Urban farming is considered to have a lot of advantages. For instance, by growing what is needed in closer areas, long-distance transportation of food decreases, which in turn would lower the price of food. In addition, people can get the freshest produce. Another benefit of urban farming is that it can add greenery to cities, reducing harmful runoff, increasing shading, and countering the unpleasant heat effect. And Addis Ababa has its own policy and strategy. But the problem seems to be implementation, writes Tibebeselassie Tigabu.

Promoted as the new Dubai, Addis Ababa’s building construction is booming massively. It’s not only in the city center; new residential areas are being built in different parts of Addis Ababa. And the lion's share of this construction boom is taken by the real estate sector. Once dominated by forests, the peripheral sites of Addis are drastically changing.  

One of the residential areas in Addis is Summit. One does not even need to go to the site in person; rather a quick browse on the internet reveals the various alternative housing.

With flourishing supermarkets, drug stores, and furniture shops, Summit is extensively advertised in housing rental websites as a safe neighborhood. The new kind of apartments, all fully furnished, set a standard of how housing should be. This area is home of the relatively affluent urban dwellers.

Despite these major changes, while looking around in Summit, one might come across a farmer ploughing the land or using his cattle to thresh grain. This is a very common phenomenon in newly developing residential areas such as Ayat and Lebu. While children play football around the farming area, farmers might plant and/or harvest.

One of the farmers who is engaged in urban farming is Debele Dechaso, 40. He inherited this land from his late grandfather. According to Debele, his neighborhood changed massively in the past seven years. Though his farm is located next to cooperative (association) housing, he still feels this land belongs to him though he says he got a compensation of 3,000 birr from the government two years ago.

For a couple of months, he worked in the construction sites as a day laborer, but came back to farming following other farmers who use open spaces as their farm land.

“This place was only growing weed and grass so we started farming it,” Debele says.

Though it sounds strange to farm on any open land, he says there are many farmers who actually farm plots of land that are awaiting construction or unfenced areas. The land he uses for farming is close to 120 square meters, which he shares with another farmer. He produces crops such as barley, wheat, teff and vegetables. With eight children in the house, there is no surplus production for sale. Instead, it is limited to the household consumption. Though the neighborhood's prying eyes follow them when they farm, the owners do not interfere in their business. He heard that there is a court case regarding the ownership of the land but that he does not know the details. For now, he is happy that it is not like other empty areas that are fenced and farming is prohibited.

“I know this won’t last, but for now our family is not hungry,” Debele says.

Tracing back to 125 years, Addis Ababa was dominated with agricultural land and activities. This changed with the urbanization of Addis. Now only 5,640 hectares are allocated to 2,278 farmers.

According to Alemayehu Taye, the core work process manager at the Addis Ababa City Administration Bureau of Trade and Industry Development and the Urban Agriculture Bureau, this land is diminishing from time to time, from 19,000 hectares a couple of years ago to the current 5,640. The government is pushing to expand urbanization in the mostly agrarian economy. In the meantime, according to Alemayehu, there is a policy and strategy to improve urban farming.

Internationally, many countries are integrating urban farming into national and local development strategies, food and nutrition programs, and urban planning. Ethiopia is also taking the recommendation of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to optimize policy and support services for urban and peri-urban agriculture and improve production, processing and marketing systems.

Focusing on small scale farming, urban farming can be undertaken in gardens, public parks, and open spaces on rooftops, underground spots like basements and also specially designated plots. In Addis, there are experienced farmers and new farmers who are given land by the government for farming purposes. These farming activities consist of raising livestock, dairy, poultry, and fish farming. According to Alemayehu, the number of direct and indirect beneficiaries from farming reaches up to 54,000 people.

Dressed in a brown khaki uniform, many know Fetene Gemechu from his security job. He stands at the gate of one of the buildings around Bole. This security job pays him 900 birr per month.

He is a man of many talents; his other job is farming in land around the Embassy of France. With his father, Fetene is able to produce barley, wheat, corn, and other vegetables such as potatoes, cabbage and onions.

Like many farmers in Ethiopia, their farm cannot be subsistent with only rainfall, so they use an irrigation system from the nearby river. According to Fetene, the farm produces 12 quintals of barley and one quintal of wheat per annum. Farming three days per week, he says they do not produce a surplus. When there is a surplus, he and his father bring it to the market, known as chereta, around ferensay area.

Apart from crop production, they also own eight cows and produce dairy products.

This land has been in Fetene’s family for generations, but the land is now in danger of changing into residential homes. Urban people coming to live near their farms do not welcome the smell of dung, fumes, and animal waste.

“They complain a lot about the smell, but what can we do? This is how we get our income,” Fetene says.

While the existing farmland is in danger, ironically, new land is being designated for urban farming. The Urban Agricultural Policy and Strategy, which was ratified by the Council of Ministers in 2013, highlights the development of urban farming by providing land to farmers.

The bureau designed this strategic plan, which consists of 10 sub-cities in 116 woredas. It gives support to the farmers by providing technological input, strengthening skill development, promoting farmer productivity, introducing new technological innovation, and supplying selected seeds. In addition, the bureau also works in regulating, controlling and inspecting agricultural and animal products, including controlling illegal slaughtering spots.

According to Alemayehu, urban farming in Ethiopia is vital in enhancing food security, combating unemployment in the city, easy access to the market, reserving land for green belts around the city, and income generation. The priority, according to Alemayehu, is sustaining their household food consumption.

“If they have extra, they can supply it to the market, which helps them get extra income,” Alemayehu says.

The strategy clearly addresses granting conducive land, ensuring the use of open space for short durations, making sure the use of private and public open areas for farmers, and granting a safe supply of water (by treating unclean water and through irrigation).

With this scheme, many farmers were provided the land following the riverbank. From these, a group of farmers, consisting of 16 members, started farming in Bole sub-city four years ago. One of them is Lemlem Tesfaye, 36, and a mother of four. They have a vegetable farm in which they produce spinach, cabbage, and salad. Located on the riverbank, they benefited from it because they do not face water scarcity.

Creating market access is part of the policy and strategy; however, Lemlem and the other farmers struggle to get a market. During the training from the bureau, they were told that the bureau would create access to urban dwellers to get fresh vegetables at cheaper price since transportation and storage fees are minimized. According to Lemlem, that was not the case. It was not easy since they did have to pay for transportation. Previously, they supplied their products to traders, but they did not get any profit. So they decided to do it on their own and started selling their products around the churches, but Lemlem says that the sales have not been satisfactory.

Apart from that, shortage of selected seeds, the soil not being conducive to the vegetables, and shortage of fertilizer are some of the problem Lemlem and her partners face. Furthermore, though there was a lack of rain in many areas, their farm was hit with hail during this past kiremt (rainy season). This situation frustrated members of the group and now only six members remain.

Lemlem is not the only one who is concerned. Yimer Aliyu, 53, whose land is located in Akaki sub-city, complains about the size of the land. His farm, which is based on Fanta riverbank, covers 1,800 square meters for seven farmers.  

In this plot of land, they plant vegetables and fruits such as apples, papaya, and avocado. They are also in the process of starting fish farming. Since the land is very small, the total sale they made in half the year amounts to only 11,170 birr.

“The production yield is small because the land is small. We are many in number and when the profit is divided, it amounts to nothing,” Yimer says.

They also wanted to start animal fattening but the land was not enough.

“We requested for a land but there is no response and the woreda that gave us this land does not have a mandate anymore,” Yimer says.

With this land issue, they are planning to use the riverbank for fish farming for which they got support from an NGO worth 30 thousand birr. Apart from that, they have difficulty with getting selected seeds and access to market.

Though the strategy encourages urban farming, there are gaps and clashes according to Alemayehu. He says that the problem is with the implementation process, which has to do with the mandate of the land and which is under Addis Ababa City Land Administration Bureau.

There are also many stakeholders who have roles in urban farming, such as Environmental Protection Authority and Addis Ababa Water and Sewage Authority, which, according to Alemayhu, might clash with the strategy. He feels that the gap in every way including access to open space that is in private and public use.

“It is clear that in the strategy, many institutions or individuals are not willing to give their land to the farmers for short duration,” Alemayehu says.

With the pace of urbanization, there is scarcity of land, so Alemayehu stresses the idea of integrating urban farming into the city planning for sustainable urban development. Though he suggests this, he says that land administration (urban planning) and urban farming are opposed to each other.

“This is not a new phenomenon to Addis Ababa. Competition for land is a frequent source of conflict all over the world,” Alemayehu says.

According to a master’s thesis entitled “Urban Agriculture: Challenges and Opportunities in Addis Ababa City” (2013) by Tamene Mengistu in the Ethiopian Civil Service University Institute of Urban Development Studies Department of Urban Environment and Climate Change Management, the challenges of urban farming include inappropriate or excessive use of agricultural inputs (pesticides, nitrogen, phosphorus, and raw organic matter containing undesirable residues such as heavy metals), which may leach or runoff into drinking water sources. The other problem he mentions is access to microfinance and difficulty in getting credit. The other problem is land tenure in lands farmers do not own.

Providing guidance or training on good production techniques, for example, could minimize risks such as health hazards, water contamination and food safety concerns.

According to Alemayehu, his office proposed biologically decomposing solid waste and reusing it as a natural fertilizer, but they have resistance from the farmers who want to increase their production yield. Apart from that, Alemayehu observes another challenge: the pollution of the river systems in Addis, which ends up contaminating vegetables.

“We have received warnings from environmental protection authority not to use the water from the riverbanks, but the dilemma is which water should we use? There is scarcity of water in Addis,” Alemayehu says.

One of the opportunities in urban farming, according to Alemayehu, is direct access to fresh vegetables, fruits and cheap animal products. Though he sees a contribution to the market, he says that other products like dairy and meat are not cheap. To solve all this, the only thing he proposes as a solution is implementation of the strategy.

Ermias Kifleyesus, is certainly not afraid of tackling tricky subjects. He creates works that are multifaceted – using materials he stumbles across in everyday life. We take a look at Ermias’ latest works of art, creating art in standard phone booths.

Being a native of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and now based in Brussels, his art reflects the different cultures and the parted and fragmented world he knows: billboard commercials, retro film posters and old kitsch oil canvases melt together to show a globalized world with little coherence.

Gallery owner and Ermias’ exhibitor Paul Kusseneers explains that the artist works in multifaceted ways. A rather odd method takes place in international telephone booths: “Ermias curled some posters together and placed them in phone booths where people are calling family and friends across the globe…he placed a pen and people started drawing

on it”. As he was explaining this, Kusseneers pulled out a poster cut in several pieces, brown-edged and full of all kinds of different alphabets, squiggles and drawings.

The idea behind this project was to demonstrate that these phone booths in immigrant neighborhoods across different cities in Europe were a link to the rest of the world. They create a gateway to greater understanding, where all manner of people can communicate and many languages can be spoken.

Ermias calls it ‘an open source’, alluding to the collaborative nature of the project. The final result even involved the removal of the wooden shelves on which callers would lean, encrusted with dirt they made interesting additions to Ermias’ later installation.

For Ermias Kifleyesus, it is not necessarily essential to create an artwork from scratch, but rather to carefully gather together objects that represent moments in time, unique pieces of forgotten history to be unified by him into a single art-form.

An ideal recent example of this is Ermias’ collection of several old canvases by unknown artists, purchased from a flea market in Amsterdam. When he had gathered a suitable selection, Ermias duplicated, cut and drew on the canvases to create a piece portraying fractured and unique works of art.

Behind the aesthetics, Ermias’ work intend to provoke thought and deliver a message, as Paul Kusseneers explains:

‘I am interested in strong pictures and artists with ideas. I chose Ermias Kifleyesus because there is a very strong idea about everything he is doing. He has a clear thought about what is going on in the world’, Kusseneer says and points towards Ermias’ pictures, in which stories of mass consumption, refugees and the negative effects of globalization are abundantly clear’.

Nowhere is this made more evident than in his use of old, rusty commercial signs and billboard commercials, working as a reminder of a conscienceless consumer society. Ermias works become almost pieces of anthropological

research, attempting to unpick, interpret and ultimately, understand the world

and society.

Recently, the artist has returned again to the fast growing African metropolis of Addis Ababa. With a booming economy and skyscrapers rising from the red soil, Ermias portrays the effects of this rapid growth.

Day laborers can be seen all over the city and another of Ermias’ projects involved providing these laborers with clean overalls. The day laborers would return the overalls, unwashed, at the end of the day. These well-worn pieces of clothing were drenched in sweat but were of importance to Ermias, telling a tale of a booming continent. A continent that despite massive growth, is still facing considerable problems with inequality.

The overalls, now cut into smaller pieces, provide an idea of a colorful, kitsch, fragmented global world highlighted through scraps of old rags. Ermias Kifleyesus prompting the awakening of a social conscience in his audience.

Ed.'s Note: The article first appeared on theculturetrip.com.

Being the largest country in the world by area, with 11 timezones, Russia is a vast array of cultures. Tibebeselassie Tigabu of The Reporter recently traveled to Moscow, the capital city of the Russian Federation, under a program designed for young professionals.

Mother Russia became a second home for Ethiopians in the 1960s and 70s through literature. This strong linkage is expressed in those who proudly recite Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, “I did not bow down to you, I bowed down to all the suffering of humanity.”

This fascination resulted in the translation of Crime and Punishment into Amharic, titled Wonjelna Kitat, by the former Ethiopian Ambassador to Russia, Kassa Gebrehiwot.

Other significant classics by the same author such as Notes from Underground was translated into Amharic entitled Yeserchawu Sir Metatif; Maxim Gorky’s Mother into Enat; and Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace, just to mention a few. Among all these classical giants, Alexander Pushkin, whose statue is erected in Addis Ababa, is a source of pride among Ethiopians. His lineage traces itself to Ethiopia on his great grandfather’s side. Pushkin also embraced his African side by writing a novel ostensibly based on his grandfather’s experiences by relating to his ‘negro’ identity entitled The Negro of Peter the Great.

The revolution of the Bolshevik Party is part and parcel of the struggle in the 1960s; Red Square symbolizes a space where revolutions happened. The then generation is familiar with the Czar Empire and the Romanov Dynasty, but also minimalistic objects such as the Russian kettle and hat are vividly pictured.

Currently, many young Ethiopians are fascinated with Vladimir Putin. His picture with the Virgin Mary in the background touched many Ethiopians' hearts. Furthermore, on October 30, 2013, the business magazine Forbes put Putin at the top of its list of “The World’s Most Powerful People”.

Russia and its predecessor, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), is represented negatively in many parts of the world. To change the image of Russia, the Kremlin designed a strategy called “Soft Power” where part of the program for young professionals is called “New Generation”. This program brought together 123 participants from 39 countries. Two people from Ethiopia headed to Moscow to be part of the “New Generation” which was held from November 24-28.

A transit through Istanbul Atatürk Airport is overwhelming; it is one of the busiest airports in the world, serving nearly 57 million passengers in 2014. Compared to Atatürk Airport, Vnukovo International Airport, 28 kilometers Southwest from the center of Moscow, is much more calm. Welcoming messages are written in Rusky and we later understood that almost all the things in Moscow are all written in the language.

Many people speak only Rusky, which was difficult to understand when we were detained at the airport for forty minutes. Ethiopians, Egyptians, and, coincidently or deliberately, other Middle Eastern looking passengers who were queuing for passport check were detained. This was resolved for three of us who had invitations and tickets that showed that we were part of the New Generation program.

It was later that we learned the interrogation was caused because a Turkish Air Force F-16 fighter jet shot down a Russian Sukhoi Su-24M warplane near the Syria-Turkey border. Described as a “stab in the back” by President Putin, all Russian media were reporting this story.

In spite of that, the organizers of New Generation were welcoming guests from various countries at Cosmos Hotel.  Contrary to the airport encounter, the organizers were warm, carrying the guests’ luggage, guiding us to the registration area, and making conversation about the flight. Busy with guests, Cosmos is one of the historical hotels in Moscow. Located in a vast Green Zone, the hotel was built to serve the 1980 summer Olympic Games which was held in Moscow. Dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the VOKS-USSF Roszarubezhtsentr Rossotrudnichestvo (Soviet Union Friendship Society), many participants from the different corners of the world gathered at the hotel as part of the New Generation.

Divided into English, French, Rusky speaking groups, we went out to explore the 12th century historical parts of Moscow.

The architecture of Moscow is breathtaking, especially Saint Basil's Cathedral, which is a major landmark in Moscow. So impressive that, though the weather was freezing, one might forget the cold.

One of the sites we visited was the Novodevichy Convent. Located in Southwestern Moscow, the convent was built in the 16th and 17th centuries. This was part of a chain of monastic ensembles that were integrated into the defense system of the city. The convent was directly associated with the political, cultural and religious history of Russia and was closely linked to the Moscow Kremlin. It was also used by women of the Tsar’s family and the aristocracy. Members of the Tsar’s family and entourage were also buried in its cemetery. The convent provides an example of the highest accomplishments of Russian architecture with rich interiors and a vast collection of paintings and artifacts.

Strolling around the city, one can observe how Moscow is a hybrid of architectural styles from different periods, symbolizing a very thick storybook. Coming to Moscow, one does not miss Poklonnaya Hill, which is 171.5 meters high. This hill had a key role during WWII in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. Other than the hill, there is a victory park, monuments, museums and churches.

The Cathedral of Christ the Savior, a white marble church with a golden roof, standing 103 meters high and with a capacity of 10 thousand people, attracts exploring pedestrians. This church traces its history back to the the early 19th century. When the last of Napoleon’s soldiers retreated from Moscow, Tsar Alexander I planned to design a neoclassical design to honor Christ the Savior for saving Russia from destruction. Before he implemented his plan, he was succeeded by his brother Nicholas who wanted it to be modeled after the Hagia Sophia, a basilica in Istanbul, Turkey. It took more than four decades to build, but was demolished by the Bolshevik Party (under Joseph Stalin in 1956) and then re-built in 1992 and opened in 2000.

With a history of more than 800 years, the different periods left their stylistic legacy such as the Kievan Rus, the Imperial Period, the Post-Revolution Era who denounced the classical style of constructing, and the Post-War Soviet-Union which is mainly Stalin type of architecture including skyscrapers.

One of the famous buildings that were built by Stalin are the Seven Sisters building of the Soviet era, which includes Ukraina, Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Apartments, the Kudrinskaya Square building, the Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya Hotel, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the main buildings of the Moscow State University and the Red Gates Administrative Building. All the buildings have their unique architectural style and history, but one common thing about the buildings is that they are all skyscrapers, giving continuity to one another.

With the coming of the Bolshevik Party, they revolutionized the architecture with what is termed Constructivist Architecture, which opposes the bourgeoisie type of architecture, and implanted communist values even in the buildings. Even in today’s Russia, the style is observed in many parts of the country.

Part of the tour also took us to the magnificent Kremlin Palace for a ballet performance. The Kremlin is inextricably linked to all the most important historical, cultural and political events in Russia since the 13th century, and in that ballet is an important part of Russian culture. Adjacent to the beautifully ornamented St. Basil's Cathedral, Red Square, and Alexander Garden, it has five palaces and four cathedrals inside the fortress. It also serves as the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation.

The tour guide was calm in dissecting hundreds of years of history and condensing it into a couple of days’. She explains about Peter the Great, Ivan the Terrible, and the renaissance without tiring. It was a lot of information to take in. We walked around a larger than life historic city and around Arbat Street, and we even found Alexander Pushkin’s house. Clearly, Moscow has a lot to give visitors which include ice skating. One of Russia’s largest ice rinks, which covers an area of 20,000sq.m, is magnificent, especially for those who have the ability to skate.

The 90th anniversary of the VOKS-USSF-Roszarubezhtsentr-Rossotrudnichestvo was held at the President Hotel. Many political dignitaries, political officials, and journalists attended the event. Russia’s historic public diplomacy was discussed and many former Russian students expressed the greatness of Russia in Rusky. The public diplomacy is also part of the Soft Power.

Russia’s main foreign policy document, which was approved by President Putin on February 12, 2013, devotes a section to Soft Power and its importance to the nation’s relationship with other countries. The public diplomacy structure lies in the Kremlin under the direction of the President of the Russian Federation. Federal Agency for Commonwealth for Independent States and International Humanitarian cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo), RIA Novosti, RT News Channel, the Russkiy Mir Foundation, the Voice of Russia Radio, the Valdai International Discussion Club, the Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund and Russia Beyond the Headlines pursue their mission independently.

But why was Soft Power designed? During the celebration, many organizers admitted that Russia has an image problem. Dmitry Kiselyov, director general of  the international news agency, Rossiya Segodnya, believes it is the one-sided portrayal of Russia in the international media. Russia Today, an international news channel, which has international stations in America, provides news in English, Arabic, and Spanish, and also makes documentary films. Kiselyov says that it is also working to counterbalance those stories. All in all, Soft Power aims to re-brand the spiritual and intellectual heritage.

A thesis submitted to the School of Continuing Studies and of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences by Jill Dougherty, BA Georgetown University, 2013, states how Soft Power is the lexicon of international relations as well as a strategic objective of many nations. According to the thesis, the term “Soft Power” was introduced by Harvard University’s International Relations Scholar Joseph S. Nye, Jr. in his 1990 book, Bound to Lead: the Changing Nature of American Power. Nye further refined the concept in his 2004 book, Soft Power: The Means to Successes in World Politics, stating that Soft Power is “the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than coercion or payments. It arises from the attractiveness of a country’s culture, political ideas and polices. “When our policies are seen as legitimate in the eyes of others, our soft power is enhanced,” Nye wrote.

It was expressed in the event that Russia is utilizing educational exchange programs, international visitor programs, language training, cultural events and exchanges, radio and television broadcasting to sell the image of Russia to the international public.

Tracing Russia’s history, Dougherty’s thesis states that the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution ended the Czarist rule and the soviet communism gave an ideology to the rest of the world. Marxism and Leninism trumpeted a new world in which the working class would rule, and the Communist Manifesto of 1848, written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, proclaimed: “Let the ruling classes tremble at a communist revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. Workingmen of all countries, Unite!”

This ideology moved people and was embraced by many. And after the Second World War the eastern block, with Russia at the center, was created. And Ethiopia would eventually join this block.

According to an article entitled: “Is Russia Back? Realities of Russian Engagement in Africa” by Alexandra Arkhangelskaya and Vladmir Shubin, Russia made essential contributions to Africa’s decolonization and the eradication of apartheid.

