1 Book for Ethiopia - ፩ መፅሐፍ ለኢትዮጵያ

 

Books enlighten. Books equip. Books entertain. Books empower. The benefits of books are countless. To get these enormous benefits, access to books is vital.  

That is why we should have the determination to collect as many books as possible from across the world for the libraries in Ethiopia. Helping the extremely limited libraries we have across Ethiopia with books is more than important. It is very encouraging to see the likes of Abrehot Library at the centre  of Addis. Equally it is vital to equip this library and others with books needed. It is also important to think about the next libraries that should be built across Ethiopia. Together we have a responsibility to build a generation that is better and informed. We have a responsibility to have a generation that has access to information and consequently to knowledge. A future generation with better opportunities.

That is why we should challenge friends and good intentioned people around the world to think of providing at least one book for Ethiopia. Those who have capacity should also organise themselves, build libraries, and provide the libraries with books and useful library products. It is all about doing the right thing at the right time. It is all about investing in a generation that will look after our common world responsibly. It is all about shaping our collective future and helping the future generation to triumph.

Let my thought be your thoughts and consequently our thoughts. Let us transform our libraries together. Let us also think of building libraries in every corner of Ethiopia and equip them with what they need. It is only the will. They say, ‘ where there is a will, there is a way’.

Paying back to Joe Biden and the democrats

For the past 2 years, we have seen the worst of the @joebiden administration. The US foreign policy on Ethiopia, Eritrea and the Horn Of Africa has been disastrous. Instead of standing with the legitimate government of Ethiopia and its people,  the Biden administration has willingly chosen to stand with #TPLFTerroristGroup which is a great error of judgment.

From Secretary Blinken to USAID administrator Samantha Power and all in the Biden circle, they all try to put as much pressure as possible on Ethiopia to hinder Ethiopia’s march towards growth and development. They want to stop Ethiopia from addressing its challenges on its own. They want to see Ethiopia fail. This is unacceptable and needs democratic and peaceful struggle.

Ethiopians across the world have made it clear that they want the US administration to back off and leave Ethiopia alone. We still see the Biden administration being hell bent on distracting Ethiopia from its journeys. We ask, ‘ why do this’? This cannot continue and there should be a concerted effort by Ethiopian/Eritrean-Americans to stop this madness of the Biden administration..

Ethiopian/Eritrean-Americans should organise across the United States and actively participate in the forthcoming midterm US elections and show their power through ballot box. We need to repeat the win in Virginia in many swing states and show the Biden administration our strengths. We need to vote the democrats out and give them a lesson. That way we can pay back to Joe Biden and his administration.

For us Ethiopia matters a lot. If the Biden administration wants to work with Ethiopia constructively and in our best interests, then they are welcome. In the meantime those in the US with rights to vote should do so and show their voting power. And those across the world should re-organise, stage vigils and demonstrations outside American embassies and voice their concerns peacefully.

It is time to step in. We cannot be bystanders when it comes to our homeland. 

That is why it is vital to take the endorsement of The American-Ethiopian Public Affairs Committee (AEPAC) endorsement for the midterm election very seriously.

Those who feed you, control you!

 

Ethiopia’s current wheat production is beyond the expectations of many. A country as big as Ethiopia; a country with large fertile lands as Ethiopia; a country with more than 80% of its population dependent on farming; a country with more than 110 million people of which around 65% are less than 30 years of age should have been self sufficient when it comes to the production of wheat and other agricultural products. Poor policies, bad governance, absence of sustainable peace, intermittent drought are among  the reasons for the low productivity so far.

That is no more the case as Ethiopia has now reshaped its policies and got determined to be among the top wheat producers in Africa and the world. According to the US Department of Agriculture, ‘Wheat production in Ethiopia for 2022/23 is projected at a record level of 5.7 million Metric Tons while corn forecasted to 10.2 million Metric Tons.’ About 600,000 additional hectares of wheat planted in 2022 alone, according to Bloomberg. This is praiseworthy and worth celebrating.

This is a great achievement for Ethiopia and highly commendable. We say well done to Ethiopia for great wheat production in every corner of the country. It is believed that there will be enough wheat firstly for Ethiopia; then for export. This is one of the most important policies any government should have. Be self-sufficient!

As Ethiopia takes the lead, it is hoped that other African  countries follow the suit and strive to be self sufficient. This is something to take seriously and duplicate in every corner of the continent.

In the meantime we say Keep going Ethiopia!  Rise up fellow Africans. Time to work together and shape our own destinies.

