Obama’s story resonates with Bronx students At Validus Prep, African-American and Hispanic teens are
excited, nervous
Msnbc.com asks readers to share their thoughts on what
it means to them or the country that an African-American is a
serious candidate for the presidency?
By Bill Dedman
Investigative reporter
msnbc.com
updated 11:04 a.m. ET, Fri., Oct. 31, 2008
SOUTH BRONX, N.Y. - At Validus Preparatory Academy, a new public high school in the poorest congressional district in America, students have kept journals since the early primaries, created election art, studied opinion polls in math classes, designed brochures on the issues, read memoirs by the candidates and even delivered speeches in their stead. And after the principal dashed around to plumbing supply stores for enough PVC pipe to build a voting booth, they got a chance to punch their own electronic ballots in a national mock election for students. Read more or watch the video here.
Photo: Hong/AP (If elected, Sen. Barack Obama would be
America’s first black president).
BY MICHAEL SAUL
DAILY NEWS POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT
Thursday, October 30th 2008, 10:36 AM
Kevin Williams hopes Barack Obama will win on Election Day, but he isn’t convinced enough white Americans will cast a ballot to elect the nation’s first black President.
“I’m definitely skeptical - you still can’t quite trust it,” said Williams, a 40-year-old teacher, as he left the Golden Krust bakery in Harlem. “I’ll believe it when I see it. I’m still waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
Williams, who worked for a pollster in college, said he knows survey participants “are not necessarily being honest or truthful.”
Many echo his sentiment.
Dozens of black voters along Harlem’s 125th St. - Manhattan’s African-American nerve center - were enthusiastic about Obama, but apprehensive about his chances.
Obama wields a 6-point average national lead, RealClearPolitics says, and polls show he’s ahead or tied in eight key battleground states. Read More.
JERUSALEM – Two rival monks are posted at all times in a rooftop courtyard at the site of Jesus’ crucifixion: a bearded Copt in a black robe and an Ethiopian sunning himself on a wooden chair, studiously ignoring each other as they fight over the same sliver of sacred space.
For decades, Coptic and Ethiopian Christians have been fighting over the Deir el-Sultan monastery, which sits atop a chapel at the ancient Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The monastery is little more than a cluster of dilapidated rooms and a passageway divided into two incense-filled chapels, an architectural afterthought alongside the Holy Sepulcher’s better-known features.
And yet Deir el-Sultan has become the subject of a feud that has gone far beyond the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City. The Ethiopians control the site, but the Egypt-based Copts say they own it and see the Ethiopians as illegal squatters.
The quarrel has erupted into brawls — in 2002, when the Coptic monk moved his chair into the shade and too close to the Ethiopians, a dozen people were hurt in the ensuing melee. And today, the Ethiopians claim the fight could result in the monastery’s collapse and even in damage to other parts of the church, one of the holiest sites in Christendom.
Since the 1970s, the Israeli government has refused to allow renovations or significant repairs at the disputed monastery until the Ethiopians and the Copts come to terms. That hasn’t happened, and the Ethiopian Church says the years of neglect have put the structure in danger. The Copts suggest the Ethiopians are merely trying to further cement their hold. Read More.
New York (Tadias) - Even if this is the most important American presidential election in the last half-century, why should Ethiopians burn with special interest in it? Considering what’s at stake for Ethiopian immigrants and their home country, the question warrants a fresh look. Let’s see how five central Obama commitments play out for Ethiopians in the U.S. and in ye-beyt agar (at home): 1) economic relief; 2) medical care; 3) energy development; 4) respect for law; and 5) dialogue with opponents.
U.S. Economy. Obama promises an all-out effort to address needs of middle- and lower-income families. This means tax cuts for those earning under $250,000 a year; broad infrastructural improvements; fiscal reform; and trade policies to benefit American workers and increase the export of American goods. Such targets address needs of struggling first- and second-generation immigrants. He plans also to modernize school systems, add resources for poor school districts; double federal support for after school programs; provide grants for students seeking credits at community colleges; and invest $1 billion over five years in transitional jobs and career pathway programs.
