By COURTNEY BACALSO
The Orange County Register
ORANGE – First lady Laura Bush turned down Tilahun “Michael” Belay. So did England’s Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles. Bill Gates, too. Oprah didn’t even bother to respond to the Orange resident.
After Belay’s solicitation letters for his nonprofit organization were unsuccessful, the 52-year-old father of three sold his own house to build a school in the poor African nation of Ethiopia.
Belay won’t be disappointed today. Instead, 2,500 people will be present to honor Chapman University’s community service officer with the 23rd annual Albert Schweitzer Award of Excellence for public service. This is the fourth time the university has given the award to one of its own. Past recipients include renowned groups such as Habitat for Humanity.
“I am a believer in education – something I have dreamt for myself for my whole life,” Belay said. “My dream come true is for my own children to graduate, and my children in Ethiopia as well.”
Starting with a hut
The Tilahun Belay School in the village of Arusi began in 2000, when the Ethiopian native returned to his homeland for the first time in nearly 30 years.
Moved by the poverty he saw, Belay immediately withdrew his own money from the bank. He built a mud hut to house a school for 150 children. He ground charcoal to make blackboards.
“I promised them I would be back with supplies,” Belay said. “I promised them I would give them a school.”
With the help of colleagues at Chapman, Belay started the nonprofit Hands Across the Planet to Poor Youth. Colleagues donated what they could, but it wasn’t enough. So Belay made a life-changing decision.
Belay sacrificed his dream house in 2004: a three-bedroom home on a half-acre in Corona. He moved his family into a two-bedroom apartment in Orange.
“I had no choice,” he said. “These children have nothing. The people are suffering.”
Local philanthropists took notice. Orange developer Roger Hobbs donated 100 chairs to replace the wood platform that served as the school’s benches. Chapman University donated computers. University Trustee S. Paul Musco paid for the 20-foot container to ship more supplies.
Just last week, Jason Gallagher, manager of a Staples in Santa Ana, donated 240 folders filled with school supplies.
“Doesn’t it seem like the right thing to do?” Gallagher said. “He sold his own home to build this school. The least I can do is donate school supplies.”
Going full circle
Belay’s journey has been a long and dangerous one.
At the age of 7, he left his village and moved to Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, after his father became a judge. Belay was forced into the army at 13.
When a civil war broke out, his father told him to leave. In 1975, the young man trekked by foot for three months until he reached Sudan.
A year later his father and 25 others were killed. Insurgents burned their bodies.
In 1981, Belay came to the United States as a political refugee. He settled in San Jose, where he worked in a convalescent home. Years later, he ran an Ethiopian restaurant in Orange County. Then he found a job at Chapman.
“When I went (back to) my birthplace, the city was destroyed by war. Everything was dust,” Belay said as he wiped away tears. “I remember it was a beautiful town. The children I found were barefoot and had nothing. But they were eager to learn even as they sat on the dirt under the shade of a tree.”
Aleqa Ayalew Tamiru, a prominent Ethiopian theologian and scholar, passed away on Sunday at his home in Addis Ababa. He was 83 years old.
