Trivia and Fun Facts: Of Abyssinia, Ethiopia and Ethiopians ... In Their Eyes

Ethiopia has a very long history – one of the longest in the world. Ethiopians know that. But there are some non-Ethiopians out there that have gotten an insight into that history, have actually liked it so much and have even gone on to name things and animals after Ethiopia, Abyssinia or someplace related to Ethiopia.

Here are some trivia and fun facts; more will be added upon discovery:

SS Abyssinia 

The SS Abyssinia was an English mail liner. It was launched in 1870 and was originally the property of Cunard Line, a leading operator of passenger ships that plied the North Atlantic waters for over century (and is still in operation). Among its substantial fleet was the RMS Carpathia that became famous for rescuing survivors from the ill-fated Titanic.

SS Abyssinia, Vancouver harbor - June, 1887

The SS Abyssinia was sailing from New York to Liverpool when its cargo of cotton caught fire off the coast of Newfoundland at 12:40 PM on December 18^th, 1891.   Captain G.S. Murray ordered the ship to be abandoned when it became obvious that they couldn’t put the fire out. All passengers and crew were moved on to another liner that had spotted the fire, the Spree, by 4:15 PM.

SS Abyssinia sunk shortly after.

HMS Abyssinia 

The HMS Abyssinia was a boat that was built specifically to defend Bombay (Mumbai) harbor which was then in British India. She too was launched in 1870. She was built at a cost of £116,549.

HMS Abyssinia circa. 1870

Sadly, the Abyssinia spent her entire career at anchor in Bombay harbor, apart from short trips for firing practice. She was sold as scrap when the Indian Harbor Defense Service was discontinued in 1903.

HMS Magdala 

The HMS Magdala was another ship that was built in 1870. The name was given to her to commemorate the Battle of Magdala (1867) between Abyssinian and British soldiers where Emperor Tewodros II committed suicide rather than face surrender. Ironically, the pistol he shot himself with was a present from Queen Victoria herself – the same queen that had sent the British forces to capture him.

HMS Magdala 1870

HMS Magdala was made as a companion for HMS Abyssinia and was made specifically for the defense of Bombay harbor. She cost £132,400.

She too spent her entire career at anchor in Bombay harbor except for gunnery practice. She was finally sold for scrap in 1903.

Ethiopia – The Australian Derby Champ 

One of the most prestigious derby’s in the world is the Perth Derby. Jockeys and horses alike come from all over the world to take chance at the $1.5 million purse.

Ethiopia and his Jockey Rhys McLeod

The 2012 champion was a four-year-old horse named Ethiopia. He caused a major upset by beating all the favorites, who had more experience racing, after only four starts – not unlike the Ethiopian athletes that continue to upset world record holders time and time again.

Abyssinian Cat 

While Ethiopia is blessed with abundant flora and fauna, the Abyssinian cat isn’t one of them. Although the name suggests that it came from Ethiopia, it actually never did - or so they say.

An Abyssinian Cat

Scientists claim to have followed the DNA of the cat and traced it to the coast of the Indian Ocean. But the first cat to be named an Abyssinian was a kitten that a British soldier brought back home when he returned from Alexandria, Egypt in 1868. The kitten’s name? … It was “Zula”. Coincidence?

For those not in the know, Zula (Zeila in Amharic) was the main port for the Axumite Empire and was a part of Ethiopia.

Deep Ethiopian - now looking for writers and bloggers

መልካም አዲስ ዓመት !!!  

This blog has been my personal pride and joy for a little over three years now. I love writing posts on it more than any work I do today. What started out as personal joy has moved on to become the ultimate life experience that opened the door to a great writing career. This blog has made me to good for its own good - so much so that it has led to this point. It is with mixed emotions that I say I can no longer keep up the submission of posts to this site as often as I would like to, and would like to have some help from other writers that would love to contribute posts.The only option that is left to me is to open it up for people that have a passion for this beautiful country – Ethiopia.

It doesn’t matter if you’re just passing through, and it doesn’t matter which part of the country it is you are in if you have something good to share about your trip and travel, then please, consider becoming a contributing blogger to DeepEthiopian.com.

As long as you write from the heart and about the truth you have actually experienced yourself you will be a writer that is always welcome. The only rules being:

•           All content that is published shall be owned by the writer and there will be no copying or even re-writing of other people’s contents no matter what.
•           There will be no X-rated content no matter what. And
•          There will be no political topics no matter what.

This blog is, and always will be, about Ethiopia and Ethiopians by people from within the country. It is about telling the world what the country really is about via narrations of firsthand experiences.Geography, history, anthropology etc. are the topics that are usually expected, but what is most important is that it is always the truth.

If you decide to be a contributing writer, you will have the right to have your posts published in your own name. While this site will give you a large audience, it is for the time being a non-paying position.

I hope you come aboard and enjoy the writing as much as I do.