Ethiopia’s Economy. Aiding middle-class Americans financially helps Ethiopians find more funds to send home, a big source of revenues. Under Obama, Ethiopia will expectably receive more and smarter economic assistance, targeted toward development and not an endless blank check for food aid. His administration will commit to Millennium Development Goals, for cutting extreme poverty in half by 2015; and to strengthen the African Growth and Opportunity Act, to give African producers access the U.S. market and encourage American companies to invest on the Continent. Its approach encourages honest research on such issues, including whether or not collective land ownership benefits the poor.
U.S. Health Care. The campaigns highlighted a huge and growing number of Americans who lack health insurance and the crippling effect of medical costs on family budgets. Ethiopian Americans suffer from this along with other American families. The Obama-Biden platform continues Obama’s core commitment to provide affordable, accessible health care for all Americans. For details click here.
Health Care in Ethiopia. Apart from having so few trained health workers, Ethiopia has two vast areas of health care deficits: chronic food insecurity and epidemics. The first produces disease, stunted growth, and famine victims in the millions. The second concerns recurrent malaria, once thought wiped out; trachoma, now eliminable thanks to discoveries of a UCSF-based research team in Wolkite; and the ever-growing menace of AIDS. The economy is itself held back by so many undernourished and diseased workers.
HIV/AIDS and food insecurity form convergent miseries. To combat poverty the economy, Ethiopian economists urge immediate steps to curb the country’s exponential population growth. And yet, despite the Bush administration’s outstanding work to treat HIV/AIDS victims in Africa through the PEPFAR program, it worsened things by ordering USAID missions in six African countries to ensure that no U.S.-financed condoms, birth control pills, I.U.D.’s or other contraceptives are furnished to Marie Stopes International, which operates clinics in Ethiopia. (Senator Obama supports family planning; Senator McCain aligns with President Bush on this as on so many other matters.)
Energy in the U.S. Obama has long sought to rid U.S. of energy dependence on imported oil, for two reasons: security and environment. Instead he envisions a transformation brought by the utilizing free energy from wind, sun, water, and geothermal sources. This transforming initiative supports both goals above, by creating so many energy-related jobs and by reducing carbon emissions.
Energy in Ethiopia. The cost and scarcity of energy and water resources that Ethiopia needs means that sustainable solutions are essential. What did not work in the 1990’s, when the World Bank offered ineffective renewable energy to Ethiopia, can work now because new technologies are cheaper and more efficient. A plan developed by a research unit called Quantum Green Technology shows how Ethiopia could have energy independence by 2012, through policies that let rural populations deploy their own renewable power and sell it to the EEPCo, and that create a carbon-free economy based on renewable technologies and ecologically sound and efficient management of resources.
Rule of Law in the U.S. Setbacks under President Bush include dismissal of Justice employees for political reasons; illegal buying of News by Bush’s aides; illegal wiretapping; failures to enforce labor laws regarding minimum wage, overtime, child labor, and wage theft; and breaches both of the UN Charter and the US Constitution in the unilaterally invading Iraq. Obama has pledged to review all administrative directives issued by Bush in order to take action against any that violate the law. This manifests his statement that “I not only have read the Constitution, I have taught it, and I believe in it”–a statement readily endorsed by his many students over a dozen years at The University of Chicago Law School.
Rule of Law in Ethiopia. –However controversial its policy of ethnic federalism, the 1995 Constitution offers a set of sound principles for democratic procedure and human rights. Since its promulgation, however, the Ethiopian regime has been continuously faulted for illegal violation of human rights, political interference with the judiciary, and suppression of freedom of the press. Progressive changes were set back by reactions to the May 2005 election, and prison conditions remain abominable, but changes in the direction that the regime espouses have been registered by the NGO Justice For All. As he did forcefully in Darfur and Zimbabwe, Obama can be expected to pursue his commitment to expanding freedom, which, he maintains, “requires a society that is supported by the pillars of a sustainable democracy - a strong legislature, an independent judiciary, the rule of law, a vibrant civil society, a free press, and an honest police force. It requires building the capacity of the world’s weakest states.”
Militant Foreign Policy in U.S. It was not by luck that Obama issued those prescient words about the futility of invading Iraq the year before it happened. He understood the complexities of the world and rather agreed with JFK: “We should never fear to negotiate.” As Nicholas Kristof wrote in the NYTimes two months ago, “the United States is hugely overinvesting in military tools and underinvesting in diplomatic tools.” Everything about the Obama candidacy promises to redress this imbalance.