According to many records, Russia supported Ethiopia’s sovereignty and provided practical assistance in its struggle against Italian aggression in the late 19th century. It did so not only because of geostrategic interests, but also because of the proximity between the Russian and Ethiopian orthodox churches. When Italy declared its protectorate over Ethiopia in 1890, the Russian Empire was the only European country that refused outright to recognize the Italian colonialist claims. Analysts assert that Ethiopia and Russia are connected with the triad of Orthodoxy, Autocracy and Nationhood. Emperor Haile-Selassie also visited the Soviet Union in 1959, 1967, 1970 and in 1973.

The Arkhangelskaya and Shubin’s article states that by the mid- 1980s, the Soviet Union signed hundreds of agreements with African countries. About 25,000 Africans trained in Soviet Universities in various fields and thousands graduated from Soviet military and political schools. Soviets also trained at least 200,000 specialists on African soil. The Soviet Union made agreements with 37 African countries on technical and economic assistance and with 42 countries on trade agreements.

African countries were not cited as proxy, according to the article. On the contrary, the constitution of the Soviet Union cited the support for the people’s struggle for national liberation and social progress as one of the aims of its foreign policy. But these aims crumbled during Post-Soviet Russia, when President Boris Yeltsin dethroned the communist ideology. According to the article, the collapse also led to a shift in Russian foreign policy, which abandoned the global south in general, and Africa in particular, by closing embassies, consulates, and its many cultural centers. After Vladimir Putin took power, the relationship improved and is described as positive. A visit from Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to Ethiopia last year highlighted the new dynamism of Russia’s Africa Policy.

Russia’s largely negative international image still takes a toll on investment in the country. As Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev admitted to the newspaper Vedomosti, “investors still have an irrational fear of working in incomprehensible, and sometimes unpredictable, Russia…and they also have a completely explainable distrust of public institutions. Saddest of all, this includes the legal system and law enforcement bodies.”

While Russia is improving the level of human-to-human relationships, the New Generation brings vibrant and multi-cultures together. Though, in the meantime, we might be forced to learn a couple of words in Rusky such as spasiba (thank you) and poka (see you).

Almost all instances of so-called modernity began in Addis Ababa and left a lasting imprint on it. However, the days of these few old edifices are numbered and they will not be able to tell their stories as they are facing demolition due to the rapid reconstruction being undertaken in the city. Nonetheless, the names and the tales conveyed in the walls will never be reduced to rubble. Above all, the spirit will live on. And one will find it in art galleries, studios and theaters.

When curator Mifta Zeleke embraced his embryonic idea of having an art gallery, this was the place that came to mind when it came to location. Even so, it was not possible for him to do that back then.

“It is because I didn’t find anyone who could rent me his home,” he explained.

Fortunately, a possibility came about when his friend was told about someone who wanted to rent out his own dwelling on a convenient side of the old-town—Seba Dereja.

“Wow. It was something special for me. Emboldened by its historic essence, I quickly moved here to pursue my dream,” he says.

He describes special attractions in the neighborhood like the old villa belonging to Mary Armidie, the woman who established the first beauty salon in the country. Moreover, the glamorous Seba Dereja, with its old concrete stairs where lovers would take rest, is adjacent to his gallery, Guramayle.

Because of its convenient location, Guramayle offers a place to hang out for a large number of artists, students and members of the art community who live around the area even when there are not any exhibitions. Since Addis Ababa University's Alle School of Fine Arts and Design is a short distance from the gallery, students frequently pay a visit to the gallery and practice painting in the studio downstairs.

“It’s open to anyone who wants to enjoy the value of decent life and of sipping coffee,” Mifta says.

Artists who have solo and group projects are often seen there, in discussions amongst one another and with the curator. From the veteran painters to the young artists, the gallery appears to be an ideal place to convene and discuss it all. Emanuel Tegene and Tamerat Siltan, two famous painters of their time, took a short break last Wednesday. Beyond exhibiting their masterpieces at the gallery, they seemed to be happy that they were accompanied by the curator and others.

The two-room studio that smells of paints has more to do with art beyond the artwork displayed; it depicts the old architectural beauty and atmosphere in its clay walls that preserve moisture to create ventilation for its artists.

Some of the artists keep themselves busy musing, like Tamerat Gezahegn who sketches before painting. The curator and the gallery are both his family since he regularly paints and is often in the studio. He appreciates the curator for being passionate about the art. And he sees the gallery as an essential part of art since there are only a few that are currently operational for a ninety-plus million population. Tamerat, who has been very sympathetic towards the way art is being done in the country feels like he has just entered a critical moment in his career.

“How many years should we wait to see more curators, galleries, exhibitors and promoters?” he asks, emphasizing the fact that valuable artwork gets produced but is rarely exhibited because of the lack of curators, venues and promoters to advance the exhibitions.

As a founding member of Netsa Art Village, a place where artists come to freely express their ideas, Tamerat feels sad that the government does not understand the value of art. As a result, it has been evicting residents from the neighborhood because construction is planned to replace it.

“Nothing has ever happened that can change an individual’s perception more than art,” he argues.

Ironically, he has noticed that government institutions and officials feel proud that the country is promoted through art. Tamerat, who has conducted his solo exhibitions abroad, believes that attention to the arts should increase in all aspects of leadership.

“I have witnessed the attention given during my exhibitions in other countries like Germany, Spain, Egypt and the United States,” he says.

Having partnered with Mifta, he has been reaching out to some high-profile exhibitions in Kenya, South Africa and Germany. Recently, he was featured in Selamta magazine (the popular in-flight magazine of Ethiopian Airlines) representing Ethiopia in the continent’s largest art fair—Cape Town Art Fair—which will take place from the 19th to the 21st of February 2016. He, however, fears that the country’s huge art collection will remain undiscovered unless there are more places to practice and exhibit it.

In spite of this, he never fails to see a ray of hope through individual endeavors like Mifta’s. Other artists also pay tribute to Mifta for his passion to help artists come out and exhibit their work. Including the veteran painter Tadesse Mesfin, about thirty artists have shown their artwork at the center so far.

“I hope we will see more artists coming up and that is my responsibility,” Mifta says.

Instructing curatorship at Alle School of Fine Arts, Mifta has managed to inspire artists and invite young art-loving individuals to become curators.  

“It’s all about passion. Anyone can become a curator and have his own gallery to promote the art,” he says.

Mifta’s vision for Guramayne Art Centre is not for the painters alone. He also invites several poets and performance artists to stage their work on special occasions. According to Gedion, a diaspora from the United States, the art show being practiced by several poets and artists at the center is a stunning, colorful and worthwhile experience. Currently, Mifta is actively involved in realizing a bigger project in the public art platform along with some passionate diaspora such as Addis Gessesse.

“Maybe that will take my vision higher, but that is still a plan to work on. For the time being, my focus will remain on the center and in promoting the gallery for more artistic production and exhibitions,” Mifta said.

Circus, a company of performers that include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other object manipulation and stunt-oriented artists, is believed to have originated in ancient Rome. In recent years, circus arts have been spreading rapidly all over Africa with young boys and girls showing their remarkable talent. In Ethiopia, for the past two decades, circus has managed to highlight the immense positive cultural, social and economic features of the country, writes Tibebeselassie Tigabu.

Taking a painful injection, swallowing bitter medicine and dealing with unbearable pain is not an easy thing to go through for a child. Especially for children who are struggling with the slayer effects of chemotherapy. However, this will be forgotten for a moment when clowns who act like doctors show up. Their presence makes the process a little bit bearable. This is a common scene at Tikur Anbessa Hospital where clowns entertain ailing children.

Their unique clown attire, the funny plastic nose and painted face brings smiles to children’s faces. The children are eager to see the clowns, their magic tricks, music performances and listen to the stories, which will to some extent detach them from fear and anxiety. The clown doctors create a lighter mood in the place using their sense of humor. In the process they make them calm, adapt to the environment and also distract them from painful procedures.

This is a common scenario at Tikur Anbassa Hospital and takes place six days a week. The unique project was initiated by Fekat Circus Group. Redefining the purpose of circus from mere entertainment Fekat Circus Group upgraded it to the next level by introducing socially relevant projects. One of these projects is the smile project which includes Dr Clown, Playroom and Animation, Storytelling and Puppet Shows. Apart from this, Fekat Circus Group also designed a project for prisoners, orphans and other marginalized groups.

Circus in Ethiopia has a relatively long history which includes embracing the urban poor. In that regard, Fekat Circus Group, Jimma Circus and Debre Birhan Circu all take their fair share of this performance art. Teklu Ashagir, a.k.a. Henock, executive and artistic director of Debre Brihan Circus, believes that almost all circus groups are founded by underprivileged youth or children whose desire is to reclaim their space in society.

The establishment of the first circus in Ethiopia, according Henock, emanated from acrobatics. Growing up in Lamberet area he reminisces the founding of the first circus group, Circus Ethiopia, with the help of a Canadian circus professional 24 years ago. According to him, the activities of the group used to focus on aggressively, promoting the works of the Red Cross. Circus Ethiopia included a street children and those from that financially underprivileged segment of the society.
Debre Birhan Circus also traces its foundation to the former acrobatic groups. Two members from Circus Ethiopia trained a few acrobats and started Debre Birhan Circus 18 years ago.

Following the path of Circus Ethiopia, Debre Birhan Circus also included disabled children. The basic principle of the circus group, according to Henock, is making it accessible for everyone, including handicapped and the deaf.
Though the community embraced acrobatics and gymnastics, it did not appreciate girls attired in tight outfits and shorts riding a unicycle, performing contortions and playing a rolla bolla. However, according to Henock, the community gradually started to shift their attitude. Though the community was welcoming, the group faced another challenge which was finance. It became difficult for them to cover the rent and pay for transport. In addition, if members of the group traveled abroad most of them did not want to come back.

In many West African countries amateur football players hope to make it in one of the big European leagues. Similarly, circus performers in Ethiopia want to be recognized internationally. So eventually after being recognized, they sign for a renowned company. Henock says that there are agents and brokers who are connecting the young talents with companies all over the world, especially in Europe.

Though many individuals, duets, trios and quartets are trying to make it internationally, Debre Birhan Circus has already gained fame as a group. One of their recent awarded work that was presented in Sweden is entitled “Cargo”. This piece focuses on migration. Their hard work is now paying off where they were awarded two million birr for the Sweden show including the little child in the group who got 100 thousand birr. Some members of the group are now successful in life. According to Henock, this is one of the club’s achievement, which is creating, job opportunities, personal development and creating talents. Some of them were also able to join the national gymnastics competitions.

Their preformances are free of charge and they earn their money mainly from sponsors. However, the main money earner is international shows. Since they established a reputable name, they usually get paid a handsome sum.
Though circus is not an indigenous art, Henock has a different say in this. He takes the experience of Harari women who carry a heavy load on their head while balancing it. Apart from that he refers to the funeral ceremony of some of the areas of the south where mourners do front flips. “These are performances which are culturally embedded in the society and in that regard balancing and flipping are also core elements,” Henock says.

Contemporary circus combines traditional circus skills and theatrical techniques to convey a story or theme. According to Henock, Debre Birhan Circus Group also follows this trend by focusing on the overall aesthetic impact, story development, costume design and lighting effects featured with traditional music. He believes by raising issues such as social issues, health, environment, disability and reproductive health they have managed to create a platform involving the community.

Debre Birhan is an established circus group with its own departments. It has administrative staffs, around 70 circus performers, a fully equipped band with 22 members, 15 traditional dance professionals and six modern dancers. It has its own school which trains around 68 students and also enrolls up to 80 students in the summer program. They have a plan to make it one of the biggest art institutions in the country. For all the members, there is a transport per diem and when it comes to international tour there is an international per diem. Though they started from the bottom, currently, they are able to self-fund and have a two million birr worth building and a fully functioning auditorium.

Henock believes that circus plays a big role in creating space for extracurricular activities and creating a space for underprivileged children. Still he says that the financial support they get from local sources is insignificant. Henock says that there was a bit of vibrancy 22 years ago but from time to time it started deteriorating. The main reason for this was that most of the members went and stayed abroad since there is no financial support locally. While Debre Birhan has a success story many of the circus groups in Ethiopia are not enjoying similar success and one of these groups is Circus Jimma, a group which was established 24 years ago with 25 members.


According to Bereket Tezazu, founder and director of Circus Jimma, the initial acceptance was overwhelming and many were fascinated with the acrobatics sport. The group eventually became the opening act for any sporting event. However, when the name changed to Circus, there was resistance from the community. According to Bereket, their circus establishment was a copy from a Canadian circus professional who had a role in the establishment of Circus Ethiopia.

The outfits, some of the movements, the music being foreign and the girls doing splits was not welcomed by the community. Bereket says that they redefined the circus performances by introducing Ethiopian music and adding Ethiopian traditional instruments such as Kirar and Masinko to familiarize themselves with the community. That time was a fruitful moment for them with the presence of many projects by UNICEF, ICRC and SIDA to campaign against malaria, HIV/AIDS, environment, vaccination and gender issues. These international organizations used circus groups to convey the message. Though they appreciated money from it, they made their performance seasonal.

With the the way the projects were going they were able to rent a hall to use it for rehearsals. But the minute a project was phased out, they were out of jobs. According to Bereket, there was a time when they were sued by their landlord because they were not able to pay two years' rent. They started asking for favors but if there are meetings or other functions, they were forced out.
Fortunately, the Jimma city administration observed their hard work and granted them a 8,300 sq.m plot of land by the then mayor of Jimma, Muktar Kedir. Like Debre Birhan they self-funded their own projects and built a small cafeteria and an amphitheater, which was launched six years ago. The amphitheater was inspired by their visit to Greece.

One of the challenges for Circus Jimma is that many traveled abroad and never returned. Internationally, the average payment, according to Bereket, is 500,000 birr but the risk is that they cannot take a big group since most of them do not return back.
The past incident gave them a bad reputation when from 20 circus crew members only three managed to return. “What if they disappear before the show? That will definitely tarnish our image. Embassies will also refrain from granting us visas. For those reasons, we do not want to take the risk in the name of Circus Jimma,” Bereket says.

Whenever they get international gigs they give it to individuals and they sign a contract individually.
They could not depend on getting finance from local sources. Adding insult to injury, most of the projects such as HIV/AIDS and malaria were phased out.

Currently, there are around 40 volunteer circus performance artists and the circus group is staggering. Circus being a mass sport also became a challenging issue. If they are commissioned to work and the average payment is 10 thousand birr per performance, when divided among 30, each will get around 300 birr. Apart from that there is administrative cost. Though some of the performances can be done by a small group, Bereket says that the vibrancy is when it is a big group.

The commissioning work for Circus Jimma is mainly done by Organization for Support Services for AIDS (OSSA) and Jimma University. Though they are struggling financially, Bereket says that their acceptance among the community is still intact where they have an audience numbering more than five thousand in a single neighborhood. “We are still widely accepted. The community loves us,” Bereket says.

Though they are embraced by the community, the problem comes if they want to charge for the show. That is when the community is resistant. “We tried to charge but the money we got would not even cover the rent,” Bereket says.
So, many of the members strive individually to be noticed internationally and get big contracts.
Bereket says that the circus group contributed a lot in training talented personalities in various levels.
A noble cause, which embraced the urban poor, is now struggling financially. However, the question is whether it can transform itself so that it can exist. Looking at this phenomena one of the successful circus group Fekat transformed itself to introduce other elements, which also attract international donors.

Established ten years ago by six youths, the first couple of years before was very tough. Dereje Dagne, director of Fekat, remembers the ordeal where they used leather factory residue as mattresses. Those difficult times have now gone by. Now their rented space around Tomoca Coffee has become an outlet for the community.
Dereje says that when it comes to space, there is no place for the youth for extracurricular activities. “Sadly, the youths are deeply immersed in khat chewing culture and heavy drinking. That is how many spend their time. So circus gives an alternative way out,” Dereje says.

The internationally-renowned Dereje won the title of “World Famous Artist” in Germany for introducing juggling using seven hats made of Selen (straw). It is not only internationally; their local audience is also mainly made up of foreigners.
That is one of the reasons why they organized the first edition of African Circus Festival from November 27-29 to aggressively promote circus. Though many assume that circus is simply a sport, he says it also incorporates fashion, music, dance, storytelling and creativity. Funded by UNESCO, this festival was a reflection of how circus is seen. Held at the newly-inaugurated Oromo Cultural Center, more than 12 thousand people attended the festival. Apart from that it also gave them an opportunity to show off what contemporary circus is all about.
In their 45-minute-long environmentally themed performance, they showed a futuristic man. They danced with the movement of the axe and followed the fallen trees.

Though other circus groups are struggling, Fekat circus group claim that they take 30 percent of the work. Apart from that, their projects, which include the prison project, Tikur Anbessa and orphanages, are funded by international NGOs. These projects made their financial struggle a bit easier. Especially after the festival, they secured five upcoming shows. In Addis there are more than 20 circus groups which are struggling financially and, according to Dereje, their primary goal is to make it internationally. “They want to escape poverty and the current platform is not letting them pass. So the alternative is to go abroad to get a better chance,” Dereje says.

People go to see a doctor for regular health check-ups and take pills for a simple headache on a daily basis. However, many neglect the most basic thing there is - the quality of the food they eat. And it all starts with the type of oil people use for cooking. The widely consumed type of oil nowadays in Ethiopia is palm and some researches suggest that palm oil consumption increases the likelihood of cardiovascular disease while others claim there is no increased risk. Tibebeselassie Tigabu and Mihiret Aschalew of The Reporter look into the pros and cons of the different types of oils in the market and possible health hazards.

If one is to mention top-ten fast-moving consumer goods in Ethiopia, edible oil or cooking oil of different types and sizes would definitely be in this very short list. In particular, the urban consumer almost entirely depends on edible oil to do most of its domestic food preparation. And, unfortunately, the bulk of the edible oil market in Ethiopia is highly dependent on imports. As far back as 2011, the edible oil market in Ethiopia was identified to be one of the most strategic in terms of its impact in the overall consumer and food prices in urban areas. This realization led to the decision of the government to incorporate edible oil in the list of strategic food commodities which were earmarked for price capping.

From the get go, the price cap started to have problems with regard to edible oil since the local price (capped price) and the price of the commodity in the source market showed huge disparities discouraging some of the biggest edible oil importers in the country. Since then, the product remained within a short leash from the authorities and currently import and distribution of edible oil is highly regulated. Now, it is in a league with the likes of sugar and wheat which are imported and distributed by public agencies to prevent any sudden price variation and supply disruption.

The Ethiopian Consumers Protection Association is an active participant of this market; now it supplies most stores and shops with ample quantities of imported edible oil and sugar. The association’s role is not restricted to supplying but it also monitors the sale of these outputs so that a trader with the financial means would not manipulate the market by harding the imported products.                      

Aberash Tadesse, a shop owner around Arat Kilo, claims that she used to be a major outlet for edible oil in the area. She used to receive the supply of edible oil from the association and sell this to consumers in the area. “Usually, there will be two personnel of the association to monitor the sale of edible oil,” she says. It is a fast-moving consumer good, she says; but, the hustle of supplying edible oil became all too great for her overtime.

“I used to receive fresh stocks every fortnight and my shop was always overcrowed with customers looking for edible oil,” Aberash told The Reporter. She was under strict orders not to sell more than one container to each costumer.      

The brands she supplied included Chief, Viking, Abiya and Ayat. And all came with different sizes (volumes) varying from three to 20 liters. Despite the brand difference the price remained the same among these most commonly consumed brands: three liters of edible oil are sold for 72 birr and five liters for 115 birr.

Nevertheless, there are also expensive and better quality edible oil brands in the market. For instance, Orchid sunflower oil packed in three liter containers is sold for 340-360 birr; while the locally produced Kibé Leminé niger seed oil packed in a five-liter container is priced at 350 birr. On the other hand, Hatun sunflower oil is 70 birr per liter.

The variation in the supposed quality and price notwithstanding, most of the imported edible oil products in Ethiopia belong to what is called the palm oil family with a high concentration of saturated fatty acid. And consequently, the health impact of the edible oil varieties that are sold in the local market are becoming increasingly worrisome.

 In recent years, researches have surfaced from the academic corners on the same subject matter; that is assessing the impact of saturated fatty acid oil. The findings of these researches highlighted the accumulation of saturated fatty acid in palm oil and its health risk.

Experts explain saturated fatty acids are a form of fat that contain no double bond between the carbon atoms; hence being saturated with hydrogen. In other terms, saturated fatty acids are fats that cannot be dissolved (broken down) easily once inside the body and therefore get stored in body tissue. This accumulation is bad news for the human body since it can cause detrimental health complications. This is particularly true since, according to experts, the body has adequate fat accumulation of its own and would not need to take an additional one from outside.

While the majority hardly loses sleep over this issue and what they eat in general, personalities such as Mered Alemu, 35, heavily scrutinized the chemical makeup of what they eat and edible oil in particular.

Mered started to be cautious after he was diagnosed with high concentration of uric acid some time back. Though he was able to control it in a year or so time, he says, he chose to lead a healthy lifestyle after that. Apart from discarding meat and other protein concentrated foodstuffs, his major concern was oil. At first, he was using niger seed oil which is produced locally but he says “the feeling was heavy and also the taste of the food was not that great”.

So after researching about the nutritional value, he picked sunflower and olive oil a couple of years ago. He is too specific even when it comes to the places that he shops edible oil. And the basic reason, according to him, is the incident of mismatch between the labeling and the actual chemical composition of edible oil. “There are rumors that some of the producers blend their product with palm oil. So, one can’t be too careful,” Mered says.

At home he is too careful in the type and the amount of oil that is used but he still eats outside. Although one can be careful about the cooking oil at one’s own home, still many dine outside. He understands his limitation when he dines in a restaurant. “You cannot avoid all these. Rather, what one should do is try to be careful as much as possible,” Mered says.

True to form, researches warn that a number of restaurants in Addis Ababa heavily use fat-concentrated edible oil brands. According to nutrition instructor at the Addis Ababa University Science College, who wanted to remain anonymous, there is no specific research which identifies the number of people who uses the saturated fatty acid diet or the magnitude of the impact; neither are there studies which assess the scale of the danger of saturated fatty acid in Ethiopia.