Warmest regards,

Deep Ethiopian

Interesting Facts about Ethiopia – Trivia on the Firsts and the Greatest

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Ethiopia is a country that is truly fascinating. Facts about Ethiopia or just mere trivia on the country are a pleasure and sometimes even amazing to read about. Who knew?

      -          Ethiopia is the only African country with its own alphabet.  

      -          Ethiopia is the only country in the world with 13 months.

      -          In Ethiopia time is counted on the opposite side of the clock: 6 o’clock is said to be 12 o’clock, and at 16:00 Ethiopians say it is ’10 o’clock’.

      -          Ethiopia is one of only two countries in the world that have never been occupied. (The other one is Russia, in case you are asked). It managed to stay free by defeating the Italians … twice!

     -        Although Ethiopia was the first African state to join the League of Nations, it soon became apparent that ‘collective security’ would not be given to an African nation even after atrocities of ethnic cleansing and mass murders were evident after Italy invaded – everyone turned a blind eye and a deaf ear.

-           Ethiopia was the birthplace of Pan-Africanism. The belief that Africa should unite and be the master of its own destiny was hailed by Emperor Hailesellasie I. It eventually led to the birth of the African Union of today.

    -  The hydroelectric dam that was built on the Tekeze River and was inaugurated in November 2009 is Africa’s tallest arch dam standing at 188 meters. Gilgel Gibe IV a dam that will be operational sometime in 2012/13 will be the tallest dam on the continent at 200+ meters.

      -          Ethiopia and Ethiopians are mentioned in many ancient books. The Bible is one of them. Ethiopia or Ethiopians are mentioned around 40 times in it. It is one of the few countries that are mentioned in both the Bible and the Koran. It is a country where the indigenous people are Christians, Muslims and Jews live together. It was the first country where Muslim prayers were held out of Arabia. Incidentally the first Muslim calls to prayer were done by an Ethiopian. And the first mosque to be built outside of Arabia was the Al Nejashi mosque in northern Ethiopia. When Mohammed and his followers were persecuted, they found solace in Ethiopia.

-          The very first and oldest illustrated book on Christianity is found in Ethiopia. This is in the form of a gospel that was written in 494 AD, colors and bindings still intact and was discovered in a monastery – ‘The Garima Gospels’. Abba Garima was a monk that arrived in Ethiopia from Constantinople in the fifth century; legend has it that he copied it in one day.

An Image from the Garima Gospels

-          Ethiopia has a long history of war, in  Homer’s ‘The Iliad’ in the Trojan War, Memnon was an Ethiopian king. Ethiopia and Ethiopians are also mentioned in his other book ‘Odyssey’. The ancient Greek love for the Ethiopians does not end there; another Ethiopian is in Greek astronomy too. According to legend, Cassiopeia was the queen and consort of King Cepheus in Ethiopia. And long story short, after her death, Cassiopeia was immortalized as a star by Poseidon.

-          The name ‘Candace’ is actually the name given to the line of Ethiopian Queens that ruled in ancient times.

-          Ethiopia and Ethiopians are usually mentioned with the words ‘athlete’ and ‘athletics’. The first African to win a gold medal in the Olympics was Abebe Bikila in the 1960 Summer Olympic in Rome; he wan the marathon with a record time of 2:15:16.2 – an even amazing thing was the fact that he ran the whole race barefooted. In the next Olympics held in Tokyo in 1964, Abebe Bikila won the marathon with a world record time of 2:12:11:2.4. Making him the first athlete, and as of yet the only African, in history to win the marathon twice in back to back Olympics. As of date, the marathon world record holder is another amazing Ethiopian athlete, Haile Gebreselasie. He holds the record at 2:03:59.

-          Ethiopia is the home of mankind. While the most famous ancestors of mankind are Lucy and Selam, archeological digs have and will continue to show that it was the valleys of Ethiopia that man came out of.

-          Ethiopia is the homeland of coffee; it was discovered by a shepherd named Kaldi who noticed his goats prancing about restlessly after eating the leaves of the coffee plant. It is thought the word coffee was borrowed from the southern Ethiopian lands of Kaffa.

-          The Mountain Nyala and the Walia Ibex are the two most famous animals that are endemic to Ethiopia. The others are the Semien Red Fox, The Chelada Baboon, Menilik’s Bushback, Wattled Ibis, Blue-winged Goose, Harwood’s Francolin, Rouget’s Rail, Spot-breasted Lapwing, White-collared Pigeon, Yellow-fronted Parrot, Black-winged Lovebird and Prince Ruspoli’s Turaco. In January, 2011 a new member was added to the ‘Endemic Ethiopian’ list – The African Wolf.

-          Addis Ababa is the highest city in Africa. And many tourists mistakenly think that just because it is in Africa it is a hot place to be. It is amusing to see their reactions to the cold when they get off the plane at Bole International Airport as they shiver in Bermuda shorts and Hawaii shirts. The city was founded by Emperor Menilik II on the Entoto Mountain.

