At the half-marathon in The Hague on Saturday morning, all eyes were on an Ethiopian businessman, a one-man model of African economic development. Our entrepreneur, whose flourishing enterprise includes banking, car dealerships and real estate, is not lost in the crowd of amateur runners. He is right up front with the stars. His name is Haile Gebreselassie, and he is the greatest long-distance runner of all time.
This is not hyperbole; it’s a mere statement of fact. Consider Haile’s awesome collection of 26 world records garnered in an exceptionally long career — 17 years and still running for the man who’s a month shy of his 36th birthday. He is the first man to run a marathon in less than two hours and four minutes (record 2:3’59”). He has won two Olympic gold medals, multiple indoor and outdoor victories (in the 1,500-, 3,000-, 5,000- and 10,000-meter races) and countless other titles and honors.
That would be enough fame and fortune to satisfy most men. But Haile, who earns more in appearance fees, prize bonuses and sponsorship than any other long distance runner, also has the golden touch in business.
So why did this athlete also become a businessman? “When I traveled here and there for races,” he told me, “I discovered the beauty and comfort of developed countries, and I asked myself, ‘Why can’t we do that in Ethiopia?'”
Born in a dirt-poor village near Asela, 110 miles south of Addis Abeba, Haile led a typical rural African life of drudgery and dim prospects. Like so many children then and even today, he ran back and forth to school — 10 kilometers each way. But Haile also ran for pleasure, and his feet carried him from the thankless condition of his birth to a charmed life in a palatial home on the hill. Once his sports career gave him financial independence, he looked beyond just running. Motivated by national pride and a strong desire to help others escape from the hardships he knew as a boy, Haile gradually shaped his vision of modernization. One of his business goals was to provide employment and career opportunities for his countrymen.
“I started out in real estate, after the [1996] Atlanta Olympics. Of course I made mistakes at first,” he laughs. “It took about three or four years before I got the hang of things. But I used the same approach as for running: You have to have a sense of timing, strategy, an overall vision and determination.” With “more than 50% of help” from his wife, Alem, and a conscientious hands-on approach, Haile learned fast. “I discovered I have a flair for this. I build in an area that looks ’empty’ and it turns into a dynamic neighborhood.”
Haile constructed three upscale, 10-story office buildings in Addis, the first modern cinema in Ethiopia, and hotels and supermarkets in his hometown of Asela. He is currently building a resort hotel on Lake Assawa in the coffee-growing region where, incidentally, Starbucks buys its coffee beans. Haile is a member of the board of the Lion Security Bank, and recently became the exclusive importer of Hyundai vehicles. This year, for the first time, Haile hired a manager to help him and his wife run their Haile-Alem International Trading Company, which now employs 500 people. “Of course it helps to be a star, I wouldn’t deny that,” he says. “But you know, especially in Africa, a lot of people try to get close to you, pushing crazy schemes, they can rip you off. I try to keep a level head. I make all the big decisions myself.”
Haile created the biggest road race in Africa, the Great Ethiopian Run, and his philanthropic activities would fill another whole chapter. He has built elementary schools and cooperates with Unicef and Unesco in campaigns against AIDS, domestic violence, illiteracy and whatever else ails his country.
“Foreign aid can be helpful, of course,” he says. “But it’s no good if we get used to looking for handouts. I could give some coins to every poor person who crosses my path, but that’s not the way to do it. I want to give people jobs, teach them how to work.”
Dire poverty still exists and political freedom remains fragile is non-existent in Ethiopia.
I checked in with Haile the other day, just before he left for The Hague. Financial news from Europe, the U.S. and Asia is glum. How’s business? “Great!” No problems? “No problems. The cars are selling. The hotel construction is on schedule. Things are bad over there? Why don’t you come to Ethiopia?”
That’s the enthusiasm of a man who, at an age when most runners retire from international competition, strives to break another world record in The Hague and go on to run the full marathon at the Berlin World Championship in August and — why not? — the London Olympics in 2012. He is not jealous of the impressive pack of young Ethiopian runners coming up behind and sometimes passing ahead of him. In fact he is instrumental in creating opportunities for them as they often turn to him for business advice.
Haile Gebreselassie knows that his four children, raised in a palatial home, will not be driven to the heights as he was, by hardship. But he also knows that most young people are crushed by the burdens that made him a world-class athlete and successful businessman. He keeps his eye on the goal. And when he makes his victory run, with the Ethiopian flag draped around his shoulders, he remembers that first contact with the glittering world of modernity.
