Osaka, Japan – With the awful memories of his Mombasa debacle no doubt lingering somewhere in the back of his mind Kenenisa Bekele withstood the repeated surges of the man who supplanted him as World Cross Country Champion five months ago to win his third consecutive World 10,000m title.
By no means was this an easy victory however. Many athletes wilted under the oppressive heat and humidity and Zerseney Tadesse of Eritrea, the 2007 World Cross Country and Road Running champion, himself was shut out of the medals after gamely piling on the pressure from the start. Bekele was both relieved and satisfied with his performance spending more time in the mixed zone talking to media in both English and Amharic, than the 27:05.90 it took him to cover the 25 laps of the Nagai stadium.
“It was very tough, very hard, especially with 3 laps left when I was very tired,” Bekele revealed, his shoulders wrapped in the Ethiopian flag someone had tossed onto the track at the finish. “I told Sileshi to follow the Kenyan athlete because I am very tired, I am tired to change the pace with this guy. After one lap left I picked it up again. It’s not easy to run in this weather, it’s very tough.”
“But, three times, absolutely, I am world champion I am very happy.”
Among the well wishers waiting to see him was his agent Jos Hermens of Global Sports Communications who heaped praise on the athlete.
“Today he was winning with his head, this is totally different from other wins,” Hermens said. “It shows also how strong mentally after Mombasa he is. The time of 27:05 is maybe World record pace in normal weather. It’s fantastic. Sileshi did everything right, Incredible.”
After crossing the finish line Bekele carried not only an Ethiopian flag around the track but also a sign announcing the approaching Ethiopian millennium. A celebration is planned Monday at the Ethiopian embassy in Osaka for both the millennium which begins on 12 September and for Bekele’s gold medal performance. In fact the Ethiopian ambassador to Japan squeezed into the mixed zone to congratulate Bekele on his victory.
World record attempt in Brussels
Hermens has confirmed that Bekele will race in the Brussels Golden League meeting on 14 September. Though he was reluctant to call it a World record attempt he did acknowledge that it was a ‘waste of time’ for Bekele to go to Brussels just to run 26:30. Later in the evening after finishing doping control the 25-year-old admitted he would attempt to beat his World 10,000m record of 26:17.53 on the same track he set it two years ago.
While most athletes arrived in Osaka with plenty of time to acclimatize to the weather conditions Bekele and Sihine flew in from Addis Ababa just two days before the 10,000m final.
“They come late because they think that if they are too long from altitude they lose too many (oxygen carrying) red blood cells,” Hermens explains. “It’s an important thing for them so there is no use to fight it.”
Hermens also revealed that Bekele has got over the grief he experienced at the loss of his fiance Alem Tachele two years ago. He has been socialising more. And he has big plans to build a sports centre just outside Addis.
Recently he acquired a piece of land on which he hopes to build a track and other facilities including a swimming pool. A meeting is scheduled in Brussels, the day after the Golden League meeting there, with construction experts to discuss the project.
Double in Beijing?
At the post event press conference Bekele was asked about a possible 5000m-10,000m double at the Beijing Olympics. He smiled a little.
“After Osaka my big goal is the Beijing Olympics,” Bekele reveals. “Now maybe I can try some World record. I wanted to win in Osaka, I am happy and I will celebrate. I am not sure about (the 5000m- 10,000m double in Beijing) I am not sure.”
“Three years ago I missed being double champion. If I can I would love to try to do that again at the next Olympics but I don’t think it’s necessary for me to decide at this point.”
After spending an hour in doping control Bekele left Nagai Stadium with an Ethiopian team official. Chatting with a reporter as he waited for a bus to take him to the team hotel he was clearly reveling in his success. And so he should. This was a hard fought victory which proved just how tough Kenenisa Bekele really is.
Osaka, Japan – With the awful memories of his Mombasa debacle no doubt lingering somewhere in the back of his mind Kenenisa Bekele withstood the repeated surges of the man who supplanted him as World Cross Country Champion five months ago to win his third consecutive World 10,000m title.
