OMO VALLEY, ETHIOPIA –- It’s the traveler’s Catch-22. We want to explore and interact with exotic people from exotic lands, but the fact that we’re interacting changes the dynamics of the encounter. This unfortunate reality is illustrated in southern Ethiopia, one of the most culturally diverse regions on the planet.
A photo op of this boy, or any other member of most
Ethiopian tribes, involves a cash transaction that can
make a traveller feel sad and empty.
[Photo by ROBIN ESROCK]
Fifty-three tribes inhabit the area, most have unique traditions that range from incredible art to self-inflicted mutilation. Tour operators offer the chance to meet several of the tribes found in or around the southern Omo Valley, and an increasing number of tourists brave horrific roads and long drives in order to go tribal. But the experience comes with challenges.
The root of the problem is popularly known as the “Ferengi (Aramaic for foreigner) Frenzy,” the mob that surrounds tourists in the region wherever they seem to go. Whether it is the result of prolific non-government organizations (NGOs), aid workers or irresponsible tourists, ferengis are heavily associated, by rural people in the south, with free handouts. While it is tradition in Ethiopia to refuse gifts and be generous with what you have, anyone booking a “tribal” tour will find these traditions hard to come by. Instead, ferengis (also the name of an alien race from the Star Trek series) are often mobbed for money, pens, empty water bottles, anything. Especially, and sadly, by children with few clothes.
Our Land Cruiser stopped off the side of the highway to visit a band of Alaba, a Muslim tribe living in dark mud huts with thatch coverings. Immediately, children with their hands out surrounded me as our guide negotiated a price with the leader of the family. An argument ensued, a price was settled, the atmosphere became as welcoming as a doctor’s waiting room. A band of several dozen people stood looking through me, admiring my cheap watch, pulling my shirt with the request of “one birr.” In Ethiopia, it is customary to pay anyone you take a picture of one or two birr for their image; one birr is equivalent to 10 cents Canadian. It’s fair and well-intentioned, but many locals now see it as a quick and easy way to make money.
Like many travellers, I always ask people permission to take their picture, with the aim of capturing a moment, an authentic image, the picture to speak a thousand words about life in that country. An Italian tourist expressed the problem when he told me, “I don’t mind paying for a photo, but I’m finding it hard to find people being natural. They want to pose for me, so I can pay them.”
After entering a dark, smoky hut and asking some casual questions, it was time to leave. Most tourists spend about 15 minutes with the tribe, longer than most exhibits in a zoo, but not by much. As uncomfortable as I felt, it was about to get much worse.
The Mursi Tribe, numbering between 6,000 and 10,000, are nomads in one of the country’s most remote regions. Famous for the clay lip plates worn as a sign of beauty by their women, ritual scarification and stick fighting, the Mursi are embroiled in an unfortunate dispute with the Africa Parks Board, which is creating national parks in the tribe’s roaming area.
As one of the most extreme tribes to be found anywhere on the continent, the Mursi have been visited by tourists for decades. Foreigners are fascinated by a “primitive” culture as alien to the West as whales are to poodles. It’s a three-day drive to the town of Jinko, and takes more than three hours to drive just 27 kilometres on a bulldozed dirt road into the Mago National Park.
My guide warned that visiting the tribe in the afternoon was a bad idea, because of rampant alcohol abuse and the unpredictability of violence within the group. The Mursi are also aggressive in charging for photos: one birr for an adult, one for a child, and three for a mother and child. They only accept crisp, new one-birr notes.
Deep in the bush, the four-by-four pulled up to a small village of a dozen thatch huts. Immediately, we were mobbed by a tribe both frightening, fascinating and thrillingly exotic. With their faces painted, the women made it impossible not to stare at them and their lips that extended inches below their chins.
“Take picture, take picture, take picture!” I was told, then pushed, poked and prodded by half-naked men, women and children, several of whom held semi-automatic rifles that were used in inter-tribe warfare. As more four-by-fours of tourists arrived, the tribe swept themselves into a frenzy, the tourists took photos while their subjects violently grabbed cash notes. More and more people did their best to get into the photo.
It was sickening, yet the photographs are undeniably incredible. “We want people to stay longer, some don’t even get out of the car. They come, take picture and leave,” a Mursi man told me. But how can tourists be expected to stay longer when they’re mobbed with such feverish aggression? When it was nothing less than a human zoo, everyone was exploited.
