Newsletters from Ethiopia

As a professional cultural and wildlife photographer driven by my passion to record the impact of progress on sheltered cultures, I’ve spent much time in Africa over the past six years documenting both the people and the wildlife. My most recent foray was Southern Ethiopia, photographing changes in the environment and culture of the Omo Valley tribes.

Electricity in Ethiopia is 220 volts AC, 50Hz. Most modern electrical devices will accept input power supplies of 100~240v and 50/60Hz so they should work with a Ethiopian power supply.

The sound of young girls cheering and clapping is overwhelmed by Gurage music coming out of a stereo at the side of the room. Upon hearing the music start, four girls get up from the audience and begin to dance. The girls have flowing white dresses on and have painstakingly done up their hair for the event.

Canadian (Ottawa) City Councillor Katherine Hobbs is a graduate of the University of Ottawa Business Administration Program. In the past she has held senior positions with leading Canadian companies such as Bell Canada and the Bank of Nova Scotia before taking a break in 2002 to come to Ethiopia as a volunteer.

Every year for the past four years Hill Side School has conducted a charity week in which money is raised by the student body in order to help those less fortunate. And this year was no different.

Having lived my entire life in completely western countries, I had certain expectations coming into Ethiopia. For one, I expected to see a country where with a distinctly different economic reality than that of the western world.

Ethiopia has its own ancient calendar. According to the beliefs of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, God created the world 5500 years before the birth of Christ and it is 1994 years since Jesus was born. Based on this timeline, we are in the year 7494 of the eighth millennium. These are referred to as Amete Alem "the years of the world". The era of the world dates from 5493 B.C.

Ethiopia, as they may say, truly seems to be a country of discovery, an extraordinary piece of land painted in ancient history, unique with traditions and a culture that dates back more than 3000 years.

At 6:00 am a shinny new minibus, which was getting ready to leave for Bahir Dar, 529 kms north of Addis Ababa, was waiting for the last passenger. It seemed that it was already past departure time and the driver and some of the people on board were getting a bit restless. Little did they know that they would not leave for another 30 minutes .

Waving goodbye to my mum and sister with my rucksack on my back at Aberdeen airport I thought to myself “Oh goodness, what have I done”! I had never been away from home alone before and now I was standing waiting to board a plane to Ethiopia. Feeling very nervous but slightly excited and curious I boarded the plane and about 10 hours later I had arrived in sunny Addis Ababa.

The Ethiopian Easter Festival is called Fassika and is celebrated after 55 days severe Lent fasting (Hudade or Abye Tsome). Orthodox Tewahedo Christians do not eat meat and dairy products for the whole 55 days. Vegetarian meals such as lentils, ground split peas, grains, fruit and varieties of vegetable stew accompanied by injera and/or bread are only eaten on these days.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the ways its animals are treated.” – M. Gandhi. Every midnight, Yidnekachew Sahlu, the Veterinarian assistant at the Lions Zoo in Sidist Kilo –Addis Ababa, can hear the roar of the lions he tends to every day from his house by the British Embassy. In totalthere are 18 lions held at the zoo, a popular destination among many residents of Addis as an escape from urbanity.

Menelik was born in August 1844. His father, Haile Menekot, was king of Shewa from 1847 to 1855. Haile Menekot died in 1855 after losing a battle to emperor Tewodros (Prouty, C. and Rosenfeld, E. 1982, 129). Menelik was set to be the next ruler of Shewa but was taken away by Tewodros to Magdala. In his place, Tewodros had made Ato Bezabeh, governor of Shewa (Gabre-Sellassie, Z. 1975, 19).

The southern part of Addis Ababa is an industrialised area. There are several governmental and private factories here. You will enjoy the scenic countryside if you make your way towards Debrezeyt town along the Akaki-Kaliti road. Some 15 kms to the south of Bishoftu Debrezeit and up on the summit of Mt. Ziquala, you will find a crater lake that is wholly undisturbed, because the monks in the monastery nearby make sure that it remains so.

Ketera is the name given to eve of Timket. The name is derived from the Ethiopic verb Ketere means which to dam water. Thus every day on Tir 10 (January 18), the parishioners clean and dam the river on which they want to celebrate the Timket and prepare the ground in the neighbourhood of the river on which site the Holy Ark will pass the night in a tent pitched at the selected site.

Lalibela is a town in northern Ethiopia. Lalibela is one of Ethiopia's holiest cities, second only to Aksum, and is a centre of pilgrimage for much of the country. Unlike Aksum, the population of Lalibela is almost completely Ethiopian Orthodox Christian. Lalibela was intended to be a New Jerusalem in response to the capture of Jerusalem by Muslims, and many of its historic buildings take their name and layout from buildings in Jerusalem.