By no means was this an easy victory however. Many athletes wilted under the oppressive heat and humidity and Zerseney Tadesse of Eritrea, the 2007 World Cross Country and Road Running champion, himself was shut out of the medals after gamely piling on the pressure from the start. Bekele was both relieved and satisfied with his performance spending more time in the mixed zone talking to media in both English and Amharic, than the 27:05.90 it took him to cover the 25 laps of the Nagai stadium.
“It was very tough, very hard, especially with 3 laps left when I was very tired,” Bekele revealed, his shoulders wrapped in the Ethiopian flag someone had tossed onto the track at the finish. “I told Sileshi to follow the Kenyan athlete because I am very tired, I am tired to change the pace with this guy. After one lap left I picked it up again. It’s not easy to run in this weather, it’s very tough.”
“But, three times, absolutely, I am world champion I am very happy.”
Among the well wishers waiting to see him was his agent Jos Hermens of Global Sports Communications who heaped praise on the athlete.
“Today he was winning with his head, this is totally different from other wins,” Hermens said. “It shows also how strong mentally after Mombasa he is. The time of 27:05 is maybe World record pace in normal weather. It’s fantastic. Sileshi did everything right, Incredible.”
After crossing the finish line Bekele carried not only an Ethiopian flag around the track but also a sign announcing the approaching Ethiopian millennium. A celebration is planned Monday at the Ethiopian embassy in Osaka for both the millennium which begins on 12 September and for Bekele’s gold medal performance. In fact the Ethiopian ambassador to Japan squeezed into the mixed zone to congratulate Bekele on his victory.
World record attempt in Brussels
Hermens has confirmed that Bekele will race in the Brussels Golden League meeting on 14 September. Though he was reluctant to call it a World record attempt he did acknowledge that it was a ‘waste of time’ for Bekele to go to Brussels just to run 26:30. Later in the evening after finishing doping control the 25-year-old admitted he would attempt to beat his World 10,000m record of 26:17.53 on the same track he set it two years ago.
While most athletes arrived in Osaka with plenty of time to acclimatize to the weather conditions Bekele and Sihine flew in from Addis Ababa just two days before the 10,000m final.
“They come late because they think that if they are too long from altitude they lose too many (oxygen carrying) red blood cells,” Hermens explains. “It’s an important thing for them so there is no use to fight it.”
Hermens also revealed that Bekele has got over the grief he experienced at the loss of his fiance Alem Tachele two years ago. He has been socialising more. And he has big plans to build a sports centre just outside Addis.
Recently he acquired a piece of land on which he hopes to build a track and other facilities including a swimming pool. A meeting is scheduled in Brussels, the day after the Golden League meeting there, with construction experts to discuss the project.
Double in Beijing?
At the post event press conference Bekele was asked about a possible 5000m-10,000m double at the Beijing Olympics. He smiled a little.
“After Osaka my big goal is the Beijing Olympics,” Bekele reveals. “Now maybe I can try some World record. I wanted to win in Osaka, I am happy and I will celebrate. I am not sure about (the 5000m- 10,000m double in Beijing) I am not sure.”
“Three years ago I missed being double champion. If I can I would love to try to do that again at the next Olympics but I don’t think it’s necessary for me to decide at this point.”
After spending an hour in doping control Bekele left Nagai Stadium with an Ethiopian team official. Chatting with a reporter as he waited for a bus to take him to the team hotel he was clearly reveling in his success. And so he should. This was a hard fought victory which proved just how tough Kenenisa Bekele really is.
The following is a speech delivered by Ato Obang Metho in Minnesota at a conference organized by the Ogaden Youth Network:
Let us Break Down the Invisible Fences of Ethiopia!
August 11, 2007
It is an honor to be here in front of you to talk about human rights in Ethiopia. Human rights abuses are going on all over the country, but right now, the people of the Ogaden are paying the heaviest price. What is happening in the Ogaden is a silent Darfur. I am here with you today as a brother who knows what you are going through. I am here to grieve with you as part of your Ethiopian family. I am here as a fellow worker in a battle against the same injustice that is killing all of our people—the people of Gambella, the Ogaden and in all of Ethiopia!