Cardiovascular complications are the main health related impact of edible oil in the Ethiopia.  On the other hand, there are also health experts who directly relate the pain on the leg area and back pain to consuming this saturated fatty acid.

According to the expert, consuming highly saturated fatty acid can cause atherosclerosis which might lead to coronary heart disease, stroke and other serious complications. These saturated fatty acids are also found in various food types such as fatty meat, butter, whole milk and the like. The level of the danger, according to the expert, depends on the amount and the lifestyle of the individual who is consuming fried food and those who do not exercise regularly.

Though there have been researches which directly link saturated fat to an increased risk of heart disease, these are still controversies at best which say that there is no experimental evidence which directly links saturated fat to heart disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) in May 2015 recommended switching from saturated to unsaturated fats. .

Edible oil with less proportion of unsaturated fatty acid include olive oil, peanut oil, canola oil, avocados, safflower, corn, sunflower, soya and cottonseed oils. Nevertheless, the health impact has started to pick up pace in Ethiopia. Non-communicable diseases, which are unusual to the young population, such as cardiovascular complications, high blood pressure are now affecting the youth. These problems are highly associated with a high concentration of cholesterol level.  In the past, the pertinent problem in Ethiopia was communicable diseases. Now, according to WHO experts, Ethiopia has a high mortality rate and the leading cause of death is non-communicable diseases.

This, of course, would be further complicated when it is associated with a sedentary lifestyle. The expert also argues that the health impact of such products is not that foreign to consumer public; rather the fact that they are affordable is still another factor that is driving their demand. But, he acknowledges that authorities cannot just ban such products. “This is a sensitive issue and there should be an alternative,” he says.

According to the expert, filling the information gap regarding the health impact of some popular edible oil brands in Ethiopia is the first step. Nevertheless, he also noted that this problem is not unique to the imported edible oil brands. In fact, the locally produced ones as well have their own problem, she says. “Since these oils are not refined well they have a behavior of being crude. This also has another risk in the form of gastric complications,” he argues. Nevertheless, he is of the view that the mass importation of fat-concentrated edible oil should also be look at from an economic point of view only. Rather, authorities ought to consider the health aspect as well, he says. 

Though many focus on the content of the saturated fatty acid in imported edible oil, Alazar Berihun, chef and food consultant, does not focus only on the content but rather on the chemical reaction they have when they are cooked. “Different brands of edible oil have different cooking temperature; if that is not known they are overheated and can create a chemical reaction which is dangerous to one’s body,” Alazar says.

For example, sunflower oil can be used in high temperature, up to 180 degree centigrade, hence being suitable for frying, cooking, or making salad. “Saturated fatty acid is hazardous to health and when palm oil which passed through a factory process heats up with high temperature it might even become toxic,” Alazar explains further.

Generally, he is concerned that the various purposes of different types of edible oil products are not well understood in Ethiopia. It all depends on the specific acidic content, according to Alazar. For example, he says extra virgin oil which has 0.5-1 percent acidic content can be used for salad, or to add at the end of cooking. In addition, light olive and pure olive has three percent acidic content; so he advices not to heat it for a long time. All in all, the type of edible oil he recommends is unsaturated fatty acid oils such as Canola, corn oil, rice, sunflower. Locally extracted niger seed and sesame oils are also more preferable for Alazar.

 Apart from identifying the chemicals, it is also important to control the usage of the amount. “It needs up to three hours to digest a food which contains fat; so we should know how our metabolism works when using edible oil,” Alazar says. He also argues that most gastric problems in Ethiopia are associated with that.

However, there are a few health conscious personalities who dedicated their lifestyle to live in moderation, who stick to low fat dairy products, and use unsaturated fatty acid. Though they do their own researches and verify what the oil makeup is in some instances, the companies are not sometime genuine in disclosing contents, according to a recent research. A research conducted by Dimberu Geremewu and Belete Bedemo, researchers at the Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Bahir Dar University, entitled: “Estimation of total free fatty acid and cholesterol content in some commercial edible oils in Ethiopia,” the research states that companies are misleading by labeling their products as “cholesterol free”; while actually it was not. Their investigation attempted to find out total free fatty acid and cholesterol content in nine, six branded and three non-branded, commercial edible oil brands. The chosen oils brands were produced in an Ethiopian oil factory; the Modjo Edible Oil Complex (cottonseed, rapeseed and a mix of cottonseed and rapeseed), the second sample is an imported oil (palm oil, sunflower and olive oil) and the third category were oils produced in small scale (niger seed oils and rapeseed oils).

The analysis revealed varying levels of content. Cholesterol was detected in seven of the vegetable oils while for two oil samples, niger seeds, it was nothing.

The research showed how all the acid values and some saponification values show high values in comparison with the maximum permissibility level of the international Codex standard for the named vegetable oils. In addition, the research also identifies considerable number of adults at present times develops some degrees of atherosclerosis commonly known as “hardening of the arteries” which leads to strokes, heart attacks and other serious health problems and high cholesterol is one of the principal risks.

The research concludes that there is no cholesterol free oil in the market as opposed to what is claimed on the vegetable oil brand labels. What the researchers suggest to the companies is that to indicate the amount of cholesterol present in vegetable oils, no matter how small the quantity it may be. Though the research was conducted in 2011, Tewodros Girma, Food Registration and Licensing Directorate Director at the Food, Medicine, Healthcare Administration and Control Authority of Ethiopia, says that this is not known to their office.

According to Tewodros, if an edible oil brand has cholesterol labeling which says it is cholesterol free, while actually it has traits, it is illegal and that they will look into it in the future. So far, according to Tewodros, what they have been focused on is to control palm oil, which did not fulfill the standard of Codex. In Ethiopia, in the past decade, the main commodity that is imported was palm oil with the highest concentration of saturated fatty acid, 80 percent.

According to Tewodros, palm oil naturally has saturated fatty acid accumulation but the factory processing adds the concentration. Tewodros says that when the fruit and seed of a palm are mixed the concentration of saturated fatty acid reaches 80 percent; meanwhile, if it is only the fruit, it is 40-43 percent. Prior to a couple of years, the country switched to importing only the fruit of the palm plant, according to Tewodros, fulfills the Codex standards. Tewodros says further that the regulation for importers starts from the paperwork, custom regulation and also how it is disseminated in the market.

In the meantime, Tewodros says that for the local producers it starts from the supplements, processing up to packaging. Apart from that, Tewodros stresses that the office strictly regulates the market though he believes there is a gap. “We have found out that there are illegal importers which are hazardous to health,” Tewodros says.

Tewodros does not hide the fact that the regulation started two years ago and still there is a huge gap.  It was recently that they started the inspection for every pack of oil. The oil sample is investigated before they enter the country. For Tewodros, out of these oil brands trans-fatty acid oils such as margarine are dangerous to health which will be also regulated in the future. Trans-fats are artificially saturated when they pass through a chemical process that involves high heat, hydrogen gas and a metal. Studies also show that, trans-fats lead to insulin resistance, inflammation, belly fat accumulation and drastically raise the risk of heart disease.

Though some suggest the usage of locally produced oil there have been strange incidents that have been reported in different media outlets. Mixing strange and hazardous elements with oil have been reported. These oil brands are not exclusive to Addis; rather they are sent to different cities in Ethiopia.

According to Yitayih Tadesse, Head of Competence Assurance and Supervision Core Work Process at the Food, Medicine, Healthcare Administration and Control Authority of Addis Ababa, these problems are witnessed in illegal producers not in the licensed ones.

According to him, the office controls the producers regularly including the production systems. Apart from the office, the products also are inspected by the Ethiopian Public Health Institute.

There have been instances when these mixing strange items and being unsanitary is also witnessed in licensed companies. “These oils have a problem related to the acidity and toxic level,” Yitayih says.

Two things make the city of Axum the center of tourist attraction. The first is the Axumite church of saint Mary Tsion and the second are the obelisks. It is strongly believed that this church is home to the ark of the convenant. It still remains a mystery however since Axum Tsion church is guarded by a single monk with no exposure to the outside world( replaced by another only after his death )and no one else is allowed to go in,not even the Pope). With the obelisks the source of awe is not just the engineering skills employed but the how these monuments were erected with no available mechanization at the time. With these attractions in place the town which was once a center of civilization is aiming to relive its past legacy, writes Tibebeselassie Tigabu.

Described by the followers of the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian Church as “divine”, Ethiopian liturgy would not have been where it is today had it not been for an ancient religious figure: Saint Yared. Although the mysticism of his liturgical work is only confided to the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian Church, the contemporary urban folk associate him with human persistence and perseverance. His history that saw the rise of a young, struggling apprentice to become the father of Ethiopian liturgy attests to the value of endurance and the reward that comes with it.

As a young boy, Saint Yared had difficulty to learn, the story goes, and as a result he was forced to repeat the same class over and over again. In fact, the story says that Saint Yared was unable to progress in his studies when he one day sat down under a fig tree to witness unshakable perseverance which was displayed by an insect. As he sat there partly frustrated by what he was facing in his education, Saint Yared watched an industrious insect which was struggling to move a morsel of food up the tree but failed to do so after trying about six times. In fact, what captivated his attention was the sheer refusal of the insect to give up on its attempt to move its food up the tree. As the story goes, he counted as much as six failed attempts by the insect before succeeding in the seventh round.

The accounts say, Saint Yared immediately learned something from this experience and was finally able to compose one of his greatest liturgical compositions for the Ethiopia Orthodox Christian Church. Centuries later, his composition is still in use by the church. And the location of the fig tree where Saint Yared had this momentous revelation, presently located in the town of Axum in the Tigray Regional State, is almost as important as his compositions.

A fig tree which dates back centuries still grows in and around Axum and is named Daeroella. In the past, it was used for traditional and religious public gatherings, school education and also for judiciary purposes. Today, the Daeroella serves as a public hangout space for the elderly and the young.

As far as the location is concerned, the local community and administration have always tried to keep it as a tourist site of a historical significance. In fact, upgrading this area is one of the projects which are currently undertaken by the Ethiopian Sustainable Tourism Development Project. This project aims at enhancing the quality and variety of the tourist sites and services in selected destinations so as to increase tourist flow, foreign exchange earnings and creation of local jobs. The project was able to secure a project loan amounting to 35 million dollars from the World Bank, which it apportioned among three selected places: Axum, Lalibela and Addis Ababa.

After six years, the Axum project site was officially open to the public last week. The project includes improvement of stelae fields, visitors walking routes around the Axum obelisk area, plazas and vernacular houses which are completed. Restoration of Axum Tsion Mariam Church and the improvement of archaeological museums are also part of the project.

The cradle of one of the ancient civilizations in the world, Axum traces its history to a time before the birth of Jesus Christ. A bustling metropolis, Axum was once a cultural, economic and religious center. Axum’s expansionist polity was linked to the outside world through long distance trade and had left rich records of its history in the form of monuments and inscriptions. Throughout the historical books, Axum is highlighted as one of the powerful kingdoms which dominated the northern highlands of Ethiopia attesting to a high level of advancement in art, architecture, metallurgy and tool making.

Disembarking from a plane at the small airport that is named after Emperor Yohannes IV, present day Axum greets visitors with the hybrid of the new and old architecture. At a glance, one can attest to how the modern shiny buildings are catching up with the ancient city and its aged architecture. A new construction is booming in Axum. High rise hotels are also becoming the feature of the new city.

The old stone houses, a.k.a. hidimos, are abundant and are located right adjacent to new structures. The flourishing of supermarkets, bars and modern boutiques in Axum; or listening to contemporary popular musicians such as Natty Man or Ephrem Tamiru gives one the same vibe as being in a newly emerging urban center. But, after a while, it would be easy to comprehend the perplexity of Axum: the new city and the ancient town.

The thematic masterplan which is yet to see the light of day divides Axum into two parts: the old and the new parts. The old part of Axum takes one down history lane with the remnant of ruins of ancient buildings, small local liquor shops dubbed tela houses, uniquely built churches and the camel carriage. Apart from that, the various tombs, the unique stelae, even the walking pavements are reminders of the ancient times.

According to Tewodros Abraham, Axum site management unit coordinator for the Ethiopian Sustainable Tourism Development Project, the thematic masterplan clearly demarcated the old and the new. There is a strict guideline for the old town using the ancient architecture. Even for restoration there is a guideline. For the new town there is no guideline on the buildings.

Tewodros says that this can be ensured with the support of a code of ethics and the city development and construction is developing a guide. 

Alay Woldeselassie, acting coordinator of Axum’s culture and tourism office, says that more than three hundred houses are identified and one of them is the house of Dejach Gebreselassie, which is being restored under this project.

The Ethiopian Sustainable Tourism Development project also focused on this area to make Axum a center of touristic destination. Named ‘World’s Best Tourism Destination’ for 2015 by the European Council on Tourism and Trade for its natural beauty, dramatic landscapes and ancient culture, Ethiopia is designing a tourism strategy to boost the tourism sector.

Alay says that the revenue that Axum has collected from tourists last year is close to 200 million birr. At the end of the Ethiopian year, twenty-four thousand foreign tourists and up to 400 thousand local tourists will have visited Axum; the great majority of this figure is attributed to the celebration of Hidar Tsion (November Saint Mary), a religious pilgrimage that drawn a number of local tourists every year.

Various stakeholders that are involved in the tourism field believe that, with its historical heritage and cultural importance, Axum has the potential to attract more than one hundred thousand foreign visitors every year. Following this, a study was done which led to the drafting of the thematic master plan for Axum.

According to Tewodros, the masterplan was aimed at bringing 120,000 foreign tourists annually to the city. Tewodros said that the masterplan has also designed a package where tourists can stay for five days. Both Tewodros and Alay underscore that this will take a little more than an ambition; that it needs hard work.

“Tourism is a market and to attract visitors, one has to look at it from the perspective of tourists. It has to fulfill the internationally accepted standard to attract those who have rich experience in traveling,” Tewodros says.

Construction of Axum visitors’ center which consists of an auditorium, audio visual tourist information, exhibition room, café and internet service, will mainly serve as a tourist center to get any kind of information.

Seated on a 2,500sqm area, the construction of the center took some 20 million birr. This center gives the feeling of ancient Axum. According to the architect, Samson Addis, the architecture of the center was made to incorporate ancient elements. Focusing on recreating the Axumite experience, the core elements of the space is Daeroella and the fallen obelisk.

“When we talk of outdoor activities during Axumite time, the trees served a huge purpose so we took the element of the tree,” Samson adds. “One of the bold pictures of Axum is the fallen obelisk which many forgot. The motive of the building is to serve as a reminder,” he says.

They were too careful even in choosing a medium of construction where they used original stones which are not furbished and the stone and wood arrangement also followed ancient trends. “With the old Axum, there is a deep knowledge of architecture such as creating a semi-humid area in individual houses or sort of a basement and we studied the makings of these structures carefully,” Samson says.

Landscape improvement in areas such as Hawelti (tomb) Street, the Axum obelisk walkways, lights, Arbaetuensesa Street, Daero Piazza square are some of locations which are maintained or upgraded in this project.

The night view in Axum is a bit different as it is decorated by the various lights designed to illuminate the obelisk giving it an attractive feature. Involving the local community through job ventures has been the tourism strategy. Furthermore, implementation of the business matching grant scheme is also another part of this project.

Twenty-one business plans in hotel and restaurant upgrading, urban agriculture, tour operation, hospitality training center and handicraft training was completed in this project.

The tourist guides are trolling here and there engaged in talking to people and also selling crosses which are engraved in one’s name. Using this opportunity in the vicinity of Axum Tsion Church there are those who sell historical books and incense of various kinds.

The inception of the Axumite period also traces its origin from a mythical tale. Iconography painting at the archaeological museum depicts this tale of the rebellious python. The story goes as a woman who gave birth to a girl and a scary python. The python grew and it became uncontrollable even after a scarification of a girl, 10 cows, 10 oxen, 50 goats and 50 sheep.

Then people were fed up with the ruthlessness of the python which went on for forty years, the tale goes. Finally, a man named Angabo proposed a plan to kill the python. In return, the community promised to wed him with the python’s sister. This same Angabo, according to the story, is believed to be the father of the Queen of Sheba, who embarked on the famous voyage to the Middle East to learn something from the wisdom of King Solomon of Israel, and on the way conceived a child from him and started the Solomonic Dynasty. 

An excavation with a symbol of snake from the 7th century is found inside the museum. The archaeological museum also gives the history through findings from the excavation during different periods. These include minted coin with symbol of crescent and the disk, sexual attributes, Adulis fertility symbols, silver coin of King Ousana and the like.

The project phased out three weeks ago and, according to Tewordos, there was a shortage of budget in finishing the projects. Around 140 million birr was allocated to the Axum project. According to Tewodros, this specific budget only covered seven percent of what should be done in Axum. Now, the office is closed and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism will take over these projects.

According to Abay Woldu, president of the Tigray Regional State, the unfinished projects such as a road to the tomb of king Kaleb will be incorporated under phase two of the project which needs the assistance of the government and also other institutions. “Phase one was important but the coverage is very small. So, there is a need to develop a second phase,” Abay says.

Regarding the project, Abay also admitted that there were delays with projects; hence he insisted on the central zone administration, the mayor of Axum and various offices to follow the projects closely.

Not only Axum, he strongly believes, but the whole of Tigray has a rich heritage culturally. Even though he says excavation is not over, new findings in Wukro, Yeha, and also Gerealta have uncovered other important historical heritages. Hand in hand with the exploration, he says, there should be infrastructural development.

A strategic framework was designed two years ago to implement a five years strategic plan to tackle the problems related to improving tourism; but still one of the challenges, according to Abay, is resource.

Abay who is also the head of the regional tourism transformation, says that the regional tourism bureau was an agency for a long time. But now, the need to upgrade it to a bureau, and giving it an associated boost in budget, is delivering results.

Among a host of cumbersome responsibilities, medical doctors have one task that is considered to be somehow difficult – being the bearer of bad news. And in a culturally heterogeneous and unique country like Ethiopia the job is definitely going to be harder. This intense situation makes the doctors the first persons who have to comfort the bereaved, writes Tibebeselassie Tigabu.

The last rite of passage in the life cycle— death— is not taken lightly by many cultures. In most parts of northern Ethiopia, for instance, delivery of news of death has its own intrinsic cultural dimension and unique ritual. Coping with the devastation of loss of life is taken to be a communal responsibility in these areas. And, how family members and close relatives are made to learn about the departure of their loved ones is a process that is orchestrated very carefully.

The immediate family is usually not told right away; rather distant relatives and neighbors are called upon to deliver the news. Customarily, bearers of the bad news arrive at the house of the deceased or the house of their close relatives before sunrise. All will be attired in the traditional clothes locally known as Netela and gabbi and come into the house and sit solemnly with facial expression that’s telling enough to the observer. One among the bunch, preferably, the elders will break the news gently after delivering a seemingly soothing introduction about the inevitability of death. Then, they will bluntly state the departure of the person and tell the relative to grieve with self-composure.

The bearers of the news of death are also responsible to cushion any shock that might be caused by the information that they related to the mourners. The constantly call up on the mourners to take it easy and that death is a common phenomenon to all. This appears to be well beyond a simple cultural ritual that needs to be observed; death, rather, is taken particularly hard in these parts of the country.    

Mourners usually go well beyond sobbing, at the early stages of the grieving process: usually shouting and wailing loudly, pounding their chests as if they want to inflict pain on themselves. Especially in rural parts of Ethiopia, the grief becomes intense that women mourners may scratch their face, tear out their hair, and throw themselves to the ground.

Nevertheless, with the advancement of medicine and healthcare services more and more people pass way while or after receiving medical attention. The deceased are usually surrounded or are being looked after by close family members or relatives in health centers and hospitals. And, dealing with death in hospitals, since it is a communal facility, become a complicated scenario. Added to that is the cultural dimension of taking death quite hard in Ethiopia.

The sudden passing away of patients in hospitals is usually a difficult situation to handle both for medical professionals and family members as the responsibility of the local community to cushion the shock of the news of death fall on medical professionals. It is not an easy responsibility to say the least. And, it is a definitely daunting challenge in a society like Ethiopia where the culture of grief could be quite extreme at best.   

Daniel Tadesse (MD), a young doctor at the Black Lion Hospital, believes that the practice is very critical to handle the feeling of disappointment in losing a patient and inform close family members that the patient under their care has passed away.

The situation is so intense that it is usually depicted in many Hollywood films where the doctor uses what looks to be well-rehearsed phrases like “we did everything we could,” “the problem was too deep..,” “it was just their time..” to break bad news. According to Daniel, in many countries there are protocols and guidelines that are observed while communicating the bad news. As such they are also part of the learning textbooks. Nevertheless, Daniel says that guidelines could never fully prepare a medical professional for the real time situations. In fact, he argues that the guidelines are not meant to address the details of this highly emotional situation; they somehow offer a basic concept of communication.

Through the practice, Daniel came to find out how the textbook guidelines and the real-time situation are worlds apart from one another. The textbook addresses how to disclose unfavorable information especially to those who are diagnosed with terminal health complications such as cancer; which also needs a sensitive way of passing on the information, providing support to the patient and eliciting the patient’s collaboration in developing a strategy or treatment plan for the future.

 The tricky part, according to Daniel, is when patients are in an advanced stages of health complications and treatment options are bleak at best. “Now, it becomes a real dilemma,” he says. For instance, in case of cancer patients, we (in Ethiopia) cannot offer an option of timely chemotherapy or transplant; we don’t have such facilities. “The only ‘consoling’ advice we can give to them is to get a medical treatment abroad if they can afford it,” Daniel says. The real dilemma for Daniel is how to give hope when there is little that can support such assertions.

 Some doctors believe that relating such bad news is nothing but damaging to patients. As far as Daniel is concerned revealing how much long a patient has to live in case of a grave prognosis is another daunting undertaking. He says he rather prefers to use the phrase “you have a short time to live”. If they are minors the news is better related to parents, he believes.

“Sometimes, when a patient is showing no improvement some families would prefer to take them home because of the financial burden,” Daniel says. But there are always miracles in medicine and nothing can be a cut and dry case, according to him, and disclosing the conditions to families is always a dilemma since the family could pre-empt and give up on the patient.  

