2015 May 28 archive at Tadias Magazine

Archive for May 28th, 2015

Highlighting Ethiopian Diaspora Fellowship

Published by Tadias Magazine May 28th, 2015 in Featured. Closed

Meseret Hailu (top right) and Rediate Tekeste of the Ethiopian Diaspora Fellowship. (Photos courtesy of EDF)

Tadias Magazine

By Addis Daniel

Published by Tadias Magazine May 28th, 2015

The Ethiopian Diaspora Fellowship (EDF) trains young Ethiopian professionals in leadership development, service, and creative storytelling skills before sending them to Ethiopia to serve at partner organizations for a 6-month fellowship. “We provide an option for Ethiopian Diaspora to connect with Ethiopia in a meaningful way,” says Founder, Rediate Tekeste.

Outside of trips to Ethiopian restaurants, church events, the yearly soccer tournament and of course the retelling of their parent’s tizita — first and second generation Ethiopian Americans find themselves immersed in Western mainstream society, slowly severing the cultural bond between generations. Despite this disconnect, the youth residing in the Diaspora are often times intrigued and attracted by their culture and ancestry. They find themselves connected as much as possible to Ethiopian events, social media groups, and friends — yet find it difficult to deepen that connection in a realistic and meaningful manner. Additionally, Ethiopian adopted young people yearn for a connection to Ethiopia but may not have the network or community to reconnect.

In August, two women, Rediate Tekeste and Meseret Hailu, attempted to assess, from a millennial lens, the push-pull relationship within their generation by sending out a survey via social media and a Diaspora listserv. Expecting less than 200 results, they were shocked to find almost 400 people all over the country had answered their 23 questions with thoughtful answers. The desire for Ethiopian Diaspora youth to be heard was evident. The organization was built using the survey results as a framework to understand the population.

The fellowship offers a bridge — an avenue for exceptional applicants as well as opportunities to participate in trainings, work in a variety of organizations in Ethiopia, and network with local professionals. While in Ethiopia, fellows participate in peer-to-peer mentorship and use storytelling to increase their own cultural identity and become a catalyst for growth and change in Ethiopia. The work of partner organizations collaborating with EDF ranges from technology, education, and health to gender empowerment and an intersection of multiple areas. The vision is to be a model by which young Ethiopians can engage with Ethiopia. Every partner organization is run by Ethiopians and serving Ethiopians. Fellows are required to document their journey through a variety of mediums to strengthen their storytelling abilities and encouraged to reflect on their identity growth.

The team is comprised of Ethiopian Diaspora, Ethiopian immigrants, and a group of advisors with professional skills ranging from psychologists to marketing and health professionals. The varied backgrounds and cultural perspectives of the team allows EDF to gain an in-depth understanding of how this program can serve not only as a medium for connecting a cultural identity but also as a means for Ethiopian-Americans/Ethiopian Canadians to give contribute to their homeland through skills and knowledge transfer.

“There are well-skilled and educated people in Ethiopia doing amazing work, and we aim to utilize those people to help Diaspora youth connect and evaluate their own identity,” said Rediate.

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If you would like more information or would like to support, apply or partner with Ethiopian Diaspora Fellowship – please visit www.ethiopiandiasporafellowship.org . Application deadline is June 5th, 2015.

Author Bio: Addis Daniel is a first generation Ethiopian American who spent the last year and a half living and working in Addis Ababa. She is a graduate of the University of Central Florida and is currently living in Los Angeles, CA working as a freelance creative designer and writer. She is passionate about social issues particularly those affecting women and children in developing countries. She hopes to use her talents to empower the people of Ethiopia and allow them advance themselves through community building and education.

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US State Dept on Ethiopia Elections

Published by Tadias Magazine May 28th, 2015 in Opinion. Closed

A woman waits to cast her vote at a polling station during Ethiopia's national election in Addis Ababa, May 24, 2015. (Photo: Reuters)

Tadias Magazine
News Update

Press Statement
Marie Harf
Deputy Department Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC — The United States commends the people of Ethiopia for their civic participation in generally peaceful parliamentary and regional elections on May 24. We acknowledge the National Electoral Board’s organizational efforts and the African Union’s role as the only international observer mission on the ground. We also note the importance of the nine televised party debates as progress in fostering open public discussion of the challenges facing the country. We encourage all candidates, political parties and their supporters to resolve any outstanding differences or concerns peacefully in accordance with Ethiopia’s constitution and laws.

