TEL AVIV — Winnipeg-born-and-raised theatre producer-director Howard Rypp’s Nephesh Theatre, which began in Toronto, has, for Tel Aviv’s 100th anniversary, presented two original plays about the Ethiopian-Jewish immigration to Israel, which have already been internationally acknowledged as major contemporary cultural works of great significance.
It Sounds Better in Amharic by Yossi Vassa and Shai ebn Attar, and starring Vassa, traces the personal story of his immigration to Israel and his integration into Israeli society.
The main theme is, as Rypp explains, “the clash of cultures between African culture and Israeli society.” Within Africa, Ethiopia is its own cultural entity: a fusion of a politically independent tradition, an ancient Christian culture and a surprisingly sophisticated modern jazz scene in Addis Ababa. Together with the often dangerous immigration into Israel from being an oppressed Jewish minority within Ethiopia and the normal difficult stresses of immigration into a religiously compatible society within Israel, It Sounds Better in Amharic is a master work on this uniquely Jewish topic.
This play has been performed worldwide. In Canada the English version has been performed four times: at Ashkenaz, Hillel, and, thanks to the well-known Toronto-Tel Aviv-based Jewish philanthropist Nathan Jacobson, to the Somali community in Toronto’s west end.
On May 11, Rachel Manelson, director of Europe, the UK and Canada for the Tel Aviv Foundation, presented It Sounds Better in Amharic to 100 British donors who came in from England to the Inbal Theatre in the Neve Tsedek district of downtown Tel Aviv. This gala event was also sponsored by Jacobson.
In contrast to this one-man show, the large-cast musical, One of a Kind, also written by Vassa and ben-Attar on the general topic of the Ethiopian-Jewish-Israeli experience, with music by Idan Zilbershtein, is being presented in Rehovot on May 18. This show has also toured internationally. Andy Webster of The New York Times termed this musical “impressive – exhilarating – inspirational – with much to offer.” Paulanne Simmons of Curtain Up Magazine defines it as being “filled with compassion and humour: perfect family entertainment.”
One of a Kind was the winner of the Best Play in Israel 2006 and eight other coveted prizes.
Since its inception in Canada in 1978 with the Toronto presentation of Gabriel Emmanuel’s gripping drama Children of Night about Janusz Korczak, the legendary teacher in the Warsaw Ghetto, Nephesh Theatre has been one of the world’s leading showcases of contemporary Jewish theatre. Since moving to Israel from Canada in 1983, Nephesh Theatre has produced dozens of new works, which have received international acclaim, including throughout the US, Canada, Mexico, Greece, England and Australia, as well as widespread Israeli exposure.
They continue to maintain a Canadian presence with their coming productions of a dramatized version of Isaac Bashevis Singer’s classic Gimpel the Fool at the Winnipeg and Saskatoon film festivals.
Nephesh receives funding from the Israeli ministry of culture, and the foreign ministry has produced many of its international productions, together with an increasing number of private investors.
Teff, a gluten free grain, is now available from Tobia-Teff and is ideal for those looking to reduce their wheat intake or those suffering from coeliac disease. Teff is an ancient grain from Ethiopia. The company is owned by Sophie Sirak Kebede, former owner of Tobia Ethiopian Restaurant.
With many people striving to reduce their wheat consumption but still wanting to eat bread and cakes, teff, a gluten free grain, which in flour form can be used as a wheat flour substitute, is available from Tobia-Teff. Those suffering from coeliac disease can also now get a prescription for a supply of the grain from the NHS. For more information, to download an NHS form, get recipe ideas or place an order visit www.tobiateff.co.uk
Teff is the smallest grain in the world and supplies more fibre rich bran and nutritious germ than any other grain. It also packs a high mineral content, with 17 times the calcium of wholewheat or barley. It takes 150 grains of teff to weigh as much as one grain of wheat which accounts for its high nutritional value. Teff flour can be cooked as porridge, added to baked goods such as bread and cakes instead of wheat flour, or even made into ‘teff polenta’. A number of recipes using teff are available on the Tobia-Teff website including gingerbread men and bread.
