CoffeeChilliSun

Errr...Hello?

2006-12-19T07:43:00.000+03:00

This is a breakthrough!

The internet in Ethiopia has truly lost its rags (CHerQun Tilo abede) to some manic Telecom server that misdirects e-mails, resets e-mail accounts (my e-mail seems to have been hacked into...) and generally has become even more user unfriendly. It's good to be back, however, access to this page was totally unexpected and I haven't got a solid piece for posting.

Later

So feudal

2006-09-26T07:52:00.000+03:00

The road that leads from Yeka to the upper city centre is being expanded to add a couple of more lanes and make it more presentable as befits the neighbourhood that hosts embassies of old and respected standing. The plans foresaw that this road will have to get a piece off the land that the Kenyan embassy stands on, perhaps 4metres or so. The embassy said no. I'm not sure how many square metres of valuable Addis land and Ethiopian soil the embassy reigns over, but I'm sure it could spare a few- say 200m sq off the 1500 or even 2500 m sq it stands on. As it is, the embassy's refusal was accepted- so the road is being expanded on one side only, meaning that a whole row of houses needs to be demolished. The residents are desperate because they have no where to go apart from some vague promise of being rehoused in condominiums "soon".

Let the embassy think it can do that, let it imagine through some weird egomaniac fug that it can command over it's host country like that- but can't this spineless government even stand up to an uppity little ambassador and refuse to destroy its people's houses or make the embassy/ Kenyan government pay direct compensation to them? How can we be sold and traded with like this 60 years after the last spurt of colonialism has ended?

Tu Pac with a Masinqo

2006-09-25T08:08:00.000+03:00

Another example that we just cannot stop c...c....c..ccccopying others:

I saw a poster for a dude who calles himself Tu Pac, wears a bandana and brandishes a Masinqo... HELLO!?!?!?!

Maybe I should sample some of his tough squeaky-squawky YeArada Lij Hip Hop before I say more- if there's a Tu Pac, is there a P Diddy and Biggy?

Just a thought

2006-09-21T08:06:00.000+03:00

Here our officers run to Eritrea and elsewhere like dogs caught stealing
In Thailand they tell their PM to get lost while he's abroad- without bloodshed...

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ROGUE! Magazine Psycho Test

2006-09-21T07:45:00.000+03:00

You wanna know how high your personal fear factor is? Wanna see whether you belong to the hall of fame or hell? Check this test out and see whether you're up there with the greatest tyrants!
Circle the answer that appeals to you most and count how often you have circled each letter- the one you circled most describes you.

1. You are meeting with the Hungarian and Thai ambassadors who are facing an uncertain future and ask you for advice as to what their next steps should be. You suggest they

a) Await a call from their heads of state and continue on the diplomatic cocktail circuit

b)Take all the money and assets they can, settle old scores and get off that sinking ship they call their government for a brief exile in a luxurious location from where they can plan and execute a civil war over a patch of dirt

c)Fly back incognito, settle old scores with their previous superiors and ruthlessly work their way up in the under the new administration, providing insider info

2. You visit the region you grew up in on a political reconnaissance tour, when you see the people of that area you feel

a) A deep affinity and are pleased they are exhibiting a better lifestyle, health and educational facilities than before- which means taxes can be raised

b) Indifference that it still looks the same, after all you left for a reason- but you get out for some photos for the PR lot

c)Get an uneasy feeling that they are harbouring more rancour towards you than they let on, and stashes of capital wealth, so you order a list of all males between 16 and 70 and decree they are all to join the army, while imposing higher taxes on their land and meagre assets.

3. The media is getting frisky lately and are publishing critical opinion pieces, cartoons and jokes about your government, how do you handle this

a)Study opinion polls and try to get to the bottom of the problem, whether you do anything about it is another matter

b)Arrest some editors, raid their offices etc according to “Totalitarianism for Dummies”

c)What media?

4. Elections are looming and you cannot really fathom the public opinion, do you

a)Step up your campaign and leak some “dirty secrets” about your challengers

b)Flex some muscle by imposing tighter control on media, trade unions, student’s associations and human rights watchdogs. Deep down inside you know that public opinion doesn’t matter a fraction of donor opinion

c)Arrest youths, shut down all media (also the government one), impose curfews and make the killings more “visible”

5. At the current UN general assembly you are

a) Popular for your awkward puns and a as a great party pal, albeit a bit dim

b) Accepted by all, who to their dismay realise that you’re a bit of a political butterfly

c) Popular with the great big crowds who have made straw-dolls with your face on which they burn every evening.

6. At the dining table of the UN meeting the talk revolves around

a) Your and other heads of states’ exploits at the elite Uni you all went to

b) Fair trade and how to come out of it richer and cleaner

c) The putrid smell of the delicatessen cheese that reminds you and your table mates of the prisons in your countries

7. During dinner at home the talk revolves around

a) Bills, laws, decrees etc

b) How to get the most out of your people and everyone else- and your female staff into bed

c) What dinner- what home? You don’t eat nor sleep- you test the latest torture gadgets and weapons of urban terror

8.Your wife thinks you’re

a) Too busy, never home

b) Too busy, never home and she’s glad of it

c) A rubber doll doesn’t think

9. Your children think you’re

a) Too distracted, never attentive

b) Too weird and unpredictable

c) 5 want your job, 4 are in exile, 15 are in various jails and 8 want your head

10. You want to be remembered as

a) A great, fun guy who made no major waves

b) The stern and just father of a nation

c) How good I was at milking the donors and keeping in power for 30years despite being voted out 6 times

Here's your score:
Mostly
a- Too moderate, you’re a joke of a politician who still believes in dialogue and democracy

b- Ok, you’re a fast learner, however you should stop shaking hands with old ladies all the time- too cheesy. But hey, strike a pose for the ROGUE! camera team!

c- Great, you are due for the HSPP (Hitler-Stalin-PolPot) Terror Prize and Gjengis Honorary Medal

From zero to hero

2006-09-18T08:08:00.000+03:00

There is a new delight on the streets of Addis that carries more serious weight beneath. The fresh batch of graduates of the new Federal Police officers are out and about in dapper fresh khaki; the joke being that they are so young and skinny they have to sling their belts twice around their waists and get a muscle strain from having to lift their boots. Some of the more menacing looking ones carry big guns and equally big scowls which nonetheless fail to disguise their youth and ignorance, others carrying truncheons, gangling about on patrol duties.

These new killing machines are rumoured to be the replacement for the “louche and soppy” police currently operating, who are apparently listed for transfer to rural areas that are inherently pro-TPLF/ EPRDF (errr… where?). So next time someone chucks a stone can we expect a higher death toll or a lower one? Higher because they’re too young and keen to relate to the larger consequences of their perverse orders and actions; lower because they just don’t cut it and actually look like they could easily integrate into Addis life with its cynically accommodating residents’ sardonic hospitality that nonetheless must be a allusion to the much-missed warmth and humanity of back home.

Until then though we can entertain ourselves by watching how the young’uns flail about at major traffic intersections trying to direct the traffic- being ignored, pointed and laughed at.

EnquTaTash

2006-09-08T08:14:00.000+03:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

May 1999 hold peace, prosperity and health for all of us

and deliver Ethiopia from this shadow

Quacktastic

2006-09-06T08:13:00.000+03:00

Ouff, this rain is really eating away at my Optimism... (navigate away if you want light stuff)

Just run through these figures and see what it makes you think of the profusion of private clinics in larger cities:

Income (in ETB):

Consultation fee: 10 ETB x 50 Patients per day = 500 ETB (x 30) =15,000/ month
Laboratory fee: 80 ETB x 50 Patients per day = 4500 ETB (x 30) = 135,000/ month

Annual Income: 135,000 x 12 = 1,620,000

Add 10% miscellaneous= Total annual income = 1,782,000 ETB

Expenditure (in ETB):

Rent: 3000/ month (x12) = 36, 000
Utilities: 2500/ month (x12) = 30,000
Equipment maintenance: 1500/ month (x12) = 18,000
Salary for 8 support staff @ 400/ month: 3200/ month (x12) = 38,400
Tax and licence fees: 1500/ month (x12)= 18,000

Annual expenditure: = 140,400 ETB

Add 10% contingency= Total annual expenditure = 154, 440 ETB

Annual break-even/ profit: 1,782,000 minus 154,440 = 1,625,760 ETB

1.6 million Birr take-home, both doctors earn ~500,000 a year (how much do they declare to the taxman and subsequently have to pay in income tax?...) (see NB below)

Everyone has to make a living, especially as a freelancer you have to take what comes; in addition the figures in US$ etc would be laughable and perhaps 50% of the population can afford to pay that and more.

The point is that most private clinics are run like businesses, with a minimum daily turnover stipulated to all staff, especially the doctors. Turnover of cold hard cash, not people helped or any such soppy notions. Therefore, what does this mean on the ground:

-A normal flu suddenly requires intravenous treatment with “anti-inflammatory” drugs

-A skin irritation is diagnosed (using an array of blood tests, urine and stool analysis, when a swab of the area could have been the solution) both as a bacterial infection and allergy, with medication of the 3rd generation variety being doled out like qolo for both and neither.

-A colicky child has to take potent antibacterial drugs against the trinity of favourites: Typhoid, Typhus and Amoeba after the blood and stool had been examined in a messy, barely-sanitary laboratory right next to the filthy “washroom”

Another point is that if at least after all that hocus-pocus the right diagnosis and treatment were given to achieve long-lasting recovery and health the unscrupulous rip-off could just be excused.

NB: Calculations based on first hand information:
Local clinic with 24 hour- 7 day service close to a major transportation taxi hub in densely populated area so patient numbers are roughly 50/ day
Overnight stays and surgery excluded from sums
Lab fees always add up to a minimum of 75-80 Birr per visit, no matter whether it is a sprained foot and a blood test is ordered to check for stomach ulcer causing bacteria (Oh that rascal H. plyori! Nasty bug, but does it make you miss the steps on the stairs? No but it costs 70-120 ETB a pop for testing.)
All expenditure figures are assumed based on common fees for rent, overheads etc. plus 8 staff (excluding big cheeses)f: 2 Security, 1 Receptionist, 2 doctor’s assistants, 3 lab staff

Down on our knees

2006-08-05T18:34:00.000+03:00

Ethiopia

’ s poverty never seemed entrenched or hopeless. I saw the potential of the natural and human resources to yield something substantial for the future of a prosperous and dignified Ethiopia. The poverty, hunger, corruption, oppression and lack of infrastructure seemed like the growing pains of young and budding nation, symptoms of a worry child that will come good. I had hope, always had hope, even when I discovered that more beggars and homeless were out on the streets, that the gap between the rich and the poor was widening, I always had hope. How can a country so beautiful and rich in history, culture and resources ever fail to make it at some point? I would defend Ethiopia to people raised on the media-diet of hunger, drought and strife. I would point out the strong religious traditions, the mostly peaceful co-existence of religions, the ancient and rich history, the cultural variety and the unique ethnic identities and languages that come with this. Oh yes, we do have roads and food, oh even the most unique cereal in the world is used to make delicious food which is so rich in nutrients, it even gets really cold at night and when it rains we get the most dramatic thunderstorms- how rustic romantic! Of course at times I would resort to sarcasm when people were totally blinkered, I’d claim I swung from tree to tree on a liane wearing a loin cloth, suckling on a lioness and the cubs were my brothers…

The first inkling that perhaps we weren’t on the road to a better world came through work, when I saw that population growth was threatening to engulf and gobble up any development, when I saw how governments and NGOs alike had a vested interest in keeping Ethiopia poor. The didvide-and-rule tactics did and didn’t have success, they weren’t successful in that there was no Rwanda style ethnic strife as TPLF had hoped to orchestrate, but intolerance and prejudice are growing insidiously like an obscure cancer. The election and its aftermath weren’t such a great shock since Meles & Co didn’t really inspire faith, which strengthened the belief that Ethiopians have to work from within each individual to achieve freedom, democracy and consequently prosperity and well-being. The hope that the west would “do something” was a still-birth as the greater hidden agendas are unclear to ordinary mortals and are dictated by the “War on terror” and related neo-imperialistic aspirations.

But boy have we sunk to a new low! Now we are the mercenaries of the USA, the private henchmen; the EPRDF gets money to send Ethiopians into a war that we have very little to do with. So the question as to why the west support a tyrant like Meles has been answered, we are someone else’s dirt shovelers. We go abroad to do jobs the natives are too fine to do, now were are low enough to do just that even in our own corner of the world. The Mafia boss was burnt 15 years ago in Somalia, so now he sends his dispensable, thuggish, testosterone-crazed jackals to do the dirty job. The dead protesters from June and November ’05 didn’t just die for peace and stability in Ethiopia, oh no, they died for the safety and democracy in the land of the free- what do we on the ground get for it? Nothing, but more oppression, corruption and a slide deeper into the muck and tangly bog of human-induced development impediment. The USA, as short-sighted and yobbish as it always is, doesn’t realise that a bit of “hearts and minds” stuff in Jijiga with schools, libraries and clinics has not won anyone over, least of all the Somalis in that area.