The United States remains deeply concerned by continued restrictions on civil society, media, opposition parties, and independent voices and views. We regret that U.S. diplomats were denied accreditation as election observers and prohibited from formally observing Ethiopia’s electoral process. Apart from the election observation mission fielded by the African Union, there were no international observer missions on the ground in Ethiopia. We are also troubled that opposition party observers were reportedly prevented from observing the electoral process in some locations.

A free and vibrant media, space for civil society organizations to work on democracy and human rights concerns, opposition parties able to operate without impediment, and a diversity of international and domestic election observers are essential components for free and fair elections. The imprisonment and intimidation of journalists, restrictions on NGO activities, interference with peaceful opposition party activities, and government actions to restrict political space in the lead-up to election day are inconsistent with these democratic processes and norms.

The United States has a broad and strong partnership with Ethiopia and its people. We remain committed to working with the Ethiopian Government and its people to strengthen Ethiopia’s democratic institutions, improve press freedom, and promote a more open political environment consistent with Ethiopia’s international human rights obligations.

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Study: Ethiopian Fossils Indicate New Forerunner of Humans

Published by Tadias Magazine May 28th, 2015 in Featured. Closed

Dr. Yohannes Haile-Selasie conducts comparative analysis of the new fossil from Ethiopia in his laboratory at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. (Photo: Cleveland Museum of Natural History via AP)

Associated Press

In a paper released Wednesday, May 27, 2015, by the journal Nature, Dr. Yohannes Haile-Selasie and colleagues announce the new find

NEW YORK — A fossil find adds another twig to the human evolutionary tree, giving further evidence that the well-known “Lucy” species had company in what is now Ethiopia, a new study says.

A lower jaw, plus jaw fragments and teeth, dated at 3.3 million to 3.5 million years old, were found in the Afar region of northern Ethiopia four years ago.

That shows a second human ancestor lived in about the same area and time frame as Lucy’s species, researchers said. But not everyone agrees.

In a paper released Wednesday by the journal Nature, the researchers announce the new find and assign it to a species they dubbed Australopithecus deyiremeda (aw-strah-low-PIH’-thuh-kus day-eh-REH’-meh-dah). In the Afar language the second name means “close relative,” referring to its apparent relationship to later members of the evolutionary tree.

But nobody knows just how it’s related to our own branch of the family tree, said Yohannes Haile-Selassie of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, who led the discovery team.

Our branch, which includes Homo sapiens and our closest extinct relatives, arose from the evolutionary grouping that now includes the new creature as well as Lucy’s species. The new arrival, and the possibility of still more to come, complicates the question of which species led to our branch, he said.

Previously, fossilized foot bones found in 2009 near the new discovery site had indicated the presence of a second species. But those bones were not assigned to any species, and it’s not clear whether they belong to the newly identified species either, Haile-Selassie said. If they don’t, that would indicate yet another species from the same time and region as Lucy’s species, Australopithecus afarensis.

An undated photo provided by the Cleveland Museum of Natural History shows Mahammed Baroa, a local Afar working for the Woranso-Mille project, who found the fossils. (AP photo)

Bernard Wood of George Washington University, who didn’t participate in the new work, said the discovery provides “compelling evidence” that a second creature lived in the vicinity of Lucy’s species at the same time. The next question, he said, is how they shared the landscape.

“These fossils certainly create an agenda for a lot of interesting research that’s going to be done in the next decade,” Wood said.

As evidence that the new fossils represent a previously unknown species, the researchers cite specific anatomical differences with known fossils. But Tim White, a University of California, Berkeley, expert in human evolution, was unimpressed.

He said he thinks the fossils actually come from Lucy’s species.

“Anatomical variation within a biological species is normal,” he said in an email. “That’s why so many announcements of this sort are quickly overturned.”