As it is gluten free, it is ideal for those suffering with coeliac disease (a serious, lifelong auto-immune condition triggered by eating gluten). However, it is also recommended for those participating in a lot of sport, and pregnant women, amongst others, as it has a very high iron content. It is also ideal for those looking to reduce their wheat consumption as it is widely reported that people feel positive benefits of doing so.
Sophie Sirak Kebede, Managing Director of Tobia-Teff, explains “in my homeland of Ethiopia, teff is widely used for its nutritional value, being one of the most ancient grains that grows. It is most commonly used in injera, the pancake-like base of traditional Ethiopian meals and when I owned Tobia, an Ethiopian restaurant, diners frequently commented how healthy the food made them feel and would ask to buy some of the grain. I have since spoken to nutritionists and researched the health benefits of teff and am a big advocate of substituting it in more traditional Western dishes to enable everyone to enjoy the associated health improvements.”
Tobia-Teff sells three types of teff flour – brown (£3.60 per kg), white (£3.60 per kg) and organic white (£4.50 per kg). Larger orders (20kg bags) can also be placed for businesses such as restaurants and cafes and it is also possible to buy ready made injera.
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (The Reporter) — While the sold out Mestsky stadium crowd packed every nook and cranny of the facility to catch a fleeting glimpse of the world’s fastest man, the 20,000-plus were treated by several solid performances and entertaining head-to-head battles. And all things considered, it was Meselech Melkamu who arguably produced the strongest performance of the Wednesday evening.
After her stunning run in Utrecht on Sunday, where she became the second fastest woman ever in the 10,000m clocking 29:53.80, Melkamu could have been forgiven for not having the freshest of legs in 5000m field. But the Ethiopian clearly illustrated that her better known compatriots, Tirunesh Dibaba and Meseret Defar, now have some very serious company on the track.
As expected, it was Melkamu, along with Kenyans Linet Masai and Vivian Cheruiyot who were the key players, but the Ethiopian didn’t hide behind her apparently tired legs. Continually pushing the pace, she and Masai exchanged the lead several times, keeping the pace honest, with Cheruiyot trailing just a few metres back.
When Cheruiyot dropped out of contention with three laps to go, the two forged on continuing to exchange the lead. Masai led at the bell, but Melkamu carried the lead off the final bend and held on to win with a world-leading 14:34.17. Masai, who finished fourth in the 10,000m in Beijing last summer, was just a few ticks back in 14:34.36, a personal best for the 19-year-old.
“It was a very hard race,” said Melkamu, the reigning World indoor silver medallist at 3000m. “I had a very fast run in the 10,000m three days ago. And I’m very tired. But I’ve had really good training and I’m very well prepared.” In recent memory, no remotely similar performances have been produced just days apart. Dibaba and Defar, take note.
Living up to the promise he made this week, Usain Bolt delivered a “good time” in his third 100m outing of the season to cap a thoroughly entertaining 48th edition of the Golden Spike Ostrava – IAAF World Athletics Tour.
While his 9.77 (wind + 2.1) performance was more than a quarter of a second ahead of his closest pursuer, Bolt had to work particularly hard to overcome a sluggish start, and the effort he produced clearly showed on his face as he accelerated towards the finish.
“That’s probably the second worst start I ever had,” he said of his 0.206 reaction time, the slowest of the field by far. Approaching midway, he was in third or fourth position, before finally shifting gears in his typically stronger second half
“I saw that I was behind and I really wanted to run a fast time here, so I really pushed hard to get back. That’s why you saw me really dipping at the line. I’m always good in the second half and that was when I got back into the race.”
Bolt confirmed that his sub-9.8 dash, under all conditions equal to his fourth fastest clocking ever, was a nice confidence booster after his last outing in Toronto, where he ran 10.00 in wet conditions. “Now I’m really looking forward to the (Jamaican) trials.”
Craig Pickering, last year’s winner here, was second in 10.08, and Ronald Pognon third in 10.15.
A year ago, Dayron Robles broke the World record in the high hurdles here in just his third race of the season with a sensational 12.87 performance. In his encore this year, he produced a world-leading 13.04 in his second outing of the year.
But the 22-year-old Cuban wasn’t necessarily content.
