Ejegayehu Dibaba leads her sister Tirunesh (the eventual winner) and another Ethiopian runner, Ayalew Wude, in a 10,000-meter race in Addis Ababa during May’s African Athletics Championships
[Photo: Anita Powell / AP]

It is half an hour before dawn in the Ethiopian highlands, and most of the town of Bekoji still slumbers in the shadows of a 14,000-ft.-high (4,300 m high) volcano. On the streets, though, a silent army is on the move. More than a hundred boys and girls — many in bare feet, some no taller than the goats feeding by the roadside — gravitate toward a vast, grassy plateau on Bekoji’s outskirts. There, a man with a stopwatch, local running coach Santayehu Eshetu, is waiting. So intense is the hunger here for running — and its rewards — that Eshetu’s workouts, initially meant for 25 athletes, now draw 150 or more. Focused and serious, the runners listen to his words of guidance before taking off across the plateau, their feet slapping the earth in thunderous unison. “I have no doubt,” says Eshetu, “that one of these kids will be world champion.”

Anywhere else, that comment might be an idle boast. In Bekoji, it is a virtual guarantee. By an improbable quirk of history, this small community of farmers and herders along the Great Rift Valley (pop. 33,000) has become the world’s leading producer of distance runners. Many of the fastest male and female middle-distance runners on the planet hail from this patch of red earth 170 miles (280 km) south of the capital, Addis Ababa; the athletes attended the same primary school, trained with the same childhood coach and in two cases grew up in the same thatched-roof hut. Led by two sets of siblings — the Bekele brothers and the Dibaba sisters — Bekoji’s runners are poised to rack up medals at this summer’s Beijing Olympics. So many, in fact, that their medal count alone may well surpass that of many industrialized nations. It’s enough to make the hand-painted sign that greets visitors on the dirt road into Bekoji seem endearingly modest: WELCOME TO THE VILLAGE OF ATHLETES.

Born to Race
Bekoji ranks as one of sport’s great anomalies. Here, after all, is a rural African town where time almost stands still, where horse-drawn carts outnumber motor vehicles and neighbors greet each other by asking after their herds or crops. And yet its most famous products are Tirunesh Dibaba, a 23-year-old blur who smashed the women’s 5,000-meter world record in June by five seconds, and Kenenisa Bekele, 26, who has run the fastest times in human history at 5,000 and 10,000 meters. And they are just the beginning. Kenenisa’s 21-year-old brother, Tariku, is the current 3,000-meter world indoor champion, while Dibaba’s sisters, Ejegayehu and Ginzebe, are also world-class runners. Several other Bekoji natives are close on their heels, while hundreds of others — that silent army on the plateau — are striving to join them. “The tidal wave of runners from Bekoji is unstoppable,” says Karl Keirstead, a Canadian investment banker whose foundation, A Running Start, has helped build classrooms in Bekoji. “The physical conditions are just perfect for producing runners.”

It’s tempting, when breathing the thin air of Bekoji, to focus only on the confluence of geography and genetics. The town sits on the flank of a volcano nearly 10,000 ft. (3,000 m) above sea level, making daily life itself a kind of high-altitude training. Children in this region often start running at an early age, covering great distances to fetch water and firewood or to reach the nearest school. “Our natural talent begins at the age of 2,” says two-time Olympic gold medalist Haile Gebrselassie, 35, who grew up in a village about 30 miles (50 km) north of Bekoji. Gebrselassie, who set a new marathon world record last year, remembers running over six miles (10 km) to and from school every day carrying his books, leaving him with extraordinary stamina — and a distinctive crook in his left arm. Add to this early training the physique shared by many members of the Oromo ethnic group that predominates in the region — a short torso on disproportionately long legs — and you have the perfectly engineered distance runner.

No formula, however, can conjure up the desire that burns inside Bekoji’s young runners. Take the case of Million Abate, an 18-year-old who caught Eshetu’s attention last year when he sprinted to the finish of a 12-mile (19 km) training run with his bare feet bleeding profusely. The coach took off his own Nikes and handed them to the young runner. Today, as he serves customers injera, the spongy Ethiopian flat bread, at a local truckers’ motel, Abate is still wearing the coach’s shoes. They are his only pair, though he confesses a preference for running in bare feet. “Shoes affect my speed,” he says. And speed may be his only salvation. Forced to quit school in fifth grade after his father died, Abate worked as a shoe-shine boy before getting the motel job, which pays $9 a month. All along, he has never stopped running, chasing the dream of prosperity his mother imprinted on him shortly after his father’s death, when she changed his name from Damelach to Million.