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As Expected Ruling Party Claims Big Win in Early Ethiopia Election Results

Published by Tadias Magazine May 28th, 2015 in Podcast. Closed

As expected the ruling party in Ethiopia, EPRDF, is claiming big win in last Sunday's election. (AP Photograph)

VOA News

BY Marthe van der Wolf

Ethiopia’s Ruling Party Wins Big in Early Election Results

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA — Ethiopia’s ruling party won Sunday’s election with an overwhelming majority, according to preliminary results released by the country’s electoral commission.

The electoral board says the ruling EPRDF party and its allies have won all the parliamentary seats decided so far – 442 out of 547.

The Ethiopian Political Revolutionary Democratic Front won all of the seats in the capital city, Addis Ababa.

Final tally pending

Opposition parties only won a single parliamentary seat in the 2010 elections. It is not yet clear if they won more seats this time around, according to Merga Bekana of the electoral board.

“Regarding the remaining results, we have to wait. According to our timetable we have time to gather, to collect and then publish it according to our schedule. But I cannot actually tell you actually how many remaining seats will be occupied by opposition or ruling party,” said Merga.

Final results are expected on June 22.

Leaders of the two largest opposition parties, Blue Party and Medrek, could not be immediately reached to comment on the preliminary results. Both have accused the government of harassing and intimidating their supporters before and during the elections.

African Union observers judged the elections as calm, peaceful and credible but significantly, did not use the terms “free and fair.”

‘Continued restrictions’ concerning

The U.S. State Department commended Ethiopia for holding peaceful elections, but also said it is deeply concerned by “continued restrictions on civil society, media, opposition parties, and independent voices and view.”

Ethiopia’s National Electoral Board said an equal platform was created for all political parties, and the government has denied accusations of obstructing the opposition in any manner.

Merga said opposition parties should accept the reality, and said their accusations are baseless.

The new parliament will convene in October, and EPRDF already has said that if the party wins again, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn likely will be appointed to serve another five years in office.

The EPRDF has been in power since ousting the regime of former dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991. The preliminary results came out one day before Ethiopia officially celebrates the downfall of the former regime.

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In Ethiopia, ‘Are You a Journalist?’ Is a Loaded Question

Published by Tadias Magazine May 28th, 2015 in Featured and Podcast. Closed

A woman leaves after casting her vote at a polling station, as Ethiopia's national election kicks off in capital Addis Ababa, May 24, 2015. (Photo: Reuters)

VOA News

By Anita Powell

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA — Are you a journalist?” the young man asks me as we board the elevator.

In Ethiopia, this is a loaded question. It earned me an extra 45-minute wait at airport immigration as officials thumbed through my passport, pawed through my luggage and asked me what my intentions were.

Several international human rights groups have documented the systematic repression of Ethiopian journalists who were openly critical of the ruling party. About a dozen journalists and bloggers are in Ethiopian prison, accused of terrorism. Many more have fled into exile and are covering this year’s election from afar.

“Yes,” I sigh.

“I’m not happy with this election,” he blurts out. “There is no democracy in Ethiopia.”

Bold, I think admiringly. This is new – when I was assigned to Ethiopia eight years ago, in the aftermath of the government’s violent reaction to an opposition gains in the 2005 election, those sentiments were rarely spoken aloud – and certainly not to random journalists.

Is he trying to bait me? I wonder.

“Oh?” I say, cautiously. “Yes, I’ve heard people say that.”

I get off at my floor, rattled.

People take part in a Blue Party election rally in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa, May 21, 2015. (Photo Reuters)

On the campaign trail, the nation’s newest opposition party winds its way through Addis Ababa. Crowds emerge to watch the procession.

“Please, I am journalist from America,” I say in Amharic at every stop, waving at my camera theatrically. “Do you have opinion on the election please? Will you give interview?”

No one volunteers. One man covers his face when he sees me filming the street. The guy next to him takes his phone out and points it in my direction. I remove my sunglasses and stare at him.

Opposition members say they’re confident of getting support at the polling booth. Blue Party spokesman Yonatan Tesfaye even predicts the various opposition parties will grab as many as 100 parliamentary seats, out of more than 500. This would indeed be a triumph: in 2010, the opposition won just a single seat.