“Even if it was a world leading time, I didn’t feel well today,” Robles said, reeling of a short list of reasons why he wasn’t quite on his game. “I think I need another week of training and it will improve.”
Despite that self-critique, Robles was cool and relaxed from the gun, and was already in control of the race by the third hurdle. But he did have American Dexter Faulk for company, who continues to impress. Unaffected, Robles powered on before simply coasting over the final barrier through the finish.
Faulk, who false-started in the first go, produced his fifth PB of the season to finish second in 13.13. Further back, Bahamian Shamar Sands was third with a national record 13.38.
In the women’s race, Two-time World champion Michelle Perry held a narrow lead from hurdles two through nine, but faltered noticeably over the penultimate barrier, an opportunity that Delloreen Ennis-London took full advantage of. The Jamaican pulled away to take her second victory of the season in 12.79. Perry, who false-started out of this race two years ago, was second in 12.86 with American compatriot Danielle Carruthers third in 12.90.
In a contest as packed as the men’s 800m, it literally could have been anyone’s contest. Alfred Yego, World champion and Olympic silver medallist, was the first to take command, making his move as the field reached the bell. His lead was short-lived, as he was soon overtaken by Ahmed Ismael, the Olympic silver medallist. The Sudanese padded his lead to carry a strong advantage off the final bend. Yego began to fade at this point, leaving David Rudisha to pick up the challenge. Slowly closing the gap, Rudisha ate up the difference before pulling away for the 1:44.09 victory less than three strides from the finish.
“It’s not a bad time,” said Rudisha, who clocked a 1:43.53 career best in Hengelo two weeks ago. “I didn’t start very fast and wanted to run from behind.
Closing strongly as well, Olympic 1500m silver medallist Asbel Kiprop was third (1:44.54) and Berlin 1500m winner Augustine Choge fourth with a 1:44.86 PB.
The B race was fairly swift as well, With South African Samson Ngoepe kicking past Kenyan Jackson Kivuna, 1:45.17 to 1:45.29, both personal bests.
In the women’s 800m Briton Marilyn Okoro nabbed a strong victory running from the front. The only woman to follow the quick pacesetter, Okoro was challenged in the home straight but hung on to take her first win of the season in 2:00.21. Frenchwoman Elodie Guegan was a surprise second (2:00.44) and another Briton, Jenny Meadows, third (2:00.48). Olympic Steeplechase champion Gulnara Galkina-Samitova was never a factor, finishing well back in 10th (2:01.98.) (IAAF)
Considering the well-known achievements of the Ethiopian distance runners over the past fifty years or so, one is perhaps entitled to lament the lack of interest in the history of Ethiopian athletics.
While scholars have tackled innumerable Ethiopian issues in their sophisticated monographs, not a single learned paper has been dedicated to the athletes and their impact on the surrounding society.
In fact, the story of Ethiopian running is so poorly understood that the following claim can be found on the Ethiopian Athletics Federation website: “Although the exact roots of Ethiopian athletics cannot be retraced accurately, it is widely believed that the sport was widely practiced in schools and the military before 1897.”
Across the border in Kenya, the colonialists did not manage to create any support for modern sports until well into the 20th century. Yet we are to believe that Ethiopians happily adopted and mastered the jumping, throwing and running events during Emperor Menelik’s reign!
Thanks to an English journalist, the historiography of Ethiopian athletics can finally be taken seriously. Tim Judah’s Bikila – Ethiopia’s Barefoot Olympian (2008) is nominally a biography of Abebe Bikila, the 1960 and 1964 Olympic marathon champion. At the same time it is the most reliable account ever published on the origins of athletics in this country.
As a Finnish historian with a long-standing interest in Ethiopian running, I have been privileged to meet and interview many first-generation athletes, such as Mamo Wolde and Said Mussa, both of them deceased by now, and, of course, Wami Biratu, the ninety-year-old monument of Ethiopian sports. Not surprisingly, they all feature in Tim Judah’s text, but what is most striking about the book is the extent to which it succeeds in reconstructing the life of the founding father of Ethiopian athletics.