A Place Called Hope
By Ethiopian standards, Bekoji is not a desperately poor town. The famine and malnutrition that stalk other parts of the country have bypassed this region of potato and barley farms. Still, families in Bekoji’s outlying villages often live hand to mouth, and distance running — like football elsewhere in Africa or baseball in the Dominican Republic — offers the younger generation one of the few ways out. Bekoji’s trailblazer was Tirunesh Dibaba’s aunt, Derartu Tulu, who left home to avoid an early arranged marriage and ended up a national hero, winning the 10,000-meter Olympic gold medals in 1992 and 2000. As a reward, the government gave her a lovely house behind a stand of eucalyptus trees on the runners’ plateau. Dibaba herself has used some of her millions of dollars in winnings to build her widowed father one of the only two-story houses in Bekoji (the only other is the Bekeles’). Though locals gawk admiringly, the mansion is often empty. Dibaba’s father prefers to stay in his old village tukul, or conical hut, where he can cook over an open fire and keep an eye on his herd of goats.

Motivated by such signs of success, thousands of kids from the villages surrounding Bekoji have moved into town in the past several years. Many of them rent dingy rooms for a few dollars a month and fill their bellies with what they call “counterfeit pasta” — rolled-up wheat paste eaten with a pinch of salt. Some, like Million Abate, work long hours at regular jobs. Others crowd the classrooms at Bekoji Elementary School, where both Dibaba and Bekele attended and where Eshetu worked until recently as a physical-education instructor. Enrollment at the school has tripled over the past 15 years, and many of the runners are too exhausted to concentrate. “It’s difficult to teach kids under these conditions,” says principal Toshaoma Ida’oo Gaaguroo. “But in terms of running,” he adds, with a rueful smile, “we could beat any school in the world.”

Nearly every aspiring runner in Bekoji hopes to train with Eshetu, a former footballer who, despite his affable demeanor, has earned a reputation for punishing workouts: endless double-hill climbs, zigzag sprints through dense forest, even trudges through mountain streams. “These kids are willing to do anything to succeed,” says Eshetu, who toned down his training regimens after one of his runners began urinating blood. Two years ago, the local government tapped Eshetu to lead a new initiative called the Bekoji Project. His job is to identify and train the town’s top 25 teenage prospects, though he still mentors a group of 30 younger runners and informally coaches 100 others, including Million Abate. During a workout one afternoon at Bekoji’s “stadium,” a modest oval track whose grass-covered bleachers are manicured by a few stray goats, Eshetu looks out over the crush of athletes. “Even like this,” he says, “I still have to turn away more than a hundred runners every year.”

Run for Your Life
It is make-or-break time for million Abate. Though he is now the third-fastest 1,500-meter runner in town, Abate knows, at age 18, that he needs to win a big race soon to get noticed by the powers that be in Addis Ababa. The brutal calculation of success and failure in Bekoji leaves very little room for error: he either makes it into Ethiopia’s élite, where he can finally live up to the promise of his name, or he returns to a life of subsistence farming. To free up more time to train, Abate has started working for no salary at all, just food and shelter. “I have so much stress,” Abate says, his eyes tearing up. “Coach tells me not to beat myself up so much. But I want to lift myself up in life, and I get very angry when I’m overtaken by a single step.” Pushed by anxiety and desire, Abate gets up extra early these days so that he can be the first to arrive on the plateau, before any hint of light has touched the morning sky.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a news from the Ministry of Information. It is a joke by Bereket Simon on the people of Ethiopia. Sialagitibin naw (ሲያላግጥብን ነው).

Torn up Ethiopian flag at Bole International Airport, June 2008

(ENA) — Preparation has been finalized to celebrate the first ever ‘Ethiopian Flag Day’ at national level on July 5, 2008.