Perhaps the solution is organized structure, such as what I found with the Konzo. Tourists pay the government-run central office a fee to visit the tribe in the southern Omo Valley and are assigned a local guide.
While kids initially surrounded me with familiar pleas for money, the guide kept them at check, explaining fascinating traditions and customs. I was told that half the tourist fee is distributed to the tribe, and, although it might not be enough, it benefits all parties.
It is, of course, heartbreaking to turn down children, but aid organizations and charities say giving money, clothes or coveted empty water bottles in Ethiopia only breeds a culture of begging.
A nutritionist for a local NGO told me Ethiopia has moved on from the famine of the 1980s. Kids just want things as a sign of prestige. Better to donate to groups that know local traditions and how best to help.
(Robin Esrock is a Vancouver-based travel writer and TV host.)
Sanya Richards, Russian Jelena Isinbayeva and
Ethiopian Kenenanisa Bekele in Brussels
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (DPA) — American Sanya Richards, Russian Jelena Isinbayeva and Ethiopian Kenenanisa Bekele Friday shared the one million dollar jackpot on offer at the Golden League series.
The jackpot is shared by the athletes who manage to win the same events at all six Golden League meets in one season.
Bekele looked beatable at one stage in his 5,000m race as he seemingly held back, but on the final straight he proved too strong for compatriot Imane Merga, who finished 0.35 seconds behind.
Bekele’s winning time was 12:55.31 seconds, while Vincent Chepkok took third place.
World record holder Jelena Isinbayeva failed at breaking her own world record of 5.07 metres, but as she managed to clear 4.70 with her first jump, she won the competition and $333,333.
Richards won the women’s 400m race – as she has in all five previous Golden League meets this season – and thus was the first athlete to be assured at least a share of the jackpot.
Richards, who also won the gold at the world championships last month, took first place in a world-best time this year of 48.83 seconds, beating Britain’s Christine Ohuruogu into second place by more than a second.
Ohuruogu finished in 50.43. Jamaican Shericka Williams was third.
Jamaican sprint sensation Usain Bolt again showed that he is currently unbeatable as he comfortably took the 200m in a time of 19.57.
A capacity crowd of 50,000 spectators, who braved moist conditions in the King Baudouin stadium, celebrated yet another display of complete dominance by Bolt, who last month won the sprint double at the world championships in Berlin.
American Wallace Spearman was second in 20.19.
Although Bolt did not run the 100m, it was still a Jamaican double as the bronze medal winner from Berlin took first place in 9.90 seconds, beating Americans Tyson Gay (10.00) and Darvis Patton (10.88) into second and third place.
In the women’s 100m race Carmelita Jeter won in a time of 10.88.
The Kenyan 4×1,500m relay team set a new world record, beating the 32-year-old previous best mark set by Germany in 1977. William Biwott, Gideon Gathimba, Geoffrey Rono and Augustine Choge won in a time of 14:36.23 minutes, to beat the oldest world record on book of the sport’s governing body International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).
Another impressive performance belonged to Kenya’s Paul Koech, who won the 3,000 steple chase in 8:04.05 minutes, beating his compatriot Richard Mateelong (8:06.92).
Third place went to Finland’s Jukka Keskisalo (8:13.34).
While Most Advocates for African Issues and Pundits were focused on other things such as the Visit to Africa by Secretary Clinton and the Comprehensive Policy Review towards Sudan,an Internal Investigation by the State Department into the Bureau of African Affairs revealed some unique and chilling remarks.
What did this report reveal about what the Bureau that will be dealing with what will be the next test in US Foreign Policy? This Department is underfunded, facing staffing shortfalls, burdened with demands, has a public diplomacy program that in the words of the report is “failed”, and has questions regarding the priorites of long term planning. Despite these shortcomings the report by the State Department Inspector General Praised the Work of the Bureau.
The evaluation into the Bureau took place between April 20th and June 9th of this year. It should be noted that Johnnie Carson who was nominated by President Obama to this post assumed this position while review was underway. Before Mr. Carson took over Philip Carter III was the acting Undersecretary. The review viewed that the time under the stewardship of Mr. Carter was a time of “renewal”. The report sees Mr. Carson as a Strong Leader for this position.
Some of the lowlights that were also revealed in this report were that Several Unnamed Embassies have significant morale, staffing and leadership issues. There was also a lack of communication from the regional desks to the front office and disinterest in all posts but those that deal with Crisis Situations. All in all this does not bode well for the Secretary of State but could adversely affect decisions made by the President as well.