The Ethiopians are starting to resent the terrorist-speziale treatment that they get at the hands of their own government in its effort to please the USA and keep itself in power. Resentment turns into hate, what with more fundamentalist muslim ideologies taking root in Ethiopia on one side and the dehumanising war on terror on the other, the EPRDF and thus the west are breeding more hate-blinded suicide-bombers. They aren’t stalling the spread on fundamentalist terror, they just opened another Kindergarten for it. And this is where I realise that our perceived poverty and economic worthlessness are dragging us back, by enslaving us to the warlords of terror on all sides and stripping us of any hope and dignity to do things our way for ourselves

Closer than you think

2006-08-02T03:01:00.000+03:00

The recent blog-debate about homosexuality in Ethiopia was interesting and frightening in that it revealed the blinkered bias and prejudice about homosexuality like it's some deviation and disease. Today I found that it has been much closer to home than I realised when chatting to a cousin:

My uncle was not very popular in my world for various reasons, one being that he'd loose all male and adult aloofnes when it came to unruly kids, stooping to harmless pranks and trying to give tit for tat.

What was strange to us was that he used to spend so much time on his grooming, dyeieng his hair and fluffing it up for hours outside infront of a mirror. He used to have a minceing limpwristed walk that was impossible to keep up with in its leg-numbing slowness. He used to hand-make very realistic cloth dolls for my mother. He was married but after his misfit of a son was born they separated (nothing special for sure, but the wedding pictures show a cornered man). He used to bring over male friends, who would share his bed in a "brotherly" fashion. He wore a tiny braided ponytail that he'd stuff down his shirt collar when at home. He'd spend a lot of my mum's money. He drank a lot. He was nasty.

The nastiness, drinking and bitchiness to children (especially his nieces) are not steroetypical traits of gay men, but I reckon they are the result of the oppression and prejudice that cause the frustrations to come out in a nasty way. So not just for the sake of humanity and a more tolerant society should homosexuality be accepted as something that is part of human nature. Let's accept it for the sake of healthier families and happier men, for those thwarted and oppressed inevitably find someone else to torment, in most cases children. To those who say it's against God's will and design, if anything exists in the world it is by his design.

Thing is I just guessed only a few years ago that he might have been gay. I never had confirmation, the whole family was blind to it -despite the extended grooming etc (though stereotypes mean little on their own) and I didn't run it past my mother as she would have had a fit- after all he made dolls with his hands to keep her entertained.

Tonight my cousin and I almost simultaneously said "Did you know he was gay...?" Only to stop and gawk at each other, as no-one had ever mentioned it. And it will stay like that since it will not be seen as something that he just was among other things, like he was light-skinned or liked to wear a "shirrit", it would look like I was acting out a final piece of revenge against an uncle who bullied me by "tarnishing" his name with homosexuality. I think if I said he was a child molester, rapist or red-terror torturer people would accept it more since those are more "manly and heterosexual" things to do, but loving other men? Never.

Long time no blog

2006-07-04T08:18:00.001+03:00

It’s to do with the gloom of the rainy season highlighting the crappy situation in Ethiopia, the fact that daily life and work are becomming ensnared in the undercurrents of mucky politics that pervade almost every aspect of work life.

It's to do with the bare-faced blatant lies on TV (Meles was on last week giving his best to convince us that the 200% increase in sugar prices has to do with the rise in fuel price globally, which has driven other countries to extract fuel from sugar... Uhum... Sure, highly combustible ethanol it is I think, so that they unwittingly get super turbo acceleration...)

It's to do with the inadequacies of the internet here- blogger takes ages to load. The machinations of this government to muffle our voices as implied by the crappnes of the internet does not even get enough mind space for the paranoia it could unleash. I mean a sexed up room-big 1960's computer floating around the moon as space junk could handle Ethiopia's minuscule internet traffic better...

It's to do with many more things that have occured to me as good subjects for this blog, but all of it is inadevertently gloomy and pessimistic, which I really do not want to unleash all at once on you lot. You can watch ordinary news for that kinda stuff.

So, until I can find a humorous slant on things (or some good news) I'll spend my free time buying wellies and waders for the muck of poor Itiyopiyaye

Anything Ethiopian?

2006-06-15T07:48:00.000+03:00

Ethiopia is diffinitely on the map- which map and whether it does us any good is another question. The condition of the country's families, torn by poverty, HIV/AIDS, hunger and political strife has made way for another line of "involvement" with Ethiopia- Adoption.

Over the past couple of years a steady stream of foreigners have been seen in Addis with Ethiopian babies and toddlers. Some parents travel in groups, so that if you run into a bunch of Spaniards with a whole load of babies on thier chests, backs, in their prams and trolleys on a day out in Bole, you shouldn't be alarmed that your vision is deteriorating in the fume-ridden air of Addis. Most of the children are between 3 months and 3 tears old, some of them look slightly pasty and ill, most however look like ordinary babies raised on a budget in Ethiopia.

Even Angelina and Brad did it and called their child Zahara- glad that it wasn't another monstrosity of a name like Maddox (noble meaning I know, but evil sounding).

So what does this mean for Ethiopia and the children themselves?

The issues of the adoption itself is not so controversial to me- if the children are from genuinely poor and desperate circumastences what are their options for a better life? Orphans get passed from auntie to uncle to grandmother etc, and with the growing number of children in general, the economic bottlenecks tightening and the increase of parentless children is it not better to try and give them a better future, even if that means taking them away from their cutural and familiar roots and ties. Culture does not feed a hungry child. The question is on the side of the adopters- what are their motives, their capacity to engage with a foreign child, if they want children, should they not adopt from their own country? There are plenty of blogs that detail the experience of the parents in adopting children.

They read ok, but they always leave a sense of unease in their self-assured, almost self-reighteous, confidence that gives the impression that they see themselves as some crusading knight in shining armour. They short-sightedly decry the whole situation of the country if something gets in the way of their adopting a child; true, Ethiopian bureaucracy and officialdom are the devil's own creation, but the desperate, wall-climbing aggressive impatience make you wonder at the capacity for good parenthood.

I watched an interview of someone responsible for adoption within the Ministry of Social Affairs about 18 months ago, he was describing the application for adoption process and the monitoring system that the government uses to ensure the children go to a good and caring home. The usual scrutiny of familiy history, employment and financial records takes place, after which the prospective parents pay a visit to Ethiopia to choose "their" child from a children's home. 6 to 12 months after the adoption some ministry officials pay a visit to the new home of the child, where they take in the surroundings and relationship that the child has been placed into. Is this an effective means of checking? Will the government official not be bamboozled by the glories of the full-grown wealthy and materialistic societies of the west and perhaps be prepared to overlook some "irregularities" in exchange for some perks of high living?

I have been in the embarassing situation of bumping into fellow country men on their return from an experience sharing visit to Europe, where they had spent 3 weeks to look at sustainable eco-tourism and forestry practices. Bad tempered at having to return "home" and having to account for all their spending they were loading up on duty free booze, mobile phones and other gadgets before the flight; eyeing thestaff of the airport with a mix of chauvinistic disdain, desperate need for human contact outside their intrigue-ridden clique, and surpressed aggression born out of envy.

This was an isolated case and maybe the visit was misconstrued from a start, but it means that officials from a developing country odo not neccessarily have the skills or psychological knowledge, especially when it come to vulnerable children with new western families. And this does not bode well for a child that has been entrusted to their attention and observations. To give credit, there are plenty of government officials who are serious about their mission and care about the fate of the child- but what mechanisms are there that ensure they can report any irregulaties, abuse and neglect. Do the social services of the host country really care, would they engage with the official outside his/her "turf"? See the case of Victoria Calimbie in the UK 5 years ago, that child died of the most depraved and inhuman abuse and neglect right under the clucking eyes of the social service workers that had visited her a few times before her death.

What does it mean for the whole nation? In a generation's time tens, perhaps hundreds of young people will return to Ethiopia- will it be a fresh breeze to reverse the brain-drain and stem the evils that are coming out of a misjudged embracing of western values? Or will it simply be another sad story of people without true roots and identity crises, not belonging here nor there nor anywhere.

Erratum

2006-06-05T07:42:00.000+03:00

With apologies I rectify last Thursday's post ("mmmhf, mfhmmhmmfm mpfh, phmgnf", June 1st): The number of business poeple killed in Nazret was less than 30, although reports vary between 2 and 15 "casualties", with 30 to 50 injured. However, one is too many already.

And this one goes out to the World Bank and the leaders of the west

2006-06-02T07:42:00.000+03:00

Kaliti Goddam

The name of this tune is Kaliti goddam
And I mean every word of it

Addis Aba’s gotten me so upset
Dedessa made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Kaliti goddam

Addis Aba’s gotten me so upset
Dedessa made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Kaliti goddam

Can’t you see it
Can’t you feel it
It’s all in the air
I can’t stand the pressure much longer
Somebody say a prayer

Addis Aba’s gotten me so upset
Dedessa made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Kaliti goddam
This is a show tune
But the show hasn’t been written for it, yet

Soldier boys on my trail
School children sitting in jail
Hyena cross my path
I think every day’s gonna be my last

Lord have mercy on this land of mine
We all gonna get it in due time
I don’t belong here
I don’t belong there
I’ve even stopped believing in prayer

Don’t tell me
I tell you
Me and my people just about due
I’ve been there so I know
The rest keep on saying go slow!

But that’s just the trouble
Do it slow
Washing the streets free of blood
Do it slow
Weaving the cotton
Do it slow
You’re just plain rotten
Do it slow
You’re too damn lazy
Do it slow
The thinking’s crazy
Do it slow

Where am I going
What am I doing
I don’t know
I don’t know
Just try to do your very best
Stand up be counted with all the rest
For everybody knows about Kaliti goddam

I made you thought I was kiddin’ didn’t we
Packet of lies
Media cops
They try to say its an opposition plot

All I want is freedom
For my sister my brother my people and me

Yes you lied to me all these years
You told me to watch and learn from you, dears
And talk real fine just like a statesman
And you’d stop calling me a hungry poor man

Oh but this whole country is full of lies
You’re all gonna die and die like flies

I don’t trust you any more
You keep on saying go slow!

Go slow!
But that’s just the trouble
Do it slow
Democratisation
Do it slow
Mass participation
Do it slow
Cooperation
Do it slow
Do things gradually
Do it slow
But bring more tragedy
Do it slow

Why don’t you see it
Why don’t you feel it
I don’t know
I don’t know

You don’t have to live next to me
Just give me my equality

Everybody knows about Kaliti
Everybody knows about Addis Ababa
Everybody knows about Kaliti goddam

That’s it!

(Original “Mississippi Godamm” (1963) as sung by Nina Simone, accessed on www.lyricsfreak.com/n/nina+simone)

mmmhf, mfhmmhmmfm mpfh, phmgnf...

2006-06-01T07:53:00.000+03:00

Wow, this blocking business is meant seriously, huh? Ah, glad our inadequate and half-baked thoughts provoced so much unrest and nervousness in the ranks of TPLF/ EPRDF and their gimps in suits.

Updates from here are along the same lines as ever: The murder of 30+ traders in Nazret when they refused to get kicked out of shops and livelihoods they toiled so many years for is not a real surprise- this government has been in the business of revenge and (non devine, therefore hellish?) retribution. Land and real estate is seen as the only hard and tangible source of revenue for the empty coffers, as the government cannot grapple with more "abstract" notions of assets, such as the intellect of Ethiopians which x-rayed through all the lies and shambles in no time, and which is now being crushed, muffled, oppressed and killed in cold blood. But as Meles himself said last year at their fake rally, "Yih meabel new"- it's more we said and turned the next day into a tsunami- and water can get anywhere, it erodes, corrodes, abrades and floods away- we shall persevere.

In the spirit of perseverance, another asset that saved us from colonialism and other ills, let us remember the events of 12 months ago, when the desperate and innocent cry for freedom was crushed brutally by an equally desperate, but old-daddy pervert type desperate, regime that has many cobwebs and corpes in its closets, bunkers, closets and secret torture chambers.

To the 50+ that died unnecessarily.

Stronger than ever

2006-05-26T07:44:00.000+03:00

Ahhhh, delightful the way the short-sighted soldier boys in suits here in Ethiopia think of solving their problems.

They kicked out AddisFerenj almost exactly 2 months ago hoping to silence her and her regular, well connected insights into the daily terrors in the rural and the urban areas alike. Now she's all over Europe, attending various meetings with the European Parliament concerning the human rights situation in Ethiopia, showing footage of the gross, heavyhanded treatment of opposition party members, analysing the scham that the World Bank's and Donor nations' discontinued DBS-now PBS is, bonding with Ana Gomes, Obang Metho and the majority of the Ethiopian Diaspora in Europe.
See http://www.nazret.com/blog/index.php?blog=9 for her recent activities.

Her analysis is sharper than ever, her determination and dedication to a free Ethiopia is stronger and more solidly rooted in her heart and mind and she is in the right place to kick this government right where it hurts.

Now that her true identity is revealed and she turns out to be more genuine and valuable than any one of us blogging anonymously, my trust in her work and respect for her as a person has grown.
Despite the shock at the slimy insidious way that she was kicked out, under threats to her and her family's health and wellbeing, she has found her feet yet again. She could have retreated to the comforts of a cushy European life, the struggles of Ethiopia easily forgotten and reduced to bite-sized anectodes for her liberal, artsy friends as so many accused her upon her departure.

Well, eat your words (I am eating mine too since I was highly sceptical of her and her -umm- "approach" to things here). And as for Meles and his cronies' way of handling "undesirable" elements- they are doing just fine... They amplify our voices by kicking us out, thinking out of sight is out of mind -they probably thought we live in some highly rarified vacuum, where nothing gets out, nothing gets in. But then it dawned on them that the internet is more than just google, porn and super-casino, it actually is a quick, anonymous and easy link to the rest of the world, so they tried to block it- seems to have failed. So whatcha gonna do?