At a relevant meeting held here on Wednesday it was disclosed that some 600,000 flags would be dispatched as of 19 June 2008. Additional some 400,000 flags would also be distributed in the metropolis and in the surrounding area of the city.

Compact Discs (CDs) that contain the national anthem of Ethiopia is under distribution among regional states as of June 18, 2008.

Information Minister, Berhan Hailu on the occasion said the message to be delivered on the day aims at reinvigorating the feeling of nationalism.

The National Millennium Celebration Secretariat, Deputy Director Gifti Abassiya on her part said the national flag, which is a symbol of the nations, nationalities, and peoples of Ethiopia, shall be promoted in a coordinated manner.

Director of the Addis Ababa City Millennium Secretariat, Kiros Hailesilssie said the secretariat is closely working with stakeholders to celebrate the day colorfully.

A representative from Hayat S. C, a real estate business company, said the company is also carrying out the distribution of the national flags and CDs.

The company has already allocated 5 million Birr for the same cause.

UNITED NATIONS — The deputy chief of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) arrived in Ethiopia today for the start of a four-day visit to review the humanitarian situation in the south and southeast of the country, which has become parched by drought.

Hilde Johnson, Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF, is expected to meet with Government officials, UN agencies, key donors and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) while in Ethiopia, according to a statement released in Addis Ababa, the capital.

As many as 4.6 million Ethiopians are now in need of immediate humanitarian assistance because of a lack of seasonal rains, coupled with rising food prices. The worst affected areas are in three administrative states of the Horn of Africa country: Oromio, Somali Region and Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Region (SNNPR).

Children are among the hardest-hit by the current conditions, with about 75,000 children estimated to be facing severe acute malnutrition already.

Earlier this month the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) revised its appeal for Ethiopia to at least $325 million to meet the growing demand for aid.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Why doesn’t the puppet ‘president’ do some thing about the starving children of Ethiopia before congratulating China’s earth quake relief effort? This entitles him to be named “Idiot of the Day.”.

Girma Woldegiorgis

ADDIS ABABA (Xinhua) — The Chinese government and its leadership’s efficient and timely earthquake relief efforts have gained the praise of the whole world, said Ethiopian President Girma Woldegiorgis on Thursday.

When receiving credentials of China’s newly appointed ambassador to Ethiopia Gu Xiaojie, Girma expressed once again sympathy and condolence to the Chinese side over the devastating earthquakes that hit southwest China’s Sichuan Province on May 12.

He said Ethiopia pays attention to the development of its relations with China, adding that Ethiopia would work together with China to further their bilateral ties to a new high.

In recent years, the relations between Ethiopia and China have been expanded rapidly and bilateral cooperation in all fields has deepened, said the Ethiopian president.

He praised the Chinese firms in Ethiopia, saying that the Chinese firms become more active in Ethiopia’s reconstruction, making greater contributions to the country’s economic and social development.

Girma also said Ethiopia backs China’s efforts to prepare for the Beijing Olympic Games. He said Ethiopia will send a big sports delegation to take part in the upcoming Olympic Games, to be held in August.

For his part, Chinese Ambassador Gu thanked the Ethiopian president for his expression of sympathy to China over the devastating earthquakes.

Gu arrived here on June 2 as China’s newly appointed ambassador to Ethiopia. He said he will exert efforts to further intensify the Ethio-China relations.

NEWS RELEASE
Human Rights Abusers: “Watch Out, You May Not Find the West a Safe Haven Anymore!”

As pleased as the Anuak Justice Council is with the recent decision by Canadian authorities to deny entry into Canada to Omot Obang Olum, the Anuak governor of the Gambella region suspected of complicity in the Anuak massacre of 2003, we are far more pleased with the prospects of what this means to other Ethiopians suspected of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity who may attempt to seek entry or asylum in the West.

For the Canadian authorities to deny a visa to a human rights criminal suspect like Olum, is a victory for justice and is an encouraging indication to other victims of such crimes within Ethiopia. For perpetrators who have inflicted unbearable pain on their fellow Ethiopians, thinking they are above the law of God and country, it is a stern and chilling warning to find out that a door in the West has just slammed shut to them as a potential safe haven.

In Ethiopia, human rights crimes can be committed without legal consequence if one is “rightly connect” to the government, but after this action by Canadians, these perpetrators can no longer automatically assume they will be able to escape to the West should the brutal and repressive Meles regime fall.

