Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (APA) – Over 20 millions Ethiopian muslims on Monday celebrated the 1428th Eid al-Adha Arafa colourfully here in Addis Ababa and other parts of the country.
In Addis Ababa where there is a big number of muslim community, the celebration of the day started early with prayer ceremony held at the Addis Ababa stadium and in the street in the presence of over 200,000 worshippers.
The prayer ceremony ended in solemn processions along the main streets chanting praises to Alah with great religious fervor.
Haji Umer Edris, president of the Addis Ababa Islamic Affairs Supreme Council appealed to the Muslim community to actively participate in fostering the culture of co-existence, peace and harmony and in the economic development of Ethiopia.
He also called on the Muslim community to discharge their obligatory religious duty of sharing with the needy.
The day is still being observed with various activities throughout the country.
Ethiopian Television (ETV) broadcast live the celebration ceremony from Mekka, Saudi Arabia.
There are around 25 million Ethiopian Muslims in the country, comprising about 34% of the 76 million population.
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (Reuters) – Ethiopia began inviting tourists to visit its dwindling elephant herd on Monday as part of efforts to boost income from tourism.
The Babile wildlife sanctuary near Harar, 560 km (350 miles) east of Addis Ababa, is the first in Ethiopia to offer visits specifically aimed at seeing elephants, whose numbers have been ravaged by poaching and decades of neglect.
There are around 300 in Babile, which is also home to a national symbol: the rare black-mane lion, depicted on Ethiopia’s currency.
The government has invested heavily this year in hotels, airports and other infrastructure, hoping to boost tourism earnings by 15 percent to around $200 million.
Harar was an ancient trading hub and a centre of Islamic scholarship in the Horn of Africa.
(Reporting by Tsegaye Tadesse; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Kevin Liffey)
FUKUOKA, Japan (AFP) — Beijing Olympic bronze medallist Tsegaye Kebede of Ethiopia has won the Fukuoka international men’s marathon, setting a personal best time as well as a new record.
The 21-year-old Ethiopian picked up the pace and never looked back after Kenya’s John Wales abandoned at the 30-kilometre mark, crossing the finishing line in two hours, six minutes and 10 seconds.
That improved upon his previous personal best of 2:06:40 set in winning the Paris marathon this season, and was faster than the previous meet record of 2:06:39 set by Beijing Olympic champion Samuel Wanjiru of Kenya last year.
“I’m really happy. I did much better than I had expected to do,” said Kebede. “I’m also happy that I set my personal best by 30 seconds.”
The group of eight front-runners was reduced to five before the 30km point — Kebede, Kales, and Japanese rivals Satoshi Irifune, Tomoyuki Sato and Yuko Matsumiya.
The real competition started soon after Kales abandoned the race and eventually Irifune survived the Japanese battle to finish second in 2:09:23.
Irifune earned a place in the world championships in Berlin next year as the top Japanese finisher.
Arata Fujiwara of Japan was third in 2:09:47, followed by Sato in 2:09:59 and Felix Limo of Kenya in 2:10:59.
The level of economy in countries around the globe is not even. It is somewhere very high and somewhere very low. GDP, literacy rate and employment rate are several parameters of a country to determine the level of its economy. According to a report of the United Nations, hunger causes the death of about 25,000 people everyday. Unfortunately, the number of children is greater than that of adults. Consider several facts of income disparity between rich and poor nations to measure the cleavage between the haves and the haves not. The combined income of the world’s richest individuals leaves far behind that of the poorest 416 million. 982 million out of 4.8 billion people in the developing world live on $1 a day. Another 2.5 billion live on below $2 a day.40% of the poorest population made up 5% of world income while 20% of the richest population made up 75% of global income in 2005.
A country with a GDP per capita of $765 dollars or less is defined as a low-income or poor country. You may wonder why poor countries remain poor. Some interrelated factors like geography, industrialization, colonialism, education, resources, infrastructure, overpopulation, investment, government and debt make poor countries remain the heavy foot of poverty.
