zewail. During 2010, they traveled to 11 countries in North Africa; the Middle East; South and Southeast Asia; and Europe. The science envoys travel in their capacity as private citizens, and they advise the White House, the Department of State, and the U.S. scientific community about the knowledge and insights they gain from their travels and interactions.”
—
New York (TADIAS) – Tayitu Cultural Center, formerly known as Tayitu Entertainment, held its first book launch and reading session in Washington D.C. in August 2000. Since then, it has become one of the primary stages for Ethiopian theatrical expression in the United States. Tayitu Cultural Center is now poised to celebrate its 10th anniversary on October 3, 2010 in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Since its inception a decade ago, the organization has unfailingly hosted a monthly poetry night called YeWerru Gitm Mishit, showcasing emerging and veteran talents not only in literary traditions, but also painters, filmmakers and musicians. Founded by actress and poet Alemtsehay Wedajo, the first female director at Ethiopia’s National Theatre, the non-profit organization has managed 120 poetry gatherings, staged 29 original productions, 6 comedy skits, and has taken shows on the road to over 150 cities across the country and internationally, including Canada and Europe.
Among the group’s popular annual events are the Valentine’s Day Feqer Mishet, highlighting artistic presentations celebrating love in all its forms, as well as the once-a-year event entitled YeSaq Mishet, an evening dedicated to comedic relief.
The center, whose mission is “to conserve, renew and re-invent the rich Ethiopian cultural heritage,” has also morphed into a venue for a new generation of Ethiopian-American artists. The group aims to establish a permanent home in Washington, D.C. to serve as an Ethiopian Performing Arts and Cultural Center within the next 10 years.
If You Go:
Tayitu Cultural Center’s 10th year Anniversary
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Montgomery College, Arts Building
7995 Georgia Avenue
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Program starts at 4pm http://tayituentertainment.com
Phone: 240-460-3579
Video clip from past event (2008): Tayitu Entertainment 8th Anniversary – Dancers With Maritu
Above – Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi spoke on the
global environment and Africa on Wednesday, but faced tough
questions from audience members. Photo/Columbia Spectator.
When Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi came to give a speech on “The Current Global Environment and its Impact in Africa” on Wednesday, he faced tough questions from student attendees on his leadership of his home country. Read more.
Opinion Zenawi awareness
By Neil FitzPatrick
Broadway was awash with opponents and supporters of Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi yesterday. His visit sparked more controversy than Columbia has seen in a while. If you look here and scroll down, you’ll see that there are a couple hundred comments on Spectrum’s coverage of the event. Most of them call Zenawi a “killer,” accuse him of violating human rights, and assert that Columbia should be ashamed for inviting him to speak. More than a few wonder at the validity of this demonstration of free speech. Read more.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is still scheduled to speak at the World Leaders Forum {today} at 4 p.m., but Columbia announced {yesterday} that the speech has been moved from Low Rotunda to Roone Arledge Auditorium in Lerner Hall. The University declined to comment on the reason for the change, but it is worth noting that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s controversial appearance in 2007 also took place in Roone Arledge rather than Low Library, which is generally the venue of choice for the highest-profile speakers
Description: This World Leaders Forum program features an address by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia followed by a question and answer session with the audience.
Above:Atlanta edges out Toronto to host the next Ethiopian
Soccer Tournament. (Photo by Kal Kassa/Tadias Magazine file)
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: Tuesday, September 21, 2010
New York (Tadias) – The Ethiopian Sports Federation in North America has announced that Atlanta will be hosting the organization’s soccer tournament for 2011. The tournament site was selected by the group’s nine-member Executive Committee.
The federation’s spokesperson Fassil Abebe confirmed the decision: “Yes, Atlanta has been selected as the 2011 Tournament/Festival site after carefully considering the bids from Toronto and Atlanta,” Fassil told Tadias Magazine.
The 2011 tournament will mark its fourth return to Atlanta. The city’s Ethiopian soccer team is also four time champion of the national competition, bringing the trophy home in 1994 and 1997 while winning the cup at home games in 1998 and 2005. Atlanta hosted the ESFNA soccer tournament & festivities in 1986, 1998, and 2005.
“After thoroughly examining the proposals from both Atlanta and Toronto, the Executive Committee (EC) has selected Atlanta as the 2011 Tournament site,” ESFNA said in a brief statement posted on its website. “The EC and Board of Directors of ESFNA will hold their Winter meeting in Atlanta October 16 and 17, 2010.”
The annual gathering, which next year celebrates its 28th anniversary, goes far beyond sports entertainment, allowing families and friends in North America’s Ethiopian immigrant community to come together in celebration of sports and their cultural heritage. The tournament week is a popular time for networking, alumni gatherings, small business catering, music performances, and reunion parties. Hosting also offers a variety of benefits to the community, including local economic impact stemming from hotel, transportation, food and other-related purchases.
