Addis Ababa, Ethiopia — Fikremarkos Desta, an author of six ethnographic and historiography novels and four documentary films, is reportedly seeking political asylum in the United States.
The author traveled to the U.S. on July 9, 2009, with his family to attend his brother-in-law’s graduation.
He told friends that his main reason for seeking asylum in the U.S. is that because of his opposition to the Omo-Gibe Hydroelectric Project, which could devastate Lower Omo Valley affecting the entire population of the region, he is being harassed and persecuted by Woyanne thugs.
The {www:Woyanne} tribal junta is also suspecting him of being associated with opposition parties.
Ato Fikremarkos’ works include: “Land of the Yellow Bull,” a novel about the Hammer, Kio, Ebore, and other ethnic groups in the south-western Ethiopia.
WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA — Purdue University’s School of Veterinary Medicine celebrated its 50th anniversary by sending 19 faculty members, students and alumni to Ethiopia to assist in improving livestock production and continue its ongoing relationship with the Ethiopian veterinary school.
The group worked with Project Mercy, a U.S.-based, non-profit relief and development agency that seeks to improve cattle and human nutrition through breeding practices. The project is breeding Ethiopian cattle breeds with American and European breeds such as Jerseys, a U.S. dairy breed.
Breeding Ethiopian cattle with Jerseys is a good fit because Jerseys are small, have a high fertility rate and produce a lot of milk, said Mark Hilton, a Purdue veterinarian and clinical professor of food and animal production medicine.
“The thing that surprised me most was the lack of adequate animal nutrition and growth,” he said. “The heifers were only 250 to 350 pounds at a year old. Because of the lack of nutrition, animal reproduction is a luxury in Ethiopia. We saw 5-year-old heifers that had never been in heat. We really want to improve reproduction and show the Ethiopian people they can do it, too.”
Source: Purdue University News
By Robin Summerfield | Calgary Herald
CALGARY, CANADA — A Toronto-based mining company has donated $100,000 to care for 43 Ethiopian children whose adoptions to Canadians were jeopardized following the bankruptcy of an Ontario-based agency.
The money will keep the Addis Ababa orphanage afloat until those children come to Canada to live with their new families, authorities said.
When contacted Saturday in Toronto, Yamana Gold Inc.’s CEO Peter Marrone said his company made the $100,000 donation after its vice-president of communications Jodi Peake, who adopted an Ethiopian boy last year, told him of the bankruptcy and plight of the children in the Addis Ababa orphanage.
“My immediate reaction was the protection of the children, that the children were taken care of,” Marrone said.
That bit of good news came as 40 adopting parents met Saturday in Calgary during an emotional meeting to get answers and plead with Alberta’s head of adoptions to help complete their adoptions with Cambridge, Ont.-based Imagine Adoption, which was placed into bankruptcy July 13.
“We cannot be pushing through paperwork faster than normal because then it could appear that we might be kidnapping children that should be staying in Ethiopia,” Anne Scully, who oversees all domestic and international adoptions for Alberta Children and Youth Service, told the crowd who was emotional, heated and tearful at times during the two-and-a-half hour meeting.
Scully said the province is working closely with Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services, as well as Canadian Citizenship and Immigration, to get answers and move adoptions forward as efficiently and quickly as possible.
“I wish we had better answers, more answers,” Scully said.
In a news release, bankruptcy trustee BDO Dunwoody promised — if all regulations had been followed — to manage all 400 outstanding Canadian adoptions regardless of their state of completion.
“It’s really about being effective. These (parents) have a serious problem and they need to advocate,” said Michael Greene, an immigration lawyer offering advice at the meeting.
He said the government, the bankruptcy trustee and other agencies clearly want to help their families and that’s in their favour.
“I think there’s hope for them,” Greene said.
Of the 64 Alberta families who were clients of the agency, six had been matched with overseas children. Of those, five adoptions have been finalized through the courts.
Those families must now wait for passports or visas to be issued by the High Commission in Nairobi.
“I would like them to do more for the families but I just don’t know what that ‘more’ is,” said Shawn Bertin, 37, said after the meeting. He and his wife Dolores, hoped to adopt an Ethiopian child.
Dolores took some comfort in connecting with the other local families who’ve also been effected.
“We’ve been feeling isolated. It’s good to know we’re not alone,” she said.
Other families were just happy to have Scully addressing their concerns in person.
“We still have a little bit of hope and we’ll continue on until someone tells us not to,” said 35-year-old Alison Bruha, whose was expecting to be matched with an baby boy from Ethiopia imminently when the agency went under.
“The bottom line is we want our families completed,” added Tammy Vlieg, 36, who started the process with her husband to adopt an Ethiopian infant or two siblings 20 months ago.