-          The Danakil Depression (also known as the Afar Depression or the Afar Triangle) found in North Eastern Ethiopia is the year-round hottest place anywhere on earth.

-          Amazingly, Ethiopians have a very impressive history when it comes to flying. The first African woman to fly was Wro. Assegedech Assefa. There is an argument that if it had not been for the Italian invasion in 1936, Wro. Mulumebet Emeru would have been the first licensed African to fly, but that she is the first to fly – the jury is still out on that one. The only jet fighter air-to-air shoot down by a female pilot is credited to Ethiopian Air Force Captain Aster Tolossa, who shot down her Ukrainian trainer who was flying for the Eritreans.

-          The first car to reach Ethiopia was Emperor Menilik II's car (plate number D3130), in 1907. He was the first African Emperor, if not plain African, to actually drive a car.

-        On August 12th, 2012 Ethiopia became the first country in Africa, and only the second in the world to own and operate a Boeing 787. Owned by the flag carrier Ethiopian Airlines, the aircraft was named "Africa One" and assigned the tail number ET-AOQ.

-            Ethiopia is Africa's top producer and exporter of sesame seeds. The country produces about 8% of the world total sesame seed production.

This list will be added on as information is available. Ethiopia is a country with over 3,000 years of history. Any suggestions or additions are very welcome.

The Ethiopians - why it is good to be one nowadays

We are facing dire straits globally. Almost everyone is facing the brunt of job cuts and austerity measures. Economies that were once thought to be mighty have been brought to their knees, and only stood up again after substantial aid from neighbors. The price of gas has shot through the roof and it took the other prices with it. Now is a good time to follow the ways and skills of the Ethiopians.

The Ethiopians – why?

That is what most people will be asking when they read this article. Isn’t life in Ethiopia so miserable? Isn’t Ethiopia the country people point to when explaining the effects of poverty on a country? Doesn’t the information on Ethiopia always say that it is the country to avoid?

Well, let us think see what you think after you read what the world has to say about Ethiopia. Below are some facts on Ethiopia that have been reported by international agencies and organizations. As much as possible latest data has been collected from reliable sources that provide the latest news about Ethiopia and other African countries.

The Human Development Index

The human development index is a complex statistical calculation of the improvement of the human development. It is a measure that is used by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to list countries that have advanced or retreated in making their people’s lives better.

In the 2010 report ‘The Real Wealth of Nations: Pathways to Human Development’ the UNDP has ranked Ethiopia as the 11^th most progressive country making it a surprising member of the high rankers despite it not having done so via economic reasons. This means that the achievements were made by doing other things to improve the lives of the people. For example, Ethiopia abolished school fees for primary school students and made a big leap in the number of clinics that were built.

Ethiopia Flower Industry

When people are asked on the latest news about Ethiopia, the majority that has never been here just think of the country being a big desert. It just doesn’t come to mind that the country is the home of many rivers, especially the Nile, and that it is sometimes known as the ‘water tower of Africa’.

The information about Ethiopia that was disseminated during the 70’s and 80’s has left a dark shadow on the Ethiopia new and strong that is emerging. And that news about Ethiopia has had the most effect on the Ethiopian flower industry. People think of Ethiopia last when it comes to the horticulture industry.

The flower industry in Ethiopia has been steadily growing. It is an amazing story considering that Ethiopia is at present the second-most exporter of flowers in an industry that didn’t even exist 20 years ago. The quality of the flowers has been of excellent standards that various exporters have been awarded global stages.

HIV AIDS decline in Ethiopia

Family life in Ethiopia was devastated by the HIV/AIDS epidemic that had hit the world. The effects of the epidemic can still be seen in the number of orphans that grew up. Ethiopia was one of the most hit countries by the disease.

But it finally seems to have been beaten back. Recent reports have shown that the rate of infection of HIV has been stopped in Ethiopia. Other countries that performed similarly are South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

This was done by planning a strategy that would reach even the youngest of Ethiopians. It was mostly thorough education that was aimed at anyone from 6 to 60. All media drilled into the people’s mind that HIV AIDS was real and that the prevention was very easy. Those lessons are now deeply buried in the three generations that have come after the start of the epidemic. It was these lessons that help curb the disease when it is sharply rising in some Asian countries. Even the United States is facing a problem with the prevalence of the disease among its citizens. It was alarmed to wake up to find that the situation in the United States was worse than Africa.

Life in Ethiopia – something to look forward to

While the whole world is in a gloom, life in Ethiopia is amazingly calm and stable. There aren’t any job cuts that have rocked Europe and the US. There aren’t any austerities plans of furtive lending that have been noticed in Europe to the extent that it has become a threat to the European Union as a whole. There haven’t been massive leaps in increase of consumer goods that would have been expected from a third world country.