Expelling and imprisoning creates heros and martyrs, internet blockage is a nice challenge to be circumvented easily thanks to Secure-tunnel and others, so whatcha gonna do?

Sue us? That would leigitimise us even more. Kill us? There are others you cannot reach who will continue the fight with even more fervour. Whatever it will be, it'll be crap.

So in the run up to the 15th anniversary of the Dergue's "downfall" I am hoping that we won't have to wait long to celebrate the embarassed crumbling of this terroristic scham of a government.

Hey...wazziz?

2006-05-25T08:10:00.000+03:00

Chinese sponsored blocks, crap internet connections, Gas clouds or alien starships over Africa- whatever it was it's still making the internet and blogspot sites a stomach burning excercise to access. Nevertheless I'm pleased to see that I can post again- the problem is that for now I have nothing new that other ET Blogs haven't reported on yet.

Survival and the City

2006-05-17T08:10:00.000+03:00

What does it take to get through a day in Addis with its bombs and trigger-happy soldiers without investing in a panic room? This may not be Israel, Iraq or DR Congo but a bomb has the same indiscriminate maiming/ killing power whether in Baghdad or Addis.

Am I overreacting?

Maybe, maybe not- depends on where you're living and how you're spending your days... So for the paranoid bordering on the schizoid I've devised a strategic survical plan for when it kicks off:

On days when I'm forced to leave my Mercedes SLK behind I take minibuses... ;-p, so this is the plan-

1. Wear solid shoes such as trainers or steel toe-capped boots
2. Wear all my clothes at once- the poor-man's body armour, the more denim the better
3. Say goodbye to everyone as if its the last time, might make you look like a clingy moron, but hey...
4. Walk behind any military/ police types- NEVER overtake
5. Check out taxi interior, get in the front next to the driver
6. Carry emergency goggles, helmet and Personal GPS device in case it gets really smoky and you loose your way
7. Qolo, Besso and some quanTa for sustenance in the event of urban war
8. Invest in some high-power super mobile phone with encrypted e-mailing service (to keep on blogging wherever I am)
9. First Aid kit of mini casualty department dimensions
10. Camouflage paint
11. Wooden stakes, garlic and crucifix for the event that the blue boys show their true nature
12. Valium

Top up on different moves, manoeuvers and survival tactics by watching The Net, X-Files, Matrix, Terminator, Enemy of the State, The Pelican Brief etc (this should also help you have an excuse for staying at home).

Good luck, don't forget to write your memoirs

Not so little anymore

2006-05-15T08:00:00.000+03:00

This bombing business in Addis is becoming more serious. The bombs last Friday were bigger whoppers than the previous ones, tearing apart minibuses, bending metal like soggy spagetti, costing lives and pushing the anxiety about being in public areas and transport to a new level.

I heard a couple of the morning explosions, thinking the deep boom accompanied by a whoosh was just a slamming compound gate or a truck unloading stones. A friend, who was standing by the Beherawi Anbessa, felt the pressure wave of a bomb going off about 800m away up on Churchil Ave. The footage of that explosion showed a minibus taxi with its guts hanging out- but luckily (and strangely), no one seems to have been on that bus as there were no blood and guts on the bus nor the asphalt. The death toll in total ranges from 4 to 6 (ETV and Reuters), with about 50 injuries.

It leaves a strange sense of unease that doesn't dissipate anymore- we now listen out for any loud-ish bang, look out for strange behaviour (difficult in Addis) and stick to the most familiar areas and routes when out and about.

On Saturday I got on taxi that had the following charming grafitti in English: "Fuck all ya who are right in the middle of the back sit [sic.] because there is a bomb". It got me jumpy- I felt tempted to look under the seat, change seats, get off. But then I thought that if shit's meant to happen it will happen anyhow- whether I'm hiding at home (I could get electrocuted by our dodgy wiring for example) or out in the city. It triggered a load of morbid and pseudo- philosophical thoughts: About what types of injuries we on the back bench could suffer- loss of limbs, half a face, eyes, hearing, damage to organs, infertility, trauma, shock, amputation and death.
It made me look hard at my outlook on life and death- I've always been one to say that life's been good and I'm not scared of dying - it's the way that I could die that makes me nervous. On that taxi ride though I thought about the casual "Eshi, behoula emetalehu, dehna wayi" to my mother, the slightly early moring-grumpy goodbye to the BF, the hasty e-mail to my best friend and a cut-short conversation with another friend would never be enough to carry me through whatever could have happened. Not that I truly believed the stupid scribble, but it forced me to think outside the purely theoretical and new-age philisophical box I had conveniently arranged for me and my worrying mind. Death, in this case, would have been preferable to any heavy injury and the Ethiopian hospitals' AE departments.

I, for now, was lucky-what about those that died and were injured- who looks after their relatives, their medical costs, their rehabilitation and psychological needs? Who takes responsibility and accountability? All this because it's one year since we were told to believe that the EPRDF had won.

Those who suffered from the bombs might get some exposure and help, but what about those who die quiet and dark deaths all over the country when the terror decides to step it up a bit. This is another scene from Addis that left a big, uncertain hole slowly filling up with a terrified feeling of despair: On Saturday night at around 10pm we drove past 10 to 15 soldiers in the blue army fatigues with their batons and rifles out stading around on the asphalt, there was their ubiquitous idiot-mobil in the shape of a Federal Police pick up truck, as we slowed we saw a couple of the soldiers lifting a body in a white body bag.
Were they just from the nearby Police Hospital's AE and were picking up a victing of a hit and run? A knifing, a mugging? Or were they covering their backs after shooting some poor sod- the latter somehow seems most plausible.

What next is on everones' minds, conidering it's May 15th.

There's fear, hate and quiet depair in Addis; the reawakened spirit of easter is growing tired and weary.

Left overs

2006-05-12T07:46:00.000+03:00

This is what happened to Easter...

....while the rain in the last month has revived Addis in many ways

The wrong kinda Berhanu

2006-05-10T07:51:00.000+03:00

There we go... just as the hour struck 5 to 12 on the post election clock Meles has announced the new Addis city government. "Well, we know who it will be composed of", some of us might think. Not so, they're all in prison aren't they?
"An innovative means of ruling from behind bars a la enlightened statesman?" We crow-
FAR FROM IT!

The true leaders of the Addis government (and Ethiopia?) are still in prison on cooked up charges (that are admittedtly starting to "edg edg malet").

Hey but it's a-okay, the new mayor is also a Berhanu- Berhanu Deressa, "independent" (as in the Carter Centre type of "independent"). The EPRDF is certainly hoping we've forgotten who the true elected leaders are.

So we won't feel the sting of betrayal with the realisation that we've been had again and they'll get away with it.

http://www.ethiomedia.com/carepress/mayor_surrogate.html

Big Issues in Addis

2006-05-04T08:01:00.000+03:00

The monthly magazine, popular as an alternative to the mainstream press in the UK, launched its Ethiopian version yesterday.
This venture, despite being aimed at helping street dwellers gain a regular income and use that for further personal growth, is not the typical bleeding-heart aid project that blindly doles out "aid" to the "needy". The vendors, who pay ETB1 for the magazine, sell it for ETB3 and keep the rest, are seen as equal partners in this busniness.

The first issue's main theme was "Ethiopian Heroes" with contributors from all walks of life, including the blossoming ET blogworld. A blogger based in Ethiopia, Andrew Heavens of Meskesquare is a major contributor to the project in many ways.

There are 6 locations in Addis where the vendors will be stationed, ranging from Merkato to Gotera

Good luck to the Big Issue- perhaps the first vendors will be struggling against a few not so small odds to kick this off, so if they manage, they'll be heroes in their own right.

Golf balls and too much of the wrong kind of sand

2006-05-03T08:03:00.000+03:00

This is a story I came accross a while ago- with the subtitle "Don't lose your focus in life!"

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "yes."The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed."Now," said the professor as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life, the golf balls are the important things - God, family, friends, health, home, and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles represent the other thinbgs that matter in your life such as your job, your house and your car. Each of us will have a different amount of pebbles. The sand is everything else- the "small" stuff". "If you put the sand into the jar first, there is no room for pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical check-ups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first- the things that really matter. Set your priorities- the rest is just sand. " One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."

The story's out there in all sorts of versions and interpretations to suit the author, so I've made my own up. In the Ethiopian context I'd like to reverse the importance of the golf balls, the pebbles, the sand and the coffee:

The golf balls can be taken to represent the infrastructure in place in Ethiopia, especially around Addis, where most foreigners get a first taste of the country: the ring road, glammy airport, five star hotels, cafés, restaurants, nightclubs, high-rise office buildings, supermarkets, sunshine and lack of a semblance to "The heart of Darkness". This can be misleading to the point of visitors exclaiming "Oh, it's not so poor after all...!” The golf balls legitimise the claim of an economic boom at 7%/ annum.

The pebbles then would be the smaller stuff, such as cars, available petrol, villas in affluent neighbourhoods, educational institutions, banks, newspapers; contrary to some prejudice hidden to the point of schizophrenia, Ethiopians are suddenly seen to be obviously capable of driving, building fancy houses, attaining educational credentials and banking, whilst reading the free and informative press. "Eureka!" thinks the fraught donor representative, "it's not such a hopeless pit of oppression, despair and misery after all!" Most people would love to believe the good that they see.

The sand is where the discerning eye suddenly snags- it can represent the presence or absence of "things" that are indicative of the true state of growth, democracy, hope and, that underestimated yet vital item in life -wellbeing:

The sand that is too little is a functioning social net that rescues the HIV/AIDS orphans, illiterate widows, leprosy-riddled, polio- stunted, mentally-handicapped, socially-challenged, abandoned elderly and masses who, suffering from generations of cyclic poverty, have nowhere to go but the streets of the towns and cities, to become beggars, prostitutes, oppressed, forced into crime, unfair labour and bullet-fodder.

The sand that is too much is the bombastic, inflated ego of civil servants at all levels- a uniform transforms the humblest man into a a sadistic security guard, a compouter turns a Daddy's bright girl into a domineering witch, a brass name plate on the desk makes a power-crazed backstabber out of a humble "civil servant", a ministerial title turns the visionary idealist into a greedy, leering jackal who thinks a concentration camp in the lowlands is "mild punishment" for dissenting youths.

The sand that is way to little are the deliverables on a promise given 18 months ago both by the Ethiopian government and those of western nations - democratisation and the support to the Ethiopian people in their efforts to have a more egalitarian, liberal and tolerant society and government.

The sand that is way too much is the increasing social degeneration- the extinction of the “chewa habesha”. It’s dog eat dog, backstabbing galore, thieving and conniving for a brief respite from the mire we wade through every day, unaware that we are adding to the shit with our lack of self-awareness, deference, tolerance and good-will.

I could go on...

However the coffee- well, whether there’s too little of the right things or too much of the big illusory junk, at least we have the coffee to celebrate the good and lament the bad, to drink to a brighter future in spite of all the wrong things.

Blue donkeys- Abolish!

2006-04-27T08:29:00.000+03:00

Now, although I don't know a single Ethiopia who refers to the minibus-taxis as "blue donkeys" I'll stick with it as it ties in nicely with the title of the last post.

Thing is, they are parctical only in the hours between 9:30am and 4pm. They'll even fight over you- uhuh! Being vied for by taxi conductors is only a wet dream for communters though- peel out of bed at 6am to make it to the taxi rank before 7am so that you have at least a 1 in 4 chance of getting a taxi to your first destination at a reasonable price (150% price increase).
Today I scrapped with a conductor who tried to rip me off- he got one in the face, I almost one on my mouth... I've had enough- I know this beats London's underground system anyday, but at least there it's a faceless "system" that dips you in shit and cocks up your day for the pleasure of paying £7. Here it's some smeggy, chat-addicted sneering yob trying to get the better of you. Yes, yes, they're making a living and could just be professional full-time gangsters, but give us all a break- the commuters are trying to get to work as well, without ending up abused, ripped off, manhandled and bruised.

Al Amoudi might be a cynical, unscrupelous gangster in an Armani- but I can't wait for him to start up his taxi service.

Intercontinental Donkeys

2006-04-26T07:56:00.000+03:00

Yesterday I visited a friend who was due to leave for the US after a prolonged stay in Addis- I found her close to hysterics.
Once a whole load of relatives, friends, friends of friends and other random people had heard about her Ethiopian Airlines luggage limit they had piled on the charme and came grovelling with requests: "And tiniTiye festal bicha- Adja le setwa lidge, MTS, SIGHHHH, aras ecko nat..." [Que frantic batting of teary eyelashes and dabbing with frayed bits of soft]. This tiny coy bit of Adja in a little "ye 10 santim festal" turned out to be a little bit more: 2kg of Adja, 1kg of Berbere, 0.5kg of whole MiTmiTa kariya, 2kg of Qibe and some DirQosh thrown in to make a complete meal in case the plane got delayed by 1 week somewhere...
Multiply this with the other solicitors for free food transfer and my friend had about one small travelling bag left for her own stuff- she also has a sister who's in childbed.
I was there long enough to see the packing and re-packing of various items. Wow, the glory of junk!
There was the usual assortment of food ingredients (fresh and dried) and snacks, coffee, the ubiquitous shemma scarf and even a coupla big gabis, then came the earthenware coffeepots and (this is where it gets dabgerous) one of these pots with a cavity for hot charcoal underneath for some real tasty shiro, dried bits of plants for inhalation against Mich and Gunfan, a Weyra log the size of my arm, 1/2 a Difo Dabo, hair products from Indonesia and Brazil, candles, YeKoba Qitel, and- then I stopped looking to turn and see my friend close to biting off her mother's head. Now we know that in Ethiopia, displays of emotion, especially anger, especially against your elders, is something that does not take place in a room full of said relatives and friends. So I can assume that my friend was just a bit upset. The senders sat there chatting away happily, obliviously nibbling at some Qolo from a burst bag that will sadly never see the other side.
I started to wonder about our famed capacity for Yilunta which in theory should have stopped the tiny bag from growing to a 5kg+ monstrosity when I spotted something gleaming away under a pile of goods- the bag that contained my mother's twice removed cousin's shiro and berbere for her kids in Minnesota. Can we ever stop?

