My hopes for Ethiopia give me courage

The past 10 months have been extraordinary for Ethiopia and Ethiopians around the world. The changes in Ethiopia have exceeded expectations. Groups and individuals labelled as terrorists by the TPLF led clique are now functioning freely in Ethiopia.  Journalists, bloggers, political activists and human rights campaigners are free. Thousands of political prisoners have been released. Thousands of Ethiopians diaspora members have returned home and reunited with their loved ones. Lots of encouraging stuff have happened. These give me hope and I remain hopeful.

We cannot, however, deny the challenges the new administration has been faced with. But I also know, and many others as well know, that Rome was not built in a day. Democratic culture cannot be built over night. It takes time and needs our patience and perseverance. This culture cannot also be built by a few political elites. It needs the active participation of the majority. We cannot win by being onlookers. We cannot win by being blockers. We cannot win by only having a good will. We can only win when we roll our sleeves and do the right thing practically. We need to act. Action will bring a reaction.

In the meantime, I remain hopeful that the changes in Ethiopia will last long and meet the expectations of the majority. I also remain hopeful many engage practically and help Ethiopia succeed. After all, life is too short, and we cannot afford to lose the once in a life time opportunity we have at hand. Hence, I remain hopeful that Dr. Abiy and his team deliver on their promise. I also remain hopeful that the main opposition parties deliver what is expected of them and help Ethiopia go into a new era.

Going into the Era of Hope together.

The talk is change

Obama talks change,

So does McCain,

Brown and Cameron.

Politicians talk,

So do students,

So too teachers,

So do others.

So what is wrong,

If those who seek sanctuary.

Talk change,

And voice their concerns,

On the change they all dream.

That allows work

And safeguards education,

That uses experience

and knowledge

And restores confidence

That goes for family union

And avoids family breakdowns

That encourages full participation

And helps to come out of misery

Many hoped for

Spoke about for years

This should come at last

For justice to prevail

For life to be normal

For that sends message for hard work

So as to pay back to the host

And discharge self responsibly

And get recognition and dignity,

That is the change we all dream.

Written in October 2008.

Going for the unknown

I still remember

That very moment in my life

When I decided the unknown

Over the little known

Booking a place in a plane

Leaving behind the family

And close ones at home; and

Deciding to be part of the unknown

With optimistic view of the day

Having some hope

Which are yet to be dashed.

Leaving the home airport was frustrating

As it involved a lot of risk

I remember those prayers

Which I had done time and again

A prayer to escape home

A payer to keep the hungry lions silent

The journey was full of thoughts

Thoughts from childhood to present age

Thoughts that took me back and forth in time

Thought where hope and despair

Had to face one-another.

The arrival wasn’t bad

Though I didn’t know

Where I would finally end up

As destination was unknown

Life has now changed forever

For worse or better.

The airport was as huge as usual

Embracing people of all colour

Some looked familiar

While others confused

The way to the city wasn't easy

Using the underground trains

To a place not booked before

It is all keeping going

Going, going, going. going.

Following instincts and thoughts

How tough is it to prefer the unknown

Over the little known

To keep life on hold

On hold for unknown time and future

On hold for reasons little known.

Written in May 2009.

What do they mean?

The stranger is to travel,

To move around in big city.

With no experience how to make it,

Taken by his deep thoughts.

How do I go to this place,

Train or bus should I use,

What do they mean when they say zones,

Are there cities within city,

Locating places and zones,

Knowing the price,

Buying the card

The Oyster,

From the machine or the office.

Checking the line,

The platform,

Boarding the tube,

Getting off the tube or changing,

Listening to the announcements

And reading same,

This is station X,

Change for line A,

The announcements come once again,

Attention please, attention please,

This is a security announcement.

The stranger is awakened,

His ears stand like nothing

As he gets more vigilant and worried.

There goes the announcement again,

Please keep you luggage with you,

And report unattended items,

And suspicious behaviour,

He recalls the announcements.

What do they mean when they say that,

Poses the question to himself.

As he gets more confused,

And contemplates to get off,

Yet he recalls the announcement,

Suspicious behaviour, as he recalls,

What do they mean when they say that,

The stranger looks around,

As he is more confused,

But no body looks that scared,

Different or Worried,

Is it only him who is scared,

Most are busy, busy reading,

Newspaper, book, magazine.

There come announcements once again,

This is station Y,

What a relief to reach at Y

He finally gets relived,

And awakened from his thoughts,

Before he even went to ask,

As to whether he should get off,

Or what do they mean when they say that,

Not knowing that the man next

Is a stranger Like himself.

Written in May 2009.

Rush and run

Everybody runs,

Run, run, run.

Nobody says hi,

Or expects same.

