Dr. Abeba Fekade, Founder of the International Ethiopian Women’s Organization, was one of the guest speakers at the Women’s Day Event in Maryland hosted by Miss Africa USA 2011 at Nectar Lounge in Silver Spring on March 24th, 2012. (Image: Tadias video screen shot)
Tadias Magazine
By Tsedey Aragie
Updated: Monday, April 2, 2012
Washington, DC (TADIAS) – Last week’s Women’s Day Celebration in Silver Spring, Maryland hosted by Miss Africa USA 2011, Ghysaline Tchouga of Cameroon, featured various speakers including author Sonya Jackson Myles and Founder of the International Ethiopian Women’s Organization Dr. Abeba Fekade. The event was designed to highlight various current topics affecting women worldwide. Many of the speakers presented individual projects, which they said were intended to address issues concerning woman suffrage especially in Africa.
Dr. Abeba Fekade, who is also a psychologist and an adjunct professor at George Mason University, offered strong views about the continuing plight of female migrant domestic workers in the Middle East. Her opinions reflected the larger mood among Ethiopian women in the Diaspora following last month’s widely-publicized, videotaped beating and apparent suicide of Alem Dechassa, the young woman that was abused outside the Ethiopian embassy in Lebanon. I sat down with Dr. Abeba for an interview following her talk.
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The extent and complexity of the problem does not matter as much as does the willingness to solve it. Thank you Dr. Fekade.
The way Dr. Abeba framed the issues facing Ethiopians in general and women in partuclar is real deep. The perspective she gave it very INSIGHTFUl. Thanks a Million!
I wonder if Dr. Abeba Fekade joined the recent Ethiopian Women gathering at Howard University. Our women should brake the cycle of personal feud and jealousy and stand for the abused women of Ethiopia back home, in the Gulf Nations and wherever they maybe.
Every Saturday Dr. Abeba opens an International Ethiopian Women Chat Room with less than 50 people while Ethiopian love rooms are packed with a lot of Ethiopians men and women. How comes we are not able to organize once a week woman chat room that will attract the young people ?
Is it because we are splintered into many women groups because of personal jealousy and our own ego ? Our women have to come together on one common agenda if they want to have any impact.
The least they should do in short term is to speak in one voice to stop the selling of our women for the Gulf Nations. How about organizing a huge rally all over the world denouncing the sellers and buyers of Ethiopian women in this spring ?
Why do you need chat-rooms to attract young people? As a college student, I consider myself young so just curious have you heard of twitter, Facebook, and all the other social media tools?
The daily misery faced by thousands of Ethiopian domestic workers in Arab countries is much bigger than chat-rooms and gossip. This is a matter of life and death for many young Ethiopian women. “Feud” and “jealousy” and public airing of dirty laundry has no public value whatsoever except to smear others for personal gain and ego. Ye raswa arobat yesew tamasilalech!
@ Tedla Asfaw: This matter transcends age, gender all other categories by which we divide each other need to be excavated from the inside. Let’s not play immature politics with this. We have been there, done that for decades. What do we have to show for it? NOTHING! Zero. In fact, Woyane is still in power and our sisters are being burned and murdered by arab men and women in broad daylight. Yet, here we are in 2012, still doing the same thing as years past. Time to walk the talk! Some Ethiopian men need to get-off their imaginary high-chairs and get to work instead of behaving like a salon-bar madam…jealousy and fight should have nothing to do with this. We are god-fearing people irrespective of our religion or region! We are better than that!
What Dr. Abeba shows us is that the ability to articulate the subject, to be clear about it, and to stick to it is, I think, the essence of a leadership. I agree with her this is certainly a form of self colonization and it requires all of us to solve it!
Powerful. expect I don’t agree with Dr Abeba about “the adaptation and organ harvesting.” It maybe true but that’s entirely different topic. Let’s stick to the issue of women in the middle east, let’s not mix apples and oranges.
At the end of the day, who cares about who spoke at Howard and Harvard, when and why? What matters is the message. In the larger scheme of things, the rest is unnecessary, petty distraction, which most people don’t have time for and should not have time for. I like Dr. Abeba’s call of urgency and I add my voice to the perplexed. When did behaving badly with pride became accepted Ethiopian culture? Or could it be part of the mental colonization that Dr. Abeba so eloquently discussed? In my opinion, all the sleazy nonsense and craziness becomes a kind of sustained narrative which, in turn, can become history. It’s scary as ruthless dictatorship that honest people should not fear it. They must confront it.
The fundamental problem to solving our issues is lack of respectful discourse in our community. It’s lack of Ethiopiawinet. Agent provocateurs are as much tools of division as the authoritarian regime in Ethiopia. It is not in the public’s good.
Since everyone seems to be speaking in Qine – let me give you mine: Keep your eyes on the Prize! Don’t forget the women.
Thank You Dr. Abeba!! You are one of a kind. As an Ethiopian woman I feel very blessed to have someone like you leading us. If we could have even just 2 clones of you we would be more than lucky. Those of us true Ethiopians that are NOT motivated by pride,ego and pettiness are truly appreciative of you and your passionate calling for a better Ethiopia. Dr.Abeba you lead and the rest of us with some sense will definately follow.
Thank you in advance for your quick reply.
Dear Dr.Abeba , I appreciate your hard work and dedication to our country Ethiopia and to the cause of the Ethiopian women . And thank you that your being Voices for the Voiceless. Your organization IEWO provide excellent opportunities for advocacy which is about alerting the public to an issue and helping to provide effective solutions.
Very interesting discussion. As the Dr. mentioned we have to look at it on two levels, temporary and permanent solution. The big question has not been answered yet what is the ultimate solution?