TEMPE, Ariz. — The man who found Lucy, the world’s most famous fossil, is never far from her. Just steps from Donald Johanson’s office at Arizona State University is a tiny skeleton made of plastic casts of the 3.2 million-year-old fossil. They’re wired together and propped inside a glass box.
Lucy souvenirs decorate Johanson’s office: an “I Love Lucy” button, a framed Lucy stamp issued in Ethiopia and porcelain Lucy salt-and-pepper shakers.
Single discoveries often define a scientist’s career, but nothing in Johanson’s field was as big as the Lucy find in 1974.
Lucy is the oldest, most complete skeleton of an adult ancestor of humans. A new ancestral species, Australopithecus afarensis, she prompted a controversial overhaul of the evolutionary tree. Scientists since have found older fossils, but none has matched Lucy’s fame.
In four decades, Johanson and colleagues gathered about 370 additional specimens, shedding further light on the species. As director of Arizona State’s Institute of Human Origins, Johanson oversees seven scientists who have generated their own recent headlines. He, though, will forever be identified with Lucy and will always wrestle with the riddles the fossil continues to pose.
Johanson sits in his office beneath replicas of famous cave paintings in Lascaux, France. His resonant voice quickens as he speaks of Lucy as if she were alive, recalling how “we found her.”
The 31-year-old paleoanthropologist had just finished his Ph.D. His team had chosen a remote area in northeastern Ethiopia, known as Hadar, because of the fossils regularly coughed up by the region’s shifting tectonic plates. Rare, heavy rains cut deep gashes into the hills and reveal ancient fossils to the sharp-eyed scientist.
That Sunday, Johanson felt lucky. The son of a widowed immigrant cleaning woman, he had been told by his high-school counselor that he wasn’t smart enough to attend college. He went anyway. And now, on this clear morning, he wrote the words “feel good” in his journal.
Accompanied by a graduate student, Tom Gray, they walked and looked for fossils in the heat of more than 100 degrees.
A brownish-gray object caught Johanson’s eye. The 2 1/2-inch fossil had a curved flare resembling a humanlike elbow. They quickly spotted more fossils: a piece of jaw with a molar, parts of a leg and arm, a shard of skull.
Johanson knew they had made a rare and special find.
They gathered up the pieces of jaw, marked the spot and jumped into a Land Rover for the half-hour trip back to camp.
They stayed up all night, drank beer and celebrated. The Beatles song, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, played on a tape recorder.
Johanson’s girlfriend, Pamela, said, “Why don’t you call her Lucy?”
The name took hold.
For three weeks, the team scoured the hillside and gully, uncovering fossil fragments and pieces. Time and the elements had scattered Lucy over an area about the size of a living room. They found no two fossils the same, which reinforced Johanson’s theory that the fossils belonged to one individual.
Johanson spent the next five years intensely studying Lucy. The Ethiopian government agreed to let him borrow the fossils because the country had no sophisticated labs. To get her to the United States, he wrapped her in toilet paper, packed her in a yellow, foam-lined suitcase and carried her aboard a plane.
Lucy moved into a new home at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, where Johanson worked as a curator. She was kept in a 5-foot safe in his office.
Analyzing Lucy took years. Johanson had to juggle research with his job at Case Western Reserve University, museum duties, other field expeditions and subsequent fossil finds. He enlisted the help of another scientist, Tim White, to help.
The pair would meet late at night in the museum’s lab. Using plaster casts of the fossils, they compared and measured the various features. They argued for months about whether the fossils represented a new species.
In the end, they decided the evidence was convincing. The species had walked upright and had a brain no bigger than a grapefruit. Its hands resembled human hands, with more curled fingers. Its estimated size ranged from 3 and a half feet to 5 feet tall and about 60 pounds to 100 pounds.
Their resulting 1979 paper in the journal Science announcing the new species drew worldwide attention. The paper challenged prevailing evidence that walking upright evolved along with an enlarged brain.
The paper drew harsh criticism from other scientists, including famous paleoanthropologists Mary Leakey and her son, Richard, who accused Johanson of being hasty in his conclusions. Johanson stood his ground.
In 1980, he returned Lucy to the Ethiopian government, knowing he could return to study her. He since has seen Lucy many times and never tires of the reunion, of seeing the 47 pieces that emerged to reshape his life.
The only difference between the World Bank and Al Qaeda is that Al Qaeda carries out its own terrorist actions, whereas World Bank commits its evil deeds through blood thirsty gangs such as Woyanne whose soldiers just today have gunned down 13 unarmed civilians in Somalia. The following press release, which is full of lies, makes any decent human being sick. Contrary to the WB’s claim, the only thing that is developing in Ethiopia is Woyanne’s pocket and the number of its victims. The WB’s blood money is fueling Woyanne’s state-sponsored terrorism in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa.
