Women have been the backbone of Ethiopian society as well as of African society, helping us to survive very difficult circumstances. Wherever you go you see them holding us together. In fact, if we continue to marginalize our women, the new Ethiopia for which we are fighting, may die well before its birth. If it even succeeds in being born, it may end up scrawny and under-developed for lack of nourishment. If it grows up, it may end up unruly and disorderly for lack of discipline and guidance. Let us not underestimate how the hard labor, nourishment and sustenance from our women, can give great strength and sustainability to our futures.
During many hard times, men may be fighting among themselves for the power or the control while the women end up in charge of the practical aspects of life. Within their families, mothers learn to be peacemakers and negotiators who can discipline without favoring, who can listen to both sides and find common ground and who can sacrifice for the good of their loved ones. These are all the same skills that are necessary to better the future of the next generation of Ethiopians and Africans.
Additionally, if mothers were in charge, they may not be so quick to resort to settling conflict through aggression and violence. Yet, they are often the recipients of such violence at the hands of men. The government must create and enforce laws that protect our mothers, wives and children from us men. For instance, those in the ENDF who have raped our Ethiopian women must be brought to accountability. We need to give our women an equal opportunity in their futures to participate like any other women in the world. In other words, our women are not only there to cook for us, to bear our children and to maintain
our homes for us, but they are also competent to govern, to make decisions of importance and to influence our society at every level.
I have seen a young Anuak woman in Gambella not go to school so she could gather firewood and cook food so that her male brother could go to school. I remember seeing fifteen years old girl on the streets of Addis Ababa begging for money while she was holding her newborn child, alone without any help from anyone. I have seen nine years old girl in Awassa, carrying over ten pounds of charcoal on her head for 12 kilometers in order to sell it so the money could be used to sustain her family so her brother could go to school. I have heard that the same thing is going on in the Ogaden where a young girl will spend her
whole day taking care of the cattle so her younger brother can go to school. This has to stop. We need to invest in our women at the same time as we continue to invest in our men.
The Anuak, the Ogadeni’s and other minorities are marginalized by their ethnicity, region and also by their gender. In order to change, we must change our thinking and be transformed into people who follow God’s principles of putting others first and consider them equal to ourselves. It should not be about “ME” or “US.”
Our women are the most marginalized and if we want to change our society they need to be included and we can only do this by changing our thinking and putting it into practice! This is the same kind of fundamental change of thinking that must take place before there is any hope that the dominant groups will include the minorities and before the minorities will effectively trust and embrace the dominant groups, yet it must be our focus if we want Ethiopia to change and it must include all women! Even now in this struggle for unity, freedom and justice, those in the dominant groups and those in the minority groups must recognize that we need each other—whether we all like to admit it or not! If we treat each other as equal, fellow-human beings, we can be stronger and better as we learn how to willingly share power, resources and opportunity. This is what has been lacking in the past. As we change, we will begin to see the depth of our commonality and we may learn we love each other more than we hate each other! After all, we are all Ethiopian. After all, we are all African. After all, we are all human beings! May we fully commit ourselves to follow God’s principles that He set up when He created us in His own image out of the clay of the earth. Our Maker calls us to Himself because we are each precious and loved! He created us 100% human, not 95% or 99.9%! This is what lays the foundation for all of human rights! I am told that the name, Ogaden, means “people who know.” The name, Anuak, means “people who
share.” It is time for “people who know” and for “people who share” to work together as fellow Ethiopians! More than that, we need the help of all Ethiopians. Again, anyone who lives within the borders of Ethiopia is part of this group as they are all 100% Ethiopian. There is no one ethnic group or dominant groups who is more Ethiopian than others. We must tell the majority and those in power that they have an obligation towards all Ethiopians.
If we are really going to change the country, this is where real change must begin—with how we value and include our neighbors, even the ones we don’t know very well or who might be culturally different from us. If those with the “upper-hand” are unable to understand this, they will stand in the way of a new Ethiopia. This is at the heart of freeing us as a society from the prison in which we all now live. Without it, there is little to offer to these break-away groups that will convince them to stay for such inclusion is the groundwork of liberation for all of Ethiopia. Repressing large portions of our society for the benefit of others is like a vessel with cracks. It will eventually break and disintegrate into pieces like the regime of Mengistu and like the regime of Meles will soon do as well!
However, equally important, if we in the minority groups are offered new opportunities, but yet choose to refuse to give up our past resentments, preferring to continue to complain about past offences by the majority, we leave no room for forgiveness, healing and restoration and we will be stuck in a cycle of hate, bitterness and blaming. None of these lead anywhere but downward to destruction!
Equally important, we must see ourselves as equal, valuable and contributing members of Ethiopia regardless of how we have been viewed in the past. Those views came out of ignorance and societal dysfunction. Instead, we must consider how God views us as precious. Because he values us, He urges us to seek Him and as we do, He will show us the purposes He has for our lives that will bring the greatest satisfaction. Remember, those who devalue God’s children, are themselves in need of help.
We must stop a cycle that defeats us by devaluing ourselves or others. This is not just directed towards those who have been in power and privilege. It goes for the minorities and the “dis-empowered” as well. Sometimes those who have been offended or abused, hold on to a victim mentality or a bitter grudge of resentment that goes back many years. If you do this, you will never see your own contribution to your problems! Instead, we must know who we are in God’s eyes and reach out with grace, forgiveness, humility and love to others. This is the only way we are going to see Ethiopia freed from the grips of tyranny. God will find a way out where no way is seen by human eyes.