For the Anuak who were tortured, put in jail or who lost loved ones at the hands of such suspected human rights criminals as Olum, they will be encouraged that finally someone has been held accountable for crimes covered up and seemingly forgotten, even though it was done by strangers living over a thousand miles away from where it was perpetrated.

Even though many Anuak and other victims of oppression within Ethiopia are afraid to confront their Woyane governor or Meles himself, fearful of their power to punish any objecting to their rule, the denial of this visa into Canada serves as proof that those guilty of such crimes may finally answer for their actions.

Justice, righteousness and truth are all parts of God’s holy character and those who violate these principles violate universal codes set in place not by man but by God. Most every human being knows this in his or her heart which is exactly the reason for the extensive lies, denials and cover-up being advanced by the Ethiopian propaganda machine of Meles Zenawi.

The truth would demand a just response and they know it! That is why they continue to offer up pathetically weak lies in the face of voluminous evidence to the contrary. In other words, they want to escape the consequences of their actions, but thankfully, it did not work this time!

That same desire for truth is the reason why some Anuak and I boycotted the meeting—because we knew the truth would be dodged and manipulated. Establishing the truth is the same reason why the AJC was initially set up because in December of 2003, something evil and outrageous happened in a dark corner of Africa when the Anuak were massacred by their own government.

In arrogance, the Meles regime thought they could get away with it, but it led to the formation of the AJC and the truth got out. In fact, with the visit of Olum the heinous crimes committed against the Anuak were again repeated in newspapers all over the world through new press articles.

Now, with the release of the recent Human Rights Watch report on what is happening in the Ogaden and into Somalia, more publicity is directed towards the horrific tactics of the Meles government, but with it, more predictable denials. It is only a matter of time before incidents in the Afar region, in Beningshangul-Gumuz, in Oromia, along the Sudanese-Ethiopian border and in other parts of the country will be added to the list.

Strangely, the lying is becoming progressively more absurd in the face of mounting evidence; but the more it does so, the less likely it seems that Meles and company will ever change. Everything is pretense on the outside and fake on the inside—democracy, justice, stability, development and even our gold—are all just trappings. Instead, we are left with a hollow core, expected to live an illusion while desperately needing healing.

We have become a country of lies and we all are experiencing the consequences of that. Meles government is even lying about the hunger and starvation of millions of Ethiopians in fear of being found responsible. Yet, such lies will never feed the people. Instead, Jesus Christ said, “the truth will set us free.”

This is the reason why the AJC has been speaking up for the last four years and the reason why we are now also speaking for the rest of Ethiopians as we firmly believe that unless justice comes to all of Ethiopia, justice will not come to any one group. The suffering and pain of all Ethiopians is the same.

The truth that the Anuak are seeking is the same truth sought by Ethiopians throughout the country. The same justice Anuak desire, is the same justice for which other Ethiopians also hunger. That is why the AJC extended to other Ethiopians and took the initiative to reach out to others. To seek truth and justice is foundational to the AJC, but what Omot Olum wants us to do is this—to settle for less than the truth, for less than justice and for less than righteous living. This is something we refuse to do and it is the reason we continue to speak and advocate for change and will never settle for anything less.

Be warned, this is not what the Meles regime wants for Ethiopians. He and his puppets in charge in every district and region of the country want us to agree to be silent about injustice and to compromise on the truth and our morality.

Omot Olum is an Anuak and people within the AJC know him. As a person we have nothing against him, but we stand against the evil things he has done. We even know that no one has ever reported seeing him pull the trigger to kill anyone, but we have strong evidence that his actions have contributed to the loss of Anuak lives and caused great pain to many Anuak. For that reason, we want him to be held accountable.

We also know he was responsible for the arrests and imprisonment of many Anuak, especially Anuak leaders arrested in 2002 who were imprisoned in Addis Ababa until 2007, losing productive years of their lives. Their families suffered from their absence. Some of the prisoners died while in prison.

Mr. Olum arrested them because he was the most trusted supporter of the Meles regime and because he did was threatened by his own people who were upholding truth and justice in the way they conducted their lives. He was also in charge of security for the region when the massacre took place. The governor at the time reported that Olum was the one to give the names to the military commander who later issued the order to kill the Anuak.