ዲያስፖራው ለሀገሩ ፣ ኢትዮጵያን በጋራ ወደ ከፍታ

 

የዲያስፖራ ኮሚኒቲዉ ወደ ሀገር ቤት በብዛት ለመግባት እየተዘጋጀ ባለበት በአሁኑ ወቅት ብዙ ነገሮችን ማሰብ ተገቢ ነው። ዲያስፖራው ወደ ሀገር ቤት መግባቱ በራሱ ፖለቲካዊ ፣ ኢኮኖሚያዊና ማህበራዊ ጠቀሜታው ብዙ ነው። ዲያስፖራው ብዙ ማድረግ ይቻላል። ይህ ጊዜ ከምንም ጊዜ በላይ ለሀገራችን ገንዘባችንን ፣ እውቀታችንን ፣ ጉልበታችንን ፣ ልምዳችንን የምንሰጥበትና በጦርነት ለተጎዱ ወገኖች ተግባራዊ ስራ በመስራት ለወገኖቻችን አለኝታ መሆናችንን የምናሳይበት ነው:: በሀገር ቤት ያሉ እንደ ውጭ ጉዳይ ሚኒስቴር፣ ዲያስፖራ ኤጀንሲ ፣ የቱሪዝም ሚኒስቴር ፣ አደጋና መከላከል ኮሚሽን፣ ትምህርት ሚኒስቴር ፣ ጤና ጥበቃ ሚኒስቴርና ሌሎች ሲቪክና ልዩ ልዩ ተቋማት በተቀናጀና በተናበበ መልኩ አጋጣሚውን ሊጠቀሙበት ይገባል። ዲያስፖራው በቡድን በመሆነ በተለይ በጦርነቱ በተጎዱ አካባቢዎች እንደ ትምህርት ቤት ግንባታ ፣ የጤና ተቋማት ግንባታና በጣም ወሳኝ በሆኑ የመሰረተ ልማት ስራ ላይ እንዲሰማራ ሁኔታዎች ሊመቻቹለት ይገባል። ዲያስፖራው ለሀገሩ ያለውን ፍቅር በዓለም ዙሪያ አሳይቷል። በተጨማሪው ብዙ አቅም እንዳለውም አሳይቷል። ዋናውና ወሳኙ ጥያቄ ይህንን የዲያስፖራውን እምቅ አቅም ለመጠቅም ዝግጁ ነን ወይ የሚለው ላይ ነው። ለዚህ ተግባራዊነት በተለይ የውጭ ጉዳይ ሚ/ር ከፍተኛ ኃላፊነት አለበት።

ከላይ የተጠቀሱት አስቸኳይና ወቅታዊ ተግባራትን ማከናወን እንዳለ ሆኖ ዘላቂና አሳታፊ እቅዶችን ማዘጋጀትና ለተግባራዊ እንቅስቃሴ መዘጋጀት ኢትዮጵያ በጋራ ወደ ከፍታ ለመውሰድ ጠቀሜታው ብዙ ነው።

በተጨማሪም ዲያስፖራው በግሉና በተደራጀ መልኩ ብዙ ነገሮችን ማከናወን ይችላል።

የሚከተሉትን ማከናወን ለሞራል እርካታ ከማገዙም በላይ ሀገራዊ ግዴታን ለመወጣት ይጠቅማል።

1. የውይይት መድረኮችን፣ ኮንፈራንሶችን፣ ልዩ ልዩ ዐውደ ጥናቶችን በማዘጋጀት ህዝባችን የተገኙትን ለውጦች እውቀቱን፣ ገንዘቡን፣ ጊዜውን በመስጠት በተግባር ማገዝ እንዲችል ማበረታታት።

2. ከሚመለከታቸው አካላት ጋር በመነጋገር ዜጎች የገንዝብ እገዛ እንዲያደርጉና ገንዘባቸውም ለታቀደለት ዓላማ እንዲውል ንቁ ተሳትፎ ማድረግ።