Militant Foreign Policy in Ethiopia. Ethiopia has not had a peaceful regime change for centuries. Although many of its local traditions manifest exemplary customs of civil discourse and mutual respect, and although traditions of shimgilena have been useful, for Emperor Haile Selassie and PM Meles Zenawi, who both effectively mediated conflicts between other countries, they could not prevail against historic dispositions to resort to arms to solve problems–first against Eritrea, then Somalia–or indeed so often against internal critics.
I pray that these thoughts encourage all readers to make an extra special effort to see that Senator Obama wins on November–and wins big. Le-beyt agar’na le-wutch-agar etyopiyawiyan saybeju ayqerem!!
– About the Author: Donald N. Levine served as the Peter B. Ritzma Professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago. His research and teaching interests focus on classical social theory, modernization theory, Ethiopian studies, conflict theory and aikido, and philosophies of liberal education. He is a colleague of Senator Barack Obama from their teaching days at the University of Chicago.
Cover Photo:A student holds a sign in support of Senator Barack Obama, Democratic presidential candidate, on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis before the vice presidential debate in St. Louis, Missouri, on Oct. 2, 2008. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg News)
Ethiopian journalists detained, charged over misidentification
New York, October 23, 2008—An Ethiopian editor is facing criminal charges today because she accidentally misidentified a judge in a high-profile trial, according to local journalists. Two other journalists have been in police custody since Monday because of the same story.
While covering this month’s resumption of the trial of Ethiopian pop musician Tewodros Kassahun, jailed since April over a fatal car accident in 2006, Enbilta’s October 3 edition mistakenly identified the judge overseeing the case as Judge Mohamed Amin Sani, Editor-in-Chief Tsion Girma told CPJ. The paper did not publish a correction, but used the right name in the subsequent edition, which is Judge Mohamed Umer, she said.
Launched in January 2008, Enbilta is one of a handful of independent media outlets authorities have allowed to operate in the country since a crackdown on critical media and political dissidents in the aftermath of disputed elections in 2005. That year, Kassahun’s popular song, “Jah Yasteseryal,” was a popular anthem of antigovernment protesters.
“This is nothing but a flimsy pretext to crack down on a critical paper,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Tom Rhodes. “We call on Ethiopian authorities to release Habte Tadesse and Atenafu Alemayehu immediately and drop these bogus charges against Tsion Girma.”
Ethiopian Federal High Court Abraha Tetemke today charged Girma of Enbilta, an Amharic-language weekly, with “inciting the public through false rumors,” under Article 486 of Ethiopia’s penal code, she told CPJ. Girma, Deputy Editor Habte Tadesse, and editor Atenafu Alemayehu were arrested on Wednesday morning after reporting to police for questioning, according to local journalists. She was released today on bail of 2,000 birr (US$200) and ordered to court for trial on Monday. Tadesse and Alemayehu are still being held.
Girma was the second journalist to face criminal charges this year over coverage of the popular singer’s trial. Editor Mesfin Negash of the leading weekly Addis Neger was sentenced to a one-month suspended prison term for publishing an interview of the singer’s lawyer that was critical of the former judge overseeing the trial.
Ethiopian authorities routinely use police detentions, threats, and legal and administrative restraints to censor coverage of sensitive topics. In 2007, CPJ named Ethiopia the world’s worst backslider on press freedom.
— CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide. For more information, visit www.cpj.org.
ADDIS ABABA (AFP) — Ethiopian athletics superstars, Tirunesh Dibaba and Sileshi Sihine on Thursday announced that they will tie the knot in a gala ceremony here later this month.
The ceremony which has been dubbed as “The wedding of the Millennium” by the organisers, will be held on October 26.
“I am very happy for both of us. It’s great to have finally succeeded in the plans,” Dibaba, the double Olympic gold medallist told a news conference where she also launched her official website (www.tiruneshdibaba.net).
The pair have been seeing each other for the last few years. Read More.
Above:Teddy Afro performing at the Rosewater Hall in San
Jose, California on January 20th, 2007. (Photos by D.J. Fitsum) Click here to see hot shots.
Capital Ethiopia
By Muluken Yewondwossen
Tewodros Kassahun, a.k.a Teddy Afro has started his defense in the Federal High Court 8th Criminal Bench against a hit and run charge on Thursday, October 9, 2008.