They still run,

Rush and run,

Push and pass,

Run on stairs,

On escalators,

In the streets.

Some run down,

Others run up.

Some run in,

Others run out,

Some run east,

While others west.

Still others run

South or north

They all run,

Rush and run

The beauty of rush hours,

The beauty of busyness.

Run, run, run

Always run

Commuters at a London train station

Written in April 2007

My pillow, my bank

   

What did I hear the other day

Banks run short of money

Financial institutions go burst

The same is true for insurance

Do I worry about it

Or should I worry for my pillow

Which is my bank for what I have!

My pillow my bank

My bank is my pillow.

Written in October 2008 following the financial crisis

My shyness

Let me question

Why I am shy

Is it nature

Religion or culture

Background or gender

Are there reasons

Why I am shy

Or is it man made

Or confidence,

Experience, exposure

Education or what is it

The reason for my being shy

I want to know

Why I am shy

As I feel shy

To remember that I am shy

And promise not to be shy

Yet it remains only promise

As I start to feel shy

As soon as I go into life

And have something in common

So what is it that makes me shy

Can I ask it again

As I am afraid of my shyness

As someone born to feel shy.

Written in September 2008

MY MATES

On a bright afternoon in North London, I was in a tube to the centre.

Hurried to reach Victoria so as not to miss the coach; for the trip to Cardiff.

The guy next had an issue; an issue with which he was obsessed.

He then asked a question; mate what time is the match

Mate, it is the match of the day, he continued; as I looked a bit confused,

It is Arsenal versus Tottenham; The North London derby.

I think you are an Arsenal fun, he continued.

Of course I am an arsenal fun; though I didn't tell him that.

I don’t know why I kept so quite.

I was just listening; listening to what the gentleman had to say

I am for the Gunners, he added; as he prepared to get off; by the Finsbury park station.

He said to me see you later.

Showing me with his hand; that he was going to inject.

Some heat into the blood; in terms of a pint.

I gave him a warm good bye; for his being friendly.

Yet had to think about him; his dedication and freedom

Of thought and expression.

The Cardiff coach was ready; to take its passengers on board.

It was unusually full.

Do you mind my sitting next to you

I politely said to a guy who I think is a Welsh.

He gave me way to the seat by the window.

As I sat next to him and started reading a book

Which was written in Amharic; which is my tongue language,

Where are you from mate if you don’t mind, said the gentleman next.

I am originally from Ethiopia, I replied;

Oh gosh! Have you got rugby in Ethiopia, he asked.

I have no idea was my answer; as I had no clue whatsoever.

What Rugby is after all; it is running that we love.

There was a very good match last week, he continued.

The blues with Gloucester; which was the best match of the year.

In the millennium stadium; especially the try from John

That helped the blues have the dominance in the game.

Did you know that the match; was also international, he continued

I have never watched Rugby mate, I replied.

While at the same time showing interest; to know a little bit about it.

I asked some naive questions; as I didn't know what Rugby meant.

And the guy replied and made sure that I understood what he said.

I appreciated his effort to help me understand.

But at the same time I learnt that he was also in love

In love with Rugby to the bit

That gentleman must be around; around in the city.

As it is time for six nations; six nations in rugby.

The gentleman is in love; in love with rugby.

written in October 2008

Hole in the wall

      

Mama had a problem

Which is of financial

Took up the phone to make the call

London or New York should I call

Isn’t London cheaper to call?

Asked the old woman herself

As she believes to know western life

And remembers how money is pulled from the hole

The hole deep in the wall

She still recalls

Putting the cards

Hiding fingers

Typing numbers

How could they put money in the wall

For every passing individual

Mom is thinking about the hole

And is now making the London call

Hello my son

How is your life?

How are the people around

The buses, the trains

And the one that goes underground

Is that supernatural or man made

Mom continued asking questions

When did they build those places

Where were we then in those times

She had questions with no answers

The young man who was worried

Asked his mom why she had called

Mom was so quick to remember

To ask her son what to send her

I need only some money son

Which I should get very soon

The son answered politely

Telling mama there was no money

Explaining the slow down in economy

That made mama so furious

As she knows there is a hole so generous.

Hole in the wall so generous.

So generous for bye passers.