— Cover Image: At the 2010 San Jose Ethiopian Soccer Tournament by Kal Kassa.
Related from Tadias archives: Photo Journal: San Jose Ethiopian Soccer Tournament 2010—
FORMER Olympic 5000m champion Meseret Defar from Ethiopia made a superb debut at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Philadelphia Half-Marathon on September 19.
The 26-year-old set a US all-comers’ record of 67:44, defeating Kenya’s Lineth Chepkirui by two-seconds.
Defar, who overcame a shin injury in the build-up to this race, told reporters: “I had the speed and knew that with the last 2K, I could push and win it.”
Werknesh Kidane from Ethiopia completed the podium in third with 68:30 with Shalane Flanagan fourth in 68:36.
Both Kidane and Flanagan will be making their marathon debuts in New York in November. Read more.
—–
Video Highlights: 2010 Rock and Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon (Sept 19, 2010)
The ING Rock ‘n’ Roll Half-Marathon, which had been known as the Philadelphia Distance
for the past 32 years, features live music throughout the competition. The prize: $3,500.
—
UPDATE 2010 Rock and Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon results Examiner.com
September 19th, 2010 12:28 pm ET
Meseret Defar of Ethiopia made her half marathon debut this morning, edging out Lineth Chepkin to win the Rock and Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon in 1:07:44. In a close race, Chepkin of Kenya was second in 1:07:46. Werknesh Kidane of Ethiopia was third in 1:08:30 and Shalane Flanigan fourth in 1:08:36.
For the men, Matthew Kisorio of Kenya was first in 1:00:15, Gebre Gebremarium second in 1:00:25, and Abderrahim Gourmi of Morocco third in 1:01:33. The favored 2009 Distance Run Champion, Ryan Hall, finished thirteenth in 1:03:55. His 1:01:52 to win last year was on the previous course. It was a disappointing day for Hall who came out to the race confident to win. Read more.
—-
Tadias Magazine
Events News
Posted: Saturday, September 18, 2010
Philadelphia – More than 18,600 athletes from across the world are expected to gather for the ING Rock ‘n’ Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon, including Olympic medalist Meseret Defar and the 2009 Boston Marathon champion Teyba Erkesso of Ethiopia.
The 27-year-old Erkesso, whose gutsy mid-race surge carried her to victory at the 2009 Boston Marathon, has perhaps the best road racing credentials of any woman running the race. Her personal best half marathon of 67:41, set earlier this year in Ras Al Khaimah, is the second fastest in the field behind her countrywomen Derartu Tulu, the decorated Olympian, world record holder and reigning New York City Marathon champion. Another Ethiopian, multiple Olympic track medalist and world record holder Meseret Defar–who has never raced further than 5K on the roads–will be making her highly-anticipated half marathon debut.
The ING Rock ‘n’ Roll Half-Marathon, which had been known as the Philadelphia Distance run for the past 32 years, features live music throughout the competition. The winners will be awarded $3,500.
Video from RunCenter – Philly Pre-Race Preparation Show
Forbes.com
Posted by SUSAN GUNELIUS
Sep. 12 2010 – 5:32 pm
On September 20, 2010, Sarah Brown, Global Patron of the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood and wife of the former UK Prime Minister, will chair the first ever WIE Symposium (Women: Inspiration & Enterprise) in New York City, with co-hosts designer and Urban Zen Founder Donna Karan and Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington.
The theme of the event is “Women Inspiring Women” and brings together prominent women from the fields of politics, philanthropy, media, fashion and the arts to inspire and empower the future generation of women leaders, advocates and entrepreneurs.
In the weeks leading up to the event, I had an opportunity to speak with featured WIE Symposium panelist Liya Kebede (model, actress, fashion designer, and activist whose charity, The Liya Kebede Foundation, works toward ensuring maternal health and saving the lives of women and children around the world) about the women that have inspired her and her thoughts for the next generation of women leaders.
Liya is not a stranger to Forbes.com, having appeared on the Forbes list of top earning models in both 2007 and 2008.
Above:There is a battle over the historic river. Under existing
accords, Egypt has veto power over development projects, but
upstream nations say they should not be bound by unfair pacts.
The Los Angeles Times
By Jeffrey Fleishman and Kate Linthicum
September 11, 2010|8:09 p.m.
In recent years, Chinese contractors have threaded skeins of power lines across the Nile Basin to carry electricity from the Tana-Beles plant to distant cities such as Addis Ababa and to nearby Bahir Dar. More than 80% of Ethiopians live without modern electricity, according to the World Bank.