His lawyer Million Assefa presented 14 witnesses and 10 documents in evidence to explain Teddy’s innocence of the charge.
On Thursday’s session 8 witnesses appeared with seven giving testimony. The 14th witness, who came from Minilik II Hospital, did not testify after the objection of the prosecutor over the translator’s accuracy, as the witness is Cuban. The Court ruled to bring aother translator for the next trial. The 14th witness was also presented as the prosecutor’s witness.
Three witnesses, his friends, explained that Teddy was with them at the time he was accused of killing a young man near the National Palace at around 1 AM in November 2006. Read more at Capital Ethiopia.
Ethiopia’s tiny village of Bekoji, which has produced some of the country’s greatest athletes, is to be inaugurated a museum in their honour, state media said on Monday.
In its first step, Ethiopian government officials, along with double Olympic gold medallist Kenenisa Bekele and the 1992 Olympic 10,000m gold medallist Derartu Tulu laid a cornerstone on a 12 hectare plot of land over the weekend, the Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) said.
“Bekoji’s athletes have been the pride of the entire country. Their achievements therefore deserve to be honoured forever,” regional president Abadula Gemeda said in a speech delivered during the ceremony on Saturday.
The town of Bekoji, 250 kilometres south of Addis Ababa, has been the main source of top-class athletes for Ethiopia since it first took part in its first Olympics in Melbourne in 1956.
Both Kenenisa and fellow double Olympic gold medallist Tirunesh Dibaba hail from the town, and, along with others, have so far brought seven Olympic gold medals and 13 world championships title.
Ethiopia, one of the world’s poorest countries, finished 18th in the medals table at the Beijing Olympics with four gold, one silver and two bronze. Read More.
By Len Johnson Photo: Photo: Luis Enrique Ascui
October 13, 2008
MOST things happen at a rapid pace in Ethiopian distance running.
As of last month, it takes Haile Gebrselassie two hours three minutes 59 seconds to run a marathon. “Kenny” Bekele whips through a 10-kilometre in a little over 26 minutes. On the women’s side, Tirunesh Dibaba punches out a five-kilometre in around 14 minutes.
It’s nice to report that some things take a little longer, even for the all-conquering Ethiopian distance runners. For example, it has taken them 52 years to win a marathon on the MCG, a feat accomplished yesterday by Asnake Fikadu when he won the Melbourne marathon.
Fikadu is one of an Ethiopian national squad of no fewer than 40 marathoners. They train at Etoto, just outside Addis Ababa, at 2800 metres above sea level.
Fikadu dominated yesterday’s race virtually from the start, breaking away after 10 kilometres and steadily increasing his lead. Only the northerly wind, which blew stronger as the morning progressed, caused him any problems, slowing the winning time to two hours 17 minutes 46 seconds. In better conditions, Fikadu may well have threatened Bill Rodgers’ race record 2:11:08 set in 1982. Read More.
It was relatively easy to pick the top 10 women’s marathoners of all time.
After all, elite women’s marathoning is barely three decades old, a period when the women’s race was added to the program in all major global and regional championships, and top-flight invitational marathons took root in places such as New York, Chicago, London, Osaka and more.
That means you essentially are judging apples against apples.
Men’s marathoning has been around for more than a century, with several distinct eras. Before World War II, there really were only four marathons of lasting consequence: the Olympics, the European Championships, the Commonwealth Games and Boston.
And the great African runners did not begin to have a massive impact on marathoning until the mid-1980s, even if a few had become champions before then. That makes it much harder to compare. But I will use a rule I think applies to all sports comparisons: dominance of an era is a measuring stick for greatness.
And, as I wrote while ranking the women, victories in major championships, not invitationals, weigh more heavily. So here goes, with the dozen most renowned men’s marathoners:
1. Abebe Bikila, Ethiopia. The only no-brainer choice. By winning at Rome in 1960 and Tokyo in 1964, he began the African era in distance running. He set world records in both victories -– the only man since 1920 to set a world marathon record in an Olympics. Bikila won 14 of 15 marathons.
2. Frank Shorter, United States. Won Olympic gold and silver medals. His gold in 1972, when an imposter preceded him onto the track for the finish, attracted such attention it helped spur the jogging boom in the United States. Four-time winner of the prestigious Fukuoka Marathon.