Oh Chicken!

2006-04-18T07:48:00.000+03:00

Just a shorty as this is some frantic week from hell spiced with a nasty cold. Anyway, so in the run up to the good-humoured (...) butchering of sheep, chicken, goat and cattle one of the most pressing issue here in Ethiopia is: To eat or not to eat chicken? News on State Media is that so long as you cook all poultry products thoroughly you should not fear Avian Flu, however, not many have the economic power to spend another 40ETB on fuelwood to fizz up in our thin air. People are concerned about the contamination from the blood and other fluids to open cuts obtained during butchering. Plus of course there is the Ethiopian belief about the vapours and nasty smells that arise from the environment, including dead chicken, that could give you the flu.
Meanwhile the price of sheep has gone up to 500 to 800ETB, Cattle have gone up to 3000 to 4200ETB.
Some are saying that they'll make themselves a nice, tasty shiro that has been blubbering away for at least 20 minutes with some pure, spiced kibe added. That's what my bet is on. What are the online Ethio-shops saying?

Anyhow, happy preparations to Fasika!

Historic poverty

2006-04-13T11:13:00.000+03:00

Global Call to Action against Poverty (G-CAP) has announced that it will resume its activities in Ethiopia after holding a “series of high-level meetings” with the PM, other government officials and member of Civil Society Organisations.

Two points stand out here, number one being that Daniel Bakele and Netsanet Dimissie, the Ethiopian co-ordinators are in prison. This is what the Press Release had to say:

“The delegation met with the G-CAP detainees Daniel Bekele Mulugeta and Netsanet Demisse Belay. Raising their case with senior Government officials, the delegation was assured that they would be accorded a swift hearing in the coming weeks and months and that the trial will be conducted in a completely open and transparent manner.” (All emphases mine)

Something tells me that “the coming weeks and months” actually translated from usual Ethiopian vagueness about time and distance could mean anything from 1 week to 168 months (eg Mengistu's case 12 months times 14 years). My bet is on the larger number of months...

Second point:

"Given both Ethiopia’s historical importance on the world development stage and the international profile of the Prime Minister, we were reassured to hear from the Prime Minister, that recognising the value of this campaign, he welcomed the resumption of the campaign in Ethiopia in 2006" (Dr. Kumi Naidoo, a member of the GCAP delegation.) (Italicisation mine)

Ok, so Ethiopia is famous for being uh- poor and starving- so we have a "historical importance". What does that mean- is it because despite billions of Dollars and many years of "development assistance" Ethiopia is still dirt poor? That is a historical feat for sure. Guess bad publicity is better than no publicity...

Now, the juicy bit: "The international profile of the Prime Minister"- which international profile do they mean?

Take a pick:
1. One of the "new breed of African leaders"
2. The Yarra Award winner for (reducing) hunger and food scarcity in Ethiopia
3. The Africa Commision member/ Tony's buddy
4. The steely father of revolutionary democ(k)racy
5. The forger of the new Ethiopian Ethnic identities- Divide and Rule
6. The tyrant who cannot take no for an answer
7. A stately statesman/ He of the mislaid millions
8. Unleasher of state terror

So much arse-kissing before the whole thing has been relaunched- how well does that bode for the arguments and lobbying clout of G-CAP?

However, there was one sane and sober statement to give hope that some organisations out there have some backbone:

Catholic Archbishop of Addis Ababa [...] said: “Our presence here is to offer solidarity and support as Ethiopians collectively search for solutions to urgently re-open political and civic space and re-establish trust and dialogue.”

We can build on this statement and remind the G-CAP of what it stands for and how tough the fight against poverty, corruption, bad governance and oppression will be.

Very wrong

2006-04-11T08:31:00.000+03:00

Glad to say that I was wrong with my prognosis...
The only things that went bump in the night were huge timber logs being unloaded at the local building site at 9pm, sounding like gunfire. Then there were the canon blasts at Jan Meda to mark a peaceful day.

Hype (?)

2006-04-07T07:46:00.000+03:00

There's been so much talk of various bombs going off all over the place- apparently there was one outside our office the other day- haha... I walked past it thinking someone had lost their gift or something: a parcel in white cardboard (like perfume bottle packaging) measuring about 8cm x 15cm x 3cm lying on a piece of white wrapping paper with some thread sticking out of it...

On the other hand there have been so many more armed feds around- walking about in groups of 4 to 6, at least two of them armed with "big guns" so maybe there have been some real explosions somewhere.
_________________________________________________________________

Update

Let me play Cassandra for bit:

If I remember correctly the last time we had some serious unrest was in November, around a muslim holiday. It was a convenient, easily escalated day for the regime as it could then blame Neftegna Christian CUD Voters for inciting violence as a mark for their contempt towards any other religion and ethnic group (Leba enat lijuan tetereteralech...). The muslims are quite easily provoced and riled when it comes to the increasingly hostile treatment and ridicule that their faith is facing all over the world- the last week saw a series of demonstrations in Awassa and Addis because some idiot had desecrated the Quoran by wiping his behind on it... We can count on some more demonstrations on monday then, and my bet is that it will be conveniently fuelled by TPLF/ EPRDF to escalate into more unrest and deaths in the streets...

I hope I'm wrong

Think like a top-class athlete

2006-04-05T10:15:00.000+03:00

For a while now people concerned about the fate of Ethiopia have been analysing, protesting, prophesising and ranting about the terrors of this regime and what needs to be done too get rid of Meles and Co. The more I read accounts of human rights abuses such as the powerful statement by Obang O. Metho to the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations, the more I am convinced that this government has no good intentions towards Ethiopia at all. It is a deep, somewhat awkward treasure trove for them to get fat on. The awkwardness of Ethiopia lies with the 77 million that farm the fertile soil, exploit the gold resources in an unregulated manner and are sitting on oil and gas reserves.

However, let us think beyond the current struggle for a minute to find ways of avoiding the fate of the Oromos and other tribes under Haile Selasse, Tigrayans under the Derg, the Amharas, Guraghes and most other tribes under the current government. How can we, as citizens of Ethiopia, make sure that we drive the next government to work for us, using the riches of this country for the greater good of all in a manner that doesn’t denude the country and degrade the resources for generations to come?
You can argue that it is human nature to look for one’s own advantage and prosperity with utter disregard for the long-term consequences to others and oneself. However human beings and societies can evolve far enough to admit the evil that is lurking within all of us and have found ways of staving it off and muting it. We do not need to ram machetes into each others’ faces, or rape 6 year old girls in order to live a good, peaceful life enjoying our rewards. Governments such as the Scandinavian ones may have some flaws but they seem to be the most equitable, fair and democratic way of ruling with the people while looking after the natural resources and also granting some perks for the rulers (and that from Vikings...).

The way the TPLF took over 14 years ago was all too easy, all that the citizens of Ethiopia could see was that their feared and loathed Mengistu was out of the country. There were attempts to include as many stakeholders as possible in the formation of a new state and government, the US brokered treaties forming a brittle base. However, the TPLF had it mapped out right from the start, taking over power under the guise of a multi-ethnic, multi-party , inclusive and participatory modes of government. They were given carte-balnche because at least they weren't "bloody commies". A false hope for greater ethnic and personal freedom was fostered by the misleading notion of regional states based on the ethnicity of people. This wasn’t seen by many as a “divide and rule” tactic, many genuinely believed that their ethnic identity was respected and valued. However a tyrant of the Ethiopian variety is not just a Chiraq who sheds blood and instils overt terror of the Nazi variety- he also knows how to give the impression of granting some liberties based on apparently civil negotiations and generous statesmanship.

It is a bit like a manipulative, passive-aggressive husband- if he marries a woman used to being battered daily by her father she will not mind the “lighter”, subliminal physical and psychological terror he lets loose on her occasionally. He can behave like a complete brat and do outrageous, disrespectful things like shag his secretary once so that she ends up not minding the affair he has with her sister… It’s always the lesser of two evils she has to contend with. And so the Ethiopian people are just looking forward to a better time than the present: The escape from Mengistu was enough for most, will the mere escape from Meles be as good? Will the people both in Ethiopia and in the Diaspora lean back now that the EPRDF is gone only to witness the next round of abuse, exploitation and state terror?

What makes the current situation different is that the Ethiopian people are much more politically savvy than they were 32 and 14 years ago, they have been had twice- the first time it was a bewildering, bloody ride and the second time was a steady progression towards oppression and violence masked by talk about democracy- and that talk was the little window for the spirit to realise what the people really want for themselves. The increasingly widening disparity between the talk on state-owned media and during woreda "limat zemecha" speeches and the daily lives of the people spawned questions and realisations. The opportunity to actually cast a vote against the much feared and awed authority of the state was enough as a catalyst for new thoughts and ideas regarding political and personal freedom and rights. The votes may have been stolen, but the window cannot be slammed shut by any force anymore.

Ethiopians in cities, towns and abroad have even better awareness about democracy and what constitutes a truly democratic state. It is up to us to ensure that people know that democracy and a new freedom don’t mean bloody revenge acts against those of the old regime, that destroying infrastructure put in place by the EPRDF doesn’t hurt Meles in any way, that a relapse into apathy and snide resistance is not conducive to a new beginning.
Ethiopia is increasingly becoming attractive for potential exploitation of natural and human resources while the world is entering a new era of dire resource scarcity; when the middle east dries up the tiniest drop from Ogaden and Gambella will be enough justification for those who have put all their eggs in the petroleum basket to warrant exploitation and abuse of the country and its people. If we do not act consistently and unrelentingly in a united and mutually accomodating manner then the next government could be worse than the present one by not just submitting us to the abuse by our own but to the abuse by greedy, unscrupulous outsiders. The carte blanche for EPRDF/TPLF has been reissued under the theme of Fight against Terror and the thirst for Oil.

That is where the thinking like a top-class athlete comes in: Go beyond envisaging the race and visualise how it will look, sound and feel to come first in the race- the rush of adrenaline and excitement when you realise you have actually left the others in your dust, the adoration form your fans and the acknowedgement from rivals.
Translated into modern Ethiopian politics this means looking beyond the struggle and the vicious despair and hate that are clouding our vision. We have to be able to play make-believe, draw up plans and scenarios of how the next government will function, what our roles, rights and duties will be, how we will interact and -most importantly- how Ethiopia will look after 5-15 years of this kind of government. Daydreaming and envisaging the ideal outcome is a great stress-reliever at the least- and a brilliant plan of action for the best scenario.

Truckers validate economic boom

2006-04-03T08:42:00.000+03:00

Ahhh, good old state media:

On Saturday (April 1st...) ETV news featured a report that truck drivers on the Djibouti-Addis route had sound evidence of the economic boom that is occurring in Ethiopia. Their reasoning went something like this:

A. The volume of food aid transported is decreasing
B. The number and quality of “investment goods” (e.g. construction machinery, industrial raw materials) is increasing
C. The increased volume of fertiliser that flowing into the country is a sign that farmers are actively driving the agricultural sector, their thirst for fertiliser having become insatiable

So, let me see… the truckers realised the nature of their loads had changed, applied some basic economic analysis to this (You can graph V of food aid decreasing vs. increase in V of hard ware imports just beautifully!) and voila- there they had it! They were ferrying the prosperity of Ethiopia quite literally on their backs!

Oh ok, lets rejoice then.

The media is just great in its creativity:
US tourists speaking of “reliable peace in Ethiopia”(ENA March 31st)- The bombs are just to alleviate the tedium of so much peace then?

After the November unrest the news showed some guy sitting in front of a computer screen reading e-mail messages from all over Ethiopia: "Ato Ayalew from Amahara Region condemned the anti-peace elements for inciting violence and hatred; he also asserted his support for the government's actions in quelling the unrest and bringing security back to the capital..." Blah... The same message was read out with varying vocabulary and grammar (for the English News), covering Ato Gemechu from Oromia, Ato Araya from Tigray etc- just so you know, all (but not)the ethnic groups stand firmly behind this government. Wow, you have to be impressed- I mean! It's computer literate, internet savvy guys who are stating their support- so even the educated masses are pro-EPRDF, Ato Berhanu Nega et al are just freaks!

Soon the news will feature what kind of car the typical hooligan CUD supporter drives- a beat up old VW, a Lada Niva, a minibus taxi. Oh but look, the EPRDF supporter drives a shiny new Mercedes, a Lamborghini or even a Rolls Royce! That must mean something, just not sure what... Who'll be impressed by this? Urbanites? Farmers certainly don't give a damn about internet and cars so long as they cannot farm the land the want and require and their cattle dies of pneumonia.

Who next will vouch for the government's claims of economic boom? Some suggestions:
Fernando de la Rúa Bruno (Argentina)
Robert Mugabe
Carter
Hu
Miss Piggy (Investor in high class beauty parlours all over Ethiopia)
The Spirit of Stalin and Revolutionary Democracy

It is pitiable really, this fat cheeked naivitee and lack of cynical questioning of actions- "a little knowledge is dangerous"

World What Day?