Au contraire there is a booming building industry that is changing the cities’ skylines almost daily. There are openings of new automotive industries that have already started flooding the roads of the country with Ethiopian made cars. The tourism industry has reached record levels raising the air transport industry so high that Ethiopian Airlines has become a major contender on a world level.

In short, the country is on its way up. The Ethiopians of tomorrow will hopefully have a country that will be a major force in the future world.

Copyright in Ethiopia…the pauper or the king?

(Please note that the author does not condone or support copyright infringement in any form.)

One of the hottest issues around Addis Ababa is the problem of solving the rampant copyright infringements that can be seen all over the city. Hawkers walk around the city in broad daylight selling CD, VCD and DVD copies of music and movies (both local and foreign.)

Prices range from 5 ETB for a VCD, 4 or less ETB if buying more, to 25 ETB for the latest movie that was released a week ago on DVD. Meanwhile, the same in original would cost around 25 ETB for the former and 50 ETB for the latter. The mean difference here is 22 ETB. It is this mean difference that is being fought for.

The four main actors in this drama are: the artist(s), the authorized dealers, the illegal distributors, the illegal retailers and finally the purchaser/consumer. Of these the one that makes the most profit in these dealings is the illegal distributor. While the artist loses 25 ETB on every illegal CD sold, the illegal distributor can buy one original work and duplicate it on hundreds, if not thousands, of CDs. He just can’t lose.

Now when it comes to the consumer, there are two options that are available: go legal or otherwise. And from what can be seen in actuality most go for the illegal works. Let’s look at some mistakes that are being done by all sides:

·         PRICE: this is the most obvious one. The consumer saves 22 ETB. And that is one reason too many for most consumers, for the simple fact that they cannot afford otherwise. Whereas the artists do not want to budge on the price saying they too can not afford it. The Ethiopian mentality on doing business is ‘going for the highest price possible.’ Every merchant, including the Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (ETC) have forgotten that or lazily ignore that in the long run and with customer retention and satisfaction:

HIGH PRICE X LESS CUSTOMER  
is less profitable than
  LOW PRICE X MORE CUSTOMERS

They do not want to put any effort into sales, advertising and marketing. They just do not want to put an effort into covering a higher consumer base and providing their services at an optimal price. The same applies to the artists, they do not want to hear of a price knock off, but expect the consumer to bear the brunt. When asked why not, an answer was given that maybe if the consumer stopped buying the illegal works, they would then consider reducing their prices. Yeah, right!

·         AVAILABILTY: walking in any major city in the world you will find salesmen and women trying to sell you products and services ranging from cosmetics, to edibles, to mobile phone services. In Addis Ababa,   while there are some products and services being touted, there are no sales persons selling the legal works of the artists. Au contraire, the illegal ones are everywhere! Why would a consumer even bother going all the way to a legal distributor when he can get it right where he is? If they don’t bother, why should the consumer?

·         Quality: the main argument that the artists and publishers have, when defending their high prices, is that they provide quality products.  There is no question that one must pay a higher price for a superior product. But let’s stop for a minute and ask how many times a consumer is going to watch a movie or drama. And then again let’s ask how badly the quality of a movie or drama would deteriorate when it has been being copied from an original medium. Unless the artist is of a high caliber or a popular veteran in his field, most people will stop listening to a CD in a matter of days, or at the most a couple of weeks. A movie or drama will be seen no more than a handful of times. The quality would not even be taken into factor when the price is considered.

The only option that can solve this issue is to think of the consumer first and then the artist. Not the other way round. The principle of making the customer happy has taken a back seat in Ethiopia. The norm is wresting the money out of the helpless customer by making sure there is no other option available to them.

Maybe it’s time that service providers, of which artists are a part of, understood that the customer really is king and that an unsatisfied king will never be generous.

Bruce Parry…an Ethiopian son

Sadly, the image that comes to the mind of many people when they hear of the word ‘Ethiopia’ is a very dark one. And even if they have been to Ethiopia, some people go back with images in their heads from what they’ve seen but not understood.

Enter Bruce Parry – ‘explorer and expedition leader.’ Bruce is an ex-Royal Marine, among many other things. But the documentary series ‘Tribe’ that he produced is, by far, the work he’ll always be remembered for. The documentary is about how Bruce travels to the remotest parts of the world, including the eastern and south eastern part of Ethiopia, seeks the most isolated people living there and how he becomes ‘one of the Tribe.’ He stays for one month amongst them eating, drinking, dressing, hunting (sometimes being hunted) with the people. For once, here’s an honest outlook from an honest and humble man.