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World Bank launches new assistance strategy for Ethiopia
Press Release No:2008/289/AFR
WASHINGTON — The World Bank today launched a new Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) for Ethiopia. The strategy covers the period July 2008 – June 2011 and aims to help Ethiopia sustain its strong performance in economic growth and basic service delivery in recent years.
Ethiopia has entered the early stages of a ‘dual take-off’ in the provision of basic services and in economic growth. Over the past decade, its efforts to improve basic services have shown impressive results. Primary school enrollments have tripled, child mortality has almost been cut in half, and the number of people with access to clean water has more than doubled. Over the last four years, GDP growth has averaged over 11 percent per year. The percentage of Ethiopians living in poverty, which stood at 46 percent in 1996 and 44 percent in 2001, fell to 39 percent in 2006.
‘Ethiopia’s achievements on growth and basic service delivery are remarkable,’ said Ken Ohashi, World Bank Country Director for Ethiopia. ‘At the same time, sustaining this good performance will require addressing several looming challenges. The Bank will provide its full support to Ethiopia in this regard.’
These challenges in the near term, as outlined in the CAS, include managing macroeconomic risks (inflation and trade imbalances); stimulating private investment further; opening more economic opportunities for the disadvantaged groups, especially women, youth, and food-insecure households; and improving quality of services in line with the strong progress on access. In the longer term, Ethiopia must also address its fundamental vulnerability to drought, through environmental protection as well as further industrialization; continue to improve governance; and develop stronger cooperative ties with neighboring countries.
The Bank’s strategy will help address these challenges by supporting the implementation of key elements of the Governments’ Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty (PASDEP). Accordingly, the Bank’s support, both financial and analytical, is focused around four main pillars:
– Fostering economic growth. The Bank will support the country’s macro-fiscal stability as well as key sectors such as agriculture and infrastructure (roads, energy, water). It includes a focus on regional cooperation on large-scale infrastructure. A particular emphasis will be placed on strengthening supply responsiveness of the economy, leading to sustained growth and expansion in private investment.
– Improved quality of and access to basic services. The second pillar aims to help Ethiopia complete its move toward universal access to essential services in health, education, agriculture and water, and step up its efforts to enhance the quality of such services. It also includes support for enhanced citizens’ voice to improve quality of basic services through greater involvement of communities, citizens, and civil society in the decision making and monitoring processes.
– Reducing Vulnerability. The Bank will continue to support Ethiopia in addressing food insecurity. As part of a comprehensive approach to improving the lives of the poorest, it will seek to help address environmental degradation and population pressures and support greater economic engagement of women and youth.
– Fostering Improved Governance. The Bank will continue its strong emphasis on improving government effectiveness and quality of public administration, enhancing the accountability and responsiveness of government, and increasing empowerment and demand for accountability.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, is expanding its reengagement in Ethiopia to support the development of the private sector. IFC has recently approved an investment in the cement industry, which is the Corporation’s first investment project in Ethiopia in over 18 years.
Extensive consultations were carried out in the formulation of the strategy in order to obtain a wide range of perspectives from diverse stakeholders on the priorities, challenges and options for the Bank’s activities and role in the country. Stakeholder groups from the government, the private sector, civil society organizations, academia, opposition members of parliament, community groups, and other donors took part in the consultations.
The Bank’s program for Fiscal Year 2008 is based on an initial International Development Association (IDA) allocation of about $635 million at current exchange rates. The size of the lending program for the rest of the CAS period will depend on IDA’s 15th replenishment, which envisages significant funding increases for IDA borrowers. The annual allocation of IDA resources, however, will reflect a country’s policy and institutional performance relative to other countries, portfolio quality, per capita income levels, and population.
For more information on the World Bank in sub-Saharan Africa visit: www.worldbank.org/afr
For more information on the World Bank in Ethiopia visit: www.worldbank.org/ethiopia
(Associated Press) — ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Ethiopia swept the men’s 10,000-meter race Wednesday on the opening day of the African Athletics Championships.
Gebregziabher Gebremariam won in 28 minutes, 17 seconds after pulling away from the pack halfway through the race. Junior champion Ibrahim Jeylan finished second, and national champion Eshetu Wondimu was third.
The three Ethiopians linked arms after the race for a victory lap in front of about 25,000 fans.
Olympic champion and world record holder Kenenisa Bekele withdrew from the race earlier Wednesday for unspecified reasons.
“I will not run it,” Bekele told The Associated Press. “I can’t answer for you by telephone. It’s very difficult.”
Bekele’s withdrawal is not expected to affect his chances of running at this year’s Beijing Olympics.