Zegeye Alemye, a barber in Blue Nile Village about two hours drive from Tana-Beles, was adamant that the river be developed. “This country should benefit from the Nile,” he said.
Zegeye lives on the banks of the Abay River, the largest Blue Nile tributary. More than 50 years ago, Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie built one of the nation’s first hydropower plants on the river, not far from Zegeye’s tiny tin-roofed shop. Another hydropower plant was built downstream in the 1980s. Electricity transformed the village from a few hundred people into a town of 7,000. Read more
Back in 2002, Daniel Belayneh started the non-profit Ethiopian Community Services and Development Council because he noticed a clear injustice: Two homeless Ethiopian immigrants had frozen to death in the street, and nobody noticed or cared. When a Hispanic man was found dead under similar circumstances, he says, the tragedy made the newspapers and attracted attention from politicians.
Eight years later, he feels like Ethiopians are receiving the same treatment from the administration of Mayor Adrian Fenty. Belayneh started a homeless shelter for down-on-their-luck African immigrants, but had to shut it down last year after expected city funding didn’t come through. He invited Fenty to attend a ribbon cutting for a new free clinic his organization had started, but the mayor didn’t show up.
Belayneh says ECSDC represents Ethiopians in D.C., helping new immigrants become law-abiding, productive citizens. But he’s never once been able to get so much as a meeting with Fenty. And now, though his organization is formally non-political, he’s ready for someone else to run things at the Wilson Building.
“We need somebody who listens to us now in office, to answer our questions. We don’t need somebody sitting there and ignoring our calls,” Belayneh says, with consternation. “I’m telling you, can you imagine, I live in Washington, I am in charge of 80,000 people in D.C., they deny me access to his office? I’m telling you, it’s just unbelievable!” Read more.
Above:Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu, one of the invited speakers
at the 2010 Clinton Global Initiative meeting on 22 September.
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: Thursday, September 9, 2010
New York (Tadias) – Former President Bill Clinton has invited Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu, founder of Ethiopia’s environmentally-sensible footwear brand, to participate as a panelist at the upcoming Clinton Global Initiative meeting scheduled to open in New York City on September 20th, 2010.
According to the company, Bethlehem becomes the first African entrepreneur to be invited as a speaker at the annual event, which brings together global leaders from various industries to address the world’s pressing social issues.
This year’s meeting will be attended by First Lady Michelle Obama, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, and Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams among others.
Sole Rebels footwear, Ethiopia’s first fair trade fashion product and winner of the 2010 Eco-Bold Green Award, is produced using indigenous practices such as hand-spun organic cotton and artisan hand-loomed fabric. Tires are also recycled and used for soles. The end result is environmental friendly, vegan footwear.
Bethlehem says she is looking forward to her presentation. “I hope to offer new insights like how we have constructed our supply chain for our business, with a focus on indigenous production techniques, and local and recycled materials,” she told WFTO. “I also want to emphasize that a company like ours can build scaleable community based businesses that allow people to have well paid jobs, while creating market-leading products and preserving the environment.”
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Labor Day might mark the end of summer for some, but in Ethiopia, September means the springtime celebration of a new year. Called Enkutatash, the holiday enticed a crowd of African ex-pats and other curious locals to an outdoor festival at Berkeley’s Civic Center Park this Sunday.
Organized by Oakland’s own Ethiopian Community and Cultural Center (ECCC), the event showcased crafts and clothing, a variety of ethnic foods, and Africa-conscious charitable organizations from around northern California.
Down Center Street, vendors sold an array of Jamaican, Ghanaian and Ethiopian foods. Along with sunny weather and live Reggae music, the wafting blend of cumin and chili peppers helped create a festive mood. People in T-shirts and jeans mingled with traditionally dressed Ethiopian and Sudanese men and women to get a look at the African-themed wares on display.
“This is a non-political, non-religious event – a festival celebrating the new year,” said Ermias Getachew, president of the ECCC. Sunday marked the party’s seventh anniversary. Read more.
Above: Abraham Zegeye, owner of Abe’s Six Pack Shop in W.
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, will travel this month to Ethiopia to
deliver supplies for his new school. (Photo by Monica Cabrera)
By Spencer Soper, OF THE MORNING CALL
9:53 p.m. EDT, September 4, 2010
Last year, Lehigh Valley businessman Abraham Zegeye started raising money to build a school in his father’s native village in Ethiopia.
When the children attend classes later this month, they’ll find a larger, block building with a concrete floor and windows has replaced the cramped stick-and-mud shack with a dirt floor where they used to learn.
Zegeye, who has raised $15,000 for the $30,000 project, will visit the school at the end of the month to deliver supplies for its 250 students.