Laguna Beach resident Marla Hodes, founder and co-executive director of the Ethiopian Family Fund, will be traveling to Ethiopia with her husband Dan and their three children – Dean, age 11, and Matt and Carly, age 10 – in April on a humanitarian and cultural mission that involves raising funds for a school and a theatre immersion program.
The Laguna Beach resident Marla Hodes sang the American alphabet song with orphans at the Alem School in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, during her most recent visit in October, 2008.
Inspired by her brother-in-law, Dr. Rick Hodes, who has spent over 20 years helping children in Ethiopia, Hodes and her friend Melanie Robbins established the Ethiopian Family Fund in 2006. Known for his work helping children with spinal irregularities caused by untreated scoliosis and spinal tuberculosis, the doctor is the star of a documentary, “Making the Crooked Straight.”
The goal of Hodes’ April trip is to raise $10,000 to help complete a high school for the children of the Ethiopian village of Wondo Genet, whose school goes through eighth grade.
The state has promised to provide teachers if the community improves and furnishes an existing building.
Support for EFF is also coming from the Mudd Butts theatre group in Telluride, Colo., where the Hodes have a second residence.
Mudd Butts is conducting a theatre immersion program in Wondo Genet, and Dean Hodes will participate in the program while the rest of his family helps with theater production.
Mudd Butts students will live, practice and perform alongside the Ethiopian students, culminating in a bilingual theatre performance
“When kids help others, wonderful things happen,” Hodes said.
To learn more about EFF and/or to make a taxdeductible donation, visit www. ethiopianfamilyfund.org.
AMMAN, JORDAN (EuropeanAthletics.com) – Alemayehu Bezabeh, an immigrant from Ethiopia, will join hands with veterans Carles Castillejo and José Luis Blanco to spearhead Spanish charge at the 37th IAAF World Cross Country Championships, Amman, Jordan on March 29.
The Royal Spanish Athletics Federation has named a 19-member team composed of 11 athletes in senior category- six men and 5 women-and eight athletes in the junior category -5 men and 3 women.
Up to six athletes per category are allowed to participate, while the first four qualify. The performance at the Spanish Championship, held in Albacete last Sunday, was instrumental in naming the team.
In Men’s category the top six finishers made the cut, while only the top five in juniors were shortlisted.
The women’s team includes the fourth to eighth place finishers after the first three (Rosa Morató, Iris Fuentes-Pila and Nuria Fernández) decided to opt out of the March 29th meet.
In the men’s field Castillejo, Lamdassem and Blanco have been part of the team for the World Championship before, while Javier López and Manolo Penas will rub shoulders with the best for the first time.
Spanish hopes in the women’s filed rest on national champion Cristina Jordan, while the chances of seasoned pros like Alessandra Aguilar and Jacqueline Martín can never be discounted.
Spain Team:
SENIOR – MEN
Alemayehu Bezabeh, Carles Castillejo, Ayad Lamdassem, Javier López, Manolo Penas and José Luis Blanco.
SENIOR – WOMEN
Alessandra Aguilar, Jacqueline Martín, Judit Plá, Diana Martín, and Cristina Jordán.
JUNIOR – MEN
Mario Mola, Antonio Abadía, Jaime Villa, Aitor Fernández and Martín Ortiz.
JUNIOR – WOMEN
Sandra Mosquera, Tania Carretero, Estefanía Tobal.
Officials:
Gerardo García (Team Manager), Alfonso Ortega, Jesús Alvarado, Oliva Román and Carlos Alonso (Coaches); Dr Carmen León, Ángel Basas and Isabel Arbonés (Physio) Jaime Samaniego (Judge)
Lane Bunkers, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) country representative for Ethiopia, shares a story about an older woman who now has access to clean, healthy water.
CRS donated several drilling rigs to the Ethiopian Catholic Church to tap deep groundwater. Our partner, the Hararghe Catholic Secretariat, used one of the rigs to drill a borehole in Dire Dawa, an arid eastern district in Ethiopia. The borehole now provides 2,400 households with access to clean water. Recently, the Secretary General of the Ethiopian Catholic Secretariat Abba Hagos Hayish toured some of the communities benefitting from this work.
“What do you think of this water project?” asked Abba Hagos of a Muslim woman filling a 5-gallon jug with water from one of the system’s taps.
“It’s wonderful!” she exclaimed. “Look how clean this water is. Our life has changed.”
“Do you know who is responsible for this project?” Abba Hagos inquired. The woman put down her water jug and looked at him with a slightly puzzled expression.
“They call themselves Catholics,” she said, emphasizing the strange word at the end of her sentence. “I’m not sure exactly what that means, but we give thanks to God for their work.”