While breaking news about a terminal disease is a tormenting experience, breaking news of death is what is more emotional for Daniel. One of the cases he remembers is a young man, 34 years of age, who came to the hospital to get treatment for an infection contracted while changing a car tire. The infection was so fatal which forced the doctors to admit him into surgery, Daniel remembers. “After the surgery, his situation started to get much worse, his blood pressure was getting low and he was too weak to respond to the machine or drugs; his body simply gave up,” he narrates. His sister was following his case attentively so Daniel has to gently break the news. He remembers telling her, “We did everything we could. I am really sorry but your brother has passed away,” expecting a frantic mourning and agony.

But her response is something he never forgets since it sent a shockwaves across his spines. “Uncharacteristically, she thanked us for our tireless effort and sobbed slowly and left to tell the news to the other family members,” Daniel recalled. “She was even assisting us in buying medicines which are not available in the hospital. And his death was quite sudden even for us. I did not expect her to take it calmly while the response of the other family members was quite the contrast,” adds Daniel. In fact, Daniel remembers the effect was more crashing to him that he was very emotional and went into a room to cry briefly.

The case takes a different turn with HIV patients, Daniel says. According to him, what makes things more complicated is HIV-positive patients usually keep their conditions very discrete such as even their close family members would not be made aware of their situation. Under such conditions, if patient passes away family members suspect that medical malpractice and that death is caused by health professional. “There are many instances where the family frankly blames the doctors. If the family does not know the patient’s case or if the death is sudden they don’t take it well,” Daniel says.

Though breaking any bad news is not easier, things are relatively better when it comes to patients who have been admitted in the hospital for a long time and the family is aware about the day-to-day process, according to Daniel.

In principle doctors are advised not to be emotionally attached to their patients; but Daniel says it is easier said than done. With his first assignment as an intern in the Jimma University Hospital he had to break the news of a dying patient, who was a five-year-old boy. “It was one of the most emotional moments for me and I cried for hours, Daniel recalls.

“There are many patients who are hospital.sed for years and definitely a relationship of some sort would emerge through time. “ Such patients would stop addressing you as doctor. Rather they call you by your name as you start to familiarize yourself with them. You can’t avoid attachment,” Daniel says.

Twelve years after, the passing away of his mother is still vivid in the mind of Tewodros Belete (name changed). While many people press on him the importance of forgetting it, he still dwells on her memory. “A symbol of humility, strength and persistence,” he says describing her. The love for his mother is deeply engraved. In that unfortunate morning he had breakfast together with his mother and his two brothers. He headed to his office but after a couple of hours he received a phone call from her workplace, Tikur Anbassa Hospital, informing him his mother is in critical condition. “My heart jumped and I thought it was a car accident,” Tewodros says.

Walking on the stairs he was faced with sobbing nurses but he did not want to think about the worst. So he headed to the Intensive Care Unit.  He met up with a nurse who is his mother’s friend. “I asked her what is going on. She said she had died,” Tewodros says emotionally.

He could not control his emotion. So he fell on the chair. The suddenness of her death shocked him but also the way he is told might have been dangerous for him.  “What if I jump off the building?” he questions. “I still remember the tone of the nurse’s voice but I guess there is no easy way to tell me that I have lost my mother. Maybe it was better if I was sitting,” Tewodros contemplated.

Trained in US, the founder of Saint Yared Hospital, Akeza Teame (PhD), does not hide the fact that communicating bad news to an Ethiopian is quite difficult. In the US, following simple guidelines or procedures was enough to accomplish the task. Akeza says the patients have the right to know in detail about their case and to take part in the discussion of their possible treatment plan in the US. Although there are anxiety and uncertainties there as well, there are psychiatrists to offer help in getting through this process. According to Akeza they are even given an estimation of how long they had to live. Akeza says that for dying patients there is a multi-disciplinary approach on how to make the end comfortable.

In Ethiopia, it is not advisable to communicate specifically how long the patient has to live since the emotional reaction is highly counterproductive. He remembers having a cancer patient who did not want to hear any bad news. “He was in denial and we could not communicate with him though, finally, he was able to come to terms with his death,” Akeza remembers.

With the shortage of medicine, medical equipment, and the gap of information about diseases, Akeza says it is not easy to be completely transparent. When it comes to breaking news of the death especially for a long-time admitted patients, preparation is a critical step, he argues.

“What we do is we give them a realistic expectation on the situation of the patients. If they are updated in every step of the way, their expectation does not get high,” Akeza says.

The news becomes difficult for the family members who were far away and, according to Akeza, the situation completely turns into accusing the health practitioners. “We do not take these accusations personally because we understand the complexity of human emotion,” he says.

Akeza says he has designed a procedure to break bad news to patients in Saint Yared Hospital. They have arranged a designated room for such purposes as many people faint, break chairs or windows while dealing with the news. He had incidents where family members passing out and taken to the emergency room; some who shattered glass windows and some who fell to the ground and sustain damages. “Death is very difficult but in Ethiopia it is highly traumatizing,” Akeza says.

Breaking the news of a sudden death is even more very difficult, according to Akeza. Two years ago, he remembers, a neighbor child had a car accident. Though he knew she had no chance of surviving, he let her be admitted to the hospital. Finally, the girl died. “How can you break the news? Is there any way which makes it easier? It creates a scar that cannot be healed. This clearly shows the limitation of science,” Akeza says.

Nevertheless, there are those who attest to a really bad handling of loss of patients by health professionals. Feker Belay, who lost his sister four years ago, is a witness to that. He remembers that on the eve of her death, the family was told to go home and that only one family member was allowed to stay with her. Feker understood the situation might get worse and volunteered to be the one. By his accounts, his sister passed away while he was sitting next to her. Having learned about the situation, the doctors and nurses rushed into the room and pushed him out. ‘They told me she was dead and for me to go away so that they should care for the corpse,” Feker says, “Forget consoling! They pushed me out of the room saying that I was interfering with their job”.

Believing there is a gap of communication between patient and doctor and also doctors to families, a senior cancer specialist, Bogale Solomon (MD), says that there has to be psychiatrists’ involvement to make the situation smoother. He says there is no guideline in breaking bad news; rather what they developed is individualizing the situation.

According to a Master’s thesis entitled “The role of communication in cancer consultations; an exploratory study of doctor-patient-family caregiver communication in Uganda and Ethiopia”, authored by Jennifer Mansson and Bethelhem Girma of the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, doctors experience challenges associated with the influx of patients, language barriers, illiteracy levels, lack of cancer awareness, inabilities/ unwillingness of patients and family caregivers to ask questions. Apart from that, lack of communication skills by doctors is seen as the main problem and the thesis recommends doctors to get communication skills training to be equipped with the skills needed to succeed when communicating with patients and their family caregivers.

The holiday season upon them, Christmas shoppers have come out in number to one of the oldest and biggest markets in the capital—Mercato. Nevertheless, underneath the holiday shopping commotion, Mercato is exhibiting another dynamic: a process that is set in motion by the drive to transform Mercato and small vendors who struggle to find their place, writes Henok Reta.    

A city within a city. Better yet, a community within a community. If there is one place that can bear this name proudly in Addis Ababa, it is Mercato. Once dubbed the largest open marketplace in the continent, Mercato has a very important place in the social fabric of the city. For one, the first thing that comes to mind when an Addis Ababa in is planning to do a major shopping is Mercato.

The area is said to be establish by segregationist policies of the Italian occupational government to serve as a marketplace during the Italian occupation, when it was called Mercato Indigino – market of the indigenous. The intention was to marginalize the local marketers from the center of the city, Arada Giorgis, which the Italians called Piazza and where they opened shops for their convenience.

They say Mercato is a place where everything except a human being is up for sale; and it is the place for the best price bargain that one can imagine to get in Addis Ababa.

Business is done uniquely in Mercato. There are products lying on every narrow ally and street of Mercato as much as there are in the big well-structured shops. Insiders say mostly there is little difference in quality between goods on the streets and those in shops. And there is a small matter of paying proper taxes and the associated pricing of the products.

If it is your first time to Mercato, you would be definitely surprised or even confused to be asked what kind of product you buy or if a complete stranger who has nothing but his phone on him making you an offer on certain products. Yes, this is another unique feature of Mercato, a gang of brokers and commission agents who are fighting with street vendors to snatch away potential customers. In fact, this is the legal shops’ way of responding to the stiff competition that is coming from the street vendors.

Legalities aside, the street sale in Mercato has been the single most reason why the market was accorded the largest open market status. But, Merctao has been undergoing a major transformation in the past few years. A lot has to do with the government’s push to legalize and control the multi-million birr trading that is going on in Mercato on a daily basis. Now, high-rise malls and marketplaces being constructed in Mercato are changing the face of this old market for good.       

Amidst holiday shopping spree this week, The Reporter observed that small street vendors, although struggling, are still trying to stay visible in Mercato. “We can never find a place like Merkato to sell our goods,” says Engidaw Melaku, 23, who came from Gojjam in search of better life.

Engidaw sells household utensils in several places in the capital. He is among the group of vendors who don’t have specific resting place but they disposed of their goods by roming the inner streets of Addis Ababa. He has done some sort of on-foot, house-to-house sale business, and he has been doing that for the past three years. But, he never goes out of Mercato when a holiday approaches. “Everybody is here in Merkato; so who should I deliver to at home,” he asks jokingly. Despite the transformation that is slowly changing Mercato, small businesses operated by street vendors like Engidaw still have a place to stop and sell their goods. Hundreds of these street vendors or the minnows of Mercato are far from being stable, however. Most of them sell their items at temporary stations that may be under big shopping malls or department stores. Well, that is until they are chased away by security officers wielding black rubber sticks.

These vendors are considered to be illegally snatching the business the tax-paying traders should have made inside the buildings. “They are robbers… they are source of robbery and pick pocketing,” pronounced a security officer. Nonetheless, unlike the officers many people still would like to keep the vendors around, and mostly because of the price of the item they carry. “I usually buy small things like kitchen knives, spoons, chopsticks and plates from these vendors,” Alemye Tsegu, a housewife says.

In fact, the vendors are really minnows compared with multi-million retail and wholes business that goes on in Mercato. They, however, get their fair share of the profit from every single good they sell. Above all, their penny-driven tiny market gives undeniable warmth to the entire market up. Their louder voices calling on buyers in the vast market adds a unique ambiance to Mercato.

Most vendors do this every day for about ten hours. “I don’t get tired. I have been doing this on a daily basis for years, since my young age,” Ahmedin Tugi, 21, a vendor in Mercato told The Reporter. For a young man like Ahmedin, who supports nine members of his family through street vending, life outside of Mercato would be something impossible. “I can’t bring myself to think of it even though I know that we are running out of space here,” he says. In his small insole and shoelace store he set up beneath a building around bombtera (loosely translated to mean bomb market), Ahmedin thrives slowly. “Many people including my relatives and kebele officials, have told me that I would have no place in Mercato after a while, but I can’t accept it,” he replied boldly.

Although many young people make business in Mercato during the holiday season, there are also considerable number of elders, women and small children chasing after penny as street vendors. From the tiny stores that hold common salt or paper to the bigger one stuffed with butter, cheese and cooking oil, the jumbled market is owned by different individuals who patiently await their fate which would probably kick them out from Mercato.

Around bombtera where beauty products and decorations are usually sold a number of vendor cater to holiday shoppers selling Christmas ornaments and decorations imported from China. With a price ranging from 400 birr to 3500 birr fancy and iconic Christmas trees lead the market attracting many buyers. “I sell this [2 meter long tree] for 1600, this [desktop tree] for 400 and that [3 meter long tree] for 3500,” explains Shikur, who temporarily placed his items at the veranda of an old building where hundreds of shops are rented for prices as high as 50,000 birr a month. “We pay quite expensive rent for such very small space. Additionally, the outside vendors over the veranda stop many of our visitors entering here,” Momina, one of the shop owners, says. However, she feels their significance presence in making the market spurred particularly in such a holiday season.

As part of the initiative to make Mercato a modern marketplace, housing big shopping malls and mega stores, the shabby alleyways and backstreets are being demolished. But this work is never easy as the vast market is complexly intertwined with residential areas. So far, several sloms lined with disfigured and falling houses have been cleared and converted into sites for well-erected buildings with hundreds of rooms inside; but the entire process of transforming the ramshackle surrounding of Mercato into a fashionable and modern marketplace has been slow for various reasons.

According to an official who previously spoke to The Reporter, the land in Mercato is regulated as per the urban land lease regulation and, for ten years now, the government is working on transforming the traditional market system into a modern marketplace. This requires transferring the land to the investors who will develop it on lease, says Yidenek Andualem, compensation estimation and replacement clerk at Addis Ketema District Administration Land Development Management Office. Then those who have to relocate will be compensated as per the estimation on their properties.

Yet the renewal process has another problem to tackle since many people who have been trading in the shanty districts are unwilling to leave their settlement which they have inherited from their forefathers. According to an old woman who sells sieves, leaving her plot even for better location is unthinkable.

Home to hundreds, who make a living by selling every item they can get their hands on, from a used good to newly made or stolen ones, Mercato is also a place where many blacksmiths, potters and weaver base their entire operation and livelihood. It is safe to say that for many in Mercato, who are facing relocation, compensation is not the only issue.

The administration, on the other hand, states that when decisions are made to renew trade centers like Mercato, things like the standard of services required, the nature of trade and customers, and the image of the place are considered. When one loses his or her land because of renewal, they have the right to get 25 square meters as replacement in the same locality.

Given that people are willing to be transformed with the market, Mercato, some have a mixed feeling about the whole thing.  For a person like Alemye, a shopper, these are the people who make Mercato what it is. She says the street vendors  are the ones who make the market look alive, unique and this holiday season is the perfect observe of that, she concludes.

Handicraft has been a traditional pastime for Ethiopian mothers for many years. But, it is much more than a hobby, many claim. So much so that the art of the craftsmanship has been passed on from generation to generation as a household value. Nevertheless, with loss of interest in the younger generation and the increasing commercialization of the handcrafted goods, the art seems to be leaving the households and is going out to the mainstream business world, writes Tibebeselassie Tigabu.

Decades ago, a unique trend in the urban interior designing in Ethiopia was the unusual presence of a kitchen cabinet in a middle of the living room, which Ethiopians affectionately call a buffet. The kitchen cabinet was not the only thing that served its decorative purpose in an Ethiopian living room. In fact, a range of kitchenware that includes exotic looking china and silverware are prominent members of an Ethiopian household.

Culturally, Ethiopians hardly employ the use of a ceramic dining plate or silverware. To the contrary, the most traditional food in Ethiopia is consumed by hand. So, what is an actual kitchenware for the rest of the world was an exotic decorative item in Ethiopia and its place is in the prime room of the house— the living room.            

This trend of a living room buffet is becoming outdated these days; the living quarter in Addis Ababa and other urban centers these days more or less resemble those elsewhere.

What is more interesting is to go a little bit back from the era of the buffet and find out what decorative items were used in a living room. Yes, thinking in this direction, one cannot miss the graceful living room dining table know as the mesob.

The mesob is a handmade dining table with its own lid cover. It is completely made out of a straw and it comes in different designs and artistic features. The mesob also has its own hand-woven cloth cover where amazing design and craftsmanship is displayed.

The cover is from the family of traditional hand-woven Ethiopia cloth and is marked with elaborate patterns and bright colors which are discernible in other household items such as pillow covers, runners, table settings, bedspreads and the like.

Come to think about it, craftsmanship has been a way of life for centuries. Starting from out fits, house decorative objects and kitchen utensils all were made completely by hand. The artisanal handicraft was deeply engraved among the society, and it was not among those who do it professionally; rather random individuals possessed the knowledge of weaving, knitting, pottery, basketry, and gardening as it was passed on from generation to generation.

Chekolu Belete, 55, spent most of her lifetime doing handicraft especially processing cottonwear. Though it looks to be outdated in the urban areas, her inzirt, an instrument she uses to thread the cotton, is always on her hand. If it is not inzirt, other knitting wire like needle and thread is always around her.

 Though she has been a civil servant for more than 30 years, her handcraftware is her favorite hobby.

It was a knowledge that was passed on from her mother, whom, Chekolu calls a modern-day renaissance woman who prepares everything the family needs from edible oil and cereal flour to herbal medicine and clothing in the house.

Growing up Chekolu took the knowledge of handicraft from her late mother and the surrounding community. Apart from that, during her childhood handicraft were an integral part of the educational system.

Together with her sisters, they learned how to separate the seed from the cotton and making it soft and fluffy, and then ready to be threaded and learn how to use inzirt as a spinning wheel to make a yarn. She reminisces how many of the neighborhood girls used to carry inzirt. It was part of their daily life to knit sweaters, scarves, and decorate the house with colorful embroidery of famous quotes from the bible.

Even as a working mother, she spent her time making a bed-spread cover, table settings, pillow covers and also colorful mesobs. In her neighborhood, she was known for a distinctive feature and highly elaborates patterns of her embroidery work. She concentrated and took her time to make beautiful designs. She does not hide how time-consuming it is though. Drawing complicated intrinsic designs on the cloths and sewing that using a thread and needle of various colors is a laborious activity, Chekolu says. Her production was never for sale. “Many knew how to do embroidery and so I didn’t think I could make money using that,” Chekolu says.

Now her sight is getting weaker. So she does not engage in complicated patterns. “I was born at a time when handicraft did not make money. Now, I see people getting paid thousands of birr for a piece of embroidery on a cloth,” Chekolu says. However, many argue that these days handcraftsmanship is going through a process of merchandising. Traditional handmade items are becoming commodities with high market value; now the craft is there for the monetarily value it drives. Yet again, many argue this trend is not unique to Ethiopia; rather the commodification of the creative process is a global phenomenon.

With increasing market value for handcrafted goods, handcraftsmanship looks to be taking a firm hold; but this is not so with regard to the its practice as a hobby. And, the reflection of this trend is everywhere. For one, handcraft was part of the formal education curriculum in Ethiopia for many years. Back then, students were taught how to use their hand and creative mind. In fact, the handcraft subject was about harnessing the creative mind of students with a piece of cloth, straw or even a piece of wood. The old curriculum, in fact, was heavily invested in handcraft. 

Belay Kebede, a young student under the old curriculum, remembers how handcraft used to be the core element of the school curriculum back then. Now, reflecting back, introducing handicraft, home economics and agriculture to students gave him a unique insight to have everyday problem-solving ability and the understanding of the materials of economies, culture and the environment.

One of the main topics was handicraft which incorporates a wide range of creative and design activities including work with thread, textiles, moldable and rigid materials, paper, plant, fibers and thread.

Belay lights up when he remembers a lamp made of horn or a hand-woven headscarf from his school days. Though their handicraft class was based on gender binary definition there were those who pushed the boundary. According to Belay, the women were keen to knit, do embroidery, or make kitchen utensils or decorative items using straw.

The boys sharpen wood, make the design to make stools, practice pottery to make coffee pot chambers, cooking stove made of clay which also incorporates the option of electricity among other things, Belay recalls.

Was that important in their lives? “Of course it was,” Belay says passionately.  Even then, we made kacha (a rope that is made from the remnants of enset tree) for our scout club members,” Belay says.

According to Belay, the kebeles assigns a specific land for the youth and the women who want to participate in handicraft and agriculture.

Nevertheless, during the introduction of the new educational curriculum, subjects such as handicraft were discarded from the primary schooling system.

Yodit Adane, 24, passed through the new school curriculum and did not get to learn handicraft. Rather she developed an interest in looking after her mother who had a small group of friends who make small income from handicraft. Her mother started teaching her on weekends while she was in high school. She was taught the basics of how to process cotton and knit, “It was important for my mother; so being the only child, it was a way to relate to my mother in things that matter to her the most,” Yodit says.

One of the knitting projects she worked with her mother, a cushion decorators with a color of black, red, yellow and green, was called Tsehay Gebat, Yodit recalls. Named after one of the military missions during the Ethio-Eritra war, Tsehay Gebat was one of the most popular knitting styles during that time. Yodit seems to have forgotten the craft for quite some time before reviving it three years ago. She had a lot of spare time. So she started making jewelry and continued with the knitting. “It was therapeutic and a way of communicating with my mother,” Yodit says. 

According to a research entitled, “The Education and Training Policy and Its Implementation” by the Ministry of Education, the proclaimed strength of the old curriculum is highly overrated. It argued that it paid a mere lip-service to the importance of handicraft but did not deliver on the rhetoric. The research continues to argue by saying that the old system did not help students to develop or cultivate practical and vocational skills in practical terms.

However, students who passed through the old school system, such as Helina Debebe, oppose this idea. Rather, she believes the introduction of the subjects such as handicraft from the 3rd grade onwards widens pupils’ horizon by adding imagination and creativity. Though it is not part of her adult life, she believes the exercise was good, “It definitely expands your imagination,” Helina says.

Though some people make sure that tradition of handicraft gets passed on to their beloved ones, in case of Helina, it did not have managed to pass to her since she did not have the interest. Looking back, she understands the relevance of this subject; which is improving group work. Most of these activities were grouped based and she believes it increases the group spirit.

With no longer a mainstay of a formal curriculum, many of the young urban students lost the technique of knitting a sweater, decorating the house with piece of cloth or making colorful straws. This is not necessarily a bad thing, for Dilamo Ottore, Head of Addis Ababa Education Bureau. He says the new education curriculum was necessary so that students learn in accordance with potential and needs.

According to Dilamo, the curriculum was designed to provide basic education and integrate knowledge at various levels of vocational training. He does not believe that these subject matters were omitted altogether. He argues that many of the subjects in the primary level were rather reintegrated into the system under different subjects in vocational training stream: agriculture, industrial arts, commerce and home science construction, basic bookkeeping, apprenticeship. But, he admits that many of the vocational graduates do not seem to be involved or interested in producing handcrafted goods.

In contemporary Addis Ababa, apart from commercial weavers in kechene and Shiromeda, most of the popular handicraft are confined to organizations which are established for a purpose of charity. Going to churchil area or some touristic places, one can notice almost many of the handcraft are not from Ethiopia. Rather they are imported from neighboring countries such as Kenya. Those mesobs that are served as dining table are downgraded in exotic elements to touristic restaurants.

These days, weddings in Addis Ababa are best explained as being extravagant. The whole process is at times consuming way over a million birr. The traditional wedding activities are slowly fading into oblivion and new trends are creeping in with most of it copied from Western cultures and being customized to fit the Ethiopian audience, writes Tibebeselassie Tigabu.