3. Samuel Wanjiru, Kenya. History will tell if I have overrated Wanjiru, but he won the 2008 Olympics in a race may have redefined men’s championship marathoning tactically. Despite temperatures between 75 and 80 degrees for the final three-fourths of the race, the pace was fast from start to finish, and Wanjiru’s winning time of 2:06:32 took nearly three minutes off the 24-year-old Olympic record. It was the first time under 2:08 in any championship marathon. At 21, he is the youngest marathon gold medalist ever. Also won Fukuoka in record time for the 61-year-old race.
4. Mamo Wolde, Ethiopia. Wolde won the 1968 Olympic marathon and, at age 40, won a bronze medal four years later. He also won the first marathon at the All-Africa Games in 1973.
Denver, CO — Yohannes Gebregeorgis, a native of Ethiopia and children’s literacy advocate, has been named a Top 10 Hero of the Year by CNN. Mr. Gebregeorgis was selected from more than 3,000 individuals nominated by viewers throughout the year. Finalists were selected by a Blue Ribbon panel of judges that includes Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Jane Goodall and Deepak Chopra. The Top 10 Heroes will be recognized in CNN’s “All-Star Tribute” to air on Thanksgiving.
Yohannes was first recognized as a “hero” by CNN in May for his work championing children in Ethiopia. A former political refugee who worked as a librarian at San Francisco Public Library, Yohannes is the co-founder of Ethiopia Reads, a non-profit organization that works to create a reading culture in Ethiopia by connecting children with books. In a country where 99% of schools have no libraries, Yohannes and Ethiopia Reads are improving lives, one book at a time.
We share this amazing moment with you — our wonderful supporters and friends across the world.
New York (Tadias) - Bernos in collaboration with Ethiopia Reads and Tsehai Publishers announced the launch of ‘Cocktails for Reading’ a social networking event for readers, publishers, authors and writers in the Ethiopian American community. Aimed at promoting reading among Ethiopians, the first gathering is scheduled to take place on October 11th at Touchstone Gallery in Washington D.C.
“The format is simple,” Bernos Founder Nolawi Petros tells Tadias. He describes it as “a party promoting reading among Ethiopians with cocktails, speakers, books, and souvenirs thrown in the mix.” The Cocktails for Reading website includes a signup email list and takes advantage of online Google and Yahoo calendar reminders as well as popular social networking site Facebook to attract a diverse population of attendees.
The October Cocktails for Reading event will be hosted by Elias Fullmore from the Burntface music group and featured keynote speakers include CNN Hero Yohannes Gebregeorgis of Ethiopia Reads and Elias Wondimu, Founder of Tsehai Publishers and Distributor. The event will also host tables for authors who will be selling their recent books and participating in book signing. Invited participants to include Nebiyou Mekonnen, Fasil Yitbarek, Dej. Zewde Gebresellasie, Andarge Asfaw, Getachew Metaferia, Tewodros Abebe and Tayitu Entertainment.
Bernos is an innovative clothing company that creates high-quality, eye-catching t-shirts featuring African themes.
Ethiopia Reads works to improve literacy and create a culture of reading in Ethiopia, in order to bring hope, vision and educational skills to this generation of Ethiopian children. They plant libraries for children to provide quality reading materials, publish books in local Ethiopian languages and train teachers and librarians to nurture a love of reading and books.
Tsehai Publishers and Distributors is a publishing company founded with the intention of spreading currently absent knowledge about underserved communities, such as the African Diaspora.
— Cocktails for Reading, Saturday October 11th, 2008 at 5:30pm (Touchstone Gallery, 406 7th Street NW 2nd Flr, Washington, DC 20004. For more information about the event please email reading@bernos.org.
Law enforcement officers in Chicago will no longer evict residents from foreclosed properties, Sheriff Thomas J. Dart of Cook County announced Wednesday.
The department was on pace to conduct 4,700 foreclosures this year, nearly triple the number from two years ago, Sheriff Dart said.
Housing advocates said that they thought the measure was the first of its kind, but that in recent years, several sheriffs and judges around the country had taken other steps to slow foreclosure proceedings, like requiring lenders to produce titles proving they owned the properties in question. In Philadelphia this year, Sheriff John D. Green temporarily suspended sales of foreclosed properties.
Sheriff Dart said he took the measure because an increasing number of the residents being evicted were renters who might have been dutifully paying their rent, and might have had no knowledge that the owner was behind on the mortgage. Read more.