“I want to make sure they have books, blackboards and desks,” said Zegeye, owner of Abe’s Six Pack shop in west Bethlehem. “It’s not hitting me yet because I am not there to see their faces and their expressions. It’s hard from here to imagine it. But when you get there and see the kids coming and smiling it will be unbelievable.”
Zegeye’s story is one of reflection and reconnection. Raised in Ethiopia’s capital city of Addis Ababa, he left his war-torn homeland as a teenager in 1982 for the stability and opportunity of America. The brutal Derg regime ruled the country at the time, imprisoning and executing those suspected of resistance.
Zegeye’s memories left him bitter and he vowed to never return to his homeland. But those feelings changed over time, and he took a trip to Ethiopia a few years ago. While there, he visited for the first time his father’s native village of Hurufa-Kelate, about six hours from the capital by car and donkey.
He was shocked to see villagers fetching water from a muddy ditch where cattle and goats drank and others did laundry. He and his family members contributed $5,000 to build a well used by 2,000 villagers. Clean water now flows through a spigot instead of bubbling up from a muddy ditch.
But Zegeye, of Lower Nazareth Township, said he wanted to build a school to increase opportunity for the villagers. The small school could only accept children up to fourth grade. Those who wanted to continue schooling had to leave their families during the week to take a grueling walk to another village. Often, only boys were allowed and girls stayed behind to work family farms, Zegeye said.
The new school has sufficient room for children up to eighth grade, so children can continue learning without leaving their families. The government provides instructors as long as communities provide the school, he said.
“Education is the only way for them to come out of this poverty,” Zegeye said. “They can get a better life for themselves and their parents.”
His initial plan was to build a school and clinic for nearly $100,000, but he scaled that back when fundraising fell short. He was able to finance school construction, which has allowed him to build the school before raising all of the money.
Zegeye said he is grateful to his customers and others who helped him raise $15,000. He posted photos of the project and a collection jug in his shop. He also established a trust for the school project through Lafayette Ambassador Bank for donations. Donations ranged from $500 to spare change, he said.
“Day-to-day, people dropped a dollar, quarters, 50 cents,” Zegeye said. “It is making a difference.”
Ethiopian distance runner Dejene Berhanu, who was reported dead at the age of 29 last Sunday by his management firm, took his own life.
Two independent sources contacted by Race Results Weekly who had knowledge of the situation, one in the United States and one in Ethiopia, confirmed the news. Neither source wished to be identified given the sensitivity of the situation.
“It is true that Dejene Berhanu died on Sunday from suicide and was buried on Monday,” said the Ethiopian source. “The cause of death is suicide. These are the facts I know at the moment.”
Berhanu first became known in 2000 when he took the silver medal at 10,000m at the African Championships in Algiers. He would eventually improve to make the 2004 Ethiopian Olympic team and finish fifth at the 5000m. He also won the Great North Run Half-Marathon later that year. He had lifetime bests of 12:54.15 for 5000m, 27:12.22 for 10,000m, 59:37 for the half-marathon and 2:08:46 for the marathon. Read more.
Above:Ethiopia’s Central Bank announced Wednesday that
the birr has been devalued from roughly 13 birr to the dollar
to nearly 16 ½ birr, a one-day drop of about 17 percent. AE
Ethiopia has sharply devalued its currency – the birr – in a bid to boost economic growth. The move was welcomed by economists, though it may have the side effect of fueling inflation.
Ethiopia’s Central Bank announced Wednesday that the birr has been devalued from roughly 13 ½ birr to the dollar to nearly 16 ½ birr, a one-day drop of about 17 percent. The rate was posted on the bank’s website. Officials were not immediately available to comment.
Action Gets ‘Thumbs Up’ – With Some Reservations
The International Monetary Fund representative in Addis Ababa, Sukhwinder Singh Toor, welcomed the move, saying it would help to bolster the competitiveness of Ethiopia’s struggling economy.
Analysts said the devaluation should improve the Horn of Africa nation’s trade deficit. Figures for fiscal year 2010 show a $7 billion deficit, based on $8.7 billion in imports and $1.7 billion dollars in exports. The trade deficit comprises about 30 percent of Ethiopia’s Gross Domestic Product of about $23 billion a year.
But Tewodros Mekonnen, a researcher in the Macroeconomic division of the Ethiopian Economics Association, said the devaluation may not have the desired effect immediately because imports are mostly essential goods, such a food and fuel, while exports are agricultural items.
“In order to reduce your trade deficit, your import and export needs to respond to the exchange rate devaluation, but at the moment imports are too essential to reduce it, so imports may not respond as much,” said Mekonnen. “Also, exports may not respond as much because you cannot increase your agricultural exports just because you have the advantage of the exchange rate devaluation.”