2006-03-30T14:19:00.000+03:00

Earth, AIDS, Water, Prayer, Health & Safety, Jump, Environment, Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, Book, Population, Food, Health, Carfree, Heart, TB, Habitat, Asthma, Friendship, Hug, Usability, Hello, COPD, Tibet, Run, Refugee, Maritime, Teacher, Youth, Sousveillance [?], Oceans, Poetry, Psoriasis, Culture ... ... ...

http://www.earthcalendar.net

Run a search on the internet and you stumble across hundreds of “World/ International XYZ Day”s; some whimsical (Usability?), some serious (AIDS, Water, Hug- yes I think hugs are vital) and some pretty silly (Hello?!). It’s all well and good to imagine the whole 6 billion+ world citizens uniting to celebrate this or that day; world leaders and decision makers pledging co-operation and instant effective action- whether to promote more “Hellos” or better development incentives.

The objectives of such days are to:
-Raise public awareness about the issue at hand
-Engage various actors in a dialogue
-Promote co-operation, streamline approaches and formulate next steps
-Raise funds
-Encourage policy change and effective implementation
(sorry about “NGO speak”)

On a more cynical note it also serves as a great PR tool- donors and governments to play the “See, we are honouring this day, look at how committed we are to positive change: we’ve allocated $£X million to attaining the MDGs”. Deep inside is: “We have just spent $£ million on celebrating this day in Rio/ Mexico/ Paris/ NY/ Rome at some swanky conference centre; jetting all over the world to indulge in the canapés and sights”

Anyway, back to a more constructive way of writing:
Last week we had the 13th World Water Day; media coverage was good, with some NGO staff elaborating on the “Water and Culture” link and the government reiterating that they are committed to fulfilling their MDGs for the water and related (health) sectors [ok- sounds good but Ethiopia has great policies on paper, yet they die lonely, over-worded deaths in some filing cabinet due to lack of political goodwill, rampant corruption etc.].

The problem is that to me such days are quite remote from the realities on the ground- to the majority of people such days, as conveyed by the media, seem to be for big international meetings, pledges, MoUs and lots of flashlights. The actual work and effective measures to bring and evaluate changes for the masses are invisible- what lies beneath these proclamations, speeches and presentations of research/ action/ policy papers?

International meetings seem to be full of pompous jargon, limp clichés, frayed promises and overambitious plans- immediate steps and actions are glossed over in discussions of logframes, timelines and budgets. What is the point then? World XYZ days are necessary to raise awareness and thus funds; at the same time organisers and participants have to make sure that they are talking realistic measures and actions so that when they meet next year, they can look back and evaluate the impact of their promises and actions.

What about "Pledge and Promise Honour" Day- every day for all?

5

2006-03-28T08:00:00.000+03:00

A total of 5 blasts were reported for yesterday; the latest one being at 5pm at Sar Bet- the "bomb" was under the brick fence of a residential building...?

Intimidation of the normal population has been going on for years- the popular means being "bombs". The impact wasn't too high, there were the usual taxis and passengers crowding the pavements. Yet situations like this bring out tensions and tempers run high- people are more aggressive and confrontational- "stoopid attacks" loose their funny and quirky side and slide easily into harassment and violence.

Someone's living out a pyromaniac's childhood dream

Some news

2006-03-27T14:19:00.000+03:00

And bad news at that: Today at about 9:30am a bomb exploded in a minibus-taxi near Beqlobet (Debre Zeyt Road) on the Gotera- Stadium route. It is unclear how many have died but the figures range from 2 to all occupants of the taxi (13 in total?). Another bomb went off near Kera...
The bomb blasts from 3 weeks ago were quite mild and mainly dangerous to flower pots and rubbish bins, but this is different- on the way to work in the rush hour, in a confined space made of metal and other hard, unyielding materials...

If the attacks are carried out by anti-government/ EPRDF bodies (as they'll claim for sure) then why should they harm and antagonise people who so clearly do not want this government either?
Why do a job badly when the investment of time, life and effort can have better results by tackling government institutions, international bodies and Al Amoudin's businesses and buildings?
Such heavy handed, shoddy bodged jobs (flower pots, rubbish bins and commuters?) point to one and only one organisation, as they are the only ones who hate Ethiopia's people- and I don't mean Shabea or OLF.
Is it still the government trying to legitimise its stronghold to the west by pretending it was an attack by Al Qaida afficionados? Surely again these would have higher ambitions- see 9/11, how does a minibus taxi in the poorest nation on earth, in the horn of Africa compare? I haven't heard of an official threat against Ethiopian people from those quarters...

Another one bites...

2006-03-27T07:57:00.000+03:00

the Ethiopian dust?

So about a month after Anthony Mitchell was expelled, the blogger AddisFerenji was "encouraged" to leave Ethiopia. Not sure what to make of all this as the blog was of ambiguous value; if it was a genuine blog then I salute Mme Addis Ferenji- although there was just so much junk on it. The junk was mainly from the comments section, but it made me wonder about the quality of the readership. If we're blogging for change then the right people have to read our blogs and not be put of by venomous ethnic rethoric a la playground. So what implications does this carry? Gotta wait and see I guess, but as the spy-movie bug is catching me, I'm contemplating an investment in a trench coat, huge mosquito-eye size shades and a giant stetson, or would I be more conspicuous like that?

Anyhow, Mme AddisFerenji, if you were as true as gold then I wish you all the best and keep up the fight from out there.

Ranting Chilli

2006-03-22T14:41:00.000+03:00

I got a response which asked me to lighten up when I posted a cynical comment to Meskel Square: The response was funny and certainly wasn't taken as an attack, yet I feel the need to justify my cynicism and anger.

For those here there's little need to describe what's going on; perhaps those in the diaspora who want more coffee and sun need a bit of enlightening:

Pre election:

The atmosphere here in Addis was absolutely buzzing with a vivacious sense of freedom and control over your destiny. The debates on TV were about the best TV I've ever seen anywhere (and trust me, I've had an insight into various countries' TV cultures). The streets were alive with heated yet good natured discussion and banter about politics- a new era was hovering in the distance. The air was sparkling with the brilliance of the sun reflecting the bright hope in people's hearts; minds were kindled to new ideas and notions about self-determination and freedom. Yes, there was the occasional sceptic and disbeliever, and apart from those who actively wanted the EPRDF to win, it was easy to somehow find common ground with these people by saying that they should vote anyway, who knows...? We all had a bit of a feeling that most of the pre-election freedom was this regime's circus for the west, but we thought that this was still opening doors and even just little cracks that will be difficult to close by any party.
Then came the rallies, the gaping difference between the EPRDF staged rally and the spaontaneous joy at the CUD rally- I live near the ring road and the contrast was baffling: The EPRDF rally was pretty quiet, we saw lots of busses crammed with Bee-t-shirt wearing, V-sign waving youths, hardly any car horns and certainly no chanting of "Yaaahoooo" nor dancing.
Oh but then when Sunday came! It was exhilirating! So spontaneous and lively, men on decorated horses from the outlying farmsteads; bands of young men waving huge Ethiopian flags running, dancing and chanting about freedom and victory. We all have seen the picture of the old lady all in white with a huge grin on her face waving the V sign, which to me, captured the feeling and mindset.

Post election:

The first few days were filled with the usual back and forth about vote counts, irregularities etc. However alarmingly quick the tone on TV changed, footage of the CUD rally was reduced to showing "Adegegna Bozene"- teenage boys from the streets smoking and showing the V-sign (oooh, these hooligans!), news of intimidation and murder in the countryside trickled in. All this gathered momentum in June when students, drunk with the previous months' freedom, protested- silly of them to think they could change things-we all know the outcome of that.
The response of the donor nations and that of the government to the donors brought a whiff of how things really are. We had thought too big, too far; us little Ethiopians had dared think we could change our own destinies, so we had to be put back into our place-under the table to pick up the scraps of the feast of perverted ego and pompous vanity, murderous greed and unscrupelous scheming that this government and the donors were engaging in.

Since then there's been a steady decline in the spirit; no need to describe the polical parties' reactions and responses, but a sense of quiet despair was setting in. Maybe that grinning old lady has had to bury a child or grandchild and more...
The rains came and went under a whole load of rethoric flying back and forth, the opposition (technically now the ruling parties) toed the line of the framework set up, only to be villified, ridiculed and arrested. The next round of protests was put down just as violently, however the donors had decided to perhaps, maybe, just as alittle reminder slap the EPRDF's wrist. Only to feed them giant cakes through their chic diplomats here.

There's a hush on the streets now, people just want to get home safely to their children who hopefully haven't become some village-idiot's bullet fodder. See http://washingtontimes.com/world/20060321-120726-9044r.htm as quoted in Weblog Ethiopia's "Climate of fear"

So why should I be angry and cynical?
Why, when farmers' homes are being burnt down for allegedly being CUD/UEDF supporters;
-when thousands languish in Dedessa and other camps
-when teenage girls are forced by soldiers to kneel in the dirt and get shot anyway
-when lies are told on the media over and over again, confusing and crushing any thought of dissent with their underlying threats of imprisonment and death
-when it looks like we are just the toys in a grander scheme that we, as Africans of course cannot even begin to fathom, it's all for our own good after all.
-when foreigners here feign ignorance- all is well: "Ahm gonna raise mahself sum cheackens, uh huh... and thean bah sahm booze in Bowlay roawd".
True, they may prefer to keep out of politics as they do not really know the convoluted details of what makes us tick, yet they do not need to treat us like silly clamouring housewives at a sale (tupperware at that!) and turn around to imply we should" just grow up, get on with it, worse things happen at sea" etc.

To me, they are fair-weather friends: They love the sun, the cheap prices, food, coffee etc. in Ethiopia, but a lot hardly ever venture out from their upper class expat lives to engage and connect with Ethiopia and Ethiopians on our own terms- so when the shit hits the fan they pretend all's still jolly good. There are a few foreigners who do daily Ethiopian routine stuff as in take minibus taxis etc, but when you go to some event such as the NGO bazaar every month you realise just how many expats there are - wonder where they hide at other times...?
And my list of
-when
-when
-when...
continues, so many more points to add to the growing list of why Ethiopia makes me sad and angry and it doesn't seem to get any better.

Usually I try to be moderate on my blog, there's enough verbal buffonry going on without any action taken so I try to redirect my energies to the more positve aspects of Ethiopia. I cannot vent aggressive thoughts just like that without suggesting concrete steps to bring positve change. It's despairing to see the poverty, despair and next round of the same to come for years while this government lives off the fat of this land; keeping Ethiopia poor and begging keeps a lot of people in money and good CVs- and I'm sitting here with tied hands.

So, yeah tell me why I'm angry- I'm perplexed... perhaps it's all just in my confused little mind.

Let's add a 31st day to every Ethiopian month...

2006-03-22T12:13:00.000+03:00

...and call it St. Ana Day

Ethiopians honor Ana Gomez as rights champion KSDON Press Release March 21, 2006
-------ADDIS ABABA -

Ethiopians on Tuesday honored Ms. Ana Gomez, chief of the European Union Election Observer Mission to Ethiopia, for standing out as a courageous democratic rights champion who stood by the side of the Ethiopian people now being held hostage by the tyrannical regime of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. In a statement released on Tuesday, the Ethiopians said: "Humanity has a sacred responsibility to bring an end to this scourge of the 21st century and we appreciate the fact that you have embarked upon this path by producing a balanced and fair assessment of the whole election process in Ethiopia." Following is the full text.The honorable Ana Maria Gomes European Parliamentarian and Chief Observer Parliamento Europeu Rue Wiertz ASP15G 146 BE-1047, Bruxelas Your Honorable, The Kinijit (Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party, CUDP) support and development organization in Norway (KSDON) would like to express its earnest and heart-felt appreciation and gratitude to you and members of your observation mission for your balanced and judicious final report. It is our firm conviction that your firm and unwavering position and stand in defending democratic and fundamental human rights regardless of where they are denied or violated has earned you a high reputation and respect among Ethiopians. Moreover, it is notable that a person of your integrity and principle plays a pivotal role in advancing democracy and development in our part of the world where tyrants of one hue or another have been entrenching their usurped power by enlisting the support and backing of foreign powers. Ethiopians value your contribution highly and many call you now by the name Hanna Gobeze (Gobeze means my brave). This name is an expression of love and respect for you, Ana Gomes. The current misguided and unscrupulous foreign policy of the British and US governments is nothing but a policy geared towards a futile global anti-terror alliance embracing even brutal dictators like Meles Zenawi who has been terrorizing his own helpless and peaceful subjects for demanding their basic human rights. Suffice it to say that these western governments have opted for a non-constructive and non-productive foreign policy towards Ethiopia. We believe that unless reviewed and righted, this policy will be detrimental to the long term interests of our respective countries and fraternal peoples. The Ethiopian people are outraged over the damage this coalition has caused to their democratic aspirations. Meles Zenawi is an ethnic warlord who retains power through the barrel of the gun and perpetuates poverty in order to use poor Ethiopia as a begging bag to enrich himself and his thugs. Your constructive and fair report has drawn a furious reaction from the angry and frustrated tyrant, Meles Zenawi. His apparent attempts to discredit and tarnish you have not paid off other than exposing more his true face. In one of the series of letters Meles Zenawi had released in response to your preliminary report, he has made implicit admission of the true color of his regime, that is the surrogacy and viceroyalty inherent in his regime. He has built his political career on deceit, denial, lies and murders and runs a notoriously corrupt, incompetent and parasitic administration. The character assassinations, slanders, smear campaigns and rude terminologies employed in regard to your preliminary report are not Ethiopian at all. Ethiopians treat their guests with respect and kindness and their benevolence and kindness are even offered to those who came to conquer and rule over them. Meles Zenawi and his thugs are blood and power thirsty persons who are devoid of rationality and imbued with cheating, deceit, and denial. They are rogue elements in our otherwise civilized and decent Ethiopian society. We hope that your fruitful working stay in Ethiopia has enabled you to realize all these and other positive aspects of our societies that have been living in solidarity and harmony for centuries. Meles Zenawi and his thugs have been implementing a divisive, hostile and potentially explosive ethnic policy as part of their divide and rule strategy. Ethiopians are cognizant of the malicious intentions of Meles Zenawi and have rejected him in an election he organized and staged for the sake of the political consumption of his western donors. The regime`s frequent reference to the Rwandan Interhamwe is a clear testimony as to Meles Zenawi`s diabolic intentions in the event of serious threats to his power. The election was not meant for power transfer but Ethiopians seized the moment to defy and reject him. Meles Zenawi got outraged by this and unleashed his special forces trained and equipped by the anti-terror coalition against the poor Ethiopians whose sole crime was to vote for the politicians of their choice and trust. This was in brief an illustrative example of the abysmal failure of an expensive but unwise western political investment in Africa in general and in Ethiopia in particular. This misguided western venture in our beloved country is costly to the western taxpayers and us. It [is] costing us Ethiopians too much both materially and interms of unprecedented repression and human sufferings we are enduring under the ruthless regime of Meles Zenawi. Humanity has a sacred responsibility to bring an end to this scourge of the 21st century and we appreciate the fact that you have embarked upon this path by producing a balanced and fair assessment of the whole election process in Ethiopia. With regards, The Kinijit Support and Development Organization in Norway (KSDON)

No News=Good News?