Gelila Dereje describes her wedding as a dream-like experience. She vividly remembers the details of her bridal shower that happened two months ago. She had dinner plans with her bridesmaids but when she reached her house she was welcomed by a decorated room and a group of women shouting”surprise”.

Attired in light green shirt and black pants, Gelila was surprised by her bridal shower. Though it was not a surprise in its truest sense of the word, she says that tears filled her eyes. She frequently expressed her desire to have a bridal shower and her friends did it without notifying her the date. Their worries for detail proved to her that they cared.

A wedding song by Dawit Tsige that was playing when she entered the room was a very emotional moment for the bride-to-be. Their T-shirt had pictures of the groom and the bride from their outdoor photo shoots; the cake also depicted them. This was an exclusive event reserved only for women, which includes the bridesmaids, close friends and women relatives. The whole setup together with the music created an overwhelming vibe. That was when they had the idea of having a rehearsal dance in a group.

They studied the steps of 'Fall in Love' by D’banji from Nigeria and Abinet Agonafer’s ‘Alemish Zare New’ by watching You Tube videos.

There was laughter all around but the main topics of the day included when the couple were planing to have a baby, the role of being a wife, the challenges of handling drunken husbands, and the issue with in-laws. During the course of the evening, the men were called where they gave the bride-to-be gifts. They slaughtered sheep and there was more alcohol.

In Western culture a bridal shower is a gift-giving ceremony by women held for the bride-to-be in celebration of her wedding.

Customizing the concept of the western bridal shower, Ethiopians have added new elements that are now becoming an urban trend of pre-wedding festivities. The custom of dowry, tilosh (showering the bride to be with numerous gift) is fading out and new urban cultures are taking over.

Now, romantic proposals, bridal showers, bachelors’ parties, dance trainings, and rehearsals are incorporated into urban wedding ceremonies. And when looking at current trend these elements are what people consider to be a lavish and modern wedding.

These modern weddings do not come cheap. Daniel Tilahun, a groomsman, at first thought that a suit and car rental would be the only costs. What Daniel did not know was that there was a bachelors’ party and that they were required to attend dance classes. The idea of a bachelors’ party was not new to Daniel but he did not know what the Ethiopian version would turn out to be. The preparation started by renting a three-storey guest house for only one night which cost 4,000 birr. Not only that. They were also required to put in a security deposit of about two thousand birr.

There was no formal invitation sent out. Rather, friends were phoned and invited. Various brands of alcohol were purchased and a caterer was hired. Additionally, they hired a local barman to prepare an aperitif (a relatively strong cocktail) which according to Daniel was the highlight of the night. Daniel says that many of the guests were not interested in consuming the whiskey, gin or vodka and everybody wanted to have the aperitif. In addition, they hired a full set of sound system with a DJ.

Though the groom-to-be knew about the bachelors’ party the organizers kept him in the dark regarding the date, venue and other details.

“Many of them were familiar with the idea of having a bachelors’ party. I think they had thrown bachelor parties for their friends before. So it was easy to put the whole thing together,” Daniel says.

According to Daniel, there were no strippers at the party. “The whole concept was a get-together, get drunk, have fun and mingle. The party started and there was a campfire, food, music and drinks. People were also smoking cigars as part of the celebration. When having a party, accidents are bound to happen and in that regard a couple of tables were smashed. Around midnight the party cooled down and many of the attendants wanted to go out to nightclubs.

“It was a very memorable night. But, unfortunately we were not able to claim our security deposit since we had damaged some properties,” Daniel says.

The pre-wedding preparation continued with dance trainings. For almost a month the groomsmen headed twice a week to Bailamos Lounge to study dance techniques so that they can do one choreographed dance at the wedding ceremony. “Since some of them already knew how to move, we were teaching one another,” Daniel says.

The whole event was orchestrated by a wedding protocol. He guided them in every step of the way from the very start up to the end.

 “I felt like it was a performance and that we were training for a big show,” Daniel says.

Finally, the wedding day arrived – the day when their dancing skills would be tested. There was a waltz dance performance with Michael Belayneh’s song and right before the cake-cutting ceremony they started doing their choreographed performance. Half way into the dance, the audience joined  them and that resulted in overcrowding the stage. “It was not possible for us to dance since people were stepping on us,” Daniel says laughing.

The concept of having a choreographed dance at weddings is taking Addis Ababa by storm and the uploaded You Tube videos of various weddings are witness to that.

With these choreographed moves, Tadesse Gebre, a.k.a. Jackson, a renowned dancer and choreographer, takes the credit. He used to give private choreography classes four years ago. Since the demand  had escalated, the private class was not enough. So he opened a training school in the Megenagna area on the second floor of Marathon Building. His main focus is training dance for health purposes and recently the number of brides who want to lose weight and learn dancing skills is increasing. “There are health professionals at this school. So the trainings can be supported by professional health experts,” Tadesse says.

One of the dance styles that are taught is Zouk. Though this dance originated in the Caribbean, Jackson mixed it with Amharic songs. He improvises the dance with his own styles that is suitable for Ethiopian audience. Apart from that, he gives trainings on waltz. “Many people assume that they can dance waltz. Holding each other and moving randomly does not make it waltz. It has its own guidelines,” Tadesse says.

When it comes to music he follows the choice of the brides and the grooms. Looking at the pattern, Tadesse says that with the diversity of their ethnic groups the songs they choose also differ. According to him, many of his customers come to him to train for a couple of weeks but what he advises is that they should at least take a month-long training. Tadesse says that there are good dancers who synchronize with the music. However, there are the nervous ones who constantly sweat and are totally scared of dancing. Since practice makes their skills better, he advises them to have longer trainings.

If there are requests, he also engineers the whole event, including music choice, sitting arrangement and dance intervals.

In addition to the brides, who want to take lessons on various dance techniques, there are others who come to lose weight. “One of the challenges is that on the one hand they want their belly fat to decrease but say that their thighs should remain the same. This is kind of difficult,” Tadesse says.

According to him, some of them were able to attain their goal while many of them are not dedicated enough to finish their trainings. Women want to have a beautiful figure especially on their wedding day. So with this is mind many brides worry about how they are going to look on that day. They go the extra mile to look beautiful and losing weight is one of them.

Amsal Baye, a bride-to-be, planned a workout and diet strategy to lose weight around her abdominal area. One of her brides-maids also wanted to change her eating habit and started to exercise. This was a priority for them. Her wedding was scheduled on September 2015 so in August she started massive a workout at Bole Rock. For a month she run on the treadmill for a couple of hours a day and swam persistently.

After a month she lost eight kilograms. But that came with a price. She started feeling pain in her knee areas. When she consulted a doctor he told her that the activities she was doing is too much and it was putting pressure on her knees. “He told me that one cannot lose years of accumulated body fat in a very short period of time,” Amsal says.

Her wedding was postponed because of family issues and was rescheduled for mid-February this year. She took a break for some time when she regained more weight. Now it has become a serious concern. Since she is the first child for her mother, they are planning a lavish wedding which needs a very detailed planning. Her biggest plan is to lose weight – at least five kilograms. So why is it so important for her to lose weight? She answers by saying, “Having chubby cheeks and neck does not look good on photos and because of my weight I look older than my fiancé,” Amsal says.

With three weeks left for her wedding, she wants to consult a nutritionist so that she can lose the five kilograms. She now has an appointment with an expert for next week.

In an attempt to cater to the demand, there are posters in Addis that advertise weight loss for brides in a short time. The un becming over-sized people is also becoming another issue. Many brides openly say that they do not want a fat bridesmaid. So many of them became extremely conscious and sensitive when it came to the size of their body. An expert in the field, Zelalem Debebe (MD), owner of Balance Health Nutrition and Biodietetic Center, says that most of her customers are women.

Though she does not know their specific reason behind the concept of losing weight, the numbers are increasing. Focusing on food, she advises them on the making, the content and the portion of the food they eat. Some of them, who actually want change instantly, do not continue their program while others lose up to six kilograms within three months. Her biggest job is to guide them so that they can continue having a healthy eating habit. Amsal is also planning to see Zelalem to lose the five kilograms.

Hip-hop, as music and culture was  formed during the 1970s when block parties became increasingly popular in New York City, particularly among African-American youth residing in the Bronx. Block parties incorporated DJs, who played popular genres of music, especially funk and soul music. The music later on gave rise to phenomenal artistes like Tupac, Snoop Dogg and Eminem. In Ethiopia the music became popular among the urban youth from the mid-1990s and the early 2000s. And now a few Ethiopian rappers are trying to make it in the Ethiopian music charts, writesTibebeselassie Tigabu.

The well-known feud in hip-hop history caused the tragic death of two American hip-hop giants; Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. The prolific rappers were born less than a year apart. Tupac was based in Los Angeles on the west coast, while Biggie is a rapper from New York in the east.

The vendetta between the east and west coast factions was raised by lyrical provocations from Biggie entitled “Who Shot Ya?” and Tupac's “Hit Em' Up”. Eventually, the antagonistic musical back and forth emerged and gradually escalated. The media became heavily involved in their spat, labeling it a coastal rap war and reporting on it continuously, which in turn caused fans to take sides.

Matters really intensified once Tupac was shot and killed in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Notorious B.I.G. was also fatally shot, which resulted in the escalation of the east coast and west coast feud. This phenomenon changed the hip-hop industry.

Thousands of miles away from the east vs. west coast hip-hop scene there was a surprising dispute between Tupac and B.I.G. Supporters in Addis Ababa. One of the incidents was at Cotton Club found in Ghion Hotel.

Lij Michael, a rapper formerly known as “Crazy”, was present when the incident happened. According to Lij Michael, hip-hop fans were divided among the east and west line. It was common to see rappers gesticulate west coast and east coast signs or say “east coast for life”. They are attired in glittery wrist wears, neck chains and baggy pants. The west coast fans reveled when the DJ played Tupac’s “California Love” while the east coast supporters stood on the side, circling them. Lij Michael remembers the scene when the venue changed into a battlefield when Biggie’s music “Who Shot Ya?” was played.

They rushed to the dance floor shoving Tupac's fans. The dancing scene completely turned into a fight. The bouncers had to intervene to break the fight, “We were teenagers and it was easy to control the situation,” Lij Michael says.

With hip-hop getting millions of new fans from all over the world, Addis hip-hop lovers are also swayed by the wave of the genre. This led to the establishment of hip-hop groups such as Mad Boyz, Habesha Phenomenon and ABC.

One of the founders of ABC, Lij Michael, recalls the outset of Ethiopian hip-hop. His love for rap came while listening to the beats of Tupac Shakur, B.I.G., Jermaine Dupri, Ludacris, Dr. Dre, Kurupt and Puff Daddy (P-Diddy).

Lij Michael's rapping career started with MCing and playing famous tunes. Though there were no big venues, they were fortunate enough to perform at school carnivals and day parties that were held at Lion and You Go clubs.

The youth were being attracted by hip-hop music in venues such as Rock Bottom and Marathon, which also provided stages for upcoming hip-hop artists. With the youth embracing the new culture, it became synonymous with the young urban demographic.

According to Lij Michael, hip-hop’s negativity weighed down. It was associated with vulgarity, crime and gun violence so it was highly denounced. The outfits of the upcoming rappers, which include kangol hats, saggy pants, loose clothes and layers of neck chains, was hammered by the society. In addition, in relation to mainstream hip-hop which glorified violence and crime, hip-hop in Ethiopia suffered because it did not get an opportunity for conscious hip-hop. This was caused not only by the negative portrayal of hip-hop and the lifestyle of rappers in the West. Lij Michael says that young Ethiopian rappers have also contributed to that.

“We were mimicking their lyrics and lifestyle failing to comprehend the society we are living in,” Lij Michael comments.

In Ethiopia most people do not know how hip-hop started or the political preachers behind the movement such as The Last Poets, Gill Scott Heron and Public Enemy. With their politically charged raps, taut rhythms, and dedication to raising African-American consciousness, The Last Poets almost single-handedly laid the groundwork for the emergence of hip-hop.

Conscious rap tracks focused on poverty, violence and the dreadful lives of the urban poor.

Rappers like Run-D.M.C., Saul Williams, Dead Prez, The Roots, Talib Kweli were also considered as social activists. Even confrontational tracks by N.W.A. such as “F*** Tha Police” was created out of this context. One example is an event which was organized by the British Council entitled “Words and Pictures”. The event brought Ethiopian hip-hop artistes and made them improvise the beat of the song by changing it into “I Shot My Uncle”. 

In many countries such as Senegal, hip-hop was able to impact politics by becoming the voice for the urban poor. A documentary entitled “African Underground: Democracy in Dakar” depicts hip-hop’s role in the political process. The film examines the controversial 2007 presidential election and how the rappers were a threat to the then President Abdoulaye Wade with significant socio political commentaries exposing issues found within poor communities.

Coming to the Ethiopian context, hip-hop could not become a voice for the disenfranchised youth of impoverished areas. Lij Michael says that it could not reflect the social, economic and political realities of their lives.

In a society where talking about sex is taboo, the Ethiopian hip-hop artistes chose to sing sexually explicit lyrics with derogatory terms. “That was disrespectful to the society,” Lij Michael says.

Jukebox The Illustrious, another rapper who grew up listening to his grandmother's expressions, says that apart from the introduction of mainstream rap, the language barrier challenged hip-hop not to be embraced by the people. Introduced to hip-hop at a young age, for him hip-hop was a platform to pass socially relevant and substantial messages. Apart from the societal relevance, writing lyrics and rhyming in his room helped him escape the isolation he felt when he was in college in Texas.

He rediscovered his talent by going through the works of poets, spoken word artists and painters. Renowned for his deep sound his admiration for Tupac is deep. Nas, B.I.G., Guru and Dr. Dre have also made a lasting impression on him. “Ethiopians are really quick to dismiss anything that we don’t consider Ethiopian,” Jukebox says.

“I am proud of my Ethiopian heritage and I should learn more about my culture but that does not prohibit me from understanding the rest of the world,” he says.

The youth attended the performances of Ethiopian rappers for a while but later on  the venues disappeared. The music producers did not want to produce the albums so the rappers could not make a living out of it so they were forced to retreat. They believe that hip-hop could not integrate into Ethiopian culture.

For Lij Michael, rappers take the lion's share of the responsibility. As a rapper who struggled for more than ten years, he says that he had to re-think hip-hop. Releasing a successful album entitled “Zare Yihun Nege” he says that he has brought radical change in his music. He completely changed the content of the lyrics and sang in Amharic to add Ethiopian color to it.

He says that he had to take some time to study and analyze what went wrong. It took him three years and it finally paid off as it became a commercially successful album. He says that he was able to show a glimpse of what hip-hop can be by breaking the stereotypes.

Hip-hop is being negatively overshadowed and he thinks there is a long way to go in changing the misconception. He strongly believes that Ethiopian hip-hop artists have to adopt hip-hop and Ethiopianize it. This includes translating the name, hip-hop, into Amharic. “It will not be easy to take away the negative image of hip-hop that is engraved among the society so we have to do everything to change that,” Lij Michael says.

Even though his album turned out to be successful he had a hard time finding sponsors. “No one wants to listen to you if you mention the name hip-hop. So it was difficult to find sponsors,” Lij Michael says.

He received numerous invitations after the release of his album and he believes that he has paved a way for upcoming artistes. Now the next step he advises hip-hop artistes is to include Ethiopian color in rap. “We saw how mimicking mainstream hip-hop damaged us. Now we should look for new ways to make people listen to us. We have to bring socially relevant issues and penetrate the market,” Lij Michael says.

Lij Michael’s single “Zemenay Marye” is nowadays being played in bars and public transportation.

If one goes to You Tube one might encounter a good number of rap music in Amharic with a few in Tigrigna and Oromiffa. One of the highly viewed song is Walia by Woah featuring Jukebox The Illustrious.

Following the hype created after Ethiopia qualified for the African Cup of Nations they did a song entitled “Walia”. The feedback was overwhelming for both artists.

Incorporating the traditional instrument masinko, Walia was a new flavor in Ethiopian hip-hop. The success of their single Walia was a motivation for Woah.

His introduction to hip-hop was with a few tape cassettes and VCR player. He listened to and watched music videos of Tupac, B.I.G. and P-Diddy to mention some. The coming of computers introduced him to a beat making software. For him the beat making software was a great invention. In time, he started making beats and drum sequences. However, he did not make a profession out of it until recently.

A graphic designer by profession, Woah released a digital album entitled “Et The Experience” in English in the US with Jukebox but he considers it a waste. “It is important because it is a work of art. We did not have a strategy on how to promote it so many people did not listen to his work,” Woah says.

Jukebox says that they chose English because it will enable them to get a wider international audience. After analyzing their journey he now understands that being acknowledged by the society is important.

“People want to be addressed in their own native tongue even if they understand English. Now I understand the importance of singing in Amharic,” Jukebox says.

Though they have been recording music for a while, Woah and Jukebox started performing recently. Now they are trying to re-introduce hip-hop music which they say is far from violence and they both believe people will embrace hip-hop.

They also focus on socially relevant message and presentation. “Chanting is repetitive; so we are trying to introduce melody,” Woah says.

Now they are getting a wider audience and are invited to various venues such as Ghion Hotel to perform. Looking at the current phenomena, Jukebox says that the struggle is inevitable where genres such as reggae passed the same through the same path to be recognized. Still the music market is hesitant about hip-hop but with Lij Michael seems to have changed this.

One of the hip-hop music producers, Jolox, believes that it is deliberately done to shun out hip-hop music. Inspired by his producer uncle, he started producing at an early age after watching a Dr. Dre interview entitled “Do’s and Don’ts”. He started making his own beats at home. Growing up in Addis and the United States he started selling his beats on the streets. In Ethiopia he realized that his passion for hip hop was not shared by many and market was a dead end. So he shifted to producing reggae music for artistes including international reggae star, Gentleman. According to Jolox, upcoming artistes have to struggle to finance their own albums, produce and distribute them. He thinks that people in the industry are conspiring against hip-hop. “It is inevitable that hip-hop is the future so as much as they can they want to protect the market,” Jolox says.

The proof for him is how Lij Michael became commercially successful. He says that there are many talented hip-hop artists who could not release their album because of the inaccessibility of the market. He stored many albums which are waiting to be released.

Establishing a hip-hop group called Jungle Crew they organize concerts and stage performances. He says the assemblage is high and that shows him how hip-hop is loved. However, the difficult part is that there is no money involved in it. They are waiting for the Ethiopian music industry to be favorable for hip-hop and says that there will come artistes who will change the music industry.

By Meheret Mokonnen

“Man ale” and “Desta” are amongst her songs that are loved by her fans. Born in Gonder town of the Amhara Regional State, Abby Lakew is one of the young Ethiopian singers who grasped fame in a short time. She went to the United States at a young age where she started singing while she was in high school.

She began music as a hobby, which eventually became her carrier path. She recently released a new single – “Yene Habesha” – which earned her nomination for Best Traditional Female Artist of Africa by the annual KORA awards.

The KORA All Africa Music Awards are music awards given annually for musical achievements in sub-Saharan Africa. Founded in 1994 by Ernest Adjovi, they are considered to be the African version of the American Grammy Awards. The award is named after the kora, an important West African plucked chordophone.

Since its inception, the KORA Awards has been staged twelve times on the African Continent. For the first ten years, the ceremony has taken place in South Africa. It has since moved to Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire. In 2015 the awards reached a permanent agreement to host the awards in Namibia.

In the past, Ethiopian artistes like Aster Aweke, Tsedenia Gebremarkos and Tewodros Kassahun a.k.a. Teddy Afro have all won the prestigious continental awards in the Best East African Female and Male awards. And now, this nomination is something exciting for the young diva, Abby, who says that has a special liking to cultural music from all over the world.

“I did the video for my new single called Yene Habesha last June and it was released on my You Tube channel. After six months, I was contacted by KORA and they told me that I have been nominated for the Best Traditional Female Artist of Africa category,” Abby, who is currently based in the US, told The Reporter in an email interview.

At present Abby and her team have been using social medias like Facebook, Instagram and twitter to make the public aware of this award and to vote for her. In addition to that, she is also working with various local mainstream media outlets to aware the public of the KORA award.

“Through the media we want to reach out to as many people as we can so that I can get the votes,” she says. According to Abby, the most important part of the campaign is raising the awareness of the public.

Apart from Abby, from Ethiopia, Teddy Afro has also been nominated for this year’s competition in the Legendary Award category.

“I am so overwhelmed and excited for being nominated. I was also very happy that two artistes were nominated from Ethiopia in two different categories for the award,” Abby says.

Many expect the competition to be a tough one but Abby is thankful and fevered about the whole thing.

“I would like to thank God who helped me to be in the position that I am in today. All nominees are very talented African artistes; it’s not about who is the best, it’s all about the support that you get. That’s why I hope all my fans in Ethiopia and outside our motherland will vote so we can win this competition. I am so grateful,” she says.

Abby believes that it is a great opportunity as an artiste to be nominated for this award and expects this competition to introduce Ethiopian music to other parts of Africa. In addition, she believes that it will give her a chance to collaborate with different African artistes and producers.

“The most important thing for me is to see more Ethiopian artistes nominated in different categories in the future as well. I know there are a lot of talented Ethiopian artistes in Ethiopia and outside that are cable of being nominated in different categories every year. I also believe that our nomination will inspire all up and coming young Ethiopian artistes to know that if they believe in themselves they can achieve anything,” she told The Reporter.

As a musician Abby says that she loves to write and come up with her own melody and “Yene Habesha” was one of them. “I was able to express myself and pass on a message I believe in. The message I want to deliver through my music is peace, love, and reminding others not to forget about our rich cultural heritage,” she says.

Abby does not only focus on music; in fact, she has also worked on a movie. “I had a great experience making my movie debut in Ethiopia. The movie was called Eyerus and it was made by the great Getachew Ayalke,” she says adding that she is willing to do more movies that will inspire people.

For Abby making music can be challenging at time but she also finds it inspiring. “It can be challenging because I might not get access to all the up and coming great producers and music makers in Ethiopia. At the same time I find it inspiring because by living outside of Ethiopia it can give me the chance to work or collaborate with different artistes from around the world and that can add to my experience as an artiste,” she says.

Now, Abby says that she is working on a new album, which is in the process of being finished and should be out very soon.