The couple are also in the midst of finalizing the domestic adoption of their five-month-old daughter Josina, who they received two days after she was born.
“If I didn’t have my daughter I would be a basket case,” Vlieg said.
Waterloo Regional Police launched a fraud investigation last week into Kids Link International, which operated as Imagine Adoption.
The agency has a nearly $400,000 operating shortfall and an additional $800,000 expected claim by families, according to bankruptcy documents.
Colonel Kassaye Kifle has passed away on July 14, 2009, after receiving medical treatment at St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee.
Friends and family held a memorial service for him at the Debre Keranio Medhanialem Church in Nashville on July 17.
His funeral services will be held at the Debre Libanos Monastery in Ethiopia on July 25, 2009.
Many who had served as officers in the Ethiopian armed forces remember Col. Kassaye as a leader who served his country honorably.
Over during his career he was trained as an aviator in the United States, and aviation commander in the Soviet Union and the Ethiopian Air Force Command Staff College.
As a member of the Ethiopian Army Aviation Unit, he led Assault Helicopter Teams and received medals for bravery.
His contribution to Ethiopia continued as a pilot trainer at Ethiopian Airlines.
Col. Kassaye Kifle is survived by his wife, two children, and two grand children.
(Messages of condolence to the family can be sent to [email protected])
የኮሎኔል ካሣዬ ክፍሌ አጭር የህይወት ታሪክ
ኮሎኔል ካሣዬ ክፍሌ ከእናታቸው ከወይዘሮ ደመቀች አስፋውና ከአባታቸው ከአቶ ክፍሌ ደስታ እንደ ኢትዮጵያ አቆጣጠር በ 1935 ዓ∙ም∙ በአዲስ አበባ ከተማ ተወለዱ::
እድሜያቸው ለትምህርት ሲደርስ የ 1ኛና የ2ኛ ደረጃ ትምህርታቸውን በአዲስ አበባ ኮከበ ፅባህ ቀዳማዊ ኃይለ ሥላሴ ዩኒቨርስቲ ከገቡ በኋላ አገራቸውን ለማገልገል በፅኑ ወዳመኑበት ሀረር ጦር አካዳሚ በመግባት ከፍተኛ የውትድርና ትምህርት ቀስመዋል::
ኮሎኔል ካሣዬ ክፍሌ ከሀረር ጦር አካዳሚ ከተመረቁ በኋላ በአርሚ አቪዬሽንና በኢትዮጵያ አየር ኃይል በአውሮፕላን አብራሪነት ለረጅም አመታት አገልግለዋል::
ኮሎኔል ካሣዬ ክፍሌ በስራ ባልደረቦቻቸው ክብርና ከፍተኛ አድናቆትን ያተረፉ ከመሆናቸው ሌላ በሀገር ፍቅር ስሜታቸውና በቆራጥነታቸው እጅግ ተወዳጅ ነበሩ::
ኮሎኔል ካሣዬ ክፍሌ ከባለቤታቸው ከወይዘሮ ዘሪቱ ዘውገ በሰላምና በፍቅር ለ 27 ዓመታት በጋብቻ ፀንተው የኖሩ ሲሆን ሁለት ልጆች አፍርተዋል::
ኮሎኔል ካሣዬ ክፍሌ ባደረባቸው ፅኑ ህመም በህክምና ሲረዱ ከቆዩ በኋላ በናሽቪል ከተማ ሴንት ቶማስ ሆስፒታል እንደ ኢትዮጵያ አቆጣጠር ሐምሌ 7 ቀን 2001 ዓ∙ም∙ ከዚህ አለም በሞት ተለይተዋል:: አስከሬናቸው ወደ ውድ አገራቸው የተላከ ሲሆን በዛሬው እለት እንደ ኢትዮጵያ አቆጣጠር ሐምሌ 18 ቀን 2001 ዓ∙ም∙ የቀብር ስነስርዓታቸው በኢትዮጵያ የደብረ ሊባኖስ ገዳም ይፈፀማል::
ቸሩ ኣምላክ የኚህን ጀግና የኢትዮጵያ ልጅ ነብስ ከፃድቃን መካከል እንዲያኖራት የሁላችንም ፀሎት ነው::
Addis Ababa (Awramba Times) – Former UN Secretary General and Kenya’s peace negotiator Kofi Annan has appointed Ethiopian high profile diplomat Ato Berhanu Dinka for Kenya’s Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC).
The commission includes six Kenyans and three foreigners. Its members are Betty Murungi (vice chairman), Margaret Shava, Tom Ojienda, Ahmed Sheikh Farah and Tecla Namachanja. The foreign appointees are Ambassador Berhanu Dinka from Ethiopia, Judge Getrude Chawatama from Zambia, and Prof Ronald Slye from the United States… [MORE]
