Ethiopia is gearing for Amman, Jordan, with grim realisation that the trio, which constitutes its most potent distance running assault weapons, will not line up for battle.
On Tuesday, reports from Addis Ababa confirmed that three-time senior women champion, Tirunesh Dibaba and husband Sileshi Sihine, were out of the March 28 World Cross due to injury and training fatigue.
Ethiopians are also sweating on the prospects of their team going to their first World Cross in nine years without six-time senior men champion, Kenenisa Bekele.
“It is now pretty certain that a slow recovery from a leg injury will rule out reigning men’s champion,” the IAAF website reported on Tuesday.
Quite to the contrary, the news was not received by three cheers or champagne and caviar celebration at the Kenyan camp training in Embu.
“It’s sad for the event that the three will not be there. Our runners motivate themselves to face them because they bring out the best,” head coach, Julius Kirwa, told FeverPitch yesterday.
“Even without the three, Ethiopia will still field strong athletes and we are training hard to better them as well as all other countries that will be there,” the coach noted.
“We are not going to allow our runners to relent in their mission following the news. In fact, their absence, if true, will make the competition more open and will lift other nations and we have to be ready,” Kirwa disclosed.
The Ethiopian Athletics Federation (EAF) named its provisional squad of 24 for the Amman World Cross last Saturday where Bekele, Tirunesh and Sihine were missing.
A month ago, Ryan contacted me and said he was possibly looking for a filmmaker to accompany him to Ethiopia to do a short film about clean water and the improvement it can make to people’s lifestyle who have not had access to clean water.
At the time I wasn’t sure if it would work with my schedule. … I was excited to participate but I didn’t want to compromise any of the follow-through for my film Pure, which was due to premiere just five days before I would depart for Africa with Ryan.
Needless to say, we sorted out the scheduling and I’m excited about the trip ahead and the prospect of effecting some tangible change with my video camera.
Making climbing films and granola bar advertisements is rewarding, don’t get me wrong, but ultimately it’s a very selfish pursuit, and at this point in my life I’m unattached and willing to work on behalf of others.
The project in Ethiopia (and I’ll learn more as I go) is simple: I’ll make a short film about the effect clean water can have on a village of people who do not currently have access to clean water. This film will be used in a variety of ways, mostly to gain support for the wells and other needed infrastructure to bring the clean water to the villages we will visit. If all goes well, the villages will be receiving new wells and related equipment soon. But there’s no guarantee things will go as planned. From my perspective, we have several challenges facing us:
Restrictions. We may not be able to bring any / all of our camera gear into the country. The Ethiopian government has a reputation for locking up camera equipment and not giving it back until the owners leave the country. The government fears any media that may make them out to be corrupt or irresponsible. Our proposed film really has little to do with the government, but it’s going to be hard to convince the customs agents of that fact if they decide to cause a problem. I’ve broken up my gear across my duffel bags and carry-ons, but it’s still a shit ton of gear, and if they stack it all next to each other in a pile it’s going to be hard to hide the fact that I’m a professional.
The unforeseen. There are a lot of unknowns about this place and any time I go into a film shoot without a clear idea of what the end product will be I get a little nervous. My preferred style is a combination of planning and run&gun documentary, so this project should be a good fit for me. I have some stylistic ideas I’d like to implement but we’ll have to see how practical they are when we actually set foot in the country and figure out exactly how much creative freedom (read: time) I can have to try and get artsy. Ultimately I would like to maintain a high level of cinematic appeal with this project in addition to conveying the information we need to convey.
I’m looking forward to the chance to see a new landscape, meet some new people, and try to accomplish some good with my camera. Simply being able to shoot without having to worry about sponsorship conflicts and logo placements and industry politics will be a relief. If we accomplish our goal and we are able to bring clean water to the ten villages we will visit, then this will likely be the most meaningful project I’ve ever shot.