With Ethiopia being a spiritual home for many Rastafarians, it is ironic to notice the nonexistence of reggae clubs, especially in the last couple of years. The reggae band by the name of Imperial Majestic will play live reggae music and also DJs like Dulas, from Shashemene, will jam and as Sydney explains this place is also working to develop the youth and to give them an opportunity to work on their talents.

The name "Ethiopia" derives from the Greek ethio, meaning "burned" and pia, meaning "face": the land of burned-faced peoples. Aeschylus described Ethiopia as a "land far off, a nation of black men." Homer depicted Ethiopians as pious and favoured by the gods. These conceptions of Ethiopia were geographically vague.

Arriving at Piassa early afternoon none of the volunteers could have been ready for the experience they were about to witness that was Meskel. What a truly Gobez (brilliant) experience it was; the experience started by walking down to Meskel Square accompanied by traditional Ethiopian priests, dressed in vivid purple robes chanting traditional Ethiopian music. As we arrived at Meskel Square we were met by the massed bands of the Ethiopian police playing traditional marching music.

HOMINID FOSSILS ARE LIKELY 3.8 TO 4 MILLION YEARS OLD. A team led by Drs. Yohannes Haile-Selassie and Bruce Latimer of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, Ohio, has been conducting a paleoanthropological survey in the Mille-Chifra-Kasa Gita area of the Afar Region.

The students did different kinds of activities at the orphanage, day care centre and school. Besides that, the group visited, and did carpentry activities, at “Addis Household and Office Furniture Company” run by handicapped and physically disabled people.

The towns, albeit small, were heaving with people and activity. As we travelled past them I was amazed at the sheer number of animals and people - people purposefully walking, talking, or herding animals. In some cases we had to slow right down to let the last goat, cow or horse – that incidentally just love to stand in the middle of the road – make room for our big and often, overly fast vehicles.

The small rural town of Sululta, 20 kilometres north of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, is one of the country’s least hospitable places in the early hours of the morning. But to the hundreds of runners who use the surrounding forests and flat asphalted roads to train, and perhaps make a living from the sport of athletics, it is the least of their concerns.

Addis Merkato (Amharic for "New Market", popularly just Merkato or Mercato, from the Italian for "market") is the name for the large open-air marketplace in the Addis Ketema district of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and for the neighbourhood in which it is located. Merkato is the largest open air market in Africa, covering several square miles and employing an estimated 13,000 people in 7,100 business entities.

The Rift Valley Lakes National Park, about 215 km south of Addis Ababa, is an ornithologist's paradise. As would be expected in a park surrounding two Rift Valley lakes, water birds predominate. However, 150 different species have been recorded here, including large numbers of great white pelicans, great and lesser Flamingos and Sacred Ibis. The forests are especially good for seeing unusual weavers and turacos.

Ethiopia has a very rich and diverse music history. The various tribes and ethnic groups of Ethiopia have their own distinct music culture and tradition. The Tigrayans to the north have this smooth, circular dance routine culminated with shoulder and neck movement. The Amharas at the centre, have a dance style dominated by upper body and neck movement. The Oromos to the center and south havethis jumping style and full body dance routine. The Gurages have an acrobatic dance that requires high level of arm, leg and body coordination.

Ethiopia, following the ancient Julian calendar, celebrates Christ's birth on January 7. It is known as Gena. Preparation for the holiday begins as early as a week before, with families buying food and ingredients for meals. If people can afford it, they buy a goat or sheep to eat.

Ethiopia is a land of natural contrasts, from the tops of the rugged Simien Mountain to the depths of the Danakil Depression which, at 120 meters below sea level, is one of the lowest dry land points on earth.

I first have to say what a wonderful experience this was. For 3 months I worked in Kidane Mihret Orphanage. I loved to go to work and it never bored me. In my first week I did not know how I got just to everything, so soon. When I knew my way around in Addis and in the orphanage the time went very fast. It did not feel like 3 months.

As an American, when you tell someone that you’re leaving the country for two months to go to Ethiopia, you tend to get a lot of quizzical looks and blank stares in response. Most people have at best a vague familiarity with the name, and little knowledge of the country’s culture, politics, or geography beyond the fact that it’s located in Africa.

Injera is the basic ingredient of any Ethiopian meal. It looks like a large spongy pancake and some of the sizes produced are huge. It is usually laid down in a large circular tray and sauces, meat and/or vegetables are poured right in the middle. Then you use you right hand (only) to tear pieces off the side and scoop up the wonderful food. It has been described as having a slightly sour taste. It’s a sharp taste, but blends in well with sauces to produce a mouth-watering flavour whatever the dish.

It is nine o'clock in the morning and I pass the gate at Safe House and the first kids run into my arms; I kiss them all. After 100s of kisses, I walk forward to the teenagers, and say everybody hello, giving all of them three kisses and having a small talk with them. Then I look at a new guy, Mickey, who is tall but tiny. I've never seen him before. I start to talk with him, and then I walk in to the office to say hello to rest of the staff.