About 80 percent of Ethiopia’s nearly 80 million people live in rural areas. Of these, fewer than 15 percent have access to safe water.
ADDIS ABABA (AFP) — An Ethiopian court on Thursday postponed the trial of a Canadian suspect who has been in prison for two years on terror-related charges, an AFP correspondent reported.
Bashir Makhtal, an Ethiopian-born Canadian citizen, was among a group of at least 150 who were detained by Kenyan forces on its border with Somalia as they fled Ethiopia’s war with Somali Islamist rebels in late 2006.
The 40-year-old, who faces the death penalty if convicted, is accused of being a senior member of the rebel Ogaden National Liberation Front as well as supporting the Islamic Courts Union before the group’s ouster from Somalia by Ethiopian troops two years ago.
Makhtal has pleaded not guilty to all charges since the start of his trial late last year.
Ethiopia’s high court adjourned the trial to April 20 after prosecutors failed to present witnesses at a hearing in Addis Ababa.
Rights groups have accused Addis Ababa of denying him legal counsel and holding him in solitary confinement during most of his time in jail before Canadian politicians held talks with the country’s leaders.
Adem Ibrahim, who presided a three-man panel of judges during the trial, stated that Makhtal was entitled to consular access and asked prison officials to grant him the privilege whenever it was sought.
Rights groups say Makhtal was arrested alongside men, women and children from more than 18 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom and Canada.
Ethiopian troops invaded Somalia in late 2006 to prop up the country’s weak government and soon ousted an Islamist movement that briefly controlled large swathes of the country.
The Ethiopian army is also involved in a crackdown against ethnic-Somali rebels in the southeastern Ogaden region.
The Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) has begun installing another new Customer Care and Billing System (CCB). This investment is an attempt to prevent a repeat of the 2006 incident when ETC lost more than 70 million birr ($6.3 m) due to a total breakdown in its then one year old billing system.
The former billing system that ETC procured for 23 million birr was installed by an Indian IT firm, Ushacom. However, errors were present in the system from the first day of its application.
On top of the malfunction, there was also mismanagement. Experts assigned to scrutinize the project were not thorough in performing their job. They approved the system as it initially worked well and allowed installment to be made by the Indian firm.
Meanwhile, a data copying safeguard, purchased to back up the customer information, was not utilized while the company transferred the data from the old billing system to the new one.
Regardless of the errors in the installation, procurement of the machine was not as per the specifications, which finally led to the crash of the entire billing system in July 2006.
Despite all these serious problems, the terms of the contract made it very difficult for ETC to terminate Ushacom’s involvement in the project. Instead, the state-owned corporation turned its face on its own top management, dismissing five individuals who had direct involvement with the procurement and installation of the system.
Subsequently, ETC was forced to revert to its old billing system, which resulted in over-charging of customers. After dealing with all these problems, ETC used the old system for just over two and a half years, but has now decided to spend the extra millions on another new billing system called V-Smart.
According to sources, V-Smart is expected to keep records of calls made by registering them on switchboards, recording the length of each phone conversation and converting this recorded time into an amount to be printed on bills every month.
It is said that the failed billing system was expected to perform the same function. The Chinese IT firm ZTE is currently undertaking all ETC billing system projects.
ETC and ZTE signed a vendor financing agreement in 2006 in which the latter is responsible for finding finance for ETC’s projects that ZTE would perform.
It can be recalled that in line with the agreement, ZTE received $1.5 billion from the Chinese government that led the IT firm to undertake all projects, including the current Customer Care and Billing System.
This is not hyperbole; it’s a mere statement of fact. Consider Haile’s awesome collection of 26 world records garnered in an exceptionally long career — 17 years and still running for the man who’s a month shy of his 36th birthday. He is the first man to run a marathon in less than two hours and four minutes (record 2:3’59”). He has won two Olympic gold medals, multiple indoor and outdoor victories (in the 1,500-, 3,000-, 5,000- and 10,000-meter races) and countless other titles and honors.
The Royal Spanish Athletics Federation has named a 19-member team composed of 11 athletes in senior category- six men and 5 women-and eight athletes in the junior category -5 men and 3 women.
Lane Bunkers, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) country representative for Ethiopia, shares a 
ADDIS ABABA (AFP) — An Ethiopian court on Thursday postponed the trial of a Canadian suspect who has been in prison for two years on terror-related charges, an AFP correspondent reported.
The Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) has begun installing another new Customer Care and Billing System (CCB). This investment is an attempt to prevent a repeat of the 2006 incident when ETC lost more than 70 million birr ($6.3 m) due to a total breakdown in its then one year old billing system.