Written in 2008

ልማትም ሆነ ግንባታ ከሰብዓዊ መብት አይቀድምም

ሰሞኑን በለገጣፎ ብዙሃን ዜጎቻችን የመኖሪያ ቤቶቻቸው ፈርሰውባቸዋል። ዜጎች ሳይወዱ በግድ ወደ ጎዳና እንዲወጡ ተገደዋል። ይህ ክስተት እጅግ አሳዛኝና በጣምም አሳሳቢ ነው። ዜጎቻችንን ማዕከል ያላደረገ ልማት ምኑን ልማት ነው? የፈረሱትና ለመፍረስ እቅድ የተያዘላቸው ቤቶች ህገ ወጥ በሆነ መልኩ ተሰርተው ቢሆን እንኳ በምላሹ ዜጎች ለጎዳናና ለችግር መዳረግ የለባቸውም። ቤቶቹ የተሰሩት አስተዳደሩ እያየ ነው። ስለዚህ ችግሩ የነዋሪዎቹ ብቻ አይደለም። ጥፋትን በጥፋት ለማረም መሞከር ለማንም አይጠቅምም። የክልሉ መንግስትም ሆነ የፌደራል መንግስት ለጉዳዩ ትኩርት ሰጥቶ ተገቢውን ምላሽ ሊሰጠው ይገባል። እቅድ በእቅድ ይሻራል። አዎ ሰው ያወጣውን እቅድ ሰው ሊሽረው ይችላል። ለችግሮች አማራጭ መፍትሄ ይፈለጋል እንጂ እኔ ብቻ ያልኩት መሆን ያለበት ካልን ከጥቅሙ ጉዳቱ ያመዝናል። የእኔ ሃሳብ ብቻ ነው ትክክለኛ ሃሳብ ማለት አያዋጣም:: የመነጋገርና የመተማመን ባህል ሊዳብር ይገባል።

ባለፉት ፲ ወራት በሀገራችን ያየነው ለውጥ እጅግ አበረታች ነው። ይህንን ለውጥ ዘላቂ በማድረግ ዜጎቻችን ተጠቃሚ እንዲሆኑ የማድረግ ስራ ሊሰራ የሚገባ ሲሆን ለስኬቱም የሁሉም ቀናና ሀገር ወዳድ ዜጋ ትብብርና ድጋፍ ከምንም በላይ ወሳኝ ነው። ለውጡን ለማደናቀፍ ሌት ተቀን ተግተው የሚሰሩ ግለሰቦችና ቡድኖች መኖራቸው የአደባባይ ሚስጥር ነው። ስለዚህ ጥንቃቄ ማድረግ ይገባል። በህይወት ዘመናችን ያገኘነውን መልካም አጋጣሚ ተጠቅመን ህዝብን ማዕከል ያደረገ ስራ መስራት ጠቀሜታው ለሁላችንም ነው።

Abiy the uniter unites Ethiopians in London

Girma Haile Mariam addressing the audience

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has only been in power for less than a year but has touched the lives and souls of many. His contagious passion for Ethiopia and willingness to work with everybody, has united Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopia around the world. To that effect, Ethiopians and British citizens of Ethiopian origin met in Wandsworth, South London to discuss about the change the premier has introduced in Ethiopia and the challenge he set for the diaspora to contribute a dollar a day through the Ethiopian Diaspora Trust fund (known as EDTF).

Sunday 10th February saw Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopia gather at York Gardens Library and Community Centre in Wandsworth to discuss about the formation of The London Chapter of EDTF and how they can help those who need help. Wandsworth is the home of St. Mary of Debre Tsion, the biggest Ethiopian Orthodox church in Europe which often attracts many Ethiopian related functions and events. 

The event brought together Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopia of all political persuasion and none for a great cause. In fact the leaders of the event were composed of the two factions of Debre Tsion London Church, which has been divided for the past 7 years. Hence the EDTF effect in London is not only about raising money for the EDTF but also bringing folks together for a common good. Girma Haile Mariam, one of the organisers of the event said: “EDTF is not about politics, religion, etc. It is all about what we can and should together to help our fellow citizens who have no access to clean water, access to many things important in our lives. Trust me, Our contribution will make a difference”

EDTF council members, Prof Lemma W. Senbet and Dr. Aklilu Bisrat as well as NuNu Wako, the convener for EDTF Volunteer Task Force joined the event via Skype. Their insightful contributions and availability to answer questions boosted the confidence of all the attendees of the event. Following the event, a mum and senior citizen, who didn't want to be named said “Because of EDTF I was able to meet with someone I haven’t met for over 10 years as I lost contact with them. EDTF has reunited me with my good old friend.”

The EDTF London chapter is the first of many to be formed across the United Kingdom. Ethiopia and UK have strong relationship and work together on a number of bilateral and international issues. Harriett Baldwin, Foreign Office and DFID Minister for Africa was in the horn of African country in October following which she said: “The UK and Ethiopia are working together to tackle shared challenges and to make the most of the opportunities East Africa offers, on everything from development and education, to creating jobs and attracting investment. We will continue to support the ambitions of our partners, like Ethiopia, to build a stronger, more prosperous and more peaceful region.”