The Lack of foresight in planning affects several aspects of US African Policy. One glaring example was in Food Aid. Quoting the report” The United States feeds Africa,it is not focusing as it might (should) on helping Africans feed themselves.” Another example was in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
The US funds programs that focus more on medication than on prevention of the Spread of this Deadly Disease. The Main function of most humanitarian programs centered around PEPFAR and little if any resources were allocated for education and combating HIV/AIDS.
Another point of controversy is AFRICOM. This newest command of the US Military was resented by members of the Bureau. More often than not the reason was that the Military was getting More Money allocated to it then their State Department Counterparts. For Example A Military Information Support Team dealing with Somalia received $ 600,000 while the State Department got $ 30,000. It should be noted that the Military has resources that State either dreams about or resents. The IG also suggested that the Peacekeeping Training and Support Programs be transferred to AFRICOM if the funding does not increase.
The IG report found that AGOA (Africa Growth and Opportunity Act) has had margainal success due to several factors including poor infrastructure, lack of credit and not meeting the goal imposed by Washington. It also found that within the Bureau that Somalia is the hot button issue but in the grassroots here in the US the Militia Activites are a rising concern as well.
This report is a good news/bad news for the Administration. Africa does have high hopes and expectations of the President. The Military Command is better funded for some missions. Morale is low but the job is increasingly become more and more crucial on a daily basis. Nothing changes poor morale like having some successes. Clearly the State Department needs some when it comes to Africa.
(ScienceDaily) — Central Asian ethnic groups are more defined by societal rules than ancestry. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Genetics found that overall there are more genetic differences within ethnic groups than between them, indicating that separate ‘ethnic groups’ exist in the mind more than the blood.
Evelyne Heyer, from the Musée de l’Homme in Paris, France, led an international team of researchers who studied mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosome data from several populations of two major language ethnic groups of Central Asia, the Turkic and Indo-Iranian groups.
She said: “Our results indicate that, for at least two of the Turkic groups in Central Asia, ethnicity is a constructed social system maintaining genetic boundaries with other groups, rather than being the outcome of common genetic ancestry.”
The boundaries used by individuals to distinguish themselves from members of other ethnic groups are generally cultural, linguistic, economic, religious and political. Heyer and her colleagues confirm the absence of common ancestry in a specific ethnic group; there were on average more differences between members of the same ethnic group than there were between groups.
Speaking about these findings, Heyer said: “Analysis of genetic data, such as in this study, is an important tool for investigating ethnological issues.”
The following is a 45-page report that is issued today by International Crisis Group on ethnic politics in Ethiopia
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) [a cover organization for tribalist Tigrean People Liberation Front ({www:Woyanne})], led by its chairman and prime minister, Meles Zenawi, has radically reformed Ethiopia’s political system. The regime transformed the hitherto centralised state into the Federal Democratic Republic and also redefined citizenship, politics and identity on ethnic grounds. The intent was to create a more prosperous, just and representative state for all its people. Yet, despite continued economic growth and promised democratization, there is growing discontent with the EPRDF’s ethnically defined state and rigid grip on power and fears of continued inter-ethnic conflict. The international community should take Ethiopia’s governance problems much more seriously and adopt a more principled position towards the government. Without genuine multi-party democracy, the tensions and pressures in Ethiopia’s polities will only grow, greatly increasing the possibility of a violent eruption that would destabilise the country and region.
The endeavour to transform Ethiopia into a federal state is led by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which has dominated the coalition of ethno-nationalist parties that is the EPRDF since the removal in 1991 of the Derg, the security services committee that overthrew Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974. The EPRDF quickly institutionalised the TPLF’s policy of people’s rights to self-determination and self-rule. The federal constitution ratified in 1994 defined the country’s structure as a multicultural federation based on ethno-national representation.
The government has created nine ethnic-based regional states and two federally administered city-states. The result is an asymmetrical federation that combines populous regional states like Oromiya and Amhara in the central highlands with sparsely populated and underdeveloped ones like Gambella and Somali. Although the constitution vests all powers not attributed to the federal government in them, the regional states are in fact weak.