In the series Bruce visits four tribes in Ethiopia: the Mursi, the Dasenech, the Hamer and the Nyangatom. The videos show the way Bruce won the hearts of the young, the old and all in between. From chiefs to toddlers they all fall in love with him and he is very touched and at times surprised by the amount of love and respect that comes from the humblest abode. Some issues that really need kudos:

- Although Bruce is a physical education man from one of the best trained and toughest armies in the world, he bows down and is thrown around by the warriors. The respect and honour he shows the young warriors is commendable.

- Again, coming from a military background it’s very funny to see him fidgeting with an AK-47 and the locals commenting “he doesn’t know much about guns.”

- It really takes a great deal of courage to run around naked with body parts swinging left, right and all over, especially when there’s a camera that’s going to show it to the whole world.

- Especially endearing is the way he eats what the locals eat, with gusto, and gives an honest opinion. From the pancakes finger –fed to him, which was delicious, to the local beer that tasted like ‘paint-stripper.’

- While the whole world thinks of Ethiopia as a war-torn, famine-ravaged cess-pit, Bruce could see that these people were forced to fight to protect their livelihood, he brings all the ‘chaos’ that any other tourist would see into a pin-pointed perspective: at the risk of being painted as savages, these people have to fight to live. He saw deep inside them and found the beautiful part of them. Another example would be the whipping of female relatives of a person who is having his initiation ceremony. Again to the average outsider what would appear as pure abuse or cruelty, he got to the core of how that simple show of faith and love would be translated later and would be paid back with love and care.

Drinking blood, hunting crocs, eating the ickiest part of an animal and enduring some of the most embarrassing situations like a true Ethiopian in the end open the door to Bruce being adopted by many people as their son over and over again.

This is a DVD collection worth keeping and watching over and over again. On behalf of Ethiopia and Ethiopians this author bows low and says ‘Bravo! And thank you!’

Michael Jackson, Ethiopia and Ethiopians...

Michael Jackson has passed away. If there is any person that isn't feeling pain, then they must have not heard about it.

This generation of Ethiopians will feel the loss of what was the image of grandness. Ethiopians will never forget "We are the world." No Ethiopian grew without trying to moonwalk. The zippered jacket were once a fad that wny child would kill to get. His music was on every teenager's lips.

We will miss you. May you rest in peace, Michael. Deepest and heartfelt condolences to your family.

You MUST be an Ethiopian if…

1. You drive straddling two lanes. To most Ethiopians, the lines that are drawn on roads are either for decoration or just by employees of the Ministry of Transport having fun.

2. You think you’re worth more if you buy an expensive cell phone. This is even amazing since the most you can do with your cell phone is talk and send text messages. Only a few months back was 3G even started. The cell phone costing 350 ETB sometimes out-performs one that costs 3000 ETB.

3. You live in a hovel that charges 100 birr rent and park this year’s BMW outside. Many Ethiopians seem to have their priority wires in a tangle.

4. You are embarrassed to put on your seat belt while driving, but flaunt your thing as you pee in the streets. Many drivers in Ethiopia prefer not to wear seatbelts stating that people would call them show offs. But those same people would forget about people’s opinions when they had to go number one in public.

5. Pronounce ‘the’ as ‘ZE’, spell ‘welcome’ as ‘WELL COME’, forget how to spell words with the ‘e’ at the end and add it when not required. Examples would be “Well Come to Peac Hotele.”

6. You can spell your name, and have documents to prove it, in at least 5 different ways. Example: Biruk, Bruck, Birook, Brook, Beruk, Berook …

7. You open a new business and name it after the city you used to live in while you were in the United States. Addis Ababa is full of cafes, hair salons, hotels and other businesses with names of US states or cities. It wouldn’t be safe to mention them here.

8. You, while in Ethiopia will spend tens, sometimes hundreds, of thousands of birr to get out and once out whine about how you’d rather be back home…

9. …and when you DO eventually come back home you brag about how good you had it in the west.

10. You kiss up to anyone that is better dressed than you, drives this year’s BMW and owns the cell phone in number two. It’s a sad fact that customer service givers, from guard to the highest manager will judge you by what you’re wearing. I’d really recommend that if you were having a bad hair day, were tinkering with your car’s oily and greasy parts and were wearing cutoffs, scraped boots and a filthy cap… you’d better change all of it before you answered that door bell. Whomever you might meet my ask you to go get the master of the house.

11. You can’t tell the difference between New Zealand and Netherlands. It was really embarrassing when a newscaster reading the news couldn’t make out which country was being mentioned, she decided to play it safe…so she said that the news was from, this is not a joke, “Newzerland.” EDIT: On the news on 19/06/2009 the commentator read news from "Swizland." It's not clear if Switzerland or Swaziland was the intended country.

12. You would rather dehydrate, sweat and stink up a storm, on a hot day, in a crowded car or bus, than to open a window, because you think the draft would kill you…

13. …and if at home, you still believe the old wives’ tale that the draft from two opened doors will make you sick. From the way some Ethiopians react when a window whether at home or in a car is cracked, you’d think it were bullets coming in rather than plain air. It would have been tolerable if the person asking that the offending window be shut were reasonably clean and had remembered to wash his feet this month or change socks since last week.