Although he was born in Finland, Onni Niskanen carried a Swedish passport when he arrived in Addis Ababa with hundreds of other civilian and military experts in the late 1940s. Unlike most expatriates, he devoted the rest of his life to Ethiopia, and while he busied himself with a number of humanitarian projects, he is best known as the coach of Abebe Bikila.
In 1950, Niskanen was put in charge of the Ministry of Education’s physical education department. Gradually, modern sports took root in the peasant society that Ethiopia was; and simultaneously, as the Imperial Bodyguard’s sports instructor, Niskanen cultivated the raw talent of Abebe, Wami and others.
The romantic notion of Ethiopians as natural runners will probably never die. Judging by Tim Judah’s book, however, it can surely be termed as a myth. “When I started training him, he ran like a drilling soldier,” Niskanen wrote about Abebe. Apart from disciplining their bodies, Niskanen subjected his athletes to thoroughly modern training regimes. The elite runners of this country were professional sportsmen in all but name.
Ironically, some of their rivals in the West were handicapped by the amateur ethos which still prevailed in the 1950s.
In that sense there was nothing accidental about Abebe Bikila’s first Olympic triumph in 1960. On the other hand, what may well have been accidental about Abebe was the fact that he won any gold medals at all.
Wami Biratu was generally considered as the leading Ethiopian runner in 1960, but due to an illness, he could not participate in the Rome games. Four years later Mamo Wolde was expected to challenge Abebe in Tokyo, but a leg injury forced him to pull out of the marathon. Mamo had to wait for his golden moment until 1968.
What actually counts in sport is, of course, the result sheet, and that is why Abebe Bikila will always be remembered as the greatest marathon runner of his generation. Accordingly, Onni Niskanen deserves to be acknowledged as the architect of his success, or, to quote Tim Judah’s solemn turn of phrase, as “a man who changed the history of sport”.
The author has carried out extensive interviews in Ethiopia, Sweden and many other countries. Niskanen “cared for Abebe like a baby, taking care of his massage, food, sleep,” an informant of Judah’s explains the two men’s relationship.
After the 1964 games, however, Abebe started frequenting bars and behaving more like a serial lover than a purposeful athlete. One of his girlfriends owned a restaurant. She also “had a record player and they would play the music of Tilahun Gessesse”.
Tilahun had served as a guardsman, too, and one is tempted to imagine him running alongside Abebe, sharing a joke with Mamo, and trying his hand at tennis with Wami. Sadly, Tilahun is no longer with us, but as was said at his funeral, his songs will reverberate in every Ethiopian’s heart.
Unlike singers, athletes need eloquent scribes to reach immortality, and Tim Judah has done more than that. His portrait of Abebe is alluring yet unflattering, and it provides a consistently informative history of the formative years of Ethiopian athletics.
NEW YORK, Shelter Island — Although the forecast threatened to rain on the annual celebration of Shelter Island – the Shelter Island 10K and 5K Run/Walk – devoted participants ferried in for the early evening start nevertheless. Conveniently, the more than 1,500 runners and walkers couldn’t stay away yet the rains that have drenched the northeast in the month of June magically did.
With the cool but dry conditions – ideal running weather by most accounts – came quick times. Nobody was faster than Ethiopian Ketema Nigusse, who broke away from a pack consisting largely of his countrymen and rolled to his first victory at Shelter Island, posting a time of 29:23, 13 seconds faster than his nearest competitor. Nigusse’s charge led a parade of nearly 1,000 runners who got the quick tour of the island and crossed the finish line to much fanfare. The same could be said for another Ethiopian, Buzunesh Deba, who took home top prize in the women’s division (33:52).
Race Director Mary Ellen Adipietro, who rescued the 10K five years ago, said the enrollment will only grow with their new partnership with the New York Road Runners Club. She indicated they’d like to eventually bring in 2,500 racers for the weekend, only adding to the funds they can distribute to charity organizations including the Timothy Hill Children’s Ranch, East End Hospice and Shelter Island community charities.
“I’m just proud that the numbers are back up and so is the spirit,” Adipietro said. “We’re so happy to have the New York Road Runners now. Everything is about the run and running. It makes the race so special now.”
