Ethiopian Review will release its annual list of ’25 Most Influential Ethiopians’ on Thursday, September 11 (Meskerem 1), marking Ethiopia’s New Year.
The list is about 25 persons who are the most influential (good and bad) in the Ethiopian society.
The list is currently being discussed at ER’s ‘Ethiopian Progressive Forum.’ Click here to the read the feedback we have received so far from participants of the forum.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Don’t the European politicians have any thing better to do with their money? The African dictators like Meles Zenawi will steal most of the fund. What Africa needs is accountable governments, not handouts.
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – The European Union has set aside 1 billion euros to fund power generation in several African states under a two-year partnership deal with the African Union to enhance investments in the sector.
Experts say Africa needs to spend an estimated $560 billion by 2030 to generate an additional 260,000 megawatts (MW) of power.
Countries to benefit from the EU windfall will include Senegal, Namibia, Ethiopia and Kenya, EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel told a news conference.
EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said the agreement, which runs from 2008-10, would also promote energy interconnection projects between Africa and Europe.
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. humanitarian office said Monday that food shortages in Ethiopia have reached alarming levels following widespread drought in the country.
Relief organizations are grappling with a “considerable shortage of supplies,” with the U.N. World Food Program in need of $136 million for its operation in the Horn of Africa nation, U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas said.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports “that the food security situation in Ethiopia has deteriorated to alarming levels in the wake of drought conditions throughout much of the country.”
Last week, U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes visited Ethiopia and said the southeast, scene of a long rebellion, is the most worrying of all the regions affected by severe food shortages. He urged aid agencies to help ensure that Ethiopia’s devastating food crisis does not become a famine.
The U.N. says more than four million Ethiopians need emergency assistance and a further eight million need immediate food relief.
Severe floods hit Ethiopia last year, destroying most of the food crops. This year, drought has worsened the situation.
Montas said Monday that flooding in Gambela in southwestern Ethiopia has reportedly displaced nearly 35,000. The World Health Organization has provided emergency drugs and supplies for 10,000 people there, she said.
By Kimberly
I’ve been cogitating about how best to continue my series of posts on Ethiopian music. Why all the worry? Well, I fear that some people (heck, maybe most people) will be so unused to the sounds of Ethiopian music that if I start with something too unusual sounding, they might not give it a chance.
Case in point: my normally very musically-open-minded husband. I had loaded some Ethiopian music on the ol’ iPod, and one day an Ethiopian song came up on shuffle that sounded pretty “out there” (even to me). Unfortunately, this was my husband’s very first exposure to any Ethiopian music, and it kind of left a sour taste in his mouth. It has taken weeks of me sneakily absconding with his iPod and stuffing it with Ethiopian tunes to get him to give Ethiopian music another try. Thankfully, it’s been a success. In fact, he commented just the other day about a song in the Ethiopiques series that he really liked.
All that to say that I don’t want to get off on the same kind of rocky footing on my blog! So I’ve been trying to find some ferenji-friendly music (read: music that won’t sound too off-the-wall to everyday Americans) to get the musical ball rolling. And I had been drawing a blank…until I ran across an artist named Minyeshu.
Right about now I might be provoking the ire of some Ethiopian folks who would argue against this choice! For starters, Minyeshu, though born and raised in Ethiopia, no longer lives there. She lives in western Europe and married a Belgian man, so strictly speaking this is diaspora music rather than music made in Ethiopia. Second, this is hardly classical Ethiopian music; it’s very contemporary stuff (her most recent album was released in 2008), clearly influenced by Western music. All in all, perhaps not the most “authentically” Ethiopian choice.
However, for those leery of Ethiopian music, Minyeshu’s music remains a great entry point. Sure, it’s westernized, but it retains elements of classical Ethiopian music–the minor keys, some traditional sounding vocal styles, and lyrics sung in Amharic. Plus, Minyeshu was born and raised in Ethiopia, and at a young age, she began performing with the National Theater of Ethiopia. While on a musical tour in 1996, Minyeshu visited Europe and, because of political instability in Ethiopia, decided to stay in Europe and make it her home.