(For the complete list of Challenges, as well as impressions from Cloudveil athlete Chuck Fryberger’s journals and first few days in Ethiopia, visit his blog: Straight Outta Lenslam.)
Ethiopian Airlines is looking to take a further seven Boeing 787-8s and additionally may order up to 10 787-9s, 777-200LRs or Airbus A350 XWBs this year as it looks to grow its fleet to around 70 jets by 2023.
The Addis Ababa-based carrier’s 2023 fleet vision comprises 23 Boeing 737-700 and -800s, 17 787-8s and 28 aircraft in the 300-plus seat range – a new capacity segment for Ethiopian, which currently has 23 passenger jets: 10 Boeing 767-300ERs, eight 757-200ERs and five 737-700s.
Ethiopian has 10 787s on firm order, which will replace its 10 767s, and the initial seven have already been financed with ExIm Bank guarantees. The first 787 was slated to arrive last September, but programme delays and the Boeing strike pushed it back until 2010.
Speaking to ATI in Addis Ababa, Ethiopian Airlines fleet and equipment planning manager Beza Tesfaye said: “The 787 will represent the majority of our fleet composition by the end of the next 10 years. Over the next 10-15 years we will grow our 787 fleet to 17.”
Ethiopian owns three of its 767s and leases the remaining seven. Tesfaye says the leased aircraft will be phased-out by 2018. In line with Ethiopian’s aim to operate a young passenger fleet, its three owned 767s will ultimately either be placed with other airlines or converted into freighters.
Tesfaye says the 787 order comprises eight 787-8s and two -9s, which are due to arrive by 2014, although she adds that all 10 may be switched to -8s. She clarifies that the 17-strong 787 target does not include the -9s: “It would be on top of that. We intend to grow our fleet. We will start with five [more 787s] and can grow to up to 20 under our initial 15-year outlook, but that could change,” she says.
The 787-9 forms part of Ethiopian’s 300-seat evaluation, alongside the 777-200LR and Airbus A350-900. Tesfaye says the 2023 vision sees Ethiopian operating up to 28 of the chosen type, as it studies new long-haul services to three points in Asia, one in Russia, two in Latin America and three in North America.
Ethiopian Airlines CEO Girma Wake expects to order an initial tranche 350-seat aircraft this year: “If [one manufacturer] is not ready we will go with whoever is ready. It will be a maximum of 10.”
Although Ethiopian has an all-Boeing jet fleet, Wake says Airbus could still win the order: “We are ready to look at their offer. Once you reach a certain size, you can afford to put your eggs in two baskets. We buy aircraft not because they belong to so-and-so, but because it does the job we want it to.”
Ethiopian is planning to keep its 757 fleet at eight aircraft. Tesfaye says: “We own three and the leased ones will be returned. For up to the next five years we will maintain [the 757s]. After that we will phase them out under the current plan.”
Over the next 15 years Ethiopian is strategically looking to expand its African network with the opening 22 of new stations and Tesfaye says four destinations are already under evaluation. She adds that over the 15-year timeframe Ethiopian is planning to double its five-strong 737-700 fleet and introduce up to 13 737-800s – a new variant for the carrier.
“We are trying to lease in two 737-800s. It is likely that we will have them this year and, over the next 15 years, go up to 13,” says Tesfaye.
Kuwaiti lessor Aviation Lease and Finance Company (ALAFCO) is providing the two leased aircraft and Wake says the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding for the deal last week. He adds that Ethiopian’s first two 737-800s should arrive in March and June.
Ethiopian operates five Fokker 50s on its regional network, but these will be replaced by eight Bombardier Q400s which are already on order and slated for delivery over the period 2010-13. Ethiopian was also evaluating a return to ATR operations, but Tesfaye says the Q400 won out because the ATR proved less robust for operations into unpaved airports.
The African carrier’s dedicated freighter fleet comprises two 757s, two 747-400Fs and a recently-acquired Boeing MD-11, with another due to arrive in August.