“I have worked with different producers to complete this album. I have just released a new video for my second single from my new album called ‘’Be Fiker Eskista’’ which was written by the great Abraham Wolde and the music was arranged by my producer and brother Million Lakew,” Abby toldThe Reporter.

At present Abby and her team are in negotiations with a few promoters from Ethiopia to go on tour in different parts of the country and hope that it will happen very soon.

“I love performing at home and I can’t wait to meet all my fans around the country,” she says.

In addition to her work as an entertainer, Abby, who loves spending time with her family and friends, is also involved in some charity works particularly in her place of birth, Gonder, and in the US.

“I have done a few charity works mostly for children back home and here in the US. My dream has always been to help those in need as much as I can. My goal is to reach and change the lives of many people,” she says.

Abby plans to move back to Ethiopia and hopes that it will be soon. And the young aspiring star says that music plays a very important role in her life.

“Music has always been my healing when I get home sick. Music calms me down, lifts me up and makes me connect to home and life in general. That’s why I’m in love with music,” she says.

Addis Ababa has become a preferable destination for hosting international conferences related to business, economy and politics. This in turn, has expanded the inflow of foreign conference participants who can have a chance to visit the nation's tourist destinations. Thus, businesses are benefiting from this. Industry actors, however, say that a lot needs to be done to realize the full potential, writes Henok Reta.

During the formative days of the African Union (AU) one issue that triggered a memorable debate was the idea of moving the seat of the continental organization from Addis Ababa to another African city. The late Meles Zenawi, who was then the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, said during the summit that was held in Lomé, Togo in 2000, “Irrespective of what government rules Ethiopia, Ethiopia has always been  committed to African independence and liberation. "Who trained Mandela!? Emperor Haile Selassie! The reactionary trained Mandela the revolutionary. Mandela was trained in Ethiopia. Who supported Mugabe in his fight against Rhodesia? Mengistu! Internally Mengistu was a butcher but on the issue of Africa, Mengistu was as solid as Emperor Haile-Selassie was. Ethiopia’s commitment to Africa has not varied with governments."

That speech was instrumental in letting Addis Ababa remain to be the political capital of Africa. In that regard, Addis Ababa has enjoyed economic benefits for being the seat of the AU and the annual meetings that are being held here. Hotels, guest houses and souvenir shops are some of the establishments that benefit from the the annual meetings. However, there are some who give the cold shoulder to the whole idea of benefiting. Tigist Emiru (name has been changed upon request), an employee of the Ethiopian Tourist Trading Enterprise, boldly questions the economic benefits most businesses are getting from the Africa Union summits that take place in Addis Ababa. “In fact, only a few customers visit us,” she says.

Last week, when the 26th AU Summit was taking place here, Tigist was like always in her souvenir shop inside Hilton Addis Ababa. She said that only a few customers, who she assumed were not part of the AU delegates, came to the shop. “How much is this hand bag?’” asked a Turkish man holding a brown bag. “450 birr,” Tiguist answered. The gentleman thought that was a pit pricey and decided not to buy it. “Maybe he knows the market well and might go out and look for a cheaper one,” she said. All in all, Tigist says that business has been dull for the souvenir shop she works at.

The Ethiopian Tourist Trading Enterprise (ETTE) was established in 1962 by opening a small gift shop at the Bole International Airport with six employees. The Enterprise was established with the aim of introducing the country to tourists by way of producing posters and post-cards depicting the country's natural resources and cultural and historical heritages. In addition, the state-owned enterprise, which  was established by Habteselassie Tafesse – the father of Ethiopian tourism – had aimed at providing duty free services to diplomats residing in the capital Addis Ababa and the then OAU and several other international organizations. Nevertheless, according to some of the employees and commentators it has never fully achieved that target so far because of its limited promotional activities.

It was restructured under the Ethiopian Tourism Commission in 1972. Then the Victory Department Store was incorporated under the Ethiopian Tourist Trading Enterprise and began providing services in duty-paid merchandise to foreigners.

Gift article shops were also opened in Gondar and Asmara in 1975 while duty-free shops at Africa Hall and Hilton Hotel were opened targeting the potential market from guests arriving for meetings. Continuing with its expansion of services, it opened in 1976 a duty-free shop at the VIP lounge at Bole Airport and gift articles shops in different places inside and outside the capital.

With regard to earning foreign currency during the 2013/14 budget year, it had earned USD 986.9 million dollars and the annual growth of foreign currency earning had risen to 12.37 percent.

According to those involved in tourism-related activities, the ETTE could have done much more had it advertised itself aggressively. Tesfaye Dessalegn, a veteran tourism practitioner, said that ETTE’s problem is related to the deep-rooted problems in the tourism sector. Monopolizing duty-free shopping for fifty years, ETTE should have transformed its way of doing business in those five decades, he stated. While speaking at a press conference ETTE held last year, a grand duty-free mall was to be constructed close to Bole International Airport in order to expand its retail business. Assefa Guya, general manager of the enterprise, told journalists that the construction would significantly change the Enterprise's operations, making it one of the top five duty free enterprises on the continent.

The enterprise that makes over one million dollars every month from the sale of duty-free goods has already increased its profit three-fold over the last ten years, the general manager stated. The enterprise, which also celebrated its Golden Jubilee last year at the National Theater, insisted that it has not been focusing on making profits only but promoting cultures, arts and traditions in the country. With its ten duty-free shops throughout the capital city, including the famous outlets at Bole International Airport, AU and United Nations Economic Commission of Africa (ECA), ETTE’s biggest duty-free shop is housed in its headquarters located off Haile Gebreselassie Avenue in the Hayahulet area. The Enterprise also has ten art craft shops, one supermarket, four liquor shops and one handcrafts and paintings production center, in the capital.

When talking about souvenir and artifact shops, Churchill Avenue definitely comes to mind. Strolling on the sidewalk of the boulevard one would notice tourists in and out of the shops trying to find that special souvenir.

For Murad Shemsu, a shop owner, business has been good. Having owned a shop for ten years, Murad explains why the business has been growing. “It is the price followed by network and the location,”  he says. In fact, the souvenir shops off Churchill Avenue have maintained growth over the past two decades in which some of them have seen a stellar profit margin to expand into other businesses.  Murad says that networking is a very crucial part of the business in which they deal with tour guides, drivers and event coordinators to attract visitors and for that he says they [shops] pay a good commission.

Assegid (last name withheld upon request), a driver who has been renting his car to AU delegates for the last five years, says that he usually drives his guests to these places when they are looking for souvenirs. “I’m not sure whether all guests want to buy artifacts. Africans are less interested in buying traditional items,” he said. He, however, has had a couple of opportunities to get remunerated by a shopkeeper for driving his guests there. Assegid, who used to be a driver for a tour company before, explained that those outside of Africans have the habit of buying artifacts and souvenirs.

Back in the hotels where many of the guests are staying souvenir and gift articles shops seem to have been deserted . “Look at the time; it’s almost getting dark and I haven’t seen any customer so far,” said a frustrated shopkeeper at Hilton Addis Ababa.

According to Kumneger Teketel, managing director of Ozzie Business and Hospitality Group, hosting conferences and gatherings would be nothing unless the conference generates sufficient income from tourism related businesses. “Even the hotels may not get what they are supposed to from renting beds alone. There must be sideline income generating activities such as exhibitions in their galleries and cultural nights to make their guests’ stay more pleasant,” he said.

Ever since the country hosted the OAU and other international organizations it has shown unwavering commitment making the capital, Addis Ababa, an ideal place to gather. However, there are some who argue that it has not been able to fully utilize the economic benefit. According to Mehari Taddele Maru (PhD), and Abel Abate, in an article entitled: Ethiopia’s Policy towards the AU: unique contributions and special responsibilities, Ethiopia regularly pays its assessed contribution (USD 1.8 million in 2014) based on the country’s GDP. Ethiopia is one of the eleven AU Member States that has not only fully paid its contributions for 2014, but also one of the five that usually makes advance payments. Traditionally, Ethiopia, not necessarily for the sake of the OAU or AU, has provided a secure and enabling environment for the OAU and AU. Mehari and Abel point out that Ethiopia needs to formulate strategic long-term policies in order to utilize the full-package benefits from hosting the continental organization.

Individuals like Tigist usually stacks her store with new arrivals and hand-made souvenir objects made by artisans whenever a certain meeting is about to commence in Addis Ababa. But it is not rewarding at times. “What's frustrating is after they come in they rush rush away without buying a single object,” she says.

Global duty-free sales are forecast to reach USD 73.6 billion by 2019, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 8.6 percent. With its new planned mall and other projects in the pipeline, the major Ethiopian duty-free store – the ETTE – is expected to launch a strategic promotion to get its share of the pie.

After two consecutive failed rainfall seasons caused by the global weather phenomenon El Niño, Ethiopia is going through one of the worst droughts in its recent history. As a result, crops have failed and shortage of water is putting livestock at risk culminating in a huge humanitarian crisis with 10 million people needing immediate food assistance. Now, the brunt of this natural calamity is threatening the nation’s massive national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, writesHenok Reta.

Arriving at the gate of the first national park in Ethiopia—Awash National park— located 215 km east of Addis Ababa reveals what could be characterized as one of the most shocking wildlife devastations of our time. Once home to over 400 animals of various species living in the captivating savanna grassland and graceful fountains, the Park has now turned into a dried up habitant where weakened mammals are seen here and there grazing on the drought-stricken grassland. Only a few male members of the herds of animals are seen to be resisting the harsh drought, in that they are at least seen moving around in search of wet-land. The females look so weak to move and look to be hard-hit by the draught. The number of hyenas hunting weak animals also seems to be on the rise. These days, the hyenas are heard roaring even during day time in the park.

The once abundant animal population of the Rift Valley region appears to be dwindling by day as the drought quickly turns hundreds of thousands of acres of grassland into desert. Most of these animals, such as the iconic long-horned East African Oryx, cannot survive without grass. And as they go, so goes a variety of threatened animals that depend on the keystone species. The endangered Beisa Oryx and Gazelle is just one falling tile in the drought’s domino like impact on wildlife of the gorges of the Awash River. As the eastern landscape becomes hotter and drier, game animals are increasingly being forced to seek water and food far outside their usual their range. Hundreds of Oryx, Lions and Anubis baboons have vanished from the Park since late last year, most likely in connection with the drought.

“The level of concern is very high,” Sheleme Abiyou, wildlife and habitat monitoring officer at Awash National Park says. The animals were already suffering from the fragmentation of their habitat because of ranches and increasing pressure from urban development in addition to the drought. “It is shaping out to be a very, very difficult year for wildlife,” he says.

Spanning the southern tip of the Afar Regional State and the north eastern corner of the Eastern Showa Zone of the Oromia Regional State, Awash National Park has been in the epicenter of tourism activities for the past fifty years. Established as a game-hunting ground for the royal families in the mid 60’s, the Park is considered to be the first one in Ethiopia to be enclosed as a protected wildlife sanctuary. Including Besia Oryx, the wildlife in the park features Soemmerrring Gazelle, Lesser Kudu, Common Warthog, Anubis Baboon, Water Buck and many others such as the Nile crocodile.

However, ever since its establishment, The Park encountered many problems caused primarily by the local pastoralist community and their refusal to stop using it as grazing land for their sizable livestock population. “We have never accepted the restriction. Where are we expected to take our cattle to feed?” asks Marama Ali-Hussein, a camel herder located in the vicinity of the Park. Known as the Kerayu Oromos, the local pastoralist communities stayed adamant about accepting the Park as an off-limit area for their livestock. Many of them are considered to be well-off for owning hundreds of goats, cows and camels and feeding them on the surrounding grassland. “It’s hard to accept the fact that the Park is protected,” Marama argues.

Despite the horrible state of condition that the Park appears to be in, still livestock population owned by the surrounding community are seen inside helplessly scanning the area for anything green. Their desperate seeking of food goes far up to browsing the dry branches of trees which have dotted the Park. Sometimes, they are seen in tandem with the weakened wild animals which, at this point, don’t have it in them to run away or get defensive when approached by humans or domesticated animals. “We can’t do anything now. This is a protected park but the drought has brought the domesticated and wild animals together,” says Sheleme. According to him, this drought has never been witnessed in the Park’s history and that its impact is not limited to the wildlife only; the river has also shown dramatic decline in volume. “Awash is in its worst time; it’s almost drying up,” he says. 

The Park that bears the name of the River (Awash) flowing through it has seen terrible pollution and declining over the decades. “The sugar factory up in the highland is releasing its toxic sewerage down to the river polluting the water. We could not stop it,” Sheleme regrets. The waterfall inside the park reveals the pollution and diminishing volume much too vividly. Only a few young crocodiles are seen breathing in the stinky water.

Zenebe Yimam, general manager of Metahara Sugar Factory, told The Reporter that the factory has already built a water treatment plant to stop the sugar filter cake (residue of the sugarcane filtration process) from getting into the River. According to him, the saline lake in the surrounding area might have been the one worsening the rate of pollution. On the other way, the drought has caused a critical problem for the factory as the wildlife which is escaping the harsh condition of the park are taking shelter in the sugarcane plantation and farms associated with the factory. “Three children of our sugarcane farmers have been killed by a lion so far; and even the pastoralists have already tried to invade the farms to survive,” he said.

As the draught gets worse and worse by day, the surrounding farming community is becoming more preoccupied in rescuing the livestock population by feeding it sugarcane leaves and supplying drinking water. “It’s a huge problem that the factory can’t bear by its own,” Zenebe stated. The Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority (EWCA), in charge of administration of the national parks in Ethiopia, has been working on a rescue plan to save the wildlife; however nothing seems to be materializing for the time being. “We are well aware of the situation and are looking for solutions,” says Zerihun Zewdie, public relations officer of EWCA. Yet, the controversy over the nature of the intervention seems to be delaying the rescuing plan.

According to Zerihun, the authority has already decided to supply water to the wild animal as an early interventionist measure. Nevertheless, those who complain about the unnatural water supply insist that it will further weaken the animals’ natural strength and that waiting for the rain to come is a better approach. But, for Abiyot Hailu, head of the park administration, this should not even be tabled for discussion since the wildlife population is almost dying out. “We have to move on it quickly; there is no time to waste. Otherwise there will be no wildlife to save in a short period of time,” he argues strongly. Abiyot, who states that South Africa has been able to cope with the drought through supplying water for the wildlife in its parks, warns that the iconic park and the lives of wildlife in the Park is at a crossroads. “The drought has indeed exacerbated the problem but the park has not been a focus area for the authority for many years,” he says. “Whenever you fail to do what should be done, then all will be hard to come by,” he adds.

In fact, Awash is not the only park facing a threat of vanishing of its wildlife population; other parks in the central part of the country are also experiencing their worst weather condition in decades. According to Abiyot, almost all of the parks are in bad shape right now and it is mainly due to the drought. He, however, points out three major causes threatening the parks in addition to the natural phenomena. Shortage of grazing land, territorial expansion and investment are most significant factors behind the dreadful situation of parks in Ethiopia.

“Take Awash, for instance. The total coverage of The Park has diminished into 590 square meters from 756 within a decade,” he says. Indicating the investment and development impact, he also points out that the newly built Addis-Djibouti railway that crosses the park is also another factor for the sad conditions in the Park. “All are true and we are working more diligently to solve the problem with our parks at the highest governing level,” Zerihun admits. In 2010, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed Simien National Park of Ethiopia to be a park in danger. “As a world heritage, the Union was well aware of the Simien National Park’s situation; but the other national parks have also experienced a dreadful catastrophe in the past decades” says Abdela Nuri, a conservationist.

Abdela, who sees this drought as a major threat to the wildlife and the parks as a whole, blames the authorities for not taking efficient measures to deal with the situation. “I understand El-Nino is a global phenomenon but can we find any other country which is affected by condition and is going through devastation of this proportion?” he asks. He then shacks his head to say, “No I don’t think so.” Abdela, who formerly worked as wildlife conservationist in two national parks, also said that the authorities are unable to figure out the problems of the parks and to estimate damages and the reduction in the number of the wildlife in Ethiopia. “The country is running out of its massive wildlife resources; I don’t think the authorities are doing something decisive to solve the problem. It’s very easy to go out and look at the parks and the wildlife in the neighboring countries,” Abdela explains. In fact, the wildlife in Ethiopia seems to be declining in number significantly. “We counted more than 250 Beisa Oryx last year, now they are numbeing not more than 180,” Sheleme confirms.

As the drought worsened, many of these large animals simply moved elsewhere to find food and water; and this will indeed see the number go down further. But these migratory patterns also have other devastating consequences for the animals. The wildlife officer anticipates an increase in the number of animals migrating and these animals seeking shelter in the surrounding would inevitably lead to their extinction.

Moreover, the recent condition also threatens the massive disease outbreak among the animal population since there is a high chance of transfer of disease between wild and domesticated animals. For one, species large and small, which were once living in separation, have been forced to share everything that is left there by increasing the potential for the spread of disease.Much like small animals in marshes, wildlife that have thrived in urban habitats have also struggled to survive there. Rabbits, squirrels and mice are seen running here and there under the feet of the bigger mammals. Outside, a few feet from the Park, the problem seems to be worsening as pastoralist take up nearly all the water from the river. In spite of this horrible scenario which is widely observed in the surrounding, the flow of tourists still looks to be unabated.

Temsegem Bezuneh, manager of Awash Park Lodge, told The Reporter that the drought has not yet affected the flow of tourists in the locality. “It’s something we take as international experience in that some tourists can’t cancel their trip whatever happens save war and political unrest,” he says. However, their feedback can never be the same as the ones which others have given us. But he never denies the fact that the flow of tourists is showing small signs of strains in recent times. “We’re kind of in a waiting period. We’re hoping for a more normal numbers,” he said.

Remembering a Dutch tourist who burst into tears after observing the devastation recently in the surrounding which he knew before, Temesgen wishes the speedy recovery of the endangered park. But digging a watering hole or filling the old tanks to save the wild animals seems to be an urgent task to carry out. “It’s a big failure to see those water tanks empty in such a devastating time,” says one of the scouts who served in the Park for over 7 years.

With the rise of a touch of despondency among the Park’s community regarding the fate of the oldest park in Ethiopia, some still believe that the rain would come to resurrect life abruptly. But, conflict and clash with the local community seems to be inevitable in that the green grass land and bushes will always attract cattle herders. “It’s a big worry here. I don’t think we can stop them in any way. They have Kalashnikovs and rifles and they remain better equipped to defend their interest than us,” the scout concludes.

Arguably, apart from its most recent and worst flooding disaster in 2006, Dire Dawa is one city whose place in today’s Ethiopia is gradually waning. The flooding disaster which claimed the lives of some 600 people and displaced ten thousand more attracted a lot of attention including the current US president Barack Obama, back then merely a senator from Chicago, Illinois. Obama remarked at the time that the next order of business in the aftermath of the disaster was to make sure that the affected families are taken care of. Well, one thing that residents of the town are sure of is the fact that the city and its dwellers have not been cared for in a long time.

The memory of the flooding disaster looks to be slowly fading away while other challenges such as poverty is gaining in prominence. As a matter of fact, the challenges relating to sustaining livelihood in Dire Dawa has been on a slow rise during the past two decades. Many residents complain that they are facing problems related to exacerbated living cost, lack of good governance and nepotism within the administrative body.

“Dire Dawa is in its worst degenerate form today; it looks less and less people are choosing to live here in Dire Dawa, which was once a vibrant trade centre in Eastern Ethiopia, Tamerat Goshu, a resident told The Reporter.  Once known as a place to live happily and freely, Dire Dawa has now arguably emerged as one of the failing cities in Ethiopia, whose good days are firmly behind. And this is so for many reasons. According to residents that The Reporter approached last week, the city is running out of its resource and that life is becoming extremely hard to come by.

Once among the most vibrant societies in the country, the plight of the Dire Dawans warranties much deeper investigation. Meet Ramala Mohamed: a mother of five and a longtime resident of the city. Currently, Ramala is head of her family, a job she tries to accomplish by selling samosa (a fried or baked pastry with a savory filling, such as spiced potatoes, onions, peas, lentils, macaroni, noodles, and/or minced meat) in front of her Kebele house (a low-cost government rental property). Ramala and her family are quite simply the quintessence of the hard-knocked life of many households in Dire Dawa. Since the collapse of her husband’s business following the cessation of the once thriving contraband trade some thirteen years ago, she had to assume the role of being the sole breadwinner in her family.

“In the beginning, I was able to find some businesses like selling commodities and some body-care products, which I used to receive from a Somali woman at a very cheap price. But, the supply became inconsistent due to the unfavorable conditions put in place by the authorities,” Ramala remembers.

As a result, she was forced to start selling samosa and other oil-grilled fast foods at her doorstep eight years ago to sustain the lives of the seven members of her family. She arguably represents those hundreds of women selling samosa, boiled grain (locally named nifro) and other cheap foodstuff to generate income in the districts known as Gandakore, Kezira and Greek camp. When she remembers what she calls the good-old days, Ramala’s eyes get watery.

“You know I’m an uneducated woman and a mother who has got a family to feed. How can I understand that contraband trade is unlawful? All I knew was that I was earning a living,” Ramala pondered. “Even if it was illegal and undesirable, what other options do I have? Where is the option that is put in place? Tell me,” she asks. “Do you see anything available for us here?” she cried out.

For Remala remembering the conditions that her family has been in for the past eight years is a traumatizing ordeal.  Fulfilling almost all of the living necessities for her mentally unstable husband and her five children could indeed be revealed in more frustrating mood. “I don’t know. I would never imagine a plight more than this. But I’m praying to see the revival of the city,” she consoled herself.

For many reasons, the life of the city appeared to be intertwined with the rail system that once run through it and to Djibouti-that had massively changed the lives of the residents until it broke down a decade ago. Established as the Imperial Railway Company of Ethiopia, the Ethio-Djibouti Railways was considered to be a breathing apparatus for residents of the city. According to historians and elderly people of the city, many even came in and settled in the city because of the train that had been hopefully taken as a matchless income-generating means. The single track 781 km railway had a 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) gauge, most of it on Ethiopian territory; about 100 km in Djibouti.  There were also 187 bridges along the route, but only one tunnel at Gol du Harr, northeast of Dire Dawa. The Abandoned service that affected the lives of tens of thousands of residents is viewed as a major issue for the poverty and inactivity that is widespread in the city.