In 2002, she released her first solo album, Meba, which–alas!–I have not been able to find a copy of. But I have discovered her second album, 2008’s Dire Dawa, and have thoroughly enjoyed it. It is (in brief) lovely, laid-back music brimming with quiet joy. And while it appeals to my Western ear, it simultaneously maintains a distinctly Ethiopian vibe. One review describes it particularly well:
“Like Aster Aweke and Gigi Shibabaw before her, Minyeshu Kifle has subtly adapted Ethiopian music for European and American sensibilities and…has added a soft-rock veneer and modern pop production to the characteristic asymmetrical rhythms and pentatonic scales of Ethiopian tradition….[L]istening to the opener ‘Halafi Nen Kealem’ [sic]…, you can’t help thinking that if Sheryl Crow lived in Addis Ababa rather than California, she might sound a little like this.If that sounds critical, it isn’t meant to be. The marriage of Ethiopian forms and Western pop motifs is effected with an easy panache and potency so that Minyeshu manages to sound both accessible to a wider audience yet still authentically — and proudly — Ethiopian at the same time.”
But hey–why not judge for yourself? You can buy Minyeshu’s Dire Dawa CD at Amazon. Unfortunately, because it’s an import CD, it’s kind of pricey: $29. So, in the interest of informed consumerism, I’ve taken the liberty of tracking down a couple mp3s from this album. If you choose to download them, please listen to them and then buy the CD if you like it.
CAMBRIDGE — The Ethiopian Community Mutual Assistance Association (ECMAA) of the Boston area is celebrating “Enkutatash,” the Ethiopian New Year, Saturday, Sept. 13, from 4 to 11 p.m. at the St. Paul AME Christian Life Center at 85 Bishop Allen Drive.
The 2001 New Year celebration will include a talent show that will allow children and teenagers to share their cultural talents with dance and music performances and highlighted by a fashion show presenting the newest styles in Ethiopian attire. There will also be music, dancing, and an Ethiopian coffee ceremony served by volunteers. Ethiopian food specially prepared by Ethiopian chefs will be for sale.
Based on the Orthodox Julian Calendar, different from the Western or Gregorian calendar, the Ethiopian year of 2001 begins Sept. 11, 2008. The Ethiopian calendar consists of 12 months of 30 days and the 13th month, called pagume, has only five or six days depending on leap year. The Ethiopian calendar is seven years and eight months behind the Western calendar. Enkutatash, which means “gift of jewels,” occurs in September with the clearing of the skies following three months of heavy rains. The highland fields, covered with Meskal daisies, become golden. Meskerem (September) is a month of celebration in which Ethiopians transition from the old to the new expressing their hopes and dreams of the future.
Established in 1986, ECMMA was founded by a group of Ethiopian refugees as a means of organizing and assisting their people. Its mission is to provide culturally appropriate social services, educational opportunities, and cultural programs to the growing population of approximately 12,000 Ethiopians now living in the Greater Boston area. ECMMA works to develop and maintain a support network for the Ethiopians and other African refuges, helping newcomers to the United States to become self-sufficient, contributing members of their community while preserving their cultural heritage.
Tickets are $20. ECMAA is at 552 Mass. Ave., Suite 202, in Central Square. For tickets or more information, call Binyam Tamene at 617-492-4232.
PARIS — The UN cultural agency UNESCO on Monday awarded NGOs from South Africa and Ethiopia the Confucius Prize for Literacy for their outstanding efforts to eliminate illiteracy and promote public health awareness in their countries.
South Africa’s Operation Upgrade was honored for its innovative approach to integrating knowledge about HIV and AIDS into literacy programs, and Adult and Non-Formal Education Association of Ethiopia was awarded for its community-based approach to teaching business, conflict resolution and disease prevention and for its writing workshops for the newly literate, according to a statement by UNESCO.
“Literacy is a powerful yet too often overlooked remedy to health threats, with the potential to promote better nutrition, disease prevention and treatment,” said Director-General of UNESCO Koichiro Matsuura at the awarding ceremony on the International Literacy Day.
Shi Shuyun, Chinese ambassador to the Paris-based UNESCO, said the Confucius Prize for Literacy, established three years ago, demonstrates China’s support for education across the world.
China hopes to arouse world’s attention to education and highlight the key role of education in personal life and in society through the prize named after Confucius, known for his idea that anyone should receive education regardless of his social differences, Shi said.
Apart from the Confucius Prize for Literacy, the UNESCO literacy prizes also include International Reading Association Literacy Prize, which went to Brazil’s Curitiba City Council, and King Sejong Literacy Prize, which was attributed to Zambia’s People’s Action Forum.
About 774 million adults are still illiterate, accounting for one fifths of the world’s total population. Campaign against illiteracy still remains a grave task with 75 million children still receiving inadequate education, according to UNESCO.
Source: Xinhua