2006-03-22T07:57:00.000+03:00

Today's the big day....
In this case no news=good news as in no-one has been killed by some thug in blue (at least in Addis, news from Desse different); but also No News= bad news as in the sad story of Ethiopia continues unchanged
What to do oh what to do...

So...

2006-03-21T07:46:00.000+03:00

It's a bit confusing with this civil disobediance thing: According to the Tegbar Pamphlet the days should be Megabit 11-13 (ie since yesterday), yet the dates given for the Gregorian Calendar say March 22nd-25th, so I'm not sure what will be happening. Noticable changes are subtle:

1. Fewer mini-bus taxis around and a lot more waiting around for the taxi to work/ home- could the taxis have started a strike? However it could just be that the iminent rises in the petrol price have made the taxis more astute
2. A lot more armed police in khaki uniforms, not the blue army fatigues
3. Rumours that high school kids will be starting demos tomorrow
4. Schools around Ambo and Mugher have been closed

The problem is that after June and November 2005 the population has generally become more wary and afraid; they have seen that the repeated killings of innocent demonstrators and by-standers has not moved anyone to concrete actions against this regime.
Ethiopians have come a long way in questioning their rulers and other figures of authority: From the adulation for Haile Selasse over the quiet terror of Mengistu we moved to trying to change things through elections- again thinking within the established framework and system- it didn't work, when we tried a bit of civil disobedience and people-led revolution in reaction to the farce of the elections we get shot like rabid dogs, arrested in the masses, gagged and bound by imaginary laws and state-terror. This time it seems that people want a guarantee that if and when they fight for change, they can do so without having to wipe blood off their children's corpes, without having to sign a statement that the opposition killed their loved ones, without having to face salary cuts or, worse still, revoked trading licences, without having to weather a 150% increase in food prices, without all the repercussions, including being completely ignored and ridiculed (humiliated) by the western regimes that encouraged them to vote and have hope in the first place.
The private media, so instrumental in mobilising the masses is chocked; the only source of info being the state cotrolled media. Isn't that a trusted way of mass brain wash? Spout off the same lies over and over again and people will start to believe you or at least they will become numb in the face of their daily struggles against life.

What is there to be done? People are starting to feel that they are the pawns in some big, corrupt political game for money and power, so why should they comply?

If anyone wants news along the lines of some old-style spy movie try AddisFerengi's weblog...

And....?

2006-03-20T08:20:00.000+03:00

Today's supposed to be the first day of a three-day display of civil disobedience according to the "Tegbar Pamphlet". Embassies have issued alerts and yet the city this morning seemed calm despite more unrest and even mass arrests around high schools and the Sidist Kilo Campus. Whatever the next few days bring, I hope it's peaceful and positive- lets hope Meles chokes on a brezel like his partner in idiocy.
Peace

Architecture

2006-03-16T15:29:00.000+03:00

It's a shame I cannot post photos from Addis...
There some buildings here in Addis that I absolutely love, maybe because I have grown up seeing them and the fact that they're still around in a city of change seems to be a great comfort.

Here's my top 5:
5. An apartment block by Mesqel Square with vertical metal blinds
4. the old Italian built houses with the wooden latticework all over Arada and near Meshwalekia
3. the old apartments behind Genet Hotel
2. "Temamaw foq" in Popolare
1. The Bedelu Building near Beherawi

There seems to be quite and influence of Frank Lloyd Wright around, the Netherland Embassy has a new building that's very organic, it is brown and flat-roofed, with picture windows that look out on (or rather into) the compound's mature mini-forest- Fantastic!

My alternative career (well, the most feasible one after astrophysics and fighter-jet pilot) would be as an Architect I think.

Feeding the fire with water

2006-03-15T10:34:00.000+03:00

There is a trend among HIV+ and AIDS sufferers to try and be “cured” by spending days, months and even years at a church to get treated with holy water; a recent survey showing that 25% of HIV+ Ethiopians said they had been or are using holy water. A lot illnesses can be cured by using water for drinking and bathing, many cultures have been using this means for curative and therapeutic purposes for centuries. However for PLWHA (People Living With HIV/AIDS) this practice poses various dangers: HIV/AIDS is something so insidious and unpredictably malicious in its opportunism to harm and destroy all vital organs ASAP.

What usually happens is that once a person hears their result they might decide to try holy water- drinking up to 10l in one go, on an empty stomach at 3pm if it’s lent; and getting a daily dousing from head to toe with freezing cold water- at dawn. This water, whether holy or not, is not very clean- in some cases the spring has been capped and the water comes from a tap, but in most cases the spring bubbles up happily at a random spot in the church compound where believers congregate en masse- trampling the muddy source and churning up lots more dirt that carries interal and external parasites as sanitation within these compounds is very poor. People openly defecate in and around the compound, most parasites such as amoeba have the capacity to survive outside a host for some time as cysts, waiting for more favourable conditions. In addition these sites are frequented by a lot of people who often suffer from other severe communicable diseases such as Tuberculosis or are carriers of internal parasites such as Guinea worm and VDs such as Herpes. To compound this comes the number of exorcism cases, people who have been brought there to have a “buda” or evil spirit purged from their souls. People like that suffer from hysteria, psychoses etc. causing them to act as whack as they like, sometimes attacking other attendants and thus causing stress and mental anguish.

Most people rent accommodation close to the church at high rates, they cannot afford to have regular and balanced meals for various reasons: They are too poor, they are paying a high rent, they fast, they are cut off from the supportive extended family due to stigma so a lot of them are not cooked for and cared for by relatives. In addition comes the stress of living in such rented accommodation which is shared by other holy water frequenters, with poor sanitation and access to basic services; in extreme cases mentally ill and/ or severely ill people share the same facilities, with feuds over lost, missing or overtly stolen food and utensils.

Do these conditions favour the patient or the illness? Although I only have an ordinary knowledge of medicine, common sense tells me that the latter would be the case; the body already struggling to keep its immune system up, the added stress of bad diet, exposure, psychological stress can cause rapid deterioration. A positive person who is not experiencing any symptoms of AIDS yet, who, apart from being a carrier is still healthy in both body and mind starts exhibiting symptoms of secondary infection.

A typical day during lent was described to me like this:
4:00 am get up and attend prayers, no food or drink
3:00 pm end of mass, drink 5-10l of holy water “fresh” from the source
3:30 pm throw up and go to the toilet for diahorrea and vomiting (this is considered to be the only way the disease will be purged from the system)
4:00 pm eat some qolo and lie down
5:00 pm try force some missir wot or besso down
6:00 pm vomit again and go to the toilet for more diahorrea
7:00 drink more holy water, eat some qolo or besso, then go to sleep

The newspapers and certain magazines published by the orthodox church are full of stories of miraculous recovery so that even Muslims have been going to Entoto Mariyam and the other lesser famed sites. However, there is reason to doubt the legitimacy of such claims as many, especially poorer, people go to "lesser clinics" that charge ETB 5-10 per test. If you ever have been to such a place you know that the low standard of hygiene and inadequate handling of samples can lead to cross-contamination and even complete exchange of samples. A couple of clinics and government hospitals I've been to had labs that are well below par: Sample crucibles (sometimes recycled film cans) and spatulae are strewn all over the working surface, the sterilised ones mingling with the used ones, the lab technicians not wearing gloves and wiping utensils with "soft" from their pockets... When a person goes to be retested after a stint in the church it is possibel that they'll be told they have become negative. When you ask how people know when they have been purged they say that they have been vomiting green stuff and had "worms" in their stool- perhaps it is bile from a wrecked digestive system and tapeworm from the holy water.

I'm not bold enough to suggest that the orthodox church is so cynical in it's fight against "pentes" and Islam that they fabricate results and stories, yet the fervour with which these stories are spread is alarming. A HIV+ result turns sane and rational adults into desperate, angry, confused and simultaneously hopeful people that would do anything to get better- including raping virgins and drinking kerosene or polluted water.

I know a 21 year old mother of 2 from the countryside who caught HIV from her husband about 15 months ago- she is pretty and clever, loves her children and her big family is a fantastic support unit. However her only hope is to try the holy water at our local church as she cannot go back to country life with all the hardship it holds for a widowed mother of 2 whose husband has only left her debts and greedy in-laws. The only hope is that she will be able to access some ARV drugs in the near future, until then she and her family are adamant that holy water is the best option.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=2376267&dopt=Abstract http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastroenteritis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pertussis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaws http://www.aegis.com/news/irin/2003/IR030510.html http://www.icrw.org/docs/stigmaplha.pdf http://www.wed-ethiopia.org/docs/working-paper2.pdf

New Addis

2006-03-10T11:58:00.000+03:00

For those who've been out of the country for 10+ years these pictures might make you feel quite misplaced... (haven't been able to upload pics so watch this space...)

I grew up in the western part of Addis that was considered the "outskirts" back in the 80's and early 90's; we had a barely asphalted road through our pastoral neighbourhood (granted, the road had deep ridges from the military tanks clunking along), a tiny Kiosk was our source for Cokes, soap, Desta ceremella and ampols. The kebele ration shop sold us those long bent spagettis (that turned to Genfo in the pot) in brown paper bags, sugar in paper twists, greasy white soap, dry rice... Clothes and shoe shopping was somewhat bizare as the quality was absolutely crap- thick blue and khaki sleveless jackets anyone?

The view from our balcony was that of the lush mountains in the distance; a meadow with cows and Akirma grass was just 5 minutes away and the air so fresh and clean it hurt your nose, at night we had hyenas come very close to our neighbourhood, their "Awwooo?" booming in our heads in the cold and very dark nights.

Now when we look accross from our balcony we have to crane our heads to look past someone's big watertank, beyond the ring-roads exhaust fumes to the denuded hillsides that first were "yeChereqa Betoch" 10 years ago but now have become fully-fledged homes. The air is still crisp- but with dust and fumes, the Hyenas no longer visit and the street lights go on all night, drowning out the stars. The traffic on the ring road has grown so much that even at 9pm there is a constant hum of cars.

Our little kiosk cannot be reached unless you walk 10 minutes up or down along the ring road to reach the footbridges and besides there are plenty of other shops all over selling all sorts of stuff from all over the world:
My mind still boggles when I go to a "kiosk" now, even the smaller ones in rural towns stock Shampoo from Indonesia, hair pomade from South Africa, Arabian fizzy pop, sugar from Brazil, colourful Chinese candles and bisquits from Argentina alongside the Ambo, flour from 3 different Ethiopian factories, Desta and "Soft"- I wanna buy it all and try it out! I guess I suffered some deep-seated trauma when my Mom had to empty a suitcase in the check-in queue to repackage the heavy goods into our hand luggage- oh the embarassment for a budding 13 year old...carrying a huge backpack full of soap, toothpaste, shampoo etc for relatives whenever we came back from abroad.

Despite all this and the depressing poverty and opression in the streets I wouldn't want to live in any other city. There are still many corners that retain Addis' old charm, women have not had access to "Arkebe kis" shops that line the pavements so that they still squat in front of their wares on the pavement. I've visited quite a few capitals and lived in a couple- most are ok to visit but none of them are good to live in. Perhaps I'd rather suffer a stoopid attack than think that no-one would bat an eye if I got attacked in a train carriage full of commuters.

What’s up for grabs?

2006-03-09T09:11:00.000+03:00

“The meek shall inherit the earth”(New Testament). That’s how religion tries to console the downtrodden and disadvantaged; their sacrifices and lack of voice to be rewarded by the bounty of our planet. The meek- those wise and staid people who have foregone worldly attributes in order to be close to God and the spiritual realms. I take things quite literally, and although the words of the bible are full of ambivalence and obscure meaning, I will treat this saying exactly as each one of the words in it convey.