I want to thank the Ogaden Youth Network for inviting me to first Annual International Ogaden Youth Committee and for all the excellent work you have done in organizing this conference. I thank the Ogaden Human Rights Committee, the University of St. Thomas who is hosting this conference and the many others who assisted in bringing this about.
I am glad to be in this great state of Minnesota. Minnesota has become my second home. Since 2004, I have been coming here many times to speak, starting with the Anuak. You may not know that most of the Anuak in the United States live in Minnesota, as do my family members, friends and some of my work colleagues. More recently, I have been here to speak at the University of Minnesota and just two weeks ago to speak to the Oromo.
More Oromo live in Minnesota than anywhere else in the country, but I have just learned from some of my hostesses that there are 15,000 to 18,000 Ogadenis here in Minnesota as well—again, more than in any other place in the country! I now feel all the more strongly that Minnesota is my second home because I feel so at home with not only the Anuak, but now also because it is the largest US home of Ogadenis and the Oromo. You all are my new brothers and sisters and we have much in common, but the Anuak and the Ogadenis have had little chance to meet in the past.
I first met some of you in January of this year when we were in Atlanta at a meeting about the human rights abuses in Ethiopia that was organized by African Americans. During our stay, some of us met informally in a hotel room and talked for hours. There were four Ogadenis, one Amhara, one Oromo and me, an Anuak. While we were there, Abdulhakim, an Ogadeni, commented that it was unbelievable that we were all there together in the same room. He went on to say that previously there had been an invisible fence that had blocked us from each other that had been set in place by the Dergue and now was reinforced by the Woyane government.
ANNOUNCEMENT Council for the Celebration of Ethiopian Millennium
Ethiopia in the dawn of the third Millennium: Reflections on our Country’s Past and its Future – Challenges and Opportunities.
As part of the events organized by the Council for Ethiopian Millennium Celebration Council in Washington DC, USA, from September 7 to September 12, 2007, several prominent scholars, professionals, and experts, both Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopia — from Europe, Canada, and various states of the US — will gather in Washington DC to participate in a Symposium: “Ethiopia in the dawn of the 3rd Millennium: Reflections on our Country’s Past and its Future.” The Symposium will be held from September 8-9, 2007 at Howard University in Washington, DC.
The closure of the 2nd Ethiopian millennium and the beginning of of the new one is not a mere marker of transition between two epochs in a wall calendar. It goes without saying that it carries the baggage of history, with all its ups and downs of thousands of years, a civilization that has its unique features and a diverse population with a colorful culture and heritage. What is already passing represents a rich mosaic of religious, economic, social and political systems that have fascinated scholars, baffled would be colonialists, thrilled potential trade partners and challenged politicians who wish to lead the nation.
On the dawn of the new millennium, it is incumbent on all Ethiopians to explore ways of building and enhancing our capacity to sustain both our rich heritages and a proud history of an ancient and unique civilisation. Current and future generations of Ethiopians have a huge responsibility to carry-on this golden heritage and proud history, which has been for decades, if not for centuries a hallmark of great contribution, inspiration and a leading star for the entire African continent and for the black people of African descent world-wide.