 “It had had a huge influence on the city’s entire business activity and hence its interruption resulted in a rapid decline in the social status of the residents of the city,” Tamerat said.

Hired by one of the biggest hotels in the city as shuttle driver, Tamerat was born, raised and got married in Dire Dawa. He says Dire Dawa is the only place he could ever live in. “In spite of those difficulties, I’ve never thought I could be relocated like many friends who left the city since this government assumed power,” he told The Reporter. According to him, the city is populated with old people (retirees), women and very young people; those in his age group could be rarely found these days, according to Tamirat.

In addition to the inactive state of the railway, poor governance along in the city to make it one of the least developed cities in the country has played a significant role in the impoverished livings status of the majority, Tamirat argues. “Look at the roads, the services and the institutions. Do you see any newly-built facility? Most are old and they give Dire Dawa a look which is old; it has become a city of old songs and tales,” he said.

True to form, despite a few new buildings, new hotels and businesses, Dire Dawa remains an old city that has never lived up to the title “chartered city”. For some, for many years, Dire Dawa stands out as the second largest city next to Addis Ababa. Yet, apparently, the city demonstrates massive urban poverty, scarcity of infrastructure and low economic activity unlike some of the emerging cities in the country.

Ahmed Bamheriz, a Yemenee businessman, is the one who is frustrated by the city which he knew since the time of Derg. “I don’t know why this city is not going forward like other cities such as Bahir Dar, Hawassa and even like the smaller ones such as Bishoftu,” he said. Headquartering his business in Djibouti, Ahmed has been to Dire Dawa many times, including the capital Addis Ababa and other places. He attests that only the streets, downtown Dire Dawa and the romantic trees of the town still retain their old beauty.

According to Belew Worku, an instructor at Dire Dawa University, the city and the rail system were just two sides of the same coin. Stating both the economic and political significance of the town, Belew argues that Dire Dawa’s recent shape is simply a portrayal of failure, particularly in comparison to its golden times—the railway era.

Emperor Menelik is known to have granted the permission to Alfred Ilg, a Swiss engineer, to construct a railroad connecting Djibouti with the White Nile through Harar and Entoto in 1884. This gave rise to the formation of the Compagnie Impériale des Chemins de fer d'Éthiopie. And Dire Dawa was chosen because of its sufficient water source that powers the steam engine, weather and more importantly for its halfway location between Djibouti and Addis Ababa, he stated. Shortly after the railway, Dire Dawa’s entire business showed a streak boom in industry, small-scale manufacturing, hotels, cafes and other businesses emerged to light up the eastern corner.

Contrary to the then revival in the fortunes of the railway, an enormous despondency is being observed with the residents. The growing frustration has been leading the youth, men and some women to give up and sit down for their accustomed khat, a mild green stimulant commonly chewed by young men across the country. “What can I do? no job, no hope, no kid to care for so I’m a frustrated young man losing all the energy I have,” said Yared Eshetu, a 23-years-old resident approached by The Reporter at the Barber shop chewing Khat along with two other friends.

The Dire Dawa City Administration, located in a suburb where four star hotels, financial institutions and bars are close-packed, appears to be unaffected by the frustrations observed downtown. By the time The Reporter arrived to talk to officials the security personnel guarding the compound said that there was a lengthy meeting going on inside. However, mayor Asses Ziad, in his previous comment to The Reporter addressing the decline of Dire Dawa stated that it is wrong to associate the city’s problems with the interruption of the railway system and the associated decline of contraband trade.

However, the mayor said that the end of contraband gave rise to residents paying taxes. According to him, six years ago the government was able to collect around less than a million birr and now it was able to collect 650 million birr.  He also discussed the recent developments like the emergence of more than 70 small and big manufacturing companies. There is also a water project that costs some 700 million birr. Other projects, including the construction of hospitals, recreational centers and parks, are also in the pipeline.

More importantly, the residents can see light at the end of the tunnel in the restarting of the railway system that recently marked its trial-run in carrying aid to the people affected by the drought. They are yearning for the reunification of their loved city and their iconic train.

Nevertheless, for residents like Ramala and Tamirat, the revival of Dire Dawa is yet a far cry. All they comprehend is that the city needs vibrancy, the residents need jobs and improved livelihoods.

Back in 2009, the Addis Ababa City Council unanimously voted to ratify the amended traffic bill that was back then highly anticipated. The bill was discussed with the taxi owners' association, inter-city public transport bus owners' associations, and traffic officers. Seven years down the road, the implementation of the regulation is now in full effect. Some of the provisions are “too strict and do not consider the conditions of the country”, according to drivers, who fear that suspension from driving would cost them a lot, writes Tibebeselassie Tigabu.

A driver kneeling down on the road and pleading mercy to a traffic police is a scene that is a bit bizarre. This situation becomes a bit more confusing when looking at the driver's assistant sobbing. Why are the driver and his assistant acting as if it is the end of the world for simple traffic fines?

This scene actually becomes very paradoxical for those who have witnessed the the encounters between traffic police officers and drivers in Addis Ababa, which sometimes lead to verbal assaults from both sides. Ironically this situation happened in Dessie, Amhara Regional State 400km north of Addis Ababa. Surrounded by mountainous terrains, getting to Dessie is one heck of a ride. The twists of the famous Haregot valley tests the skills  of drivers.

Three weeks ago, a taxi commuting from a neighborhood known as Shell to Piazza was stopped by a traffic police because the taxi had on board an extra passenger. The traffic police asked for his license and registration number and the driver provided it in a very humble manner.

The traffic police took the license and started going through his phone. After a couple of minutes he murmured something which was difficult to hear for those sitting in the back row. Whatever the traffic police said put the driver and the conductor in a very frantic situation.

They got off the car and started begging the traffic police for mercy. Neglecting the begging the traffic police took the driver. The conductor followed them waving his hand, still begging.

The passengers’ response was also a bit confusing. Everyone was sitting solemnly until they left. Another driver who was at the scene offered to help by taking the passengers to their respective destinations. The awkward silence during the ride was broken with a guy in the front saying “the driver reached his point.” A heated discussion followed up regarding the newly-implemented penalty for traffic offenses which are recorded by points and will ultimately lead to the suspension or revoking of licenses. A couple of the passengers were saying 10 points is the maximum and the conductor said it is 14. Many of the passengers seem to have a knowhow about license suspension and revoking.

Amhara Regional State is the first to implement the new Council of Ministers Regulation No. 208/2011. Though it has been only a week in Addis Ababa since enforcement started, according to Tadesse Tilahun, who is head of the South Wollo Zone Road Traffic Department Road Safety Assurance Core Main Work Process, it has been a year since the region started implementing the new regulation.

Tilahun also says that other regions such as Tigray and Southern regional states have started implementing it following Amhara. In relation to the implementation, which started this week, many of Addis Ababa’s taxi drivers The Reporter talked to expressed their dissatisfaction.

The Road Transport and Traffic Control regulation is categorized into six offenses. The first category of offense has two points, the second level three, the third four, the fourth five, the fifth six and the sixth has seven points. Accordingly, first-time violators will pay a fine of 40-180 birr according to the category of offenses.

After the second offense, extra points will be added to the prior points. When one reaches 14-16 points the license will be suspended for six months and the driver will only get the license back after getting rehabilitation training. The duration of suspension time increases when the points are 17-19 which is one year and when it is more than 20 the license will be revoked and the driver has to apply for a new license only after two years. The record will stay for two years even after a six-month suspension.

Some of the offenses include honking horn in improper places (two points), parking a vehicle on entry or exit locations (three points), putting fuel in the presence of passengers (four points), not fastening seat belts including those of passengers (four points), releasing excess exhaust fumes and smokes from cars (four points), playing loud music (five points), inappropriate passing over of a vehicle (six points), and not giving priority to pedestrians (seven points). 

According to Yabibal Addis, head of the Addis Ababa Transport Bureau (AATB), the issuance of this regulation has many rationales. Yabibal states that road traffic accidents are escalating at an alarming rate and are causing the loss of lives and damages to property adding that accidents occur because drivers violate traffic rules and regulations. He explained about the atrocious incidents that are threatening the city in a press conference that was held at Capital Hotel and Spa on February 19.

Debretsion Gebremichael (PhD) Coordinator of Finance and Economy Cluster with a deputy prime ministerial portfolio and minister of Communications and Information Technology, on his part highlighted that the accidents caused by reckless drivers are shockingly increasing.

Assistant Inspector Assefa Mezgebu, public relations expert of Addis Ababa Traffic Office, also believes that the number of traffic road accidents is increasing every year. Assefa states that the number of deaths was 3,331, severe injuries 6,039, and minor injuries 5,888 two years ago. However, last year's figure reveal that there were 3,847 deaths, 5,634 severe injuries and 5,839 minor injuries. He also estimates that the amount of property that was destroyed is up to a whopping one billion birr.

Putting all this into account, the regulation started to be operational after an intensive training was given to traffic police officers and transport officials in Amhara. This was commissioned to DAF TEC social ICT Solutions, which designed the whole system for the regional states, including registering driver’s license information to the central database, data of traffic violations connecting all the cities, towns and woredas in Amhara.

Denekew Berihun, founder and manager of DAF TEC social ICT Solutions told The Reporter that they designed the software to set up a traffic operations center in order to direct the traffic management with modern knowledge and technology support.

Though the regulation mainly focuses on drivers, Denekew says that the target of the software is not drivers but also vehicles. The software has an account of the traffic police officers and the transport officials who regulate the process. Traffic police and transport officials use mobile phones to punish drivers. The way it works, according to Denekewu, is they have their own specific passwords and send SMS with details including license numbers of the drivers and the type of offense at the spot. Denekewu says that if the point reaches 14 or more they receive a message of an automatic suspension. Then the officer takes the license on the spot. The details of the offense, the area, and the details of the driver, the name of the traffic police official and the vehicles plate number will be registered on the website instantly. This software also allows drivers to request their record including the names of traffic police officials who penalized them.

They also designed a smartphone application but since there is no budget earmarked for the purchase of smartphones by the regions Denekew says that the only option they have is using SMS. Even with SMS there are some challenges in remote woredas where network coverage is low.

The software also records top performing traffic police officers and includes a reversal system, which enables drivers to request for complaint and have a penalty reversed. Following the implementation of the regulation in Amhara, 86,232 drivers were penalized in various offenses from which 2,159 drivers have been suspended or their licenses revoked within a year.

In Tigray – within the six months of operations – only 26 were suspended and 4,424 were penalized, which according to Denekew, is because of the various operations of the regulation. In the Southern region 10,815 were penalized and 86 licenses were suspended or revoked in one month while Oromia is currently in its testing phase.

A couple of drivers The Reporter talked to in Dessie did not hide their fear and frustration. Many of the drivers start as assistants and become drivers. This is not an easy process where they have to save a relatively considerable amount of money to have their driving licenses. Jemal Mitiku now owns a taxi after 15 years of hassle. According to Jemal, the implementation of the regulation was like dropping a bombshell not only for him but also for many drivers. Jemal says that with the start of the implementation, the traffic police officers have become very strict. He has now lost his license and has hired a driver for his taxi. “I have a backup plan but the others could not escape this and many of them are either unemployed, are looking for jobs or doing some minimal job,” Jemal says.

It has been four months since he was suspended and is not working but is lucky enough to get his income from his taxi. However, Yilma Alemu is not as fortunate as Jemal, whose license is revoked for two years. He has now started to work at a fuel station. Yilma – a man of few words – is infuriated by the circumstances. He was punished for six months but later got his license back. Eventually, he was penalized again. One traffic officer told him he has to pay fine and after a couple of days another traffic officer told him his license has been revoked. “What does that even mean? I was dependent on relatives for six months and almost finished my savings. Now one traffic officer tells me one thing and the other tells me it has been revoked,” Yilma says.

According to Jemal, some traffic police officers blackmail drivers and receive bribes. “Back in old days one can pay 100 birr in bribe and get away with it. Now one has to pay at least 500 birr in order to save their driving license,” Jemal says.

Denekew also talks about these irregularities. One incident he mentions is where a traffic police accepted a bribe in Dessie while sending the message at the same time. This same driver was charged with another offense and when he was told he was suspended he argued and told the story. After an investigation, the traffic officer was punished. Apart from the driving license suspension, drivers in Dessie resent the regulation saying that it opened a door for traffic police officers and drivers to manipulate the system and be corrupted. This gap is not hidden from the higher officials. Commander Seid Muhe, head of the South Wollo Zone Police Department Road Traffic Safety Assurance Core Work Process, says that they have put in place controlling measures such as carefully recruiting traffic police and transport officials, vigorous trainings including ethics, and listening to the society’s complaints. Even if that is the case, many of the drivers who looked into the details of the regulation say it gives excessive power to traffic police officers.

Tilahun also agrees with this somehow. “It is very detailed and there is nothing under the sky which has not been included in the regulation,” he says.

While responding to question from journalists, Debretsion said that the gap might open doors for corruption. “In a system there are always defects and we should see the bigger picture. There will be few people who might do wrong,” Debretsion says.

Though this has been the experience of various regions, Addis Ababa has a different system where the traffic fines will be paid through Lehulu Kifiya Technologies PLC. According to Munir Duri, founder and general manager of Lehulu Kifiya Technologies, the service will be provided at the 34 stations of Lehulu with 284 desks. In that regard, the drivers will pay their fines at Lehulu Kifya. The details of the previous offenses will be stored at the national data center.

Following the implementation of the regulation, drivers are now panicking. The fear of insecurity of losing their job, being unemployed and not being able to support their families is taking over. Kindalem Tadesse, 25, is one of the drivers who is imagining a darker tomorrow. Though he is not informed about the details of the regulations, for him and many other drivers suspension and revoking of driving licenses is the worst thing that can happen.

According to Kindalem, some of the offenses such as double parking and giving priority to pedestrians seem improper. He argues that it has not been well thought out since there is lack of ample parking space in addition to the heedless demands of passengers. Kindalem was pointing at the road exhibiting that many cars were parked on the road side. “When we double park to let passengers get off, we will be punished for it. Where should we park then since there is no parking space?” he asks.

Other drivers, who were present during his interview, interrupted him and started yelling angrily. “We will migrate to another country!” “It costs more than ten thousand birr to get a license. Does the government have any idea how hard it is to get that much money?” they said angrily.

There were angry and sad talks about the suspension and revoking. Bilal Anbesse, former president of the Taxi Drivers Association, says that taxis covering vast areas for more than 12 hours will not be free from offenses. “This is the nature of the work. Because of the shortage of public transport, sometimes drivers are forced to have on board extra passengers out of compassion,” he says.

The main gap in the regulation, according to Bilal, is that the focus is on the drivers while eliminating other factors such as passengers, pedestrians and the road. According to Bilal, this regulation does not affect private cars and mainly focus on taxis.

Some of the problems that challenge taxis include lack of parking space, unavailability of traffic signs, narrow roads, and unavailability of pedestrian walkways, which, according to Bilal, force taxis to violate the traffic regulations. “We are punished for reasons that we don’t know such as parking cars in places which do not have clear traffic signs,” Bilal says. “Who benefits from this law? Our question is not answered. This regulation makes sense if other factors are considered,” says Bilal

The drivers had a discussion with Assistant Inspector Assefa Mezgebu, who according to Bilal, had an understanding of the situation of the city. During the discussion, Assefa noted that traffic police officers should consider situations and to be a good judge of character. He believes that the regulation is good in theory but did not consider the country’s situation.

In Addis Ababa drivers fear what this regulation might or might not create. On the other hand, those who had experienced the implementation have mixed feelings. Drivers resent it but Tilahun says that many drivers are now careful because of the new regulation and having on board extra number of passengers is completely declining in many of the areas.

On his part, Commander Seid says that the number of accidents has decreased within a year after the implementation. Though there might be other factors, he strongly believes the regulation had contributed greatly to safety. Tilahun and Seid are sympathetic about the case of the drivers whose license have been suspended or revoked. But on the other hand, they say it is for a greater cause which resulted in having extra cautious drivers.

Assefa Mezgebu on his part says that he shares the worry of Bilal and the drivers but hopes that the regulation would bring the intended change in significantly reducing traffic accidents. Acknowledging that some of the provisions did not consider the country’s situation, Assefa advises traffic police officers to put the situation into account. “There are drivers who commit offenses because of various situations and there are those who do it deliberately. So the traffic officers should be a good judge of character in punishing those who do not do it deliberately,” Assefa says.

Ed.'s Note: Shaida Hussein of The Reporter has contributed to this story.

Given the city’s status as the headquarters of the African Union and the special attachment that the country has with reggae artists, which they publicize in their songs, one would expect A-list artists would be flocking to Addis Ababa to perform all the time. But, that is not the case. To the contrary, a number of concert bookings and schedules are being canceled and postponed in recent years, writes Tibebeselassie Tigabu.

Concerts are becoming rare phenomena in Addis

The British rock star and songwriter Roderick David’s a.k.a. Rod Stewart’s fan base extends all over the world. Many slow rock lovers know the song, “Have I Told You Lately” and “Forever Young” by heart. Apart from his famous songs, Rod Stewart is also in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest live concert ever to to be held.

He was able to draw 3.5 million audiences for a New Year’s Eve 1994 performance at Copacabana Beach in Brazil. Instead of opting for a traditional venue he staged the concert at Copacabana beach for free, giving it more of a music festival vibe.

In various parts of the world, festivals are now becoming part and parcel of the urban culture. These concerts/festivals are strongly attached to summer time attracting thousands of music fans. In some instances, the fans go through extreme conditions, forced to stay in tents sometimes for weeks to see the biggest rock, jazz or hip-hop stars.

The biggest of those festivals are held in Europe where fans go on their annual pilgrimages to attend their preferred festivals. Some of these festivals include Glastonbury in England and the Californian Coachella which brings more than 175,000 audiences every year.

Apart from Europe, “Rock al Parque”, South America’s largest rock music festival attracted a crowd of 226,000 over three days in 2010.

In Africa also festivals such as the four-day “Essaouria Gnaoua” in Morocco, which has an audience of up to 500,000 every year, the “Sauti Za Busara” festival in Tanzania, “Lake of Stars”, which is held on the stunning shores of Lake Malawi, “The Firefest Route” in South Africa and “Festival au Desert” in Mali draw thousands of fans, making Africa the destination of music festivals.

While concerts and festivals are abundant in various parts of the world, in Ethiopia, concerts and outdoor festivals are quite rare. Some of these rare occasions include the annual Selam Festival and Acacia Jazz Music Festival.

The fifth year edition of Selam Festival was able to bring international musicians such as Alpha Blondy, the ancient Mali Griot (story tellers) and various alternative musicians.

Though this festival was successful in putting a vibrant show, the organizers do not deny how it is challenging to bring international artists to Ethiopia. With these rare happenings, one can count how many big artists have ever performed in Ethiopia.

While many renowned international artists performed in the neighboring countries such as Kenya it creates a question of why there are only few concerts here. Even with the few concerts it is common to hear renowned international artists cancelling, rescheduling or not showing up for their scheduled appearance. Some of these mishaps include the recently rescheduled Jah Cure’s concert on grounds of visa complication; the cancellation of the highly publicized Yassin Bey (Mos Def) over passport problem; P-square which were paid 200,000 dollars but decided to re-schedule the concert for a week; the cancellation of Damian Marley and Nas and the cancellation of another reggae artist Capelton.

Given the city’s status as Headquarter of the African Union and the special attachment the country has with reggae artists which they publicize in their songs would lead one to believe that A-list artists would be flocking to Addis Ababa to perform all the time. But, that is not the case. To the contrary, only a few artists such as Beyoncé Knowles, R-Kelly, Rihanna, Ludacris, Shaggy, Sean Paul, Ja Rule, Wyclef Jean performed live in Addis Ababa so far sponsored by Sheik Mohammed al Amoudi. These artists performed during various holidays throughout the years. In recent years, these annual concerts have become few and far between.

Sisay Mengiste, Selam Sounds General Manger, says that with a potentially large audience and few concerts, Addis Ababa is a chosen destination for concerts. Though he says that, looking at it from the organizers point of view, there are many challenges such as lack of sponsorship, lack of access to standardized musical equipment and financial challenges, the city is till the preferred destination for concerts.

According to Sisay international artists and their managers demand high quality musical equipment, staging, lighting, brands and specifications of musical instruments which are hard to find Ethiopia. 

There are only a few suppliers of musical equipment which according to Sisay might not fit with the specification of the international artists and are also very expensive.

“Usually, the suppliers of the equipment might not have the whole package of equipment. So, we are forced to bring from the various suppliers or tell the artists to bring their own equipment,” Sisay says.

Technical difficulties are also becoming a cliché in many of the events. Apart from that, some of the issues have got to do with the limited venues which can accommodate tens of thousands of people. Most of the festivals and concerts in recent times are held either in Ghion Hotel, Tropical Gardens or at the Millennium Hall; and many promoters and organizers of concerts are heard complaining with the inaccessibility of even some of these venues.

Apart from the technical aspect, Sisay says that international artists’ backstage demands are vast and luxurious which is difficult to handle for Ethiopian organizers. As far as backstage demands of artists go a lot of stories regarding ridiculous requests by artists are heard in the music industry. According to Mail online, some of the artists such as Paul McCartney requested nineteen leafy six feet. plants, four leafy four feet. plants and vegetarian catering; Mariah Carey on the other hand is rumored to have requested Crystal champagne, one box of bendy straws, one special attendant to dispose of used chewing gum, tea service for eight, a hone bear pack of honey, two air purifiers, puppy and kittens.

Whereas Beyonce requested Pepsi products only, honey nut cheerios, ginger root, a two-man love seat, constant temperature of 78 degree Fahrenheit in dressing room, toilet scrubbed with disinfectant, no sweets, chocolate or crisps in dressing room.

The backstage requests of these artists are very specific, which ranges from rose-scented candles to organic honey bans. Nevertheless, according to Sisay, artists’ requests are not backstage requests only; in fact he says it starts from the airplane sitting arrangement and accommodations.

Apart from their demands, the price of these artists is also very expensive, reaching up to a million dollars/concert.

According to Forbes list of the world’s 25 highest paid musicians, U2, Bon Jovi, Elton John and Lady Gaga lead the pack this year. It states that U2 were able to collect 195 million dollars. By the time U2’s two-year trek ends this summer, the band will have sold 700 million dollars worth of tickets over two years and played to more than 7 million people.