As the debate over H-1B workers and skilled immigrants intensifies, we are losing sight of one important fact: The U.S. is no longer the only land of opportunity. If we don’t want the immigrants who have fueled our innovation and economic growth, they now have options elsewhere. Immigrants are returning home in greater numbers. And new research shows they are returning to enjoy a better quality of life, better career prospects, and the comfort of being close to family and friends.
Earlier research by my team suggested that a crisis was brewing because of a burgeoning immigration backlog. At the end of 2006, more than 1 million skilled professionals (engineers, scientists, doctors, researchers) and their families were in line for a yearly allotment of only 120,000 permanent resident visas. The wait time for some people ran longer than a decade. In the meantime, these workers were trapped in “immigration limbo.” If they changed jobs or even took a promotion, they risked being pushed to the back of the permanent residency queue. We predicted that skilled foreign workers would increasingly get fed up and return to countries like India and China where the economies were booming.
Why should we care? Because immigrants are critical to the country’s long-term economic health. Despite the fact that they constitute only 12% of the U.S. population, immigrants have started 52% of Silicon Valley’s technology companies and contributed to more than 25% of our global patents. They make up 24% of the U.S. science and engineering workforce holding bachelor’s degrees and 47% of science and engineering workers who have PhDs. Immigrants have co-founded firms such as Google (GOOG), Intel (INTC), eBay (EBAY), and Yahoo! (YHOO).
Who Are They? Young and Well-Educated
We tried to find hard data on how many immigrants had returned to India and China. No government authority seems to track these numbers. But human resources directors in India and China told us that what was a trickle of returnees a decade ago had become a flood. Job applications from the U.S. had increased tenfold over the last few years, they said. To get an understanding of how the returnees had fared and why they left the U.S., my team at Duke, along with AnnaLee Saxenian of the University of California at Berkeley and Richard Freeman of Harvard University, conducted a survey. Through professional networking site LinkedIn, we tracked down 1,203 Indian and Chinese immigrants who had worked or received education in the U.S. and had returned to their home countries. This research was funded by the Kauffman Foundation.
Our new paper, “America’s Loss Is the World’s Gain,” finds that the vast majority of these returnees were relatively young. The average age was 30 for Indian returnees, and 33 for Chinese. They were highly educated, with degrees in management, technology, or science. Fifty-one percent of the Chinese held master’s degrees and 41% had PhDs. Sixty-six percent of the Indians held a master’s and 12.1% had PhDs. They were at very top of the educational distribution for these highly educated immigrant groups—precisely the kind of people who make the greatest contribution to the U.S. economy and to business and job growth.
Nearly a third of the Chinese returnees and a fifth of the Indians came to the U.S. on student visas. A fifth of the Chinese and nearly half of the Indians entered on temporary work visas (such as the H-1B). The strongest factor that brought them to the U.S. was professional and educational development opportunities.
What They Miss: Family and Friends
They found life in the U.S. had many drawbacks. Returnees cited language barriers, missing their family and friends at home, difficulty with cultural assimilation, and care of parents and children as key issues. About a third of the Indians and a fifth of the Chinese said that visas were a strong factor in their decision to return home, but others left for opportunity and to be close to family and friends. And it wasn’t just new immigrants who were returning. In fact, 30% of respondents held permanent resident status or were U.S. citizens.
Eighty-seven percent of Chinese and 79% of Indians said a strong factor in their original decision to return home was the growing demand for their skills in their home countries. Their instincts generally proved right. Significant numbers moved up the organization chart. Among Indians the percentage of respondents holding senior management positions increased from 10% in the U.S. to 44% in India, and among Chinese it increased from 9% in the U.S. to 36% in China. Eighty-seven percent of Chinese and 62% of Indians said they had better opportunities for longer-term professional growth in their home countries than in the U.S. Additionally, nearly half were considering launching businesses and said entrepreneurial opportunities were better in their home countries than in the U.S.