We don’t even need to look too closely, in fact we even try to escape what is sneaking into our consciousness every day through the news, daily human interaction, the air we breathe and the food we eat- we know this earth is fast turning into a hostile and dangerous place to live in.
Those who care about the fate of this planet are fast loosing the battle to fast cars, big business, better technology, more consumerism and fat cats- most of us want to live comfortably, have the glamorous consumer goods and the latest means to make life easier. Although I’m not an avid consumer I am aware that the material world holds more and more temptations for me- a slinky little laptop, an efficient mobile, and I LOVE Ferraris….

Back at school in the 90’s (when it was cool to be eco-savvy) we had lessons in Environmental Awareness- to recycle, not to litter, not to buy too many pre-packaged goods etc. This has stuck by me, but I provoke guffaws and incomprehension when I mention this to most of my peers, especially here in Ethiopia- after all we are the crowns of creation to do as we wish with all of the natural world. Now it’s so uncool to care about that. In the developing world people are so keen on catching up that mountains of rubbish and toxins are accumulating. The rivers and fields around Addis are discoloured and foul-smelling from all the industry on the outskirts; you can see piles of “festal” and plastic bottles by the road-side and on river banks. China, India, Mexico and all the other fast emerging new-industrial nations don’t really care about the Kyoto Protocol or any other agreements; the Scandinavian countries, Australia and New-Zealand have got good policies that are mostly implemented, understood and supported by their citizens. That outlook is rare and threatened by extinction.

In addition comes the social degeneration- everyone to themselves, “ke eras belay nefas”, selfishness and utter disregard for the consequences to others or even themselves in the near and far future. So what if I wash my car in this river and change the oil- the people downstream who depend on the fish and water for their daily income and as a source of drinking water are not my concern, the government should do something…
In 50 years there will be an energy shortage, a lack of fresh, clean water, rogue genetic mutation from GMOs, more people and less money for less people to cope with the fall-out… I can imagine those individuals and nations rich, greedy and ignorant enough will have found means of shutting themselves away from this catastrophe by either protecting themselves or with elaborate treatments, leaving the ravaged and decrepit old earth to the meek.

Bombs in Addis

2006-03-08T08:20:00.000+03:00

3 Bombs went off yesterday in AA- one deffinitely in Lalibela Restaurant opposite Stadium (is Reuters really so reliable if their reporters say it was Lalibela Hotel near Bole Airport- obviously the reporter didn't go...), one apparently at Autobus Tera, 3rd one ?. I passed Lalibela Restaurant yesterday, 2 windows on the street side were out, the windows on the northern face of the building were all blown out. What got me was the atmosphere on the street- admittedly it was 7 hours after the blast, but people just got on with life as if it was nothing, only a few looking at the site, no road blocks, no heavy police presence, nothing.
What is all this panic mongering? We all know in whose hands the explsoives in Ethiopia are- EPRDF/TPLF and maybe OLF. After the explosions in Jijiga in July the US soldiers stationed there (Fight vs Terror thing- SURE!) offered co-opertaion in finding out who planted the bombs by carrying out forensic analyses- the Ethiopian/ Somali authorities said no; suspicion is they feared that the evidence will link the explosions to some EPRDF/ TPLF depot.
So a week after announcing that the authorities have uncovered some terror group's plans bombs go off in Addis, however, in their clumsy attempt to instil fear and panic they forgot to explode the bombs before they "uncovered" their imaginary terror group- would have been more creditable. So now we can innocently ask: "Since you foiled this terror group's plans last week, how come bombs exploded yesterday?"

On ETV the event was 4 th on the list of bulletins- WTF?!? The coverage showed some guy in bandages wincing in pain, a woman was interviewed, shaky and inadequate footage of the blast sites was flashed and off we went to ponder the trials of the business community in Ethiopia...

WOMEN FIRST!

2006-03-06T08:00:00.001+03:00

Yesterday morning was great! I attended the Women's run- the atmosphere was brilliant, in the run up (excuse the pun) the warm up dance music got us all shaking what we had, the participants were elated, happy, smiling, with boys and men looking like they wished they could attend... :P
During the remarkably easy 5km there was lots of chanting of political, religious, team and other slogans; the Ethiopian "Yaahooo" spirit is so perfect for this kind of thing- women and girls were clapping, beating improvised drums (watering cans), encouraging each other and having a great time. The political slogans were "Yefetu", "Leba", "Veee", with plenty of the two fingers up in the air, right in the face of federal police. Towards the finishing line I saw a police man cautioning a group of very vocal girls to stop their chants and finger waving- which prompted me to wave my two fingers at him- it's a democracy, no? After the run Berhane Adere and Meseret Defar were on stage being interviewed, with Teddy's songs and lots of other good music- the finger wavers didn't stop, despite being surrounded by blue-fatigued feds with big guns- although I heard later that some were pulled out from the crowd by federal police.

There had been the question how political this run would be- the Great Run in November had been a display if civil disobedience and we were wondering whether women would have the same politcal engagement and the will to be so confrontational. I'm glad that the women of Addis stood by their election voice and showed their opinions once more so clearly and openly!

Some might argue that the idea behind this run, the empowerment of women and gender equality, has been hijacked by misplaced politicisation but the fact that women felt confident enough to openly state their resentment and political will at a time when the government is resorting to more and more dangerous and insidious means is enough to argue that it tied in nicely with the whole women's empowerment concept!

Bottom line is that if we want to, we can really stick together, go out en masse in silly lime green shirts and have a great time whilst sticking two fingers up at any adversary.

What would YOU do?- A quick entry

2006-03-03T14:50:00.000+03:00

There's so much anger, frustration, dejection and cynisism regarding the situation in Ethiopia, with a lot of aggressive and fatuous opinions on all sides. It has also harnessed the diaspora and even some of the "what's up Addis" crowd into clearly thinking about Ethiopia and what should/ could be done. Weichegud, Ethiopundit, Aqumada are some of the most eloquent, intelliegent and most read blogs out there. Yet the questions raised by so many is "what would you really do?" if you had half a chance to change things. I for my part have said that if all it took was my life to make everything right then I would do it. But what is that in realistic terms?

Some time ago a friend of mine had the extreme pleasure of sitting within 5m of Aba "YeKorojo Leba"Dula Gemeda, he was there sipping happily away at an OJ with his fat discoloured cheeks puffing at the exertions on the straw. My friend got angry, agitated, frustrated and almost hysterical because there was nothing she could do. Stabbing him with her fork seemed so possible and so tempting- but what would the consequences be? He probably has so much body fat that the fork wouldn't do any harm, then there's the fact that she'd get arrested, tortured, deported; her family harassed, arrested, killed, humiliated? To top it all off Tim Clarke entered- even though he didn't go and sit with the Leba it was bad enough, a spineless career diplomat from the ethereal realms of Bole representing a cynical and gutless EU which was getting fat on tax-money. Actions in that case?
A) Go spit in TCs face and call him a spineless careerist?
B) Strike up a conversation and ask him casually about those in Dedessa?
C) Sink deeper into the seat and fume?

My friend did C)- In TC's case actions A) and B) would have just provoced some blase and patronising response (if at all) with the possibility of being barred from that establishment.

The tip of the iceberg was the presence of some Chinese investors who were leering at the women. It was like some bad Bond 007 movie.

My friend has been doing soul-searching ever since. She had a chance to make a change for Ethiopia and 77 mill people- As Teddy Afro sang "aynegam woy?" now it would have finally dawned; she would have been a heroine, March 3rd would be the day of Victory over EPRDF (a double holiday after Adwa day?). Yet when looking at history her actions would have not made a jot of difference, as said above it would have gone horribly wrong, yet another senseless sacrifice for no or, worse still, negative change.

At the core of this came the overwhelming feeling that as individuals we are insignificant in the current Ethiopian condition if the powers that be support and condone the gross human rights violations, cheating, lies and misery in our country turn a blind eye. The paralysing feeling of "Ohnmacht" - lack of might and power, tied hands and a knife at the throat- it felt like the universe was hurtling in its own preset path, disregarding the struggles and tortures of humans as a whole, looking down on my friend like she would on an ant that was trying to carry a dead fly up a hill, only to be crushed underfoot.

She only hopes that perhaps it was a lookalike contest.

2006-02-24T08:03:00.000+03:00

Just testing photo posting...

Who's inciting what please?

2006-02-23T07:56:00.000+03:00

A while ago I went on a work trip to a small woreda town in Oromia; as I was preparing for the meeting in the big old town hall I noticed some very interesting slogans painted and calligraphed carefully in technicolour:
One in Amharic: "Kinijit ye neftegna dildiy new!"
In Oromiffa: "Nafxagna Dinaa Oromiyatii..." I don't have the full text here, but remember the translation as "Neftegnas are the Oromo people's enemy" and one here that still needs translation: "Kanguddina Oromiyaatiif Hawwumarti Ammarraa Misioomasiitiif Haa Kau!" (could be a harmless one)
So what exactly is this government doing? I mean it could be some private person's incentive to stick these on the wall, but I get the feeling the woreda's admin. has something to do with this, even by just turning a blind eye.

On ETV for the all-day Meskel celebrations bonanza (yay!) the Amarigna programme was held in Hadiyya country- looking as if celebrating the diversity and variety of our country. If you had been watching the earlier Oromigna programme, too, then you would have had a sick feeling rising: Poems, plays and speeches about Neftegna this, Neftegna that... Staged to look as if it was an impromptu performance by "ordinary people like you and me"- yeah, stumbling through some thinly disguised Amhara-phobic drivel concocted by an EPRDF/ TPLF cadre who's just been through a "Qube" crash-course.

The EPRDF has imprisoned the opposition and various others on charges of "Inciting genocide" and planning the next round of killings in Africa that would make Rwanda look "like a child's play". Hellloooooo?!?!? What is this then going on in Oromia- on one hand beating and intimidating farmers with various Mafia means (www.hrw.org) for voting for Kinijit and Hibret and on the other hand telling them about Neftgnas and that, by implication, the opposition is led by Neftegnas who are the enemy of Oromos. It baffles me that they can get away with such bullshit!

The Oromos I know do not subscribe to the EPRDF version of "Neftegna and Amhara are our enemy", however this propaganda fuels radical organisations such as OLF (and ONLF)- and they do not leave room for anyone but Oromo supremacy. Can anyone else see that this is divide and rule of the worst kind becuase it has now openly mde it onto the walls of community meeting venues- makes you wonder what some if these meetings are about huh? Animal Farm style "enemisation" of an obscure entity (Neftegna) to disguise the works of the true enemy within. However this won't leave the EPRDF unscathed if it ever kicks off.

All I hope is that, apart from not buying the EPRDFs bullshit, the Oromos and other ethnic groups also use their cunning to distinguish between genuine national pride and hot-air pompous racism as bandied about by other organisations.

I AM THIS, YOU ARE THAT; IF YOU’RE NOT WITH ME, YOU’RE AGAINST ME; MY FRIEND'S ENEMY IS MY ENEMY…

2006-02-14T12:02:00.000+03:00

Truly? Lately there’s been a lot of discussion on the ET-net as to what Ethnicity and Nationalism are, the damage and good they are doing.

Perhaps in a country and culture like ours and many others in the developing world individualism is not allowed to be expressed- you belong to this tribe, that religion etc.; from the minute you are born your life is mapped out for you according to your gender, your family’s social status and whatever arbitrary yet deeply ingrained notions.
The need to show yourself to the world for who you are is quite a human need, but within the bounds of your culture’s norms and values you can only go as far as the next one your age and gender has gone before you get bored. What others live out by thinking they’re punks, hippies, mods, beatnicks, grungers, rockers, rasta, vegetarian, vegan, fishitarian, that version that only eats stuff that has fallen off its tree naturally, gay, lesbian, bi; some live it out using ethnicity as an obvious means to show off their values and pride-metaphorically they quiver spears, shake their mane, bare their teeth and roar! I’m all for a bit of national pride and am not belittling the photogenic “ethnic-tribal” stuff- I used to strut around with shema-scarves and zagol jewellery back in Europe; and I still wear shirts made of Ethiopian fabrics and have switched to Ethiopian silver. However I would never dream of stating proudly that I am of this or that tribe; that Ethiopians are more superior to “other” Africans; that “ferenj” are strange and crude etc.
Being a bombastic, arrogant, aggressive, ignorant bigot who subscribes to dubious “theories” about the origin of humanity and ethnic identity is not taking pride and joy in his heritage, rather it somehow reeks of a desperate attempt to cover up insecurity and shame at what is imagined to be target for ridicule by someone we (secretly) suspect is superior.
I met an Ethiopian in London once and while we were out and about using London’s admirable (…) public transport system he was there commenting on how rude west Africans are, how jealous of Ethiopians they are with their kinky hair and swarthy complexions, how they really hate the women (women) and how they secretly hanker for some good mannered Ethiopian Sheherazade (men). Then he moved onto calling the Europeans foul-smelling (all that dairy and pork making them smell of goat- huh?) and look at how pink they are- blahdiblah… On it went, and the sad thing was that he himself was a very ordinary pot-bellied short Ethiopian man with bad table manners and who couldn’t take “No” for an answer. Jumped- up national pride led to the Holocaust, the genocide in Rwanda, and the brewing unrest here in Ethiopia.
Religion is a similar target -if someone is muslim they’ll face some derision and silent discrimination- but boy if you’re a “PENTE” you’re the devil’s own seed and have to be put down. We all act as if we have been spoon-fed religious truths by God Himself and are in constant communion with Him about any updates.