14. You cannot see the irony in drinking, eating and fornicating sinfully for the few days before Lent and thinking that you will make up for it all during the following 40 days. Two or three days before the fasting begins people go crazy bar-hopping till all crazy hours. They stuff themselves with all the food they can get their hands on.’ Sex and the City’ is really on! When asked, Ethiopians tend to say that it is to keep them stronger during the fasting, to help them make it through and to lessen the temptation. Isn’t this all against the Passion of Christ? Isn’t the whole idea of fasting to weaken one’s self and to fight the temptation…? Why bother if one is packing and storing for the ‘long haul’?

15. You think some job is below you while in Ethiopia, but would beg and grovel to do it in the US or Europe, but still not tell your family or anyone who knows you back home what it is exactly you do. You create fancy job titles like ‘Sanitation Engineer’ when you’re a plain old janitor. You say you work for ‘a large American company that has over 31,000 branches.’ You don’t exactly hint it but encourage people to think that you’re a shareholder in that company. It is a sad day when people find out you only work at McDonalds and the only share you hold is your share of the scoop… the fries scoop that is.

Damn… These Ethiopians fly high!

Famous Ethiopians , to a non-Ethiopian, would highly be personalities like H.I.M. Hailesellasie I, Abebe Bikila, Emperors Tewodros and Menilik II, Haile Gebresellasie, Kenenisa Bekele, the Dibaba sisters and Meseret Defar. There are thousands and thousands more Ethiopians worth mentioning but below are the ones that held, to me, the torch a little higher but aren't as famous because they didn't get the right media coverage. Links are provided at the end for further reference.

1. Selam – Ethiopia’s earliest citizen. While many people may have heard of her famous distant cousin Lucy a.k.a Dinkinesh, Selam (Australopithecus afarensis) was discovered in Ethiopia in 2006 (which incidentally was Ethiopia’s New Millenium) by DR. Zeresenay Alemseged.

2. Kaldi – Ethiopia is the home of coffee. And a young goat herder called Kaldi is credited with the discovery, after he saw his goats dancing. He deduced that it must have had something to do with their eating from the coffee tree.

3. Etegue (Empress) Taytu Bitul – was the wife of Emperor Menilik II. While she was a strict ruler in her own sense, and had a big say in the day-to-day running of the Empire, she was also known for her love of nature. She discovered the site for the foundation of the capital city and named it "Addis Ababa" (New Flower). She was also the one that identified the mistranslation done on purpose by the Italians which would have made Ethiopia a colony of Italy. The most amazing fact is, she led an army and fought the Italians alongside her husband. That makes her the only black Empress to have defeated a modern army – at the battle of Adowa.

4. Wro. Asegedech Asefa - Is the first African woman to pilot an Airplane in or around 1962. When most of Africa was still getting used to the buzz of aircraft Wro. (Amharic for Mrs.) Asegedech had learnt to fly, and gotten her license after joining a civilians club that was run by Ethiopian Airlines.

5. Captain Alemayehu Abebe - the first African commercial jet pilot and the first African to command a commercial jetliner across the Atlantic. He was Ethiopian Airlines’ first Ehiopian pilot after getting his command in 1957.

6. Dr. Aklilu Lemma – winner of The Right Livelihood Award (1989) with Dr. Legesse W/Yohannes for the discovery of the preventive for schistosomiasis (bilharzia). Bilharzia is a disease that is uses the snail as a vector before passing on to human beings. It was Dr. Aklilu’s research that found a way to break the cycle, he used a plant that grew near the rivers – the Sarcoca plant (‘Endod’ in Amharic).

7. Engineer Kitaw Ejigu – was a prominent engineer and scientist that worked for NASA, Rockwell International and Boeing. He was Africa’s only and one of the world’s most renowned aerospace scientists.

8. Captain Aster Tolossa – Is an Ethiopian Air Force pilot. She is the only female pilot to have shot down an enemy aircraft in air to air combat in the jet age. She shot down a MIG-29 from her SU-27 during the Ethio-Eritrean war. The irony is that the pilot flying the Eritrean MIG was her former flight-school instructor, a Russian, flying for the Eritreans.

9. Dr. Belay Abegaz – a Pediatric Cardiologist, is the founder and current Board Chairman of the Children’s Heart Fund which opened a Cardiac Center in Ethiopia for treatment of children with heart diseases. He has made it possible for Ethiopians and the rest of Africa to be treated without having to travel half across the world at exorbitant prices.

10. Dr. Zeresenay Alemseged – discoverer of Selam (Australopithecus - look at number 1) he is the curator and chair of Anthropology at the California Academy of Sciences.