Look into the fragile features of the ten poorest countries of the world.
10. Ethiopia (GDP – per capita: $700)
Ethiopia ranks 170 out of 177 the poorest countries on the Human Development Index (UNDP HDI 2006). Half of its GDP depends on agricultural activity. The agricultural sector suffers lowdown because of poor cultivation techniques and frequent drought. 50% of its population 74.7 million bears the burden of poverty and 80% lives on bread line. 47% of males and 31% of females are literate. Some parts of Ethiopia run a high risk of hepatitis A, hepatitis E, typhoid fever, malaria, rabies, meningococcal meningitis and schistosomiasis.
09. Niger (GDP – per capita: $700)
Niger with a population of 12.5 million is one of the ten poorest countries in the world. Drought is a common natural calamity in Niger. It often undergoes a phase of severe food crisis. 63% of its total population lives on below $1 a day. Adult literacy rate is as low as 15%. Life expectancy spans up to 46 years. A number of people die of hepatitis A, diarrhea, malaria, meningococcal meningitis and typhoid fever.
08. Central African Republic (GDP – per capita: $700)
The Central African Republic ranks 171 as a poor country. Agriculture is the backbone of its unstable economy. Life expectancy of its meager population 4.3 ranges from 43.46 to 43.62 years. 13.5% of its population is at risk of AIDS.
07. Guinea-Bissau (GDP – per capita: $600)
The rank of Guinea Bissau as a poor country is 172. Farming and fishing are the only pillars of its economy. The level of income is not even in all parts of the country. About 10% of its adult population is at risk of HIV.
06. Union of the Comoros (GDP – per capita: $600)
Population growth and unemployment at a high rate are responsible for the poor economy of Union of the Comoros. Population density at a rate of 1000 per square km in agriculture zones may result in an environmental crisis. Agricultural contribution to its GDP is 40%. The low level of education has raised the level of labor force. Economy mainly depends on foreign grants.
05. Republic of Somalia (GDP – per capita: $600)
Agriculture is the base of the economy of Republic of Somalia in the Horn of Africa. Nomads and semi-nomads comprise a major part of the population. Rearing livestock is the primary source of livelihood for them. The small agricultural industry contributes 10% to its GDP.
04. The Solomon Islands (GDP – per capita: $600)
The Solomon Islands is a country in Melanesia. Fishing holds its domestic economy. Above 75% of the labor class, is involved in fishing. Timber was the main product for export until 1998. Palm oil and copra are important cash crops for export. The Solomon Islands are rich in mineral resources like zinc, lead, gold and nickel.
03. Republic of Zimbabwe (GDP – per capita: $500)
Republic of Zimbabwe is located between the Limpopo and Zambezi rivers in the south of Africa. Its economy suffers a slowdown due to supply shortage, soaring inflation and foreign exchange shortage. Zimbabwe’s involvement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo left its economy fragile. The worst consequence of the knelt-down economy is unemployment that is as high as 80%.
02. Republic of Liberia (GDP – per capita: $500)
Republic of Liberia on the west coast of Africa is one of the ten poorest economies across the globe. A decline in the export of commodities, the flight of many investors from the country, the unjust exploitation of the country’s diamond resource, looting and war profiteering during the civil war in 1990 brought the economy of the country to its knees. External debt of the country is more than its GDP.
01. Republic of the Congo (GDP – per capita: $300)
Republic of the Congo in Central Africa is the last at the bottom of the economic heaps. Depreciation of Franc Zone currencies, incredibly high levels of inflation in 1994, eruption of the civil war, and continuation of armed conflict and slumping oil price in 1998 broke down the economy of the country.
I recently had a humbling experience on a trip to Ethiopia with Catholic Relief Services. It was a trip that helped me realize that the words of the Our Father can bring us together and help us see that we really do need each other and God to be nourished.
As the director of the Office for Black Catholics for the Diocese of Austin, I was privileged to be part of a 14-person delegation invited to visit development programs in Ethiopia. The aim was to raise our awareness and foster advocacy upon our return home about issues affecting Africa’s poor people.