Without his help, the TPLF military would not have known which Anuak were threats to their total sovereignty. Now, for them to come to ask Anuak to talk about peace, investment and development is settling for something far less than justice and that is unsettling! Olum and his counterparts in other regions throughout the country should be found accountable.

We know that Olum is a tiny fish among bigger fish and we know that he and many more within the TPLF throughout Ethiopia have done the same for those on the top, but the benefits will not last. The denial of his visa is sending a message to Meles and his gang-style government that seems willing to do most anything to remain in power even if its own citizens are starving or being killed that when this government finally goes down, and it will, like every other one like it, there will be no room for Meles and his supporters in the West for safe haven.

This message is not only for lower ranking perpetrators like Olum, but also for top officials complicit with gross human rights crimes. Not only is Canada working on policies prohibiting war criminals and human rights criminals from entering their country, but similar policies are being discussed by human rights advocates and policy makers in the US, the UK and in the EU. This is what HR 2003 is all about.

Once this is a law, there will be no room for people like Olum in the West. To Meles supporters who have helped in one way or another in committing human rights abuses, your time has come and there is no room for you to hide. People know who you are and all the authorities may need is your name, your involvement and your crime. One by one justice can be done. The choice is yours to continue supporting this government and committing crimes against humanity under the short-lived protection of a dying regime or changing your ways for good.

If you do not, you may never find the same impunity enabling you to live in luxury in another country that you have relished in Ethiopia during these fleeting last days under the Meles regime. To those who are now working in the administration, take the higher moral ground and refuse to take part in crimes against your fellow Ethiopians like one of the delegates accompanying Olum recently did.

When Olum came, five EPRDF delegates from Gambella accompanied him. One of them was another Anuak man named Obang Oman. He gave the government line publicly, but when it came time to return to Ethiopia, he was nowhere to be found and remains in America. It is not surprising that this additional downturn in Olum’s visit, this defection, was not covered in the EPRDF news

Apparently, Obang Oman stated that even though he and the others had come to encourage the Anuak to return to Gambella to help develop the region and to invest, that what they had told the attendees about Ethiopia being more democratic, more stable and full of more opportunities right now was a lie and he did not want to continue to advance this lie and be part of it. This man has now stood up for the truth and that is why he remained in the US. His refusal to return to Ethiopia speaks more loudly than any words.

In fact, the truth always speaks for itself, much more strongly than the lie. Even a recent Ethiopian News agency press release falsely claimed that 2500 Gambella people had attended the meeting with the Olum and the other Gambella delegates and that the people wanted to come back to develop the region.

The truth is, the number at the meetings in both Minnesota and Nebraska was closer to 300—combined—and the article’s writer failed to mention three important points: the angry response of many of the people, the fact that one of their delegates remained in America and the fact that Omot Olum’s meeting was cancelled in Canada because he was denied entrance into Canada—not surprising oversights!

This illegitimate government of Meles has demonstrated a lack of morality accompanied by the willingness to lie about anything, just to remain in power. Meles Zenawi even maintained his power during the last election through lies and force. He and his EPRDF government were never legitimately elected and they obviously care very little for the people they are supposed to be serving, like a parent who has abandoned his own children after abusing them.

Our encouragement to Ethiopians and peace loving people is to not give up in our struggle to revive this nation no matter what obstacles we face because the truth is on our side. More than that, God is on our side, but only if we continue to seek Him, His truth and do what is right. If we do, not only could we bring justice and hope back to the country, but we could be the ones to help revive a country where everyone has become an orphan without a protector or nurturer.

Our only hope is in our only real father, God Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth who loves the children He has created. Do we return that love with our obedience to His life-giving principles?

May our God help us to rise up and to stand, side by side, as humans first, and as Ethiopians second. May we put our humanity before our ethnicity and do what God wants us to do to protect, care, nurture and revive this dying nation. May God use each of us to help bring such revival to the soul of Ethiopia!
———————
For more information please contact Mr. Obang Metho, Director of International Advocacy
Anuak Justice Council, by E-mail: [email protected]

Birtukan Mideksa surrendering ceremony

It is not a new thing for Ethiopian political leaders to betray their supporters, and the people of Ethiopia, in general. Even the great Hailu Shawel had succumbed to that tradition. So it is not with any shock or surprise we learned about the betrayal of Birtukan Mideksa whom just recently we referred to as “lady liberty.”