Aleqa Ayalew was an icon of the Ethiopian Orthodox church who was engaged in a running battle with Aba Gebre-Medhin (formerly Aba Paulos) over fundamental teachings of the Church. He had served as chairman of YeLiqawnt Gubae (council of scholars) until he was forced out by Aba Gebre-Medhin, the gun-totting illegitimate patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
The following is a report from Addis Ababa:
አለቃ አያሌው ታምሩ ከዚህ አለም በሞት ተለዩ
አለቃ አያሌው በአራት አመታቸው በምስራቅ ጎጃም ዞን ዲማ ጊዮርጊስ ቤ/ክርስቲያን የቤተክህነት ትምህርት የጀመሩ ሲሆን በእድሜ ዘመናቸው ቤተ ክህነትን ሲያገለግሉ የነበሩና በኋላም የሊቃውንት ጉባኤ ሰብሳቢ በነበሩበት ወቅት በ1988 ዓ.ም ከአባ ገ/መድህን (የቀድሞው አቡነ ጳውሎስ) ጋር ቤተክርስቲያኒቱን በሚመለከት ጠንካራ የሃሳብ ልዩነት በመፈጠሩ ወጥተዋል፡፡ ሊቀጠበብት አያሌው ወያኔ በጠመንጃ ሃይል ካስቀመጣቸው ጳጳስ ከአባ ገ/መድህን ጋር ያለመግባባቶች የነበራቸው እንደነበር ወዳጆቻቸው ሲናገሩ በተለይ በ1988 ያለመግባባታቸው ጎልተው መተው ነበር ይላሉ፡፡ ልዩነቶቻቸውም የቅዱስ ሲኖዶስ ተጠሪነቱ ለፓትሪያርኩ ይሁን በሚል አባ ገ/መድህን ሲወስኑ አለቃ አያሌው በበኩላቸው ቅዱስ ሲኖዶስ መመራት ያለበት በመንፈስ ቅዱስ ነው፡፡ ጰጳሳቱ በእኩል ተቀምጠው በመግባባት በእኩልነት ነው ሊወስኑ የሚገባቸው በቅዱስ ሲናዶስ ማንም የበላይ ሊሆን አይገባም፡፡ ኃይማኖቱም የሚያዘው ይህንኑ ነው በማለት ሲከራከሩ እንደነበር ለጉዳዩ ቅርበት ያላቸው ገልፀውልናል፡፡
በተጨማሪም ተጠሪነቱ ለፓትሪያርኩ ተደርጎ የነበረው ቅዱስ ሲኖዶስ “የኢትዮጵ እምነት ስርዓት አምልኮና የውጭ ግንኙነት” በሚል በእንግሊዝኛና በአማርኛ ያሳተመው መጽሃፍ “ክብር ድንግል ማርያምን የሚነካና ሚስጥረ ስላሴን የሚያፋልስ አንቀጽ አለበት” በማለት አለቃ አያሌው ተቃውመትም ሰላማዊ ሰልፍ ተወጥቶበትም ነበር፡፡በዚህ መፅሃፍ ላይ የአለቃ አያሌው ሌላው ልዩነት በወቅቱ እሳቸው የሊቃውንቱ ጉባኤ ሰብሳቢ የነበሩ በመሆናቸው መፅሃፉ የወጣው በሊቃውንቱ ሳይታይ በፓትሪያርኩ ትዕዛዝ ነው የሚልም እንደነበር የሚያስታውሱ ይናገራሉ፡፡ሊቀጠበብት አያሌው ታምሩ ከፆም ብዛት ከፍተኛ የአንጀት ድርቀት ህመም የነበረባቸው ሲሆን ፕሮፌሰር አስራት ወ/የስ ከዚህ አለም በሞት ከመለየታቸው በፊት ሁለት ጊዜ ቀዶጥገና አድርገውላቸዋል፡፡ በተጨማሪም በሌላ ሃኪም ለሶስተኛ ጊዜ ቀዶ ጥገና ተደርጎላቸው እንደነበር የቅርብ ወዳጆቻቸው ይናገራሉ፡፡በተለይ ከፕሮፌሰር አስራት ወ/የስ ጋር ጠንከር ያለ ወዳጅነት እንደነበራቸው በቅርብ የሚያውቋቸው ያስታውሳሉ፡፡አለቃ አያሌው መጋቢት 23/1916 ዓ/ም ተወልደው በ1920 ዓ.ም የቤተክህነት ትምህርት መማር የጀመሩ ሲሆን በህፃንነታቸው በአካባቢያቸው በገባው የፈንጣጣ ወረርሽኝ ለዓይነ ስውርነት ተዳርገዋል፡፡በብፁእ ቅዱስ ፓትሪያርክ ዘኢትዮጵያ በአቡነ ባስሊዮስ ግዜ ሊቀጠበብት አያሌው በአዲስ አበባ ከተማ በተለምዶ ተ/ኃይማኖት እየተባለ በሚጠራው አካባቢ የሚገኘው የደብረ አማን ፃዲቁ አቡነ ተክለ ሃይማኖት ቤ/ክርስቲያን አስተዳዳሪ ሆነው ሰርተዋል፡፡አለቃ አያሌው “የኢትዮጵያ እምነት በሶስቱ ህግጋት”፣ “መች ተለመና ከተኩላ ዝምድና”፣ “የፅድቅር፣ ምልጃ፣ ዕርቅና ሰላም”፣ “መልዕክተ መንፈስ ቅዱስ፣ ወላዲት አምላክ ኢትዮጵያ፣” “አባትና መሠረት” እና “የኑሮ መሠረት ለህፃናት” የሚሉ መፅሃፍቶችን ፅፈዋል፡፡አለቃ አያሌው የ12 ልጆች አባት ሲሆኑ የአብዛኞቹ ልጆቻቸው ኑሮ ከኢትዮጵያ ውጪ እንደሆነ ለማወቅ ተችሏል፡፡
By Stephanie McCrummen
Washington Post Foreign Service
NAIROBI — Three Ethiopian journalists who had been held for almost two years in an Addis Ababa prison said that days after being cleared of all charges and released this spring, they each received death threats from government security agents.