Awareness raising started right away. On our drive from the Addis Ababa airport to our hotel, I could see homeless people in one darkened, impoverished neighborhood after another. Relatives huddled together, wrapping themselves in paper and plastic for their night’s sleep. It was a prelude of what we would see in days to come.
Ethiopia, with a population of 82 million, is the oldest independent country in Africa — and at 2,000 years, one of the oldest countries in the world. The population in the capital has doubled in the past 20 years and is expected to double again in the next 20. Housing is obviously a major problem; city streets are lined with homes with corrugated metal for makeshift roofs and walls.
Shortly after our arrival, we flew 300 miles east to Dire Dawa, a city of 400,000. From there, we bounced in a caravan of Land Cruisers over rocky roads to visit several rural villages.
When we arrived at the remote mountain village of Kufansik, a village elder greeted us waving two water bottles. The liquid in one was brown, a sample from the scum-covered pond they previously used. The other bottle was filled with sparkling, clear water drawn from a new distribution system developed by Catholic Relief Services and local Catholic partners.
As the elder raised the bottles to the heavens, the other villagers broke out into joyous singing and dancing, sharing their appreciation for their new water source. Mothers who previously walked miles a day to collect drinkable water now have time to tend their fields, and village children are now free to attend school. Families have also learned how to improve their health through sanitation training. In these rural areas, Catholic Relief Services has also taught local residents to protect their watershed by controlling grazing and building terraces for flood control and soil and water conservation. This clean water in Ethiopia, so often taken for granted in the United States, is radically changing people’s lives.
As our visit came to an end, the villagers brought traditional injera bread, small marula fruits and boiled milk for us to share with them. Though some of the delegation worried we might become sick, particularly from the milk, we understood it was a risk worth taking. A colleague noted later that in this act we shared the body of Christ with poor people, and that when we ask God to give us our daily bread, we are all poor.
Later in the day, the rains came — a blessing during this time of drought. Our vehicles got stuck in the mud, but we were determined to visit another site, so we jumped out to walk the rest of the way.
Now we passed face to face the Ethiopians we’d been waving at for hours from our car windows. We slipped and slid across muddy ruts, and they laughed and greeted us. In minutes, though, the growing sheets of rains sent us running back to the vehicles.
For a brief moment, however, we experienced what the Ethiopians experience. By the time I climbed back into our car, I was caked with mud. I realized again how blessed I am and what a humbling experience this was for me.
In that Ethiopian community high in the mountains and on a muddy rural road, I learned that the entire world needs to be a village in which we all help one another.
(Johnnie Dorsey is director of the Office for Black Catholics for the Diocese of Austin and can be reached at [email protected].)
WASHINGTON (News 8) – While economic woes are hurting many businesses, one group of restaurateurs are suffering particularly badly.
Owners of restaurants in the D.C. neighborhood known as Little Ethiopia, centered around 9th and U streets, say they are suffering a 20- or 30-percent drop in sales. A large percentage of their customers — as much as 75 percent — are cab drivers from Ethiopia or Eritrea. The drivers are hurting economically and it’s hurting the businesses that serve them.
“We lose at lot of customers,” said Derege Zewdie, owner of Habesha Market. “Plus the customer they used to order one for each. Now they are sharing one plate for two people.”
Drivers blame two things: the economy and Mayor Fenty’s fare structure for taxicabs under the new time-and-distance meters.
“We are working more hours, we are making less money,” said Gewedensh Asfaha, who says he no longer has money to spent in restaurants. Instead, he goes home, he said.
One example drivers cite is runs to Dulles International Airport (web|news) . The new fare structure pays $14 dollars less than the old system, drivers complain.
“I don’t go out like I used to because I cannot afford it,” said Domenico Emmanuel, a cab driver. “If I don’t make it, how am I going to entertain?”
That leaves business owners in a bind.
“It’s very hard to pay all of my bills because of, uh, most of my customers are taxi drivers,” said Haile Daniel, a restaurant owner.