The symposium has a double-pronged purpose:
To highlight the heritages of an ancient civilization that sustained an exemplary and untarnished independence, and
To explore and formulate the innovative contributions of the contemporary Ethiopian generations to explore a course and set an agenda for brightening our country’s future
These perspectives are complementary: highlighting Ethiopia’s proud legacy will set the stage for the nation’s future in all fields of knowledge, thus enabling the new generation to carry the torch of that legacy to the distant future. Tapping on the great reservoirs of unyielding and renowned Ethiopian spirits of the past generations, we aspire in this Symposium to critically look at ways for re-establishing our country’s great image and prestige in the world platform, by helping her to institute forward-looking policies in all walks of life today and for the coming decades. Themes of the symposium reflect the 2000 years of achievements, frustrations and challenges as well as the new directions of civil and political lives of Ethiopians in the context of our diversity, modernity and globalisation. The invited presenters are expected to highlight the achievements, frustrations and challenges of the current generation of Ethiopians, as they face the future and struggle to recognize their roots in an ancient civilization, lift their heads and spirits high and assert their great potentials, resources and innovative qualities. The symposium also hopes to open a dialogue over innovative approaches to help enable our country, first and foremost be self-reliant as it strives to control its future. The sub-themes will encompass the overwhelming social, economic and political difficulties the country has been undergoing over the centuries, particularly the last century. These will be used for exploring and bringing forth the underlying strategies for overcoming them.Council for the Celebration of Ethiopian Millennium – Washington, DCTHE ETHIOPIAN MILLENNIUM: REFLECTIONS ON THE PAST, PRESENT CHALLENGS, LIGHT INTO THE FUTURESYMPOSIA – September 8 – 9, 2007
Howard University Washington, DCA. Ethiopian History, Language, and Culture in the past MillenniumModerator: Speakers: Professor Getatchew Haile, St. Johns University – Ethiopia Ena Yekerew Alem
Ato Assefa Gebremariam Tesema, Author and Poet: Ye Ethiopia Huletegnaw Millennium BeGetami Ayin
Dr. Fikre Tolossa, Writer, Poet & Playwright: Ethiopian History and Literature
Dr. Ayele Bekeri, Cornell University: The Ethiopian Millennium as a Signifier of Long Historical Journey
Dr. Aberra Molla: The Ethiopian Calendar
Dr. Meseret Chekol Reta, University of Wisconsin – River Falls: Hoping for a Free and Vibrant Press in Ethiopia: A Bird’s Eye view of the Development of Modern Media Over the Last One Hundred Years.
B. The State of Education and the Youth in Ethiopia
Moderator: Dr. Mena Aklilu
Speakers: Dr. Paulos Milikias: Modernity, the Ethiopian Youth and the Challenge of the Third Millennium
Dr. Aklilu Habte, Former President of Addis Ababa University: Timhert BeEthiopia: Tinanet Ena Zare
Dr. Abraham Bekele: Ethiopia’s Beleaguered Youth: Can It Meet the Challenges of the New Millennium?
C. Prospects and Challenges of Health and Women issues in EthiopiaModerator: Dr. Abeba FekadeSpeakers: Dr. Kassa Ayalew: Health and Good Governance: The Challenges in the New MillenniumDr. Abeba Fekade: The Health Crisis in Ethiopia: The Challenges in the New MillenniumWro Lemlem Tsegaw: Health and Women In Ethiopia
Dr. Ashenafi Waktola: HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia
D. Ethiopians in the Diaspora: Prospects, Challenges, and opportunities
Moderator: Ato Abdul Aziz Kamus, African Resource Center, Washington DC
Speakers:
Dr. Solomon Addis Getahun, Michigan State University, MI: The History of Ethiopian Immigrants in the US, a Profile –
Ethiopian Musicians at the Diaspora Crossroads
Dr. Kay Kaufman Shelemay, Harvard University
Dr. Gabe Hamda, ICATT Consulting, Inc, Jacksonville, Florida.
Success in Business and Entrepreneurship: Lessons for Ethiopians in Diaspora
Mr. Abdulaziz Kamus, African Resource Center: Standing Up and Speaking Up for your community
E. Ethiopia’s Millennium Challenges: Economic Development and the Environment
Moderator: Dr.Gezhaegen Bekele,
Speakers:
Professor Lemma Wolde Senbet, University of Maryland: Ethiopia’s Command Financial Economy: Measures for Transforming the Financial Sector in Next Millennium.
Dr. Getachew Begashaw, Harper College: The Ethiopian Economy in the New Millennium – A Despoiled Economy in Perspective.