Photo:Senators Barack Obama and John McCain during
Tuesday night’s debate at Belmont University in Nashville,
Tenn. (Stephen Crowley/The New York Times)
NYT
By ADAM NAGOURNEY
Published: October 7, 2008
Senators John McCain and Barack Obama debated for 90 minutes on Tuesday night before a nation in economic crisis, each promising anxious Americans that he had the better plan and vision to lead the country through what both men said was the most dire financial situation since the Great Depression.
The gravity of the moment and the somber setting — a town-hall-style meeting in front of 80 selected voters who, when not asking questions, watched in silence, not applauding or laughing — produced an often stifled encounter, largely absent of dramatic confrontations or the personal exchanges that dominated the campaign over the past several days. There was no indication that the debate did anything to change the course of a campaign that appeared to be moving in Mr. Obama’s direction.
Mr. McCain chose not to use the evening — the second of three scheduled debates — to attack Mr. Obama’s background or character. But in a moment that caught the attention of people in both parties, he appeared agitated in criticizing Mr. Obama for a Senate vote he cast, referring to his opponent only as “that one.” Read more.
New York (Tadias) - We recently spoke with Valerie Steele, CEO of GojoSuites - a brokerage firm that sells property in Ethiopia - about the current real estate market in that country.
Prior to her current position, Steele served as the Director of International Development for the Organization of Rehabilitation and Development in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.
Here is our interview with Valerie Steele:
Valerie Steele: CEO of GojoSuites
Tadias: Please tell us about GojoSuites.
Steele: GojoSuites is a subsidiary of African First Real Estate Finance LLC (AFREF) and was developed to serve the Ethiopian diaspora who want to buy homes in their homeland. AFREF is currently developing additional companies that will serve diaspora from other African countries. GojoSuites has an exclusive contract with Ayat Share Company, Ethiopia’s real estate pioneer.
Tadias: We understand that you recently relocated to Washington D.C. from Bahir Dar to become the CEO for GojoSuites. What attracted you to get involved in the real estate business in Ethiopia?
Steele: The Ethiopian real estate market, as the diaspora knows, is booming and it’s an exciting opportunity for Ethiopians around the world. When I lived in Ethiopia, I saw firsthand the development of new homes and neighborhoods with amenities only previously available in western countries. I know that the diaspora has a desire to be reconnected and I see the lack of connection between the developers and the home seekers and feel I could make a difference in bridging the gap.
Tadias: You’ve mentioned that you have an “exclusive contract with Ayat share Company” in Ethiopia. Why only Ayat?
Steele: We chose to partner with Ayat because they are so well established and have gone through the learning curve to figure out what works and what doesn’t. With 12 years of experience and the fact that they have built and delivered more than 4,000 houses, they are truly the experts.
I spent a month with Ayat to understand the way they operate and to build the relationship with them so that we can effectively represent them in the US.
Tadias: Why should people purchase a home in Ethiopia?
Steele: That’s a very personal decision. For some people, it is about providing a beautiful home for family members who live in Ethiopia. For others, it’s about making sure there is a place for them to return to live when they retire. And others recognize what an incredible investment it is since the Ethiopian real estate market has been hot for several years and is expected to continue to be in the foreseeable future.
Photo: Villa - single family house - in Ethiopia (courtesy of GojoSuites)
Single family villa in Ethiopia (photo courtesy of GojoSuites).
Tadias: Who is legally eligible to buy property in Ethiopia from overseas?
Steele: Anyone who meets one of the following criteria:
1. Has Ethiopian citizenship and lives abroad
2. Foreign nationals of Ethiopian origin
3. Has Ethiopian parents
Tadias: How affordable is a new home or apartment? What is the average price in your market?
Steele: Ayat is working hard to make housing affordable for those who have been unable to buy in the past. They are offering mortgage financing (50% financing for villas and 40% or 67% financing for apartments). And they are offering a unique plan where the buyer can lock in a price today and delay delivery of the home for up to five years. This gives the buyer more time to save money so that they can finance less of the cost of the house and save interest.
Ayat apartments start at $42,951 for a two bedroom 62m2 home. Villas (single family houses) start at $144,941 for a two bedroom, 72m2 home. These prices include the 15% VAT and land lease. Also, Ayat is offering 5% discount off the base price (not including VAT) of a new apartment home in Ayat Mender until October 31. The prices for all Ayat homes will increase November 9 so, for people who are ready to buy, now is a good time.