Before even a half-mile had passed, it was clear that the front-running pack of eight runners would yield the winner. That was re-affirmed as the race went on, the next group falling farther and farther back. Julius Kiptoo held the lead at the halfway point but only by a few strides. Nigusse reeled him in not far beyond the three-mile marker and he never gave the lead back. Kiptoo, defending champion Worku Beyi and Demesse Tefera were on Nigusse’s heels until they were four miles in, which is when the 28-year-old Ethiopian opened up the gap. Before long, he was running all by himself, and down the stretch Nigusse peeked behind him on occasion to assure that he was indeed en route to victory.
Nigusse, who speaks little English, indicated that he did not expect to win the race against many of his countrymen but was able to pull it out. A week earlier, Nigusse finished third at the Classic 10K in Middletown, one second behind second-place Beyi at 29:10. Nigusse, who has represented Ethiopia in the IAAF Cross Country World Championships in the past, was fifth in the Sao Paulo (Brazil) Marathon last month. His best career finish in a marathon is fourth in Arizona.
The women’s side was hotly contested as Deba edged out Aziza Aliyu for first place by a second, Deba clocking a time of 33:52 to Aliyu’s 33:53. Burundi’s Diane Nukuri entered the park on their tail and hit the line at the 34:15 mark. Deba, 21, finished 10th overall. Last year, she was more than two minutes slower and took third in the women’s division, but nevertheless indicated on Saturday that she hadn’t run her best race.
Upon crossing the finish line, Deba was most concerned about how Beyi, her husband, had fared. The defending champ remained in the lead pack until he began to drift back about midway through. Beyi later pulled up lame just shy of the five-mile mark before resuming and ultimately finishing fourth behind Tefera (29:35), last year’s runner-up, and Kiptoo (29:46).
In the wheelchair division, Malverne’s Peter Hawkins took home first place with a time of 34:34. His day would have been a lot more difficult had the rains came, thus he was glad the day had the blessing of race founder Cliff Clark, who said the race has never been hampered by significant rain.
“With the rain we were supposed to get, the humidity was nothing,” Hawkins said. “I was expecting downpours, and if it downpoured, the grass and the mud would have made it that much tougher. It’s always a great day. Cliff promised me it wasn’t going to rain and he came through. I don’t know how he did it. He must have some sort of connections.”
Bill Rodgers, a four-time winner of both the New York City and Boston Marathons and former American marathon record holder, was the guest of honor at the 10K, signing books and hosting clinics leading up to race day. Rodgers ran a time of 44:39, a personal best this year which allowed him to just finish in the top 100 at 100th overall. He finished second in the male 61-65 age group behind John Nelson of Bridgehampton, who was the first East Ender to cross in 32nd place. Rodgers was just ahead of Sag Harbor’s Jeff Yennie and Shelter Island’s own Tom Power. As the rain stayed away, Rodgers was able to soak up the race environment rather than any kind of moisture.
“I loved the course,” Rodgers said. “It’s a marathoner’s course, a cross country runner’s course, and I used to do both of them. I ran better today and I was able to get on some grass. I don’t know if it’s the fastest course but it’s a pretty fast course. It was humid but it was a lot of fun.”
Southampton’s Barbara Gubbins finished first in the female 45-49 age group and 47th overall, hitting the finish line in 40:45. The only other division winner from the area was Sag Harbor’s Blaire Stauffer, who won the male 75-79 age group in 56:27. Four Shelter Island participants took runner-up honors – Bitsy Morgan (female 0-18; 49:13), Francoise Mallow (male 65-69; 1:09:07), Frederic Hills (male 70-74; 1:01:54) and Barbara Carlsen (female 70-74; 1:14.4). Other local second-place finishers were Westhampton Beach’s Laura Brown (female 40-44; 41:33), Bridgehampton’s John Nelson (male 50-54; 38:59) and Southampton’s Americo Fiore (male 75-79; 1:03:20).
With the help of the New York Road Runners, Clark indicated that they’d like to have enrollment back up to 2,000 and even touch 2,500 in the near future.
“It’s just a huge outpouring from this community and our sponsors,” Clark said. “It’s made up of regular people. The Ethiopians, Kenyans, Burundians and all the people run so fast and get a lot of the attention, but this is about the people who pay 30 bucks and run their hearts out to support our charities. They raise tens of thousands of dollars every year for local causes and that’s what it’s all about.”