One opposition candidate, Yidinakachaw Addis, tells me he was arrested while trying to take food to his imprisoned friends, also opposition supporters.

“I know it’s very difficult to participate in politics, especially in our country,” he says. “I know, even I will be in prison one day. So I am happy, even if I will join my friends in prison, I will be happy for that. I think I did something best for my country.”

Later, the internet has failed in my hotel room, sending me frantically down to the lobby to try to transmit a TV story on the opposition campaign.

Another young man on the elevator. I gesture to my laptop, explain in Amharic, “There is no internet in my house.” (I don’t know the word for hotel room.)

“It’s the government,” he responds, to my surprise. “There’s an election coming and they want to stop the internet.”

Overcome, I show him a snippet of my story. “If you don’t follow them and if you don’t join them and if you don’t do what they need, you can’t do what you need,” says Abdurahim Jemal Araya, a self-described political refugee living in South Africa. “And you need to follow them, each and every thing they are telling you, because there is no democracy at all in our country.”

The young man nods.

“That is my feeling too,” he says grimly.

A woman casts her vote at a polling station, as Ethiopia’s national election kicks off in capital Addis Ababa, May 24, 2015. (Photo: Reuters)

Election day starts before dawn. People line up at a typical Addis Ababa polling station. It is calm, orderly, polite. I go from station to station, and at all but one of them my election badge allows me easy access.

“What are you doing here?” asks a burly dude in a leather jacket at that one station.

I’m tempted to tell him I’m on vacation, and just thought it might be fun to, you know, drop by a polling station at 6 a.m. with a video camera. But more burly dudes come over. They tell me to wait, order me to point my camera at the ground.

Finally an election official comes out and scrutinizes my badge.

After a long wait, he tells me, “It’s okay, you are allowed.”

“I know,” I say tartly.

I have little trouble finding ruling party voters. They are, after all, the majority. But I approach voter after voter in an attempt to get a variety of views. Several actually run away from me.

The next day, I meet someone who knows one of the nine jailed bloggers and journalists. He asks not to be identified for fear of reprisal. He says he fears that talking to me so soon after the election could make things worse for the group.

I grill the poor man. “Is it possible,” I ask, “that any one of the nine could have links to actual groups trying to overthrow the Ethiopian government?” That’s the ostensible reason for their imprisonment. Could his friend, who he swears is innocent, have been accidentally pulled in over her head?

He shakes his head and notes that the prosecution hasn’t presented any evidence of terrorism.

“I think it’s a fear of the future rather than a crime of their past that they were arrested for,” he says, explaining that the longtime ruling EPRDF party fears reprisals if they ever lose power.

There’s no obvious sign of this repression he’s talking about. As we sit and talk in a cafe, we both look nervously at a succession of lone men who fill up the tables near us, studying their phones.

I later drop in to see a local business owner, who tells me that three of his workers called in to say they were too afraid to come to work. They refused, he says, to say more.

We talk about rampant rumors that the ruling party has won 100 percent of the vote this time, and I stress that only official results count.

He raises an eyebrow at me, as if to say, “Really?”

A boy sits outside a polling station, as Ethiopia’s national election kicks off in capital Addis Ababa, May 24, 2015. (Photo: Reuters)

As journalists, we are limited to the attributed, the concrete, the verifiable, and the achievable. And so, my stories from this election show orderly polling stations, happy voters, and government supporters.

They also include mild endorsement from the only foreign observer mission, the African Union, which said the election was peaceful and credible, although they not use the words “free and fair.”

But my stories on this election are largely missing a silent, and silenced, group. I have no idea how big this group really is, as many won’t speak to me once the video camera or voice recorder come out.

Those who told me they didn’t bother to vote insisted that information was off the record. The blogger-journalist group tried to vote, the friend says, as they have not been convicted of anything and therefore are still eligible. But prison authorities told them there was no nearby polling station.

Opposition campaigner Ephraim Sahle Selassie says he believes that free expression is unstoppable, with the growth of technology and social media.

But for now, in Ethiopia, free expression is just a dream for the future.

WATCH: Anita Powell’s video report on Ethiopian election