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Ethiopia
CNN Hero of the Year – Nov. 20 last day to vote
Dear Friends of Ethiopia Reads,
It is my great honor to be named a CNN Hero of the Year, especially among such a wonderful group of people working hard to make a difference in the world. This nomination has led new friends to discover the work of Ethiopia Reads, and it is deeply gratifying to know that so many want to help us bring books to the children of Ethiopia. I truly believe that literacy is the key to unlocking the potential of thousands of boys and girls who are eager to learn and experience the joy of reading. Though the spotlight now shines on me, none of this would be possible without you.
Over the past month, I’ve traveled the country meeting with volunteers and supporters from every walk of life who share my committment to changing the future of Ethiopia, one book at a time. I’ve been especially touched by the children I’ve met in schools and libraries who care so much about children across the world.Last week at Arrowwood Elementary School in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, I met a little girl named Sarah who donated $1 to buy a book for a child in Ethiopia. This morning in Albuquerque, New Mexico, I had the chance to thank Tobyn Pulice, a nine-year-old boy who inspired his school to plant a library for kids in Addis Ababa. Sarah and Tobyn are my heroes. So are the hundreds of people who support our work by organizing book sales, holding car washes and penny drives, and sharing the message of Ethiopia Reads with their communities and churches, schools and synagogues, book clubs and civic groups.
Please help me honor the work of these heroes with your vote. A vote for me is a vote for Ethiopia Reads, a vote for literacy, a vote for books, a vote for positive change in Ethiopia.
If you have already voted, I thank you — and I respectfully ask you to vote again. Today is the last full day for voting, so please vote now.
Voting ends on Thursday, November 20 at 6 am.
Visit www.ethiopiareads.org to learn more and make a donation.
Thank you for all that you do and have done to support Ethiopia Reads, with your heart, your energy, your support, and now, your vote.An Ethiopian in Abu Dhabi counts his days in prison
By Bassma Al Jandaly | GulfNews.com
SHARJAH, ABU DHABI – Tsegaye Wolde Asfaw did not enter the country illegally, nor did he abscond from his sponsor.
Yet, for the past three years, the 32-year-old Ethiopian has been counting his days at the detention centre at Al Sader deportation facility in Abu Dhabi.
A diplomat from the Ethiopian consulate in Dubai confirmed that Asfaw was being held at Al Sader deportation centre since 2005 for no crime of his.
“There was no case against Asfaw. He was injured while at work and then quit his job. He filed a complaint against the company with the police and also approached the court and the labour department in Sharjah in order to get his salary dues for six months released,” the official said explaining how Asfaw came to be lodged at Al Sader deportation jail after falling foul of the Sharjah Naturalisation and Residency Department (SNRD).
The diplomat said Asfaw used to work for White Sea Shipping and Supply Company at Al Hamriya free zone in Sharjah as an engineer on a monthly salary of Dh 1,500.
“We tried several times to contact SNRD and the company owners in order to sort out Asfaw’s problem but they did not respond to us,” the official said.
Asfaw told Gulf News that he fell down on a huge fan at the work place in 2005 and lost a finger besides suffering other injuries.
“I was taken to a hospital by the company’s public relations officer. They did not report the accident to police,” he said.
The hospital medical report stated that Asfaw had incurred a six-per cent permanent disability due to his injuries.
“I reported the issue to the police, to the court and to the labour department stating that I had not been paid my dues and salary for six months. The case was investigated by police,” he said.
“The company claimed they had paid my salary and they produced a salary acceptance slip with my signature but police investigations could not authenticate the signature,” he said.
In August 27, 2005 the company signed an undertaking with the police that it would take responsibility for Asfaw’s medical expenses and hand him a compensation package but did not abide by the commitment.
The compensation case was referred to the Sharjah Sharia Court which ruled in favour of the company.
“I was accused of jumping from the tenth floor of a building at Al Hamriya free zone in Sharjah despite the fact that there was not even one ten-storey building there. I was detained in Sharjah Central Jail though there was no case pending against me. Then I was sent to the SNRD deportation centre and finally landed up here,” he said.