The Blue Nile Falls are a waterfall on the Blue Nile river in Ethiopia. They are known as “Tis Issat” in Amharic, which when translated means "smoking water". They are situated on the upper course of the river, about 30 kilometers downstream from the town of Bahir Dar and Lake Tana. The falls are estimated to be between 37 and 45 meters high, consisting of four streams that originally varied from a trickle in the dry season to over 400 meters wide in the rainy season.

At the beginning I was told that I was fortunate to work at Safe House, and after only about half an hour or less of being there, I discovered why. I made some really good friends amongst the staff who were all incredibly kind and always there if I needed anything or had a problem. I had such fun with them on a daily basis. At Safe House I managed to have my first teaching experiences, practice my creative skills with the children and even test out a role as ‘dinner lady’ at lunch times...

To the north of Lake Tana, a popular second stop on the northern circuit is Gondar, which served as Ethiopia's capital for almost 300 years from 1635 on wards, and is today noted for its impressive 16th- century castles as well as the beautiful decorated church of Debre Birhan Selassie. To the North of Gondar, traditionally the preserve of hardened trekkers and hikers, lie the staggeringly scenic Simien Mountain National Park, home to the country's main concentrations of the endemic Gelada Baboon and Walia Ibex.

I arrived in Addis 2 months ago, both excited and scared at the same time. My flight arrived in the middle of the night.. I was wondering if someone would have been there, waiting for me. And Bikesegn was there, holding the “Projects abroad” sign. He actually looked as the guy on the picture I’d seen on the web site, so I was relieved!!

Ethiopia's coffee ceremony is an integral part of their social and cultural life. An invitation to attend a coffee ceremony is considered a mark of friendship or respect and is an excellent example of Ethiopian hospitality.

The stelae in Axum, the hewn Churches in Lallibela and the palace of Fasiledus in Gonder are some, among many, that could witness ancient civilizations in Ethiopia. It was really long before Christ that the use of stones for monuments and other incredible purposes was started in this country. These could attest that Ethiopia is one of the countries in the world from which ancient civilization had begun.

Ethiopia has often been called the origin of human kind due to various hominid fossil discoveries like the Australopithecine Lucy. North eastern Africa, and the Afar region in particular was the central focus of these claims until recent DNA evidence suggested origins in south central Ethiopian regions; like present-day Addis Ababa (Finfine). After analyzing the DNA of almost 1,000 people around the world, geneticists and other scientists claimed humans spread from what is now Addis Ababa 100,000 years ago. The research indicated that genetic diversity declines steadily the farther one's ancestors traveled from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which is roughly the site of the exit turnstile for the "out-of-Africa" migration.

The social event was an ‘intercultural day’, where volunteers from different countries had a chance to meet, laugh and exchange experiences, ideas and traditions. We sat around the table and talked about Ethiopian culture and cultures in different countries. Then we had a traditional coffee ceremony, while listening to Amharic music. Everyone sat around the table and talked, while the coffee beans were being roasted in a pan and the fress aroma of coffee spread across the room. The coffee beans are ground up before being brewed in a traditional ‘jabena’ and then served in small cups.

The Ethiopian Christmas known as Ganna or Ledet falls on December 29 of the Ethiopian calendar (January 7 Gregorian calendar). Ledet (Christmas) is celebrated after 43 of days fasting known as Tsome Gahad (Advent), with a spectacular procession, which begins at 6 AM and lasts until 9 AM. After the mass service, people go home to break the fast with the meat of chicken or lamb or beef accompanied with injera and the traditional drinks (i.e. tella or tej).

New Teaching Placement: Lemlem School KG and Primary School. The school was established in 1996 with an area 1150 square metres at Woreda 12, Kebele12, Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. The school has 10 classrooms, a staff room, library, kitchen and toilet. The school is rendering educational service at a minimum fee for the nearby community.

North of the city of Addis Ababa are the Entoto mountains, on the Oromia Region, the site of Menilik's former capital who was the king of Ethiopia at the end of the 19th century. A very nice place just minutes away without leaving the city. There is a terrific but windy panoramic view of the city from there. The eucalyptus forests cover the view around the hills. Near the summit is the octagonal Entoto Maryam (St. Mary) church which hosted Menilik's coronation in 1882.

Ethiopia is a famously poor country, with a high incidence of disease, high levels of HIV, and prone to natural disasters. As a result of these factors, many children in Ethiopia are left without their parents, and while some may be able to seek refuge with their extended families, many end up on the streets or are taken in by a care home. One thing’s for sure, wherever you work here, the affection and fun you bring to the children’s lives will be something they will remember forever.