Birtukan has followed the footstep of her former leader, Hailu Shawel, to the Ethiopian political graveyard so soon after she became a leader on her own right. At least Hailu Shawel lasted several years as a respected leader. Even the now discredited Lidetu Ayalew and Taye Woldesemayat lasted many years as popular leaders. Birtukan’s fall from grace is as sudden as her meteoric rise.

What Birtukan Mideksa did on Wednesday, June 18, 2008, and for several months before that, was a complete surrender of herself, her colleagues, her supporters, and her party to the Meles dictatorship in the most shameless way.

Here is what Birtukan did:

1) In September 2007, she assured her followers that the name of the party, Kinijit, will not be changed no matter what. She explicitly said that keeping the name Kinijit is one of the issues that the party will fight for. But when she returned to Ethiopia, within a few weeks, she changed her mind and abandoned Kinijit as the name of the party just because Woyanne told her so. She did not put up any resistance — be it legal, political, diplomatic… none. We did not say much, wanting to give her the benefit of the doubt.

2) Since September 2007 — for the past 10 months — Birtukan said not a word of criticism against the Meles dictatorship when it burned down villages, engaged in indiscriminate execution of civilians, including women and children, gang rape of women, and committed other horrible crimes against fellow Ethiopians in Ogaden and the people of Somalia. She did not utter a word of concern about Woyanne’s secret land deal with Sudan, or about the millions of starving children… During this period, the only word of complain, concern or criticism that came from Birtukan was against freedom fighters who chose to raise arms to defend themselves and their people from the brutal dictatorship. She called their method of defending themselves “backward.” We did not say much, except grumbling a little, because we really wanted her to succeed.

3) Birtukan had promised her supporters that Kinijitj’s 8-point peace proposal will continue to be the primary rallying point of the party. She even mentioned that when she testified before the U.S. Congress. She said: “The proposals that are currently being deliberated in this House [of Representatives] are vital to the revitalization of human rights in Ethiopia, and in many ways reflect the policy positions of the CUDP, and many stated in our 8-point proposal.” But when she returned to Ethiopia, she arbitrarily set aside the 8-point proposal without any discussion, explanation, reason… We only complained privately. Did not say much in public.

4) For the past 10 months, few or none of the families of Kinijit activists, particularly the young ones, who endured incredible suffering have not received any attention. Those young Kinijit activists were the workhorse of the party. They are now totally abandoned by Birtukan. ER has raised this issue often, but the only answer from Birtukan was, the party lacks the capacity to provide economic assistance to its activists. She was saying this while a quarter of a million dollars was sitting in the bank doing nothing.

Birtukan went on committing one blunder after another with little or no public criticism. Most of the young leaders of the party left quietly, disappointed and frustrated with Birtukan’s lack of leadership, and willful submission to the Woyanne tyranny. Many of the older leaders remain in the party because of yilugnta (ይሉኝታ). They will drop out one by one soon after the current commotion ends.

UDJ’s general meeting on Wednesday was a culmination of all of Birtukan’s blunders. To start with, most of the delegates who attended the meeting cannot really be called delegates. They were handpicked and paid by Birtukan to come to the meeting and crown her. The delegates represent no organized constituency, with the exception of a few. Secondly, the whole party formation process took only one day — including drafting, discussing, and approving the party’s bylaws and political program, nominating and electing the council members and the executives. In short, the so-called general assembly was similar to Meles Zenawi’s rubber stamp parliament. Every thing was decided for the ‘delegates’ in advance of the general assembly.

Birtukan and her UDJ will soon join Beyene, Lidetu and their fake parties as Woyanne decoys.

Oh, she will be glad to know that from now on she will be a regular guest at the American embassy cocktail parties.

On top of all the faking that went on in Addis Ababa, the Diaspora UDJ supporters are making too much noise, pretending to be happy as if something big has happened. But the hard truth some refuse to swallow is that what happened on June 18 was a camouflaged surrender ceremony — Birtukan surrendering to Woyanne.