Apartment building illustration (Apartments are currently under construction).
Some people tell us the prices are high but those are individuals who have not been to Ethiopia for many years and do not realize how prices have changed since they were last there. In fact, the customers who buy Ayat homes are quite satisfied with the prices and, to our knowledge, Ayat homes are actually priced below market rates.
Tadias: Are there are any U.S. taxes, fees or penalties that potential customers would need to pay Uncle Sam for owning land in Ethiopia? Also are there any hidden fees from the Ethiopian government that we need to know about?
Steele: We are not aware of any taxes, fees or penalties that would be owed to the US government for owning property in Ethiopia but we always advise people to check with their tax person or accountant on matters such as these.
As far as fees from the Ethiopian government, there is value added tax (VAT) which is 15%. VAT is included in the published price of all Ayat homes. There is also the title deed transferring fee of 6%, which is not included in the published price.
Tadias: How does financing work for U.S. residents?
Steele: Prospective buyers have several options. They can pay cash as a lump sum or on an installment basis as their home is built. The final payment is made at the time the home is turned over to the buyer.
Or, as I mentioned above, they can select from Ayat’s financing options. Ayat lets the customer choose the length of the mortgage for up to 30 years. We are not aware of anyone else offering a financing option this long.
5% will lock in the price of any villa or apartment for up to 90 days after the expiration of that price. 10% is needed to get a contract on a specific property.
Tadias: One of the biggest complaints we hear from Diaspora homeowners and investors is that new houses are never completed within the time frame that clients are promised. Is that a problem that people should expect?
Steele: Ayat and other builders experienced delays in the past due to limited availability of raw materials, such as cement, steel and other imported construction items, lack of access to construction financing and outdated construction techniques. GojoSuites and Ayat are aware of this issue and are creating solutions to overcome it. For example, GojoSuites is partnering with Ayat to identify new approaches to construction that can speed up the process. And Ayat is researching the potential for building their own cement factory so they will be less reliant on external vendors. Initiatives such as these are giving Ayat the confidence to guarantee us there will be no delays.
Tadias: What advice would you give to someone who is considering acquiring a primary or second home in Ethiopia?
Steele: We are not in a position to give advice to prospective buyers but we can reiterate what we know from those who have chosen to buy a home. It’s a wonderful way to connect with your homeland and help or be near to the people you love. Having lived in Ethiopia, I have a deep appreciation for the closeness of families and the beauty of many local traditions, so I understand why people who grew up in Ethiopia want to reconnect. And it’s a great investment opportunity.
Tadias: What is the most challenging issue you face as a Real Estate Professional for property in Ethiopia?
Steele: Helping customers overcome the negative stigma that was associated with home real estate development in the past. Real problems occurred and, though Ethiopia has not reached the level of speed and predictability that exists with home construction in the US, it’s come a long ways and we expect that improvements will continue over time.
Tadias: Tell us one of your client success stories or an interesting moment in your profession.
Steele: A woman who recently visited our office has been helping out an older woman and a young orphaned girl who live in Addis Ababa, both of whom have no families. Her dream is to buy a home for them where they can live together and become a family for each other. Another couple has children that are nearly grown and they want to buy a home in Addis so their sons can visit and become more connected with their Ethiopian heritage. These are examples of the fun part of my job of making people’s dreams come true.
Tadias: How do you expect the housing market in Ethiopia will be affected by the global meltdown in real estate?
Steele: So far so good! The Ethiopian real estate market continues to grow at an astounding rate, despite all of the unprecedented and shocking situation in home real estate in the US. In fact, we wonder if it will make buying a home in Ethiopia even more attractive because people feel safer investing there than they do in the US right now.
Tadias: How do you advertise and how can potential buyers learn about your company and the services you offer?
Steele: We are advertising in Ethiopian media in major US cities where Ethiopians live. In October, we are having free seminars every Sunday afternoon in our DC headquarters to provide detailed information about the opportunities available. In 2009, we will go on tour to the major US cities where Ethiopians live.
For more information, call us at 202-234-gojo [4656] or visit our website at: www.gojosuites.com.
Tadias: Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?