Many more unsung heroes will be added in later blogs. Comments and corrections are highly appreciated.

http://www.zoominfo.com/people/Abebe_Alemayehu_670075517.aspx
http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_189.shtml
http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=1459681013849477496&hl=en
http://www.rightlivelihood.org/lemma.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schistosomiasis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selam_(Australopithecus)
http://www.chfe.org

Ethiopia … you can’t love it not.

Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world. This makes most people think that it is the worst place one could choose to live in. The images that come to many people are not really of people in frivolous joy and jamboree. Au contraire, it wouldn’t be too bold a statement if one said that most people would think that all Ethiopians want to be anywhere but in Ethiopia.

Most Ethiopians in other countries are amazed when they are in conversations about their homelands. They are even expected to denounce the life and people they left behind. If there is one thing that all Ethiopians agree on it is that Ethiopia is a land to be cherished and loved. Even in its darkest hours Ethiopians have kept hope burning next to the longing and desire to be back. In every country that an Ethiopian has gone, there’s always an exclusive society where he or she meets to just listen to the language spoken. They somehow manage to find the one place in hundreds of kilometers where ‘injera’ (traditional Ethiopian bread) is sold. With the choice of hundreds of beers they still prefer a cold St. George.

Why do we love our country so? No matter how long a paper is, or how long it might take to complete, it cannot even start to say what an Ethiopian feels when he or she thinks of his motherland. It’s the fierce pride one sees on the face of an Ethiopian. It’s the automatic skip of the heartbeat all Ethiopians experience whenever there’s a Green-Gold-Red banner flying. It’s that instinctive looking and knowing an Ethiopian from a distance of 50 meters in a crowded park. It’s those and a million other things that add up to define Ethiopians. Here’s a list of some of the tip of the tip of the iceberg:

- Women: beautiful. All that needs to be said. They are head turners from the jungles in the west to the boardwalks of the fashion centers in the world.

- Men: proud, down to earth and humble. But not when they go to war.

- Weather: Ethiopia is blessed with a year round weather that can meet anyone’s wish. From the cold in Addis Ababa to the dry heat of Afar to the sweltering humidity of Gambella.

- History: Three thousand years of documented history. Ethiopia has existed since 980 BC. And this blog can never even start to tell the glories of the country.

- Tolerance: There are more than 80 nations and nationalities living within the border. Compared to what has happened in some countries there hasn’t been any major problem. Minor skirmishes are fueled and aired as big wars by people trying to take advantage of it. Ethiopians might joke about one’s creed, (the Gurage being money minded, the Oromo a pastoralist in love with his stock, the Amhara too proud even when his luck has turned for the worse, the Tigrayan technical minded person obsessed with trucks and garages etc.) but bottom line is all laugh and move on.

- Culture and Heritage: the culture is as diverse as each nationality within the borders. Ethiopia holds the record for having the most UNESCO World Heritage sites. Not many people know or want to believe that.

- Religion: same applies to religion. Ethiopia is a country where Christians and Muslims live together peacefully. It’s no big deal if there is intermarriage. In fact it’s very common in some parts of the north. Another thing is that Ethiopians are a God-fearing people. Common greetings go like “Endmin aderachi’hu?” (Good morning [pl.]) the answer: “Egziabher yimesgen!” (Thanks to the God.)

- Hope: this can be mentioned with the point above; Ethiopians tend to think that whatever happens does so for a reason. Even a beggar lying in the street will answer “Egziabher yimesgen!” to morning salutations. If patience is a virtue – Ethiopians are saints with no wings.

- Compassion: Although this is slowly being eroded as modernization takes over, it’s still very much alive. People involve each other in their daily lives. The sick are taken care of communally when there is no hospital in the whole region, no man is turned away if he comes knocking at the door asking for help. A real life story is when this author’s neighbor’s house caught fire. It took the fire brigade twenty minutes to reach the place, but the whole neighborhood had put the fire out in under 20 minutes. The firemen just checked that there weren’t any forgotten spots.

- Family and community: The one thing and Ethiopian parents are guaranteed is respect from their offsprings. That is all changed when the families have to migrate. In countries where children’s right borders on spoiling them rotten Ethiopian parents nearly have nervous breakdowns. A mere spanking could result in a showdown with the law, especially if the four year old is 911-savvy. This leads to mistrust, confusion and a breakdown of the traditional Ethiopian family. A rift is created between the traditional elders and the modern youngsters. And that is sad especially when the people come from a country where a mother is almost revered. If an Ethiopian swears ‘Enate timut!’ (May my mother die!), then there is a 98% chance that he or she is telling the truth, the 2% are more likely to be orphans.

- Coffee: Ethiopians love coffee. It’s the ceremony, the women preparing it, the way they do it that adds to the aromatic organic flavor. And coffee came from Ethiopia.