The constitution was applauded for its commitment to liberal democracy and respect for political freedoms and human rights. But while the EPRDF promises democracy, it has not accepted that the opposition is qualified to take power via the ballot box and tends to regard the expression of differing views and interests as a form of betrayal. Before 2005, its electoral superiority was ensured by the limited national appeal and outreach of the predominantly ethnically based opposition parties. Divided and disorganised, the reach of those parties rarely went beyond Addis Ababa. When the opposition was able to challenge at local, regional or federal levels, it faced threats, harassment and arrest. With the opportunity in 2005 to take over the Addis Ababa city council in what would have been the first democratic change of a major administration in the country’s history, the opposition withdrew from the political process to protest flaws in the overall election.
The EPRDF did not feel threatened until the 2005 federal and regional elections. The crackdown that year on the opposition demonstrated the extent to which the regime is willing to ignore popular protest and foreign criticism to hold on to power. The 2008 local and by-elections went much more smoothly, in large part because the opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) was absorbed with internal and legal squabbles, and several other parties withdrew after their candidates experienced severe registration problems. The next federal and regional elections, scheduled for June 2010, most probably will be much more contentious, as numerous opposition parties are preparing to challenge the EPRDF, which is likely to continue to use its political machine to retain its position.
Despite the EPRDF’s authoritarianism and reluctance to accept genuine multi-party competition, political positions and parties have proliferated in recent years. This process, however, is not driven by democratisation or the inclusion of opposition parties in representative institutions. Rather it is the result of a continuous polarisation of national politics that has sharpened tensions between and within parties and ethnic groups since the mid-1990s. The EPRDF’s ethnic federalism has not dampened conflict, but rather increased competition among groups that vie over land and natural resources, as well as administrative boundaries and government budgets.
Furthermore, ethnic federalism has failed to resolve the “national question”. The EPRDF’s ethnic policy has empowered some groups but has not been accompanied by dialogue and reconciliation. For Amhara and national elites, ethnic federalism impedes a strong, unitary nation-state. For ethno-national rebel groups like the ONLF (Ogaden National Liberation Front; Somalis in the Oga den) and OLF (Oromo Liberation Front; the Oromo), ethnic federalism remains artificial. While the concept has failed to accommodate grievances, it has powerfully promoted ethnic self-awareness among all groups. The international community has ignored or downplayed all these problems. Some donors appear to consider food security more important than democracy in Ethiopia, but they neglect the increased ethnic awareness and tensions created by the regionalisation policy and their potentially explosive consequences. [… click here to read the full report]
BRUSSELS (AP) — Who is track’s greatest runner? Long-distance star Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia wonders what it would be like to race sprinting great Usain Bolt.
“If Usain agrees, if someone wants to organize this, I am ready,” Bekele said Thursday, a day before the Memorial Van Damme Golden League meet.
Bolt, of Jamaica, is the reigning world and Olympic champion and world record-holder over 100 and 200 meters. Bekele, of Ethiopia, is the reigning world and Olympic champion and world record-holder over 5,000 and 10,000 meters.
The idea would be to find a middle ground — between 600 and 800 meters.
“I think I am pretty good at 600 meters,” Bolt said last week. Above 800 meters, he said, “I have no chance.”
Bekele also thinks the two could meet at about that distance.
“Six-hundred meters is a good chance for him,” said Bekele, considering he would lose too much over the first lap. “I need some 800 meters, maybe 700 meters.”
A Bolt-Bekele showdown would be the biggest match race since 200 and 400 Olympic champion Michael Johnson raced 100 champion Donovan Bailey over 150 meters in Toronto after the 1996 Atlanta Games. Johnson pulled up lame halfway through that race and the legacy of the event is more a joke than anything else.
Bekele’s manager, Jos Hermens, realizes that Bolt dominates the sport to such an extent that even a superlative performance like Bekele’s 5,000-10,000 double at the Olympics and worlds became merely a footnote.
“I will have to think about it this winter,” Hermens said, referring to a potential matchup. He added that he will be in touch with Bolt’s manager, Ricky Simms.
Bekele is often overshadowed and he is still chasing the worldwide acclaim enjoyed by compatriot Haile Gebrselassie. Bolt’s showmanship and stunning performances have made him one of the most marketable athletes in any sport.
When it comes to official performances, the two get no closer than the 400 for Bolt and the 1,500 for Bekele.
Bekele set a personal best of 3 minutes, 32.35 over 1,500 two years ago, a time that would make him the 13th best performer of 2009. Bolt’s top mark over 400 is 45.28 in 2007, which would be the 28th fastest time of this year.