Steele There are many Ethiopians from the diaspora moving back to Ethiopia for several reasons. These include medical doctors, IT experts, engineers and entrepreneurs. They don’t want to deal with the hassle of buying houses from Addis Ababa brokers (“delalas”) so they come to us for a hassle free experience.
We are very excited about the opportunity to meet you and get to know you so that we can help make your dream of owning a home in Ethiopia come true!
— Publisher’s note:GojoSuites advertises on Tadias Magazine.
Photo:A student holds a sign in support of Senator Barack
Obama, Democratic presidential candidate, on the campus of
Washington University in St. Louis before the vice presidential
debate in St. Louis, Missouri, on Oct. 2, 2008.
(Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg News)
Bloomberg
By Jonathan D. Salant
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Barack Obama has widened his lead over Republican presidential rival John McCain in two national polls and is maintaining an edge in two daily tracking polls with less than a month to go before the election.
An NBC-Wall Street Journal poll found Obama supported by 49 percent of registered voters, a 6-point margin over McCain. Two weeks ago an NBC-Journal poll put Obama’s lead at 2 points.
Obama led McCain 53 percent to 45 percent among likely voters in a CNN-Opinion Research Corp. survey, up from a 4-point advantage for the Democrat in September. Obama’s lead widened to 14 points, 56 percent to 42 percent, among registered voters.
He also is ahead by 8 points in a Gallup Inc. daily tracking poll of registered voters, the 10th straight day he’s held a statistically significant lead in that survey. A Diageo- Hotline tracking poll showed Obama getting 47 percent to McCain’s 41 percent. Read More.
New York (Tadias) - Tadias Magazine, the leading lifestyle and business publication devoted exclusively to the Ethiopian-American community, was featured on Washington D.C. based Voice of America’s weekly Amharic radio program on Sunday, October 5, 2008.
VOA’s Amharic journalist and international broadcaster Alula Kebede interviewed Tadias Founder & Publisher, Liben Eabisa. The program focused on the challenges and milestones of the magazine since its inception in San Jose, California five years ago. Tadias joined Google’s exclusive news index network last August.
You may listen to the audio of the interview at VOA.com. Select the “Evening Program” for Sunday (Audio available until October 12, 2008). The Tadias interview comes after a brief world news and coversation with filmmaker Haile Gerima. Click here and enjoy!
Photo:Piracy is a very lucrative business off Somalia’s coast,
and most kidnappers are said to treat their hostages well,
in anticipation of a well paid ransom.
The Cornell Daily Sun
October 3, 2008 - 12:00am
By Therese Lahlouh
Overview
Tensions are escalating in the Gulf of Aden off the Somali coast, where 20 Somali pirates have hijacked a Ukrainian vessel loaded with 33 Soviet-era tanks, rocket launchers and ammunitions on its way to Kenya. The pirates have demanded a $20 million ransom for the safe return of the cargo and 20 crewmembers. Somalia has authorized foreign powers to free the ship by any means necessary; currently six U.S. warships are monitoring the situation, and the European Union is staging an attack with help from over 10 countries, including Britain, Germany and Russia.
Origin
These piracy acts are not a new occurrence; over 26 ships have been hijacked in the last year, with ransoms totaling nearly $30 million according to the Associated Press.
“The root of the problem is the political crisis in Somalia. This failed state is harmful to the stability of the free movement of shipments throughout the region,” said Prof. Ayele Bekerie, Africana studies.
Somalia is widely considered to be a failed state. It has had no stable central government since the fall of the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party in 1991, and many speculate that this instability is the main cause of the escalating piracy situation.
“I think the problem you have there is a failed state and the implications of a failed state for other states and world security. Somalia has collapsed, and there is no effective government. The lawlessness is now affecting the world in, among other things, the piracy you see,” said Prof. Muna Ndulo, law, and director of the Institute for African Development.
According to Bekerie, after the collapse of the government, Somalia was divided into three sections, with autonomous clans and sub-clans that “engage in their own economic interests.”
“Some were engaged in piracy, particularly those in the central region of Puntland. These forces started to realize that they could make millions of dollars by hijacking the boats that come through the Gulf of Aden,” Bekerie said. “They operate as groups, but they cannot be traced back to a government, state or any recognizable legal entity, so it is difficult to find them or hold them accountable.” Read more.
Never in living memory has an election been more critical than the one fast approaching—that’s the quadrennial cliché, as expected as