- Food: Q - “Have you ever tasted Ethiopian food?” A – “Neither have they!” goes a joke which just shows how uninformed the world is about traditional Ethiopian food. The best dish is the ‘Doro Wot’ (Chicken Stew). It takes hours to prepare once done, it’s just plain heavenly. And anyone who makes fun of Ethiopian food truly ignorant. Whether kitfo, ye beg wot, tibs, zilzil tibs, shiro, kocho and ayb or any of the hundreds of dishes available from all parts of the country they just leave the taste buds tingling.

We may appear as a miserable, mangy and dusty lot. But it’s these and more that have made the world cast an evil eye towards Ethiopia for centuries. And it’s these and more secrets that Ethiopians have died for not to give up.

Are Ethiopians really racists?

Type in ‘Ethiopia’ and ‘racism’ in your favourite search engine and the results will show Ethiopians as perpetrators rather than victims of the crime. This accusation is very popular around the world and especially amongst our fellow Africans.

The remark most often heard is that we deny we are ‘blacks’ or hate being called ‘Africans’. Then there is the one that goes about how we ‘look down’ at other Africans and African-Americans. Also some mention how Ethiopian girls or women refuse to date non-Ethiopian men.

Now, if one were to put these accusations to any Ethiopian, the answer would be a big denial or that they didn’t know what one was talking about. Because that’s just it, it’s not true. Let’s see why

It all starts at home, from birth. Ethiopians are a very traditional people. Children are still smacked if they make mistakes, parents are respected; and in some parts they are worshipped. It is unthinkable to go against the wish of a parent, especially the father. This tight family structure shapes individuals who draw a line between family and the rest of society. It holds us back at times because we grow up with the thought that our wants or needs come secondary to those of our parents. When this life structure is taken out of the home, the parents are replaced by other parents or the elders of the society around or far from us. It is called ‘yilugnta,’ Amharic for self-consciousness. It can be said that an Ethiopian would rather die than be caught doing something that the society frowns on. This creates an introvert and when the time comes to fly the nest that person has a rather cool, reserved, sometimes shy outlook towards other people and life in general.

This makes Ethiopians are a very gentle, reserved and polite people. Most of the things that appear to be normal in other cultures are ‘n’ewr’ or shameful to us. Talking loudly, starting conversations with strangers (unless it’s the opposite sex which of course is a totally different matter – [and even then a woman would never take the first step]); simple things like eating or spitting in public are considered vulgar and rude.

Anyone can imagine the culture shock an Ethiopian must face when thrown right in the middle of one of these cultures. This shock in turn makes an Ethiopian want to seek and find the norms he or she was used to. That is why many major cities, especially in the United States, have large communities of Ethiopians. They are mostly for support and the members of the communities draw strength, courage and to some extent find an anchor where they feel like home. This image, just the thought of it, could make an outsider think that it’s an exclusive, or in other words “racist”, when the outsiders feel the invisible yet impassable barrier.

The images of African Americans that most Ethiopians have are those of gangstas and/or rappers from video clips and movies. While the youth here copy the low-slung jeans, straight brimmed caps and cool dance steps in the clubs around Addis, they feel uncomfortable with actually being in a gang and identifying with African Americans and their ideologies of sex and violence when they actually come to America. This is the opposite of what was mentioned above. An Ethiopian would feel ill at ease in the African American community because of the images he or she has of them as gangstas.

Finally, African Americans, for the most part, do not know which part of Africa, let alone the exact country they came from. While it can be safely assumed that their ancestors came from the West, Central and South Western parts of Africa, no exact country can be named or known. When asked their roots their answer would be that they are “African”. But any recent migrant from Africa would say he is from Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Africa or Morocco first and then if needed add that he was from Africa second. But since Ethiopians have this intense passionate love for our country, 100% of the time they will say they are from “Ethiopia.” Only an Ethiopian knows the love he or she has for Ethiopia. Our not saying “Africa” unless asked where Ethiopia is, since we assume that everyone knows Ethiopia is in Africa, can sometimes be taken as denial by omission. This is compounds the problem, but if any Ethiopian is asked he or she could not deny the fact that we are Africans. After all, Pan-Africanism came to life in Ethiopia.

One point that can be added is the ‘reverse-racism’ that whites experience when they come to Ethiopia. Ethiopia has the proud history of not being colonized. Before that Ethiopia existed for thousands of years with barely any contact with the outside world. These two, among many other reasons, added together have made Ethiopians indifferent to foreigners of any colour. There is no white-reverence in Ethiopia, and when foreigners especially whites come here, it shocks them that they are treated almost like any other Ethiopian. The shock is double if they have been to other African countries.

So, are Ethiopians really racist? … No! We are just a misunderstood, cultural and traditional people.





http://www.projects-abroad.nl/ervaringsverhalen/?content=teaching/ethiopia/david-ruff/
http://www.geocities.com/mel_zeri/proud.html