On the other hand, Bon Jovi earned 125 million dollar for his show. The band grossed 200 million dollars playing 74 shows over the past 12 months and released a greatest hit album.

Ethiopia is no exception to this, according to Sisay. These artists ask very high payment, professional fees and per diems, he told The Reporter. “They usually travel with a huge crew. So, we have to fulfill their every demand such as luxurious accommodation, professional fees and other facilities which piles up the cost of the festival,” Sisay says.

Sisay does not hide the fact that their backstage requirement is also a headache. Hence he says few sponsors and the lack of funding make their festival to compromise with choice of artists.

Finance has been a challenge to many of the concerts in Ethiopia. Even after artists arrive here, there were issues of payment. One example was the Trinidadian singer Marlon Asher’s concert which happened around ten years ago.

Renowned with his single “Ganja Farmer”, Marlon Asher had a contract with the organizers to perform at Shoa Entertainment around Bole. After singing one song the organizers could not pay him what they agreed so he left the stage with only a few minutes of stay on the stage.

Apart from that, one of the issues is to get approval from the Mayor’s office. Since all indoor, outdoor public gatherings and events need approval, concerts need to get proper approval before setting a date. According to Sisay, Selam also applied for to get the approval early this year. Since they could not get approval on time, they could not promote it on various media outlets, disseminate fliers or put a billboard; and that affected the turnout severely, Sisay told The Reporter.

Cultural and religious festivals such as Meskel and epiphany are popular in Ethiopia.  These are some of the popular events which bring together thousands of people outdoor. Though the society is accustomed to outdoor events, for Eyob Alemayehu, Yisakal Entertainment managing director, the main challenge is lack of audiences in outdoor festivals and live music concerts. For Eyob, who has been in the business of organizing music concerts and festivals for over a decade, the turnout of outdoor events is disappointing.

“Many organizers worked hard to bring festivals and live music concerts; but the culture of going to such events is not yet developed,” Eyob says. Looking back, the concerts they did such as Pras Michel, one of the founding members of the critically acclaimed hip-hop group, the Fugees, which, according to Eyob, did not get high turnout.

“It is not about the lining up of the artists. The society does not like to pay for music events. So, without sponsorship ticket sells does not cover the cost of concerts,” Eyob argues.

Eyob also says that with these challenges, many of the organizers do not sustain it rather they leave the business after doing one or two concerts. On the other hand, Eyob does not hide the fact that the gaps from the side of the organizers are also significant. He says that sometimes organizers announce the artist’s name without finalizing the deal or other important details such as visa issues and payment issues with the bank. In some instances, Eyob says the industry does not have a proper channel.

“Some international artists re-schedule the concerts or cancel the concerts even after payment. When that happens, there is no consequence. So they think they can get away with violating agreements,” Eyob says.

For the renowned pianist Samuel Yirga, who performed in festivals such as Glastonbury Festival in front of more than 180 000 people, the problem lies with the lack of professionalism from the organizers side.

According to Samuel, in many of the international concerts and festivals, it takes more than a year to organize it but in the Ethiopian case it is not more than two or three months. “They even contact artists to perform in such short notice and that is the why show gets canceled,” Samuel says.

For Glastonbury Festival, for example, the organizers contacted Samuel some eight months prior to the concert requesting details on his technical ride (a document which specifies the type of equipment to be used the staff to be provides and various business arrangements).

In Ethiopia, he says that many of the artists are asked when they arrive at the spot. Additionally, in the international festivals, there are backstage spaces for each artist, whereas in Addis Ababa, he says that there is only one tent for every artist and no privacy. Unfortunately, he saw women artists having difficulty to change due to this.

Apart from that, he says organizers should learn how to start small and he mentions the example of Glastonbury which only started with hundreds of audiences. “These are not only merely festival rather a social and cultural platforms for the community. We could have created this if we plan it with a purpose,” Samuel adds. “There are many festivals in Africa and many tourists go to these festivals. If we organize these kinds of festivals the tourists will also pass through our festivals,” he explains. Apart from those issues bureaucracy of securing venues and lack of venues are some of the issues he mentions. In those cases he suggests using alternative venues such as football stadiums.

From all these, the biggest issue would be how many of the organizers in Ethiopia are only focused in making profit. “Their only motive is making money; so it affects their judgment. They choose cheap equipment, even damaged ones, that is why we do not see good concerts,” Samuel says.

For Samuel, professionalism on how to manage a concert and doing concerts with a purpose are compulsory issues; and he says that that is also the reason how many of the international festivals became successful.

The informal term for roommate is roomie,which is commonly used by university students in different parts of the world. Ever since time immemorial, the concept of having roommates has existed and the most common reason for sharing housing is to reduce the cost of housing. Roommates are typically unmarried young adults, including workers and students. It is not rare for middle-aged and elderly adults who are single, divorced, or widowed to have housemates. However, there are challenges and one of it is having the suitable roommate by way of eating and drinking habits and sharing responsibility, writesMeheret Selassie Mokonnen.

Two best friends, who were also roommates, got into a heated argument over religion. One was so angry he shot down his friend and eventually ate part of his brain. This happened in Ohio, 40 years ago and the news spread fast. Last week the world once again heard of the story of roommates as the shooter was denied parole for the sixth time. News has it that the man, now 60 years old, was deemed “unsuitable for release”. During the murder trial, the shooter pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. He told a court ordered psychiatrist that he ate his friend’s brain as part of a "mutual agreement" between the roommates.

There are plenty stories concerning roommates, shocking as the above or with a happy ending. Living as roommates is common in many countries. Similarly, in Ethiopia, people have been living together for ages. What seems to be a recent phenomenon is the change in lifestyle. These days people visit social media pages like Facebook's What’s Happening in Addis to find roommates. There are also specific websites designed to tie roommates like iroommates.com and BetKiray.com. Similarly, there is also a website called CouchSurfing.com, which connects travellers from all over the world so that they get free accommodation. All these websites serve as a platform for interested parties to post their profile and wait for a person to pick them as a roommate.

Because of poverty, living together was considered to be more or less a lifestyle in slum areas. Though this reality hasn’t changed, nowadays there are factors to be considered besides poverty. Some are open to the idea of living with complete strangers for the sake of experience. Others choose to live with close friends to share their lives and have fun. While others are forced to have roommates in work-related purposes.

Some years back, Konjit Yehualashet got a chance to work in Uganda for one year. Upon her arrival she learnt that she will live with a Nepali roommate, who came as part of the same project she was a part of. The very first advice given to her by the company that oversaw her stay was, not to assimilate with her roommate. The organizers had witnessed many relationships between roommates end disastrously.

They shared the kitchen and living room while having separate bedrooms. They decided to chip in money and eat together. However, the cultural difference was unbearable. Both desired to have their own traditional food. In time they stopped dining together. But the disparity over food did not end there. The Nepali, a foodie, was passionate about cooking and eating. Konjit liked neither. While the Nepali cooked, it was as if every day was a holiday. She sought Konjit to help her out but, she repeatedly declined.

Konjit says her roommate was a conservative, suspicious and a dependent woman. She disapproved of guests, especially men, coming over to their home.  She never liked it while Konjit stayed out late or leaves their office without her. She demanded her company to the cinema, where she wanted them to watch movies of her choice only.

Konjit states that even if their cultural peculiarities led them to be completely different, they never got into a huge fight. She believes her one-year experience has changed her perspective on the idea of living with people who are somehow different from her. “People should be able to respect boundaries; it's only then that they can live in peace,” she says.

After she moved back to Ethiopia she started to live with her parents. A few months ago she decided that it is time she moved out. While she was looking for a place, one of her closest and oldest friends offered that they live together. Currently, they are setting up their studio condominium. Close friends to both warned them that living together might ruin their friendship. Nonetheless, Konjit says all it takes to live together is understanding each other and she believes that it is something she and her roommate retain.

Some cannot stand the idea of having roommates; be it a stranger or a friend. Others, though willing to give it a shot, are afraid of the consequences. Living together supposedly brings out mysterious sides of a person.  Therefore, it is said that losing loved ones in the process is not worth it. Others condemn living with roommates saying that they will not have privacy.

On the other hand, living together is perceived as a means of sharing burdens in life. Many attribute some of the best things that happened to them as a result of their roomies. Three major factors include gender, personality and experience. Living with similar and opposite sex holds a different experience.

Yafet Gizachew, a private business owner, believes that opposite sexes tend to get along better. In college he lived with four of his close male friends. All lived far from Addis Ababa University, making it difficult for them to spend more time in the library so they rented a small house closer to the university. All they can afford was a small bed which they shared. They used to dine, hang out, study and return home together.

He says that the first few months were enjoyable. They loved each other’s company. However, two of them started smoking and chewing khat, which Yafet dislikes. He says, “cigarette and chat drifted us apart.” The only problem they had before smoking and khat was when one of them invitesd a girlfriend overwhich was not a big deal. However, one day the smell of a cigarette from a pillow he was lying on woke Yafet up; instantly he was sick. His friends could not give up their habits. He then decided to move out. Their friendship ended shortly.

He says that the experience has taught him to value people who understand him. According to Yafet, though people can manage to live together, things will eventually start to fall apart, since people change constantly and coping up with people is nearly impossible.

Henok Getachew finds the idea of having a roommate fascinating. He and his wife live in a big house with several spare rooms. When his foreigner wife first brought up the idea of living with roommates, it was a bit strange for him. They started inviting people who come to Ethiopia to crash at their place. The idea seemed pleasant, since they were having a great time living with strangers. Afterwards, they thought of changing the situation into a business.

Henok posted their interest in a roommate from any part of the world on the international website CouchSurfing.com. In the house they share the kitchen and the living room with separate bedrooms. People can stay at their place as long as they wish. The deal is either they pay in cash or in kind. If someone is a little short in cash he or she can contribute to the house by cooking, fixing objects or any other talent one has.

He says living with people with different backgrounds is a thrilling journey. He is happy with experiences he had with people from different countries. “We learned to change even the worst situations to entertainment; and be grateful to what we have,” he says. He always recalls a perfumer who taught them all about making a perfume and an artist who made ten different kinds of omelette.

Everyone, who set foot in their house lived like family. “Some people are needy, some try to take advantage of others but, as long as there is understanding, clear communication, boundaries and shared responsibility living with people is simple,” he explains.

Hana Melkam, a nurse completely disagrees with the whole idea. “Living with roommates is intolerable,” she says. Though Henok believes that human contact is a valuable thing in life she says that life is meant to be led separately unless there is marriage.

A year ago, she and her five female friends won a project in Sebeta town of the Oromia Regional State. They thought of going back and forth from Addis Ababa to Sebata, but changed their mind thinking that it was a good opportunity for them to live together.

Life was good in their home, until little things started to become sources of argument. Apparently it led to yelling at each other and even physical fight at times. When one of them slept the other danced to a loud music. They fought about money, food and almost everything. They could not finish the project with their living situation so they separated, not to jeopardize their work.

Hana believes that life with roommates is difficult since everyone has a big ego and that hinders pleasant interactions. And yet she feels lonely living by her own.“Living alone holds me back from going to festive events meant to be shared with a friend. Difficult situations occur that could have been easier with someone to live with,” she says while explaining the down side. However, she would rather face the challenge alone than have a roommate.

Roommates’ lifestyle can be seen vis-à-vis urbanization and as being a more freer lifestyle. In a time where individualism has taken over the world, roomies shows the other side of life. Studies reflect countless people live with roommates during their youth. Some separate as a result of one getting married.

Be it horror or sitcom, this lifestyle has also aspired many feature and series movies. Sitcoms starting from the classic “Friends” to the recent “Big Bang Theory”, “New Girl” and “Two Broke Girls” can be mentioned. Thrillers like “The Roommates” and many more also show the life of roommates.

Artists Tamirat Gezahegn and Leikun Nahusenay have been roommates for years. They live close to Ras Mekonnen Bridge. Their home, which also happens to be an art studio, is called Nas Art Gedam and it has been a destination for many local and international artists.

According to Tamirat, it is the perfect living situation since both of them are artists. He says that they inspire each other and share ideas about art. And besides all the artistic works it is an economically wise decision. They say that they have never got in to a fight but rather understood each other deeply. They wish to make their home the ultimate destination for artists’ residency, Leikun explains.

Over the years they established rituals which both wish not to live without. Every morning they start their day by drinking an Abune Malta holy water. Abune Malta was a saint who has a church in Gerealta Mountain, in the Tigray Regional State. They usually eat out and cook at home if they are in the mood. Both are in charge of cleaning, buying objects and the like.

Both know when one of them needs to have privacy without having to ask for it. They drink, dance watch movies and discuss art in their studio. “We are there for each other, for better or worse,” Tamirat, who believes globalization is bringing every one closer, says. He believes that people have better means of communication and a space to share details about their life through social media.

“People should learn the art of living together. Ups and downs are part of life. One has to learn to give and receive as well. Everyone has problems at times, while living together people should be able to see beyond weak moments,” Leikun says.

What do former United States President Ronald Reagan, former Prime Ministers of the UK Harold Wilson, renowned footballer Ferenc Puskás, Academy Award winning actor Charlton Heston and Nobel laureate Charles K. Kao all have in common? Well, they were all diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease –  chronic neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and gets worse over time. Though this is a little-known illness in Ethiopia, cases are slowly coming to the fore, writes Tibebeselassie Tigabu.

“How do you know that God exists?” This highly debatable question was raised nine years ago for Political Science and International Relations students at Addis Ababa University in a lecture for Theories of State and Society course.

The radical professor Gebru Mersha (PhD), who always reminds his students not to use words (concepts) that one cannot define, forwarded the question looking for an analytical answer to rationalize the justification behind God’s existence. 

One of the students raised his hand and answered by saying: “God is there to oppose Satan and Satan exists,” Gebru did not keep quite rather he said mockingly, “How do you know Satan is there?” Everyone was glancing at Gebru and the student smiling.

The student with his unbeatable spirit told a story of a possessed person. According to the student, Satan was making him do flips and forcing him to stand upside down. Amusingly Gebru said: “Tell m,e so there is nothing that Satan cannot do,” everyone in the class who were anxiously listening to their conversation burst with laughter. His former students remember his vibrant classes very fondly.

A rebel of his generation, he is highly renowned with his involvement with the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party (EPRP). Though many knew him for his teachings, he was also the constituting member of the central committee of EPRP with his nick-name “Gazu.

A hardcore Marxist at heart Gebru is remembered by his former students for giving them a platform to question their politics, dissect the makeup of class in a society, describe the evil of capitalism and the privileges one is born to in this world, among a host of other topics.

Bold in his ideas many remember the emphatic educator for walking out of conferences, confronting others and speaking his mind and also in some instances refusing to have his pictures taken while he was part of a panel during the 2005 elections.

Unfortunately, it has been a couple of years since the prominent scholar disappeared from public life because of Alzheimer’s disease. Former students and colleagues at the Political Science and International Relations Department say that he is in a bad shape with a complete memory loss.

His colleagues, such as Abdi Wassa, an instructor at the department witnessed the Alzheimer’s rapid progression.

For a couple of years he now is in a state where he does not recognize anyone including his family members. According to Abdi Wassa, he starts a conversation in Amharic and continues to talk in Guragigna whether there is an audience or not. His colleagues, who visited him, say his situation is escalating, heading to a point of no return.

Being attended to by his wife, Gebru’s fate has become Alzheimer’s disease. Gebru is not the only one who is suffering. Rather, there are many Ethiopian elders who have faced the same fate.

 According to Dereje Melka (MD), a neurologist at Zewditu Hospital and Tikur Anbassa Hospital, there is no comprehensive research conducted in Ethiopia  regarding the prevalence of Alzheimer's but says that there are cases which are being treated in various hospitals. Dr Dereje says that Alzheimer's/Dementia is a widespread condition among older adults. Since Ethiopia has a low life expectancy rate it becomes very difficult to know if the prevalence rate is high or low. On the other hand, he says that in other countries like the United States where life expectancy is high Alzheimer's/Dementia is a serious case.

According to Dr Dereje, Alzheimer's victims in the US in 2015 are some 5.3 million people and the number is expected to escalate to 13.8 by 2050. According to figures released in 2015 by the World Health Organization, there are over 47.5 million people worldwide with dementia, and it is projected to increase to 75.6 million by 2030.

The research presented at an International Conference on Psychology, Autism and Alzheimer’s Disease in 2013 entitled, “Autism and Alzheimer’s Disease in Ethiopia: A Present Glance” states that in Ethiopia Alzheimer’s diseases is becoming the most common cause of morbidity and mortality. According to the research, the death rate per 100,000 cases of dementia in Ethiopia is 9.7, which is considered to be medium but very frightening when compared with other countries in Africa. Surprisingly, the research states that Ethiopia stands second among African countries and 36th among the globe based on the world health ranking report.

Though many people know the name Alzheimer’s disease, Dr Dereje says that Alzheimer's is the most common type of dementia. Dementia is a collective name for progressive degenerative brain syndromes which causes memory, speech cognitive, and other impairment.

Though it is sometimes very difficult to detect it at an early stage, the main symptoms, according to Dr Dereje, include loss of memory, difficulty in performing previous routine tasks, problems with language, disorientation to time and place, problems with keeping track of things, difficulty in finding the right words or understanding what people are saying, personality change, mood swings and sometimes going to the extreme such as depicting psychotic behavior.

Dr Dereje says that there are various types of dementia but the most common are Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia. There are various tests to diagnose dementia, which include Positron Emission Tomography (PET scan), medical imaging with Computed Tomography (CT scan) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).

Apart from that, the medical history of the patient and assessment of intellectual functioning including memory testing will show the state of the disease. According to Dr Dereje, there is a standardized score which has 30 points which assesses the various intellectual skills.

Accordingly, anything below 24 is abnormal and when the points decreases the severity increases. “At the early stage it might not be detected and the patients may perform their usual activities without being noticed. Their case is known when the situation becomes severe,” the Doctor says.

According to new findings, pesticides, belly fat, smoking and alcohol are some of the causes of dementia. But the most common causes, according to Dr Dereje, are aging and genetics; specifically, a gene called Apo Lipoprotein E. This gene plays a major role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia.

Other reasons include the medical history of the patients, including head injury, depression, stroke, cardiovascular problems and hypertension problems.

Though it is available in other countries, in many of the public hospitals here the diagnosing equipment are not available. Apart from that, the medical histories of most patients are not known. So, according to Dr Dereje, the symptoms of dementia are often taken for normal aging. That is why most patients are not taken to hospitals and are rather treated at home. In some cases they might not be treated at all. Even if the fact is known they are made to stay at home. One case is that of a distance relative of Yemisrach Kefyalew, a lady who resides near Sadist Killo.

Though they do not know the reason of her dementia they suspect that it was triggered by the trauma she went through after the loss of her son who was the backbone of the family. After her loss, she kept forgetting including her current living situation. Though her sense of direction is still intact, she does not remember details. For instance, she goes to her brother’s house, who died before her illness, occasionally but she does not know whose house it belongs to. “She keeps asking who the owner is,” Yemisrach says about her relative.

She has not been taken to hospital to be diagnosed; however, Yemisrach says that her case is a common knowledge to the family. She is now an elderly woman in her mid-60s who has stopped doing house chores and she still thinks she is young. “She keeps mentioning her husband’s name and says that she has to finish all the work before he comes home,” Yemisrach says.

According to Yemisrach, she does not know the current situation she is in and on many occasions she says that she has to pay the electricity bill though she does not act upon it. Yemisrach says her case is a sensitive issue to the family. So it is a hush-hush situation where no-one talks about it.

According to Dr Dereje, there is no cure for most types of dementia. Rather, there are medications to help with patients. One of the drugs is called Cholinesterase Inhibitors, which, according to Dr Dereje, will slow down the progression of the disease. “The medicine depends on the level of the illness. If they come after the situation is severe the effect of the medicine will be highly compromised,” Dr Dereje says.

He suggests that caring for a person with dementia should be multi-disciplinary. In some cases these patients lose their personalites, get agitated and there is a need of psychiatric help to relive their situations related to depression. Additionally, he stresses the need for a 24-hour nursing. According to Dr Dereje, many patients lose control of their bladder and of their bowls and are highly affected with urinary tract infection, severe constipation, prostate gland trouble, which leads to other complications.

“These patients do not know if they are sick. They do not talk about their sickness. So there is a huge risk of being infected, which could lead to death,” Dr Dereje says.

In other countries there are Alzheimer’s societies where one gets support but in Ethiopia Dr Dereje says there is no such support. Those affected are unable to care for themselves and need the help of others in every aspect of their daily life. Dr Dereje suggests that treatments, advice and support and also taking precautionary measures, including dietary restrictions, are very necessary. However, the question is, is it practical with the living standards of many elderly people? In a country where there is no welfare system for old people, how do these with financial constraints be able to get long-term care services, medical treatments and 24-hour nursing. One of the main components of dementia for Dr Dereje is family support and in most cases patients lack the care that they deserve.

The other patient is the grandmother of Eden Zekarias. Based in the US, Eden comes every now and then to Ethiopia to visit her extended families. The weekends are dedicated to her grandmother in Hawassa who was diagnosed with dementia more than two decades ago. Eden says her situation is deteriorating especially in the past five years. According to Eden, she keeps forgetting basic things such as eating. “She might say 'let’s eat' after she had a meal,” Eden says.

Apart from that, she does not remember the passing away of one of her sons. According to Eden, he passed away three years ago but she does not remember that fact. It is not only her dementia that is a problem. The other issue is that she is not being properly taken care of.

“She is an elderly woman, who cannot take care of herself and dementia is on top of that,” Eden says.

She says she needs a person who is committed 24/7 who can be there for her needs. The whole situation has been very tough for her father who travels from America three times annually and stays in Ethiopia for a couple of months treating her. “He is a taxi driver and he works night and day and he does not want to leave her,” Eden says.

She lives with her in-laws which has not been good for her. Eden says it is a headache for the family. One thing that amazes Eden is how she seems to understand her situation. Though her situation is getting severe, she believes that her hypertension has decreased.

According to Eden, she used to have high blood pressure from her 50s till her 70s but when her dementia got worse her stress and her blood pressure seems to have disappeared. However, like many dementia patients she does not recognize the need to go to the toilet and that is why Eden stresses the need for observation.