As Ethiopians we have not just responsibility for our individual selves- right now, when it comes to what makes up Ethiopia is not that we are governed by Tigrayans trying to avenge the Derg’s atrocities by oppressing Amharas and all other tribes, with the OLF waiting in the wings. We have to see that if we carry on like this, scowling at Amharas, Tigrayans, Oromos, Guraghes because we suspect them of abusing our Itiyopia- we ourselves are abusing Ethiopia by subjecting her to a fate of Rwanda. Our responsibility is for 77 million and the future generations to make the best of what this country is, whether they choose to be Pentecostal hippies who only eat orange foods or whether they stick to being what their families have handed down to them.
Also, in the end there will be everlasting guilt for having been so narrow-minded and ignorant. See Germany and its guilt- ridden fear of displaying any national pride; if, as a German, you ran around with the Black-Red-Gold as we do here with our Green-Yellow-Red you’d be deemed a Nazi… And that breeds backlash in the form of youths being sick of being told of how bad their ancestors were when all they need is a job- so the cycle continues in many variations.

SHTOOPID ATTACKS

2006-02-02T07:47:00.000+03:00

Well, well, well so there’s this well-dressed guy sauntering down the road in the hottest part of Addis. He looks proud and dignified, cool and groomed. Then a transformation comes over him- he looks possessed, his arms gangle high above his head, his face is contorted and his cracking voice is heard shouting “Hey, you, wazzap, whereyougo?” You turn into the direction the shouts are headed for and you see- a foreigner walking down the road, minding his/her own business. Worse if it’s a she trying to mind her business- what these idiots do would land them a fat court case for sexual harassment elsewhere; being a “she” let me recount the multiple ways with which people try to “befriend” me (I’m not hot, ok, so it is a measure of the idiocy) :
1. Staring at your face, your tits, and probably your ass
2. Walking up way too close to you and then staring at your face
3. Walking up close, staring and maybe even managing to brush against any part of your body
4. Sitting too close in taxis, checking you out as you get off
5. Driving up fast behind or towards you, hitting the breaks, hanging out of the window and saying (see item No.6). In a terrifying incident in Arba Minch some guy tried to block my way by veering his car around- twice (whoa, man, I was totally melting in the face of such romantic overtures!)
6. Saying the following words in any order and combination:

Qey, humpf, Qeyo, you, bitch, hey, saxy [sic.], money, laaaadieeee, give, ferenj, wazzap, fuck you, comehere, where you from, ugh, hiiiiiiiii

This is hardly ever alleviated by being in the company of a guy, especially if he happens to be ferenj.

I’ve always been keen on being left alone by strangers in public spaces, and having grown up in Europe I see it as my right, so even just a child trying to be friendly or practice English makes me scowl- I’ve only just learnt to respond with a little smile and a response in Amharic. So the idiot attacks, coming from street-wise Addis Ababans (both sexes, the girls being worse with their bitchiness), beg the questions:
Are you being like this because you hope to be my friend? Are you trying to be cool and impress someone? Do you think I’ll take pity on you for being obviously better-off in this poor country and give you more money to alleviate the pain? Are you, after all, practicing English? Oh, I geddit- it’s Tourette’s Syndrome! No? Perhaps you think this is how friends are made? OR MAYBE YOU’RE JUST AN IDIOT?!??!

I resent this, I feel sorry for all those who have to suffer daily insipid comments and remarks. (Though someone told me that some women in Addis actually worry they’ve not taken care with their appearance and grooming if they’re ignored. How can you rest your self-esteem on some serial Skirt-chaser’s behaviour?)
In some cases it’s actually better in the countryside, although it depends on where you are, people just take a closer look and mutter something to themselves and each other.
But my main reason to resent this is the question: how can a people renowned for their aloofness and dignity degenerate into heap of incoherent clowns? I know that Ethiopia has more pressing concerns, but a media campaign saying “Don’t be an idiot!” with ads and talk shows should be launched.

DISCUSS- MY IMAGINARY READERS: Intelligence vs. Knowledge vs. Wisdom

2006-01-30T08:16:00.000+03:00

My understanding is that Intelligence is what is borne out of a good and healthy mix of knowledge, common sense, logic and deduction and empathy.
Knowledge can be acquired by anyone who likes to read, especially encyclopedia, and can store that information
Wisdom, well that’s the tricky one- was Solomon really wise when he ordered the baby to be cut in two to test the squabbling “mothers”? I dunno, but his approach certainly proved effective.
Then there’s the “Altklug” of the Germans: A child that is ponderous and broodingly clever, spouting off pensive opinions (annoying a better word?).
My special gentleman friend reckons I’m intelligent - I reckon I’m knowledgeable. The best gift my father ever gave me was a couple of children’s encyclopedia when I was 8; ever since then I hoard information about anything and everything; some trivial and useless yet fascinating to me in the bizarre way they make sense in/ of the world. I don’t think I’m intelligent; in fact when I did a couple of online IQ tests, including the BBC one where the whole of Britain tests itself during a TV show, I came in below average IQ… (Despite holding some tertiary education credentials)- I do really well in the other type of TV quizzes - I’d be a strongest-link millionaire, owning several household implements and 20 cars in several countries… So my guess is that I’ve got a quiz-show potential- that’s neither clever nor wise. As a child my friends thought I was wise- that was because I was good at listening and philosophising- both of which I’ve lost the ability to do as I grew older and had to adapt my brain to a more “mature” mode of thinking…
Another German word: “Fachidiot”- literally it translates into “Subject idiot”: someone brilliant in their chosen field/ profession- they know all there is to know, applying that knowledge intelligently to new problems- but put them in a forest at summer time and they’d starve to death: “Couldn’t organise a piss-up in a brewery”…

Mozart and other prodigies: Amazing abilities and other-worldly minds – intelligent, wise, talented?
Einstein got chucked out of class for not being good enough- yet I do not need to say more about him- such was his impact.
So, even though this site is as well known as the verdant lushness of the southwest of Ethiopia I would like to get some feedback on these issues, any time now…

Economies of Cynicism

2006-01-26T10:30:00.000+03:00

Taken from http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20060118/hl_nm/malaria_watch_dc_1
the article below sounds promising
Inventor develops anti-malaria wristwatch
About a man who has invented a device that is attached to the wrist, a tiny needle pricks the skin and analyses the blood for a possible malaria infection:
If the parasite count tops 50 an alarm sounds and a brightly-colored picture of a mosquito flashes on the watch face. The wearer must take three tablets that kill all traces of the disease within 48 hours.
But then you see where such enterprising spirit has its roots:
Lubbe was approached by a major mining company to develop the device after it found high levels of malaria among workers in Africa was hurting productivity.
So much for development and innovation for the sake of humanity…

Intinun Intin beyew!- Two Perspectives

2006-01-25T08:38:00.000+03:00

Yeah, sure, I’ll intin the intin once I know what the hell you’re talking about…
What is it with people?! There they are -masters of an ancient, varied, deep and multi-layered language that conveys a rich culture and people, yet they mumble, smudge and intin their way through life- at home, at work, at church, in the market, trivial chit-chat or serious conversations. INTIN (*!!) turns up everywhere! It’s a manifestation of how badly we communicate in Ethiopia, we hardly care to express precise measurements of time, distance, quantity or quality. Ask how long the pen-pusher you have to see (the 7th you’ve had to see this morning just to get some simple little thing done) will be in his “meeting” you’ll get a breezy “Ahun yimeTal, tinish qoyi…” 30 minutes into your warming the fake leather seat you venture the same question- you get the same answer… I wonder how long you can carry on like this without your opposite sensing the idiocy of what you’re both doing. As for distances- oh boy! What is just “7” km away or “Ezih qirb new” turns out to be a bumpy, dusty ride for 1.5 hrs!

Some examples:

No 1: Day at the office (a hypothetical example collated over time, names changed to respect privacy):

Legesse: “Ya ye intinu woreqet indet hone, Kasse?”
Kassaye (absentmindedly): “Huh?”
L: “Ya mindinew, manewsimu balefew inkuan amTito alTeyeqenem?”
K (still absentminded): “Huh?”
L: “Ya mindinew, manewsimu balefew inkuan amTito alTeyeqnem?”
K (in dreamland now): “Huh?”
L (shouting in the general direction of the secretary’s office): “Manesh, Intina, erh, Mulunesh, ya ye intinu woreqet indet hone, manewsimu yametaw?”
K (suddenly alert): Bakih tinish qes bel, min yasTChohal?”

Etc etc etc- drives me nuts! I’m sitting there knowing L means an evaluation report handed in on Monday morning by Hassen from the Partner’s offices with the request for comments before the final draft is out…! Not that I am sharp or too clever for my job (far from it) but come on! It’s just not efficient nor effective, the breath wasted on all these vacuous conversations must be what’s steaming up England!
So is that how people high up, be it government, business enterprises or NGOs really (non)communicate? It is worse over the phone because you cannot fix your opposite with a hypnotic stare, forcing them to take in your words, and give a coherent reply.

No 2: Another popular Ethiopian Oratory Specialty is the “Dialogus Interuptus”:
There you are OBVIOUSLY having a talk with someone, be it on the telephone or in the flesh, when the Interruptor walks in and stats talking to either one of you, insisting you notice them, calling your name over and over, and it begs the question: “CAN’T YOU F***ING SEE????” Our mouths- they are moving, sound is coming out of our throats and our eyes- they are turned to each other, this isn’t some elaborate burp-contest you can come and interrupt! The second variety is where your dialoguing partner does the interrupting, casually butting a few words into your flow that makes it plainly clear that he hasn’t got a clue what you’re on about because –hey! He hasn’t been listening to anything you’ve been saying ‘cos he was busy with formulating that same question.

No 3: The “Lost Direction”
Assumptions for this: This person knows Addis Ababa well enough to distinguish between, say, Old Airport Mekanissa and Old Airport Tor Hayloch; you speak the same language and they are not deaf.
So make an appointment with person above to meet at Mesqel square/ Abyot on the Debre Zeyt Road side, just round the corner from Debre Zeyt Road- see what happens then… they might be by St. EsTifanos Church, half way down Bole Road, behind the Stadium or in Debre Zeyt itself… Why? Try something simpler such as the Arat Kilo Campus main entrance- oh Boy! You could end up with 4kg of Oranges from the Etfruit in Churchill Avenue as a gift… The best is when that person then treats you like the moron who got mixed up. Help!

Then there are the half-truths, the outright lies, the omissions, the slips, the misnomers, the mispronunciations - the unending maze that is communication in Ethiopia.

Anyway, I’m not a language snob, I’m using these examples to illustrate a point: For Ethiopia to prosper we need to be able to communicate clearly with each other, convey our ideas, notions and perceptions clearly and, if possible, succinctly. Take a look at how teams work in countries where communication is largely free from such nonsense- I’m speaking of working environment communication, not a merry night out- the ideas fly and sparkle, a few key words and phrases being all it takes for a thought to be brought forth, discussed and proceeded on.
The closest communication in Ethiopia comes to this is the beautiful daily contact between, say, the Woyalla and the possible passenger- a nod, a flick of the head or the wrist, a finger or 2 or 3 held up, while at the same time sidestepping the hole in the pavement and shaking your head at a chewing gum vendor and frowning at some pesky nuisance trying to be “your friend”. You can even mouth your destination or wearily look at the guy- he knows it! Or when in a social situation: a means of dealing with Interruptors from above without yanking their tongues out is to give a quick answer mid-flow; it doesn’t have to be an interruptor, could just be another conversation near-by that you’ve been taking in whilst in a conversation yourself.

A story of Africa

2006-01-23T08:25:00.000+03:00

A man begging on the streets of the city nears a church. In hope of some pious alms he sits under a tree. As he falls asleep the flies that were crowding the air around his legs finally settle on the sores, blackening his legs, making it look as if he is wearing black waders. A business man passing by sees this and shoos away the flies. The poor man awakens, sits up and cries: “Oh, why did you do that!” The moneyman feeling shamed and angered by this ingratitude demands an elaboration, the poor man replying: “These ones had finished eating and were resting. Now the hungry ones will come and eat some more…”

How can I describe the feeling that fills me when I think of Africa- no I don’t know Africa. I know Ethiopia; the most despoiled and concealed beauty of Africa. Veiling herself from foreign influences since times uncounted she took refuge in her greenly glaring tablelands, her rarefied Ambas and searing gorges, content in the knowledge that she was everything that the world was. She was the master copy for the world – unfortunately she hid so well that even God could not find her to grant her the improvements he bestowed upon his subsequent creation.Yet imagine waking up in this exquisitely secluded place that at the same time makes hiding difficult- the sun so bright your dull clothes suddenly shimmer in miniature rainbows. The air so crisp and dry that no sound, smell or sight goes undetected. Eucalyptus wood smoke, roasting coffee, berbere spice mix and incense- these 4 smells taking on 1000s of dimensions and surpassing the creations of the best French perfumeries. It explains the unusual colourfulness that seems to spring from the plain white cotton cloth that makes up traditional clothes. White never seems more beautiful and pure, seeming cool yet warming the soul with all the crystal colours. Even the brown of dust and soil looks healthy and life-giving.
So what is wrong with this beautiful place? Its too poor to defend itself from all the well-meaning fly-chasers, except for the outstanding action by Hillary Benn of UK by withdrawing some of the feeding grounds of the government's flies.