Friends and family played an equally strong role for 88% of Indians and 77% of Chinese. Care for aging parents was considered by 89% of Indians and 79% of Chinese to be much better in their home countries. Nearly 80% of Indians and 67% of Chinese said family values were better in their home countries.
More Options Back Home
Immigrants who have arrived at America’s shores have always felt lonely and homesick. They had to make big personal sacrifices to provide their children with better opportunities than they had. But they never have had the option to return home. Now they do, and they are leaving.
It isn’t all rosy back home. Indians complained of traffic and congestion, lack of infrastructure, excessive bureaucracy, and pollution. Chinese complained of pollution, reverse culture shock, inferior education for children, frustration with government bureaucracy, and the quality of health care. Returnees said they were generally making less money in absolute terms, but they also said they enjoyed a higher quality of life.
We may not need all these workers in the U.S. during the deepening recession. But we will need them to help us recover from it. Right now, they are taking their skills and ideas back to their home countries and are unlikely to return, barring an extraordinary recruitment effort and major changes to immigration policy. That hardly seems likely given the current political climate. The policy focus now seems to be on doing whatever it takes to retain existing American jobs—even if it comes at the cost of building a workforce for the future of America.
(Wadhwa is senior research associate at the Labor & Worklife Program at Harvard Law School and executive in residence at Duke University. He is an entrepreneur who founded two technology companies. His research can be found at www.globalizationresearch.com.)
The Ethiopian Athletics Federation (EAF) this week named its provisional squad of twenty-four athletes for the 37th IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Amman, Jordan on Saturday 28 March 2009.
With the absence of Kenenisa Bekele, Ethiopia’s hopes lie on trials winner Gebregziabher Gebremariam who won two silver medals in the 2004 edition of the championships (Photo: IAAF)
While the squad list is provisional with an actual starting line-up still to be decided closer to the championships it is now pretty certain that a slow recovery from a leg injury will rule out reigning men’s champion Kenenisa Bekele, while women’s champion Tirunesh Dibaba in an exclusive interview with the IAAF website has confirmed 100% she will miss Amman also due to injury.
But with the likes of 2006 short course champion Gelete Burka and two-time bronze medallist Meselech Melkamu picked by selectors, Ethiopia’s chances of taking honours remain good.
MEN – Could Gebremariam deliver?
The likely absence of Bekele, who has won twelve individual titles including a record six 12km victories, will be a massive blow to the Ethiopians as they will compete without the 26-year old in their squad for the first time in nine years.
The Olympic 5000m and 10,000m champion has not raced his November after he bruised his ankles while attempting the World 15km record at the 2008 Seven Hills road race in Njimegen, the Netherlands.
With Olympic silver medallist Sileshi Sihine also missing after failing to recover from training fatigue, Ethiopia’s hopes lie on trials winner Gebregziabher Gebremariam who won two silver medals in the 2004 edition of the championships. He will be joined by Tadesse Tola, seventh in Mombasa two years ago, Feyissa Lelisa, 14th in the junior race last year, and World Indoor 3000m champion Tariku Bekele.
Trials winner Ayele Abshiro, who finished in Edinburgh, leads the junior team this year hoping to make it better. Abshiro has already shown good form in cross country races this year with victory in Elgoibar, while beating Bekele in his failed World record attempt in Njimegen. Yetwale Kinde (21st) and Dejen Gebremeskel (18th) rejoin Abshiro in this year’s squad.
WOMEN – Genzebe takes the Dibaba name to Amman
Like Bekele, Dibaba’s absence is a major blow to Ethiopian medal hopes this year.
In an exclusive interview she has given to the IAAF website, Dibaba, who has competed in the last eight editions of the World Cross Country Championships, has confirmed that she will be out of action for two months and will only make a return to competition in the outdoor track season.
“I am not going to compete at the World Cross because of the injury,” she said. “It will be the first time in a long while that I won’t be running there, but it is for the better because I am injured at the moment.”