3. ዜጎቻችን ወደ ሀገራቸው በመሄድ እወቀታቸውንና ጊዜያቸውን ለወገኖቻቸው እንዲያካፍሉ ማበረታታት።

4. ዜጎቻችን ከሀገር ቤት የሚያገኙትን እውቀትና ልምድ በሚኖሩበት ሀገር ለሚገኙ ወገኖች ማካፈል የሚችሉበትን መድረክ ማመቻቸት።

5. ዜጎች የውጭ ትምህርት እድል እንዲያገኙ ጥረት ማድረግ፣ አስፈላጊ ሆኖ ሲግኝ በተደራጀ መልኩ ማገዝ።

6. ኢንቨስትመንት ወደ ሀገር ቤት እንዲገባ ማበረታታት።

7. ሀገራችን ከቱሪስቶች ጉብኝት የውጭ ምንዛሬ ልታገኝ የምትችለበትን ሁኔታ መፍጠር ።

8. ዜጎች ህጋዊ በሆኑ የገንዘብ አስተላላፊ ድርጅቶች በመጠቀም ሀገራችን የወጭ ምንዛሪ እንድታገኝ ማድረግ።

እነዚህንና ሌሎች ተግባራትን በተደራጅ መልኩ በማከናወን ሀገራዊ ግዴታን በመወጣት ከህሊና ወቀሳም መዳን ይቻላል። ከምንም በላይ ግን ለዲሞክራሲያዊ ተቋማት ግንባታ ዲያስፖራው ከፍተኛ እገዛ ማድረግ ይችላል ። ይጠበቅበታልም።

Ganging up on Ethiopia, a proud black nation

 

Many of us strongly feel there is a coordinated attack on our country Ethiopia by the Mainstream media and western political apparatus to portray Ethiopia as if it is full of crises and a no-go-zone. That is not what Ethiopia is. Most of Ethiopia is peaceful. People are living their daily lives without any challenges. It is business as usual in most parts of Ethiopia.

We have to remember that Ethiopia is a country of more than 115 Million people and 1.104 million km² in size. There are more than 90 distinct ethnic groups in Ethiopia. It is also vital to remember that Ethiopia is not only about Tigray, where the current conflict emanated from. Ethiopia is bigger than any region or any ethnic group.

There is indeed a conflict in the North of Ethiopia due to the belligerence act of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (Sanctioned by the Ethiopian Parliament as a terrorist organisation). This organisation has extended its belligerence acts and invaded the Amhara and Afar regions. It has massacred 1000s of innocent civilians. Destroyed livelihoods. Displaced more than a million people. Most of us feel the pain on a daily basis. We still suffer from the trauma of this organisation’s cruelty when it was in power. Many of us in the diaspora left Ethiopia because of this organisation, as it did not tolerate dissenting voices when it was in power. In fact it does not tolerate dissenting voices even today.

Today, Ethiopians feel dismayed; Ethiopians feel frustrated by the false narratives of the Mainstream media which are not representatives of the situations in Ethiopia. And those of us who live in the western world feel very sad to see totally biased reports on Mainstream media outlets including the BBC and The Telegraph. To see intentional misinterpretations and mistranslations of the Prime Minister’s speeches and writings, is even frustrating and disheartening. To see Mainstream media and western political forces ganging up to pressurise a proud black nation is even heart-breaking. And to see this in the era of black lives matter movement is extremely saddening. One would expect to see an honest and ethical translation with accountability when one sees articles on Mainstream media. That is not what has been happening. We have seen photoshoped pictures used by the Mainstream media. We have seen photos of different stories and times used totally for unrelated stories. We have seen those who have no clue at all about Ethiopia being given platforms to speak about Ethiopia – more catholic than the Pope himself? The list is endless.

We just question if there is ever true journalism at all? Most of us have lost our confidence in the Mainstream media and have resorted to citizen journalism using our own means.

The situation in Ethiopia is affecting every Ethiopian for a number of reasons. Those of us in the diaspora see our home country portrayed as a war zone. As if it was a hell on earth. Mainstream Media carrying totally flawed and biased articles. Heart-breaking to see the Mainstream media ganging up on Ethiopia. Very depressing. Hence those who support the law enforcement by the federal government of Ethiopia demand equal treatment of the media.

In the meantime, we use social media to expose the hypocrisy of the Mainstream Media using Social media.

I am in #AddisAbaba and everything is normal. There's no need to panic about the #CNNFakeNews and attempts by some western governments and media to create public panic and concerted regime change plan in #Ethiopia. We must meet this moment of national and global challenges. pic.twitter.com/T4S2SPupWn

— Obang Metho (@ObangMetho) November 7, 2021

Despite attempts by the western political apparatus and Mainstream Media to discourage foreigners and nagging them to leave Ethiopia, those in Ethiopia have a different story.

We hate the fake News spread by @CNN#NoMore

‘It is all politics. Every thing is safe here’👇🏾

📹© OBN pic.twitter.com/qL9sgIKWZS

— 𝘽𝙚𝙠𝙚𝙡𝙚 𝙒𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙘𝙝𝙖 🧡 (@BekeleWoyecha) November 6, 2021