An official from the Ministry of Interior said the ministry had been trying for a long time to obtain an out-pass for Asfaw but the Ethiopian consulate had not been very cooperative.
Police in Ethiopia arrests foreign currency dealers
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is done to eliminate the competition against Woyanne currency dealers, not to enforce the law. Foreign currency exchange is one of the businesses that the ruling party wants to monopolize.
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (APA) – The Ethiopian police on Wednesday arrested eight people for being in possession of foreign currency (US dollars and Euro), which contravenes currency regulations, APA learns here.
The Ethiopian federal police [Meles Zenawi’s death squad] accused the eight for attempting to take the money to the border for illegal trading.
“They were caught after hiding the foreign currency in a vehicle for their illegal trading at the border,” said the police.
Since the past four months, the government banned black market foreign currency exchange and shut down a number of shops that were involved in a black market of foreign currency, especially US dollars and Euros.
The eight people were arrested with over $350,000 and over 16,000 Euros, according to the police.
It is illegal to use foreign currency for buying and selling activities. The police have advised the public to go to the bank for any foreign currency exchange transactions.
Flood displaced 52,000 people in Ethiopia, 3 died
Dramatic floods in the eastern Somali region of Ethiopia have killed at least three people and displaced more than 50,000 since the start of the month, aid sources said.
“At least 52,000 people have abandoned their homes in Ethiopia’s Somali region after the Wade Shabelle and Genale rivers burst their banks following heavy rains,” the United Nations’ humanitarian news agency IRIN reported.
The agency said heavy rains fell on the region for six days from November 2.
The report said that “36,888 people were displaced and three killed in the worst-affected woreda (a small district), Kelafo, in Gode.”
Government officials said assessment teams had been sent to the affected areas.
“The floodings is there, we have sent an assessment team to this area. Such things are said, but we need to confirm. We are waiting for the report and confirmation,” agriculture ministry spokesman Taregne Tsigie said.
Ethiopia, home to 80 million people, is chronically hit by floods and droughts and is currently experiencing what UN and other relief organisations have described as a critical humanitarian situation.
Meanwhile, thousands of people in northern Uganda have been displaced from their homes because of floods caused by heavy rains.
The precise number of people displaced by flooding is difficult to estimate because a large territory is affected, but the situation is undoubtedly urgent, Minister for Disaster Preparedness Tarsis Kabwegyere said.
“We need information so we can get assistance to them quickly,” he said.
Uganda’s Daily Monitor newspaper on Tuesday put the number of displaced at 15,000, based on reports from local leaders around Uganda’s northern ring.
– AFP
Ethiopia mobile phone usage
EDITOR’S NOTE: Due to the Woyanne regime’s stranglehold on the telecom industry, Ethiopia has the lowest mobile phone usage in Africa. Anarchic Somalia has more cellphone users per capita than Ethiopia. ETC is run by a Woyanne cadre named DebreTsion GebreMichael who doesn’t know any thing about technology. His primary focus is blocking web sites and jamming radio programs with Chinese help.
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (Reuters) – Ethiopia Telecommunications Corp (ETC) plans to boost mobile subscribers to 15 million in two years, from 2.2 million now [out of 80 million people], using $1.5 billion from China’s ZTE Corp O763.HK, the Ethiopian firm said on Wednesday.
[In South Africa, that has a population of 47 million, there are 35 million mobile phone subscribers. Even Uganda, with 1/3rd of the population Ethiopia has, the are 6 million subscribers.]
ZTE, China’s second-largest telecoms gear maker, agreed in July to build a national network in the Horn of Africa country. It is building a $5.2 million plant in northern Ethiopia to make handsets, and industry sources say it will also set up a CDMA network with capacity for 2.4 million Ethiopian subscribers.
Abdurahim Ahmed, head of communications for ETC, said the company also planned to increase the country’s number of fixed telephone lines to 4.4 million by 2010 from 1.1 million now.
Chinese telecoms gear makers such as ZTE have made strides in recent years into more mature markets, and have long been established in emerging areas such as India and Africa.
(Reporting by Tsegaye Tadesse; Editing by Daniel Wallis)