Dr. Sisay Assefa, Western Michigan University: The Challenge of Economic Development – Can Ethiopian Claim the 21st Century or its Coming Millennium
Ato Mersie Ejigu, Partnership for African Environmental Sustainability: Sustainable Development and Peace in Ethiopia: Possibilities of Our Time?
Dr. Brook Lakew, NASA: Global warming – the challenges and business opportunities
Ato Fekade Shewakena, National Institute of Health (NIH): Desertification in Ethiopia: Causes and Consequences.
F. The Quest for Democracy in the New Millennium
Co-organized with Support group for Democracy in Ethiopia
Moderator: Ato Negussie Mengesha (Voice of America, VOA)
Speakers: Dr. Mesfin Araya, City University of New York, NY: The Quest for Democracy under TPLF: Lessons from 2005 Elections
Dr. Messay Kebede, University of Dayton: Millennium Beliefs and Radicalization
Dr. Getachew Metaferia, Morgan State University: Ethiopia and United State Relations – Its Impact on the Quest for Democracy in Ethiopia
Mr. Dima N. Sarbo, University of Tennessee: The Challenges of Balancing Collective and Individual Rights in the New Millennium.
Ato Ephrem Madebo, Systems Engineer, FAA: Democratic Response to National Question in Ethiopia.
G. The Essentials of Peace and Reconciliation in Ethiopia in the New Millennium
Co-Organized by the Ethiopian Women for Peace and Development (EWPD)
Moderator: Dr. Maigenet Shifferraw, (University of the District of Columbia)
Speakers:
Dr. Berhanu Mengistu, Old Dominion University: The Role of Civil Society in the Transformation of Governance and Peace Building in Ethiopia
Dr. Kogila Adam-Moodley, University of British Columbia and Director of Research and Development at the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre in Cape Town, South Africa: What Made the South African Reconciliation Possible?
Dr. Heribert Adam, Simon Fraser University and University of Cape Town: Conflict Resolution in Divided Societies: Lessons from South Africa for Ethiopia
Ms Agerie Tefera, Arlington Diocese Office of Migration and Refugee Services: The Role of Women in Peace and Reconciliation: A Case of Women in the Southern Region of Ethiopia
Mr. Elias Wondimu, EINEPS and Tsehai Publishers: Institutional Formation as an Instrument for Conflict Prevention and Positive Changein Ethiopia: The Case of the Ethiopian Institute for Nonviolence Education and Peace Studies (EINEPS)
H. Building Democratic Institutions, and Civil Society
Co-organized with Ethiopian National Congress (ENC)
Speakers:
Dr. Tsehai Berhane-Selassie, Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick: Way Out of Seven Deaths: Ethiopian Prospects for the New Millennium.’
Dr. Teshome Tadesse, Michigan State University: Peace and wartime shifts in the behaviours of the state and civil society and socioeconomic and political change in Ethiopia.
Dr. Erqu Yimer, Ethiopian Community Center, Chicago, IL: Building Democratic Institutions of Governance and Civil Institutions
Dr. Berhanu Abegaz, College of William and Mary, VA: Citizens Charter: The Vital Role of a Strong Civic Movement
Ato Derje Demisse, Law Offices of Dereje and Church, Boston, MA: Targeted Legal Reform To Promote Democracy in the New Millennium: Building an independent judiciary and reform in criminal justice
I. The Ethiopian State, Ethno-nationalism, and Security Issues: Past, Present, and Future Challenges
Moderator: Ambassador Ayalew Mandefro, former Ambassador Minister of Defence
Speakers:
Dr. Mamo Muchie, Aalborg University, Denmark: Millennium Hopes for creating a Security Community from the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean: Confronting the Challenges with Courage and Wisdom.
Dr. Negede Gobzie, Author and Political Activist, Belgium: Be Haya Andegnaw Kifele Zemen Be Ethiopia Yetedergu Ye Lewit Mukerawoch: Tahisas, Yekatit Ena Ginbot.
Dr. Shumet Sishagne, University of Newport News, VA: Whither Ethio-Eritrean Relation in the Next Millennium? A Time for Reflection.”