In lengthy interviews here in the Kenyan capital, the journalists also described being subjected to psychological torture during their confinement with other political prisoners in a stifling cell on the outskirts of the Ethiopian capital. They said that after their release they had had high hopes of starting a new life, but government agents almost immediately began hounding them, harassing them with phone calls and otherwise terrorizing them into fleeing their country for Kenya.
“They told me, ‘We will kill you if you do not disappear,’ ” said one of the newspaper journalists, all of whom spoke anonymously on the advice of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. “I was sure I would be killed if I stayed.”
A spokesman for the Ethiopian government declined to comment on the allegations.
The government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has often dealt brutally with people deemed threatening to his fragile ruling coalition. In the capital, people suspected of supporting opposition groups routinely disappear from their neighborhoods, according to the Ethiopian Human Rights Council, a pro-democracy group based in Addis Ababa.
Elsewhere, the government is conducting brutal campaigns against rebels and opposition movements in the Ogaden and Oromia regions, where the council and reporters have documented widespread extrajudicial killings, illegal detentions and torture.
The journalists were among thousands of people, including the country’s top opposition leaders, who were arrested in the capital during protests following Ethiopia’s 2005 elections, in which the opposition made significant gains.
Some Ethiopians had held out hope that the release in April of the journalists and others — and especially the subsequent pardon and release of the country’s top opposition leaders last month — marked a turning point for the Ethiopian government.
The U.S. State Department, which considers Ethiopia a key ally in fighting terrorism in the Horn of Africa, had praised the prisoners’ release as a “breakthrough.”
“We commend the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi for its statesmanship in resolving this issue,” the department said in a statement. “The United States calls on all parties to use this breakthrough as the basis to advance dialogue on peace and democratic progress.”
The journalists said their release had seemed miraculous, coming after nearly two years of confinement in the dingy Kaliti prison, where conditions are supposed to be superior to other jails around Ethiopia.
They said they were held in a room riddled with bullet holes and crowded with about 400 other inmates, many suffering from tuberculosis and other illnesses. The room had one toilet.
The journalists estimated that perhaps 85 percent of the inmates were political prisoners from Oromia.
“There was a 90-year-old man and an 86-year-old man,” said one journalist. “One had been there for 12 years, the other for eight years, and they were still waiting for a trial. The 86-year-old had scars all over his body from being beaten. If you heard their story, you would not think you are living in the 21st century.”
One of the journalists said he was beaten on the head and face with an iron rod when he was first arrested in 2005. Otherwise, the journalists said, they were not tortured, a fact they attribute to the international attention to their case.
But other inmates were routinely tortured, they said. “They would pour water on their back and beat them in front of us,” said one of the journalists. “Every morning, we would hear people screaming and begging for their own death. When we saw them tortured, we were tortured.”
When the journalists were found not guilty and released, they said, they looked forward to resuming some kind of normal life, though the government had shut down their newspapers.
But within two weeks, they were being hounded by government agents, in some cases by men they recognized as those who arrested them in 2005.
One of the journalists said he was constantly followed around the city — to Internet cafes, to his home and once to a bar, where a security agent confronted him.
“He said, ‘If you make a mistake again, we will not put you in prison. We will kill you,’ ” he said, adding that the man put his fingers into the shape of a gun and imitated a shot to the head.
Last month, the men decided independently of one another to leave Ethiopia, having heard that the prosecutor had appealed their acquittal.