When Ethiopia’s rebel-turned-leader Meles Zenawi emerged from the bush to take power in 1991, he sat for a long-distance learning degree to feel more qualified to run Africa’s second most populous nation.
Despite studying while running a vast country of 80 ethnicities emerging from 17 years of communist rule, Meles came a remarkable third in his graduating class.
Some Ethiopians say he has gone on learning ever since and consider him the sharpest of Africa’s leaders. But for others, he is a prime minister who never learned to rule effectively, failed to deliver full democracy and trampled people’s rights.
Now, the 54-year-old leader regularly says he wants to quit, with the blessing of his ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) party.
With the party due to discuss that at a meeting of its executive committee next month, and the next EPRDF congress scheduled for September, 18 years of often tough political learning for Meles may be nearing the final chapter.
A change could, however, be delayed until after 2010 elections, analysts say, and successors would come from senior government figures likely to continue Meles’ economic policies, rather than from a weakened opposition.
“I think he genuinely feels the time is right to step down and let someone else guide the country to full democracy,” an EPRDF insider said. “He is thinking about his legacy and I think he realises he personally has taken things as far as he can.”
Analysts, diplomats and Ethiopian politicians disagree about what that legacy will be, and how an Ethiopia without the internationally high-profile Meles at the helm might look.
WESTERN TIES
The Meles government has cultivated good relations with the West, introduced a safety-net system for millions of hungry people which should ensure the ruinous famine of 1984/85 is never repeated, and reduced infant mortality and poverty rates in one of the world’s poorest countries.
A new, albeit small, middle class has emerged.
But the 2005 elections, touted as Ethiopia’s first truly democratic poll, ended in brutality when the government declared victory and the opposition said the result was fixed.
Police and soldiers then killed about 200 opposition protesters who had taken to the streets after Meles said they were attempting to topple the government.
Ethiopians go to the polls again in June 2010, and analysts are divided on the question of whether the elections will pass off peacefully and without accusations of rigging.
Rights groups have accused Meles of cracking down on the opposition again. One opposition leader has been jailed and a group of former and serving military officers have been charged with plotting to overthrow the government.
The unrest has come as the Ethiopian economy is suffering the impact of the global recession and analysts question who can replace Meles at such a delicate time.
The country’s economy had been developing at a rate of more than 10 percent in recent years and Meles — who represented Africa at the G20 summit of rich nations — was widely credited with using his economic know-how to achieve that.
Investors interested in agriculture and gas and oil exploration were beginning to move in — many of them from China and India — and commodity exports were growing.
But the country has seen demand for its agricultural exports plummet, inflation soar, and power cuts ravage business and fuel a crippling foreign currency shortage.
Opposition leaders were jailed after Meles blamed them for orchestrating the 2005 violence and have made little impact since their release in a 2007 pardon deal. They say that is because of government harassment but Meles denies that.
WHO NEXT?
“It is unlikely that anyone from the opposition will come to power after Meles,” Kjetil Tronvoll, an Ethiopia expert from the International Law and Policy Group think-tank, told Reuters.
“We will see a transition period with another EPRDF leader, and then a possible withering of EPRDF before a new party constellation may take power down the road.”
Though there has been speculation Meles could leave at the next EPRDF congress in September, most diplomats say a more likely scenario is that he will guide the party to victory in 2010, then seek support for his resignation at its September 2010 national congress.
Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin, Health Minister Tewodros Adhanom and Trade Minister Girma Birru are all possible successors, party members told Reuters.
Should Meles step down, analysts and potential investors will closely watch his successor to see whether opposition parties are given more freedom or whether the EPRDF holds on to power in authoritarian fashion.
“There was a bad bump in 2005,” an Addis Ababa-based diplomat, who did not want to be named, told Reuters.
“But if Meles can put Ethiopia back on the path towards democratisation in 2010 he’ll leave the country in a better position than he found it.”
Considering the well-known achievements of the Ethiopian distance runners over the past fifty years or so, one is perhaps entitled to lament the lack of interest in the history of Ethiopian athletics.