Dr. Assefa Negash, De Geestgronden Institute of Mental Health, Dutch city of Harlem, The Netherlands: Ethno-nationalism as a Hindrance to the Democratization of the Ethiopian State
To contact the Council for the Celebration of Ethiopian Millennium regarding the Symposium you can write to: [email protected] [email protected]: 202-386-3037 or 301-681-1201
An Ethiopian human rights group is demanding that the United States and other international donors monitor the food and financial aid they give to Ethiopia for its impoverished Ogaden region. As Nick Wadhams reports from Nairobi, activists say the government has blocked food aid to the Ogaden as it tries to quash a local rebel group.
The Ogaden Human Rights Committee says Ethiopia’s government has sparked a humanitarian crisis in the Ogaden and is asking nations from around the world to contribute aid. But it says they must make sure the donations get to the people who need them most.
Last week, the United States announced it is providing nearly $19 million in food assistance for the Ogaden through the U.N. World Food Program. Some money also will help pay for health, nutrition, and livelihood programs.
Abdukadir Sulub Abdi is the international coordinator for the Ogaden Human Rights Committee. He says more than two million people are suffering from malnutrition because of the military clampdown.
“There is not independent agents or international NGOs who can be trusted for the distribution of the aid. So it is easy to divert and everyone knows that they divert aid,” said Abdi. “Many children have starved to death because of this military blockade and there is also a breakout of cholera and other diseases which are related to malnutrition.”
Ethiopian government officials deny they are blocking aid, but U.N. officials have privately complained in the past that the Ethiopian government was restricting their ability to deliver aid. Many aid groups working in the Ogaden have had to submit themselves to close monitoring by Ethiopian officials as well.
In July, Ethiopia expelled the International Committee of the Red Cross from the Ogaden region, and before that, the New York-based Human Rights Watch accused Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s government of widespread abuses as part of a crackdown on the Ogaden. It said Ethiopian troops had blocked food shipments, burned villages and killed innocent civilians as it pursues the rebel Ogaden National Liberation Front.
The rebels advocate independence for southeastern Ethiopia. The desert region borders Somalia and is said to contain large petroleum reserves. The group accuses the government of discriminating against the region’s people, who are mostly Somali-speaking camel herders and nomads.
In April, the rebels attacked a Chinese oil facility in the Ogaden and reportedly killed 74 people. The rebels accused the Chinese of entering into an illegal contract with the Ethiopian government. In June, Prime Minister Meles announced he was launching a campaign to wipe out the rebels.
Last week, the rebel group said it welcomed U.N. plans to send a fact-finding mission to the Ogaden and asked that the team not limit itself to humanitarian issues. But U.N. officials said the mission that included staff from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the U.N. refugee agency, and others had already taken place.
The Mesgana Dancers perform for two reasons: to celebrate the traditional customs of their Ethiopian homeland and to raise money to support other girls’ educational dreams.
The 11-member troupe will wrap up its 16-city American summer tour with a show Sept. 13 in Ontario and one the next day at USC’s Bovard Auditorium.
The Ontario performance – at 7 p.m. in Chaffey High School’s Gardiner Spring Auditorium – will be presented by the Children of Ethiopia Education Fund and Ethiopia Reads.
Proceeds benefit COEEF – a nonprofit organization founded by former Ontario resident Norm Perdue and his wife, Ruthann – and Ethiopia Reads, a Denver-based nonprofit that gives books in Ethiopian libraries.
The girls in Mesgana, which means “gratitude” in Ethiopia’s Amharic language, are all sponsored students at private and parochial schools in Ethiopia.
The concerts are more than entertainment, said COEEF sponsors Eurydice Turk of Pomona and Charlene Dewees and Helen Whitehead, both of Rancho Cucamonga. They are testimonials that individuals can make a difference in the lives of impoverished children, the three women said.
Nearly 1,000 girls attend 23 schools in Ethiopia, thanks to sponsors in several countries who share the Perdues’ mission to provide hope through education.