“After the wedding, I had gained a lot of weight and put pressure in my training in order to return back to shape,” she says. “The strain was maybe too much on my body and I started to feel pain in both legs at the beginning of January.”
Dibaba sought medical help in Germany, but was ruled out of her eagerly-anticipated 2009 debut in Boston where she was scheduled to run the 3000m.
“I skipped Boston as a precaution, but the pain started again whenever I trained,” she says. “I talked to the doctor if I should race in Birmingham and was advised not to take part in that race and also told to cancel my competition plans.”
“I think it is for the better that I am not running the World cross this year. I will miss running for my country, but I think it is better for me to recover from the injury. I know Genzebe (Dibaba) will miss me as she will have to look for a new roommate in the Ethiopian team.”
Without Tirunesh, junior champion Genzebe Dibaba will shoulder the expectation coming from the Dibaba family as she leads a strong junior team that also includes trials winner and World junior 5000m champion Sule Utura. Fifteen year-old Emebet Anteneh, who does not even have a club in Ethiopia, will compete outside Ethiopia for the first time.
The senior women’s team will be led by 2006 short course champion Gelete Burka and two-time bronze medalist Meselech Melkamu. Trials winner Wude Ayalew should also push for the medal positions after an impressive 2008/9 road and cross country season, while Sentayehu Ejigu, ninth in the 2004 Olympics 5000m race, is hoping for a comeback after spending the last two years out-and-form and injured.
Former street boys are seeing a dramatic change in their lives after having moved into a home run by a Maltese woman in Ethiopia. The home was set up by a 72-year-old Maltese woman Monica Tonna-Barthet, a former United Nations employee.
She had sold her home in Gharghur, her car, her collection of antiques and other possessions and used the money and her life savings to buy land and to pay for the construction of the The Angels Children’s Home back in 2007. The home was built in Addis Ababa under the umbrella of the Kebena Kidane Mihret Catholic Church.
It provides the boys, aged seven to 14, with food, shelter, clothing and medical support as well as counselling with a view to giving them the chance to experience love, friendship and discipline.
“The boys are doing extremely well in their schoolwork. They are also learning farming and producing some beautiful bamboo work” said Margaret Tonna-Barthet, Monica’s sister, after one of her regular visits to Ethiopia.
“They also love playing football and going out on education outings.”
The home is currently housing 20 sick street boys – including five who have HIV – and caring for another two who do not live in the home.
The ground floor has a refectory, a study, a kitchen and Monica’s bedroom. The first floor comprises dormitories, and the second houses a recreational area with two table tennis tables, an area for netball, a television set and games.
Ms Tonna Barthet thanked Maltese donors for their generosity, saying that their help was going a long way.
People can sponsor a child at the home at €340 per year. Cheques should be deposited at HSBC account 006 043 020 051, c/o Margaret Tonna-Barthet 61/2, Triq Windsor, Sliema 1852.
Information or photos are available from Margaret Tonna-Barthet on 2133 4162.
On Tuesday, reports from Addis Ababa confirmed that three-time senior women champion, Tirunesh Dibaba and husband Sileshi Sihine, were out of the March 28 World Cross due to injury and training fatigue.
A month ago, Ryan contacted me and said he was possibly looking for a filmmaker to accompany him to Ethiopia to do a short film about clean water and the improvement it can make to people’s lifestyle who have not had access to clean water.
The Addis Ababa-based carrier’s 2023 fleet vision comprises 23 Boeing 737-700 and -800s, 17 787-8s and 28 aircraft in the 300-plus seat range – a new capacity segment for Ethiopian, which currently has 23 passenger jets: 10 Boeing 767-300ERs, eight 757-200ERs and five 737-700s.
Former street boys are seeing a dramatic change in their lives after having moved into a home run by a Maltese woman in Ethiopia. The home was set up by a 72-year-old Maltese woman Monica Tonna-Barthet, a former United Nations employee.