Haile Gebrselassie, the former world record holder and two-time Olympic champion in the 10,000, was not selected to Ethiopia’s team for the event. But Gebrselassie is still hoping to run the 10,000 in Beijing after pulling out of the Olympic marathon.
(THE ASSOCIATED PRESS) MOGADISHU — Ethiopian Woyanne troops allied to Somalia’s shaky government opened fire on civilians in a street in southwestern Somalia, killing 13 on Wednesday after an explosion there killed two soldiers, witnesses said.
Witness Mohamud Ahmed Nur said an explosion apparently caused by a remote-controlled land mine killed the two Ethiopian Woyanne troops, who were patrolling the town of Baidoa.
The soldiers, he said, then opened fire in all directions, killing at least 10 civilian passers-by outright.
Mohamed Hussein Diriye, a doctor at the town’s main hospital, said three more people died later of their injuries and that seven others were still being treated at the hospital, he said.
“It was a horrific scene, blood scattered everywhere,” said witness Jamal Haji. “I saw the dead bodies of at least 10 people lying in the middle of the road.”
Baidoa is 250 kilometers (155 miles) southwest of the capital, Mogadishu, and is the headquarters for the Somali parliament. Several senior government officials also live there.
A suggested schedule with a daily emphasis for the Ethiopian Days of Focus on the future of all of us Ethiopians coming up on May 15 –18, 2008:
Summary:
These are the days we celebrate peace and renew our commitment to the resolution of all conflict by peaceful means. We commit or renew our commitment to political and social reconciliation in Ethiopia.
For all of these things to succeed, we, the Ethiopian people have to take ownership. Start organizing in your community. This is not a message made for a political statement alone, but it is about creating a future not only for us, but also for future generations where we can live and thrive together.
It will take time and effort. Even in family disagreements it takes a lot of work to resolve problems and challenges, so let us not be hesitant to work hard to build a NEW ETHIOPIA and better future for those who will be left behind. Be an advocate for the future. Be a better good Samaritan to others than you expect towards yourself. This is the only way this effort will truly succeed.
Day One:
Thursday, May 15 – A DAY OF REMEMBERANCE: The Tent of Grieving and Celebration
Day Two:
Friday, May 16 – A DAY OF UNITY: Worldwide March for Ethiopian Freedom, Justice and Human Rights
Day Three:
Saturday, May 17 – DAY OF REACHING OUT: Building New Connections
Day Four:
Sunday, May 18 – DAY OF PRAYER: Confession, Thanksgiving, Reconciliation and Petition
Activities
Thursday, May 15 –DAY OF REMEMBERANCE: A Tent of Grieving and Celebration.
In Ethiopian culture, erecting a tent is part of the way one grieves the loss of a loved one. It is when family, neighbors, friends, community members and even passersby mourn the loss of someone who has died. The family of the one who died and those who attend support each other by joining under this tent of grief, remember and honor the memory of the person who died.
This day is to remember all the Ethiopians within the country who have been killed, who have disappeared or who have died from the humanitarian disasters that accompany tyranny. Let us not let them die in vain. This is the day we can remember the sacrifices of those who not only died to build democracy in Ethiopia, but let us also remember and pray for those still in prison or still suffering throughout the country. This is a day to remember the innocent victims before and after the 2005 massacres as well as those who died during those protests for freedom. The tent can also be used for a wedding celebration. Let us celebrate of the spring of true Democracy in Ethiopia, 2005
Action suggestions:
* Pray for those still locked up in prison or are suffering in many other ways.
* Call or write to someone or group who has lost a family member, ethnic group members, etc to express your sympathy and remembrance of their lost one.
* Publish or read aloud a list names of those who died
* Wear traditional cultural clothes of mourning, when marching, use slogans like “Our people did not die in vain.”
* Ask people outside your groups about their losses or do research on this
* Take 10 or more minutes to reflect on these losses and what hopes you have for the future of democracy for generations to come. Resolve to contribute what you can to help.
* Ask these questions: Are the people of Ethiopia still thirsty for democracy? Will the victims of torture, massacre and illegal detentions ever get justice? Do your best to help and encourage others to do the same.
Friday, May 16 – A DAY OF UNITY: Worldwide March for Ethiopian Freedom, Justice and Human Rights
This is the day for a Worldwide March for Ethiopian Freedom and Justice—a day when all Ethiopians put their humanity before their ethnicity. Leaders of all political parties, civic groups, religious groups and others should make a statement about the shared value and worth of every person in the greater family of Ethiopians. This Friday can also be a day of prayer: Confession, Thanksgiving, Reconciliation and Petition for our Muslims brothers and sisters.
It is a day when those from all over Ethiopia should be invited to march side by side with other Ethiopians from every diverse group within the country. Public talks should be about the suffering of others. One group should carry a sign for another—signs that might say, “Eradicate tribal thinking!” or “God created us equal.” Ethiopians could wear T- shirts with a slogan, “I love Ethiopia” or “No to ethnic politics,” or “Do your share” or “No one group will be free unless we all are free”
This is a day to celebrate our Ethiopian unity—a day for us to declare that we are not defined by others who want to control us politically by dividing us ethnically. It is a day we say, we have much ethnic diversity, but one Ethiopian national identity.
This is a day to reflect upon what Ethiopia has become and what she could be. This is day we celebrate the principles of democracy which includes reaffirmation of the ultimate power of the people, the principles of justice, the rule of law and human rights. Increase our understanding of democratic rights and principles by reading the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Amharic version at:), (English version at http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html.)
It is a day we reflect on what we have done to help Ethiopia and its people, how to get involved if we are not, how to contribute more if we already are. It is a day to think about solutions to Ethiopia’s problems.
We ask civil society leaders, political activists, political and community leaders, journalists and others in formal or informal leadership positions to sponsor, encourage, promote and lead activities, especially public ones that promote Ethiopian unity and ethnic diversity.
The critical points here are:
1. Leaders and members of all Ethiopian communities come together
2. The special messages from the different ethnic groups should be revealed to the world to emphasize solidarity between these groups.
3. A petition signed by the participants should be delivered to the offices of the Leader of the countries, their legislature or their foreign office. The non-partisan nature of the solidarity must be made clear.
Saturday, May 17 – DAY OF REACHING OUT: Building New Connections
This is a day to reflect upon what Ethiopia has become and what she could be if only we could live in greater harmony and peace. It is a day we reflect on what we have done to help Ethiopia and its people, how to get involved if we are not. It is a day to think about solutions to Ethiopia’s problems.
In Ethiopian culture, we brew coffee and sit in circles where our hospitality is not limited to anyone. On this day, organize coffee circles where a family, community, church, mosque, synagogue or other organization could brew coffee or tea and then invite some Ethiopians you have never before included in your circles. Reach out beyond own ethnic groups. Invite people to your home and cook some food—perhaps people of whom you are skeptical or people you have met in the last several days. Reach out in different directions.
Let us celebrate our diversity. Read about other groups. Give opportunity for someone outside your own ethnic group to speak at your home or meeting, even by having them read a poem, or by sharing a humorous or an interesting story of their culture or experience.
Different political parties could speak on behalf of others with the leaders reaching out to leaders of other groups to bring new groups together. Religious leaders, political leaders, civic leaders and others should all make an attempt to find a way to start a dialogue that could lead to better understanding, improved relationships and new ways to work together on shared goals.
The same or similar format as on May 15 could be used, but people will have become a bit tired at this point. But a lot of near encounter will have occurred on the 15th and the 16th and small groups in homes in semi-private setting around coffee etc is ideal to discuss the events thus far and ponder the way forward.
Sunday, May 18 – DAY OF PRAYER: Confession, Thanksgiving, Reconciliation and Petition
This is a day to seek our Creator God as our only real hope and to restore any brokenness in our relationship. As flawed people, we need to confess our wrongful ways and seek God’s help in correcting them.
We thank the Almighty for his beneficence and mercy. It is a day to thank God for his creation, for his goodness, his faithfulness and for his love for each of us and for our neighbor. We can also thank him for his promises to “be found” by us if we earnestly seek Him with all our hearts, souls and minds.
He also wants us to reconcile with our family, neighbors and countrymen. This is a day we ask each other forgiveness for what we have done wrong intentionally and unknowingly. We must reconcile with God, ourselves, and with others. Go to others, asking for forgiveness, saying you are sorry for what you have done or for something others of your group has done to them. Tell them how you feel.
Create an environment for your and their descendents to live in peace rather than on unresolved grudges, anger and difficulties from the past. Reach out to others in the spirit of forgiveness and acceptance.
This is a day of petitioning God with every specific request. We pray for His help in resolving Ethiopia’s critical situation in ways beyond what we could even ask or imagine. We are also part of what helps or hinders our country, so we should pray to become the kind of people that do right to our neighbors.
This is a day when we call on our religious leaders to lead us through prayer vigils, teaching, services or readings. It is a day to offer private prayers wherever we may be – in our homes, businesses, cars, at work or in our houses of worship.
The congregations should make through their church, mosque and synagogue leaders, special sermons, discussions and prayers for those who have gone and those who are still in prisons throughout the country. In this case, the emphasis should be on unity and solidarity.
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For more information please contact
Worldwide March for Ethiopian Freedom and Justice Organizing Committee
By E-mail at: [email protected]