“This is my second year of sponsoring twin girls Rediet and Kalkidan at Deza School IV,” said Turk. “My own son, Mathieu, is only a little older than the girls who are 7, almost 8.”
Turk is among Dewees’ co-workers at Rancho Cucamonga’s Western Group Realty who joined the COEEF bandwagon because of her “enthusiastic pom-pom waving on behalf of this group,” she said. “Also the idea of educating girls and women to make an impact on families, communities, (the) nation and even the world made sense to me.”
At Western Group, owner Mary Kruger sponsors seven girls, Crista Fanning has two, and Dewees and Bill McGee have one each. Dewees and Whitehead both pay more than the $200 tuition to improve their girls families’ living conditions.
Like his mother, young Mathieu Turk now anxiously awaits mail from his Ethiopian “sisters” and their grateful father. The Turks are committed to funding the education of Ethiopian girls through high school, “so the relationship will grow and impact both their lives and ours,” Eurydice said.
She said she wants her son to comprehend the importance of generosity and service and the Ethiopian project provides valuable lessons in both. She may go to Ethiopia and take Mathieu so they can meet Rediet and Kalkidan. She said the trip would change her life and help her son better appreciate his blessings.
Dewees and Whitehead have been friends for more than 50 years.
“I got involved because she can’t do anything without me,” Dewees said, teasing her best friend. “Seriously, she had to only tell me once and she was so excited, I believed in what she was doing. Sometimes when we speak to community groups about the girls, she gets so emotional tears run down her face.
“Watching that deep, intense reaction, I decided I wanted to share that feeling.”
Whitehead, however, wasn’t initially sure about getting involved. Her daughter, Cindy, introduced her to the Perdues and COEEF. Cindy Whitehead sponsors five girls’ education and convinced her mother to sponsor two. After Whitehead went to Ethiopia, she increased her number to four.
“When Cindy asked me to go to Ethiopia with her to meet the children we sponsored, I had cold feet at first,” Whitehead admitted. “There were nine pages of (medical) shots we had to take. She said we also might have to camp out, too, and I wasn’t too keen on that idea, either.
“I was definitely on the fence when a friend who’s done missionary work in South Africa said, `Go. It will change your life.’ I did, and it did,” she said.
Dewees, Turk and Whitehead agree the Perdues and COEEF give more than an education to the girls. Everyone on both sides is a partner in hope, health and happiness, they said.
The Perdues have been instrumental in lifting families out of poverty and keeping girls from resorting to prostitution or contracting AIDS, Whitehead said.
Dewees cited examples of the Perdues’ willingness to help and engage others in what they feel is a spiritual mission.
They brought Firtuna, a girl whose legs and feet were so severely damaged Ethiopian doctors planned to amputate them, to the U.S., Dewees said. Firtuna sat in a wheelchair at the Pomona, Ontario and Rancho Cucamonga shows last year watching her friends dance.
She lived with the Perdues for a year while undergoing corrective surgery and rehabilitative treatment by orthopedic surgeons at a hospital in Salt Lake City.
Firtuna returned home recently, literally running to greet her mother, said a teary-eyed Whitehead.
New York heart surgeons saved another girl’s life.
“She would have died in a month without the surgery in the United States,” Dewees said. “Another girl had holes in both eardrums and was losing her hearing. We brought her to Salt Lake City. Primary Children’s Medical Center agreed to do the surgery to restore her hearing.
“She’s back in Ethiopia and doing good,” she added. “And then there are all the adoptions inspired by Ruthann and Norm.
“Most of us have seen the movie `Pay It Forward.’ The Perdues are paying it forward for at least 10 years. The legacy they inspire will impact people for a lifetime,” Dewees said.
Tickets to the Mesgana show in Ontario – $16 for adults and $7 for children 12 and younger – are available at the door or by calling (909) 987-1910 or (909) 731-3133.
The Mesgana Dancers perform for two reasons: to celebrate the traditional customs of their Ethiopian homeland and to raise money to support other girls’ educational dreams.