They recounted putting on disguises — long robes, big hats — and smuggling themselves by truck and taxi, first to the Kenyan border and finally to Nairobi, where they are under U.N. protection.
They live now in hiding, having heard an unconfirmed report that Ethiopian security forces have come to Nairobi.
“My mind cannot rest,” said one of three men. “I do not feel safe. I always think of my family, that they may inflict some harm on them to harm me.”
The treatment of the released prisoners highlights a challenge for the State Department: reconciling its counterterrorism objectives with its stated goals of promoting democracy and human rights abroad.
The United States backed Ethiopia’s invasion of Somalia last year to oust an Islamic movement that had taken hold there, and it cooperated closely with Ethiopia in conducting three airstrikes against Islamic fighters.
A bill critical of Ethiopia’s human rights record is currently stalled in Congress because House leaders have said they feel the Ethiopian government should be given time to arrange for the release of other political prisoners still in jail, a strategy that the journalists consider doomed.
“You hear all this condemnation of Mugabe,” said one, referring to Zimbabwe’s president, Robert Mugabe. “Meles is much worse. He is killing freely. America should change this partnership with Ethiopia on terrorism. It is allowing the Ethiopian government to kill democracy.”
COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS
Four imprisoned Ethiopian journalists of now-defunct Amharic-language weeklies were released on conditional pardon on Saturday along with 27 opposition activists, according to news reports and local journalists. The four journalists had been given heavy prison sentences earlier this month in connection with their coverage of deadly post-election unrest in 2005.
Editors Wosonseged Gebrekidan of Addis Zena, Dawit Kebede of Hadar, Goshu Moges of Lisane Hezeb, and freelance columnist Tadios Tantu had received prison terms ranging from four to 15 years after waiving their defense and pleading guilty in anticipation of a pardon.
Today, Ethiopian government spokesman Zemedkun Tekle told CPJ the journalists could resume their activities, but were forbidden from engaging in “any subversive action against the Constitution. ” But, he added, they were free to criticize the government “as they were doing before.” He dismissed reports that confessions of guilt had been obtained under duress as “absolutely false and baseless rumors.”
“We welcome these releases and will hold the Ethiopian government accountable for its pledge that the beleaguered free press can resume its work without fear of reprisal,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon.
Gebrekidan, Kebede, Moges and Tantu were the last members of Ethiopia’s private press corps to be released in connection with the media’s coverage of the election unrest, which left more than 190 people dead, the journalists’ former defense lawyer Weneawake Ayele told CPJ. At least two journalists remain in Ethiopian prisons in connection with their reporting, however, according to CPJ research.
Meanwhile, CPJ remains concerned by the government’s attempt to reinstate genocide charges and other anti-state crimes against nine journalists acquitted in April after 17 months of imprisonment in connection with their reporting. Tekle declined to comment on the issue. Simon reiterated his call to the Ethiopian Supreme Court to deny a reinstatement of unsubstantiated genocide charges against the journalists.
The Committee to Protect Journalists named Ethiopia the world’s worst backslider on press freedom this year.
CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide. For more information, visit www.cpj.org.
By Heidi Rickels of Project C.U.R.E.
Local volunteers of Project Cure Arizona this month helped load a 40-foot container full of donated medical supplies and equipment that will be delivered to a Clinton Foundation-sponsored HIV/AIDS clinic in rural Ethiopia.
Nearly 1 million of Ethiopia’s population of 77 million people are living with HIV. Because of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, increasing demand for health-care services is overwhelming the public health infrastructure in Ethiopia, especially in the rural areas.
In developing nations such as Ethiopia, thousands of children are born on the hospital floor, patients lie two and three in a single bed, surgeons have no sutures and lab technicians have no gloves. The lack of health-care infrastructure completely disrupts social and economic stability in nearly every developing country in the world.
Project C.U.R.E. is partnering with the Clinton Foundation to deliver 21 cargo containers of medical relief to clinics in Ethiopia by the end of 2007.
Local residents can get involved in the continuing efforts of Project C.U.R.E. by volunteering to sort incoming donated medical supplies, donating supplies and equipment or sponsoring boxes, pallets and containers of medical relief.
To get involved in the Phoenix area, contact: Project C.U.R.E. Arizona at (480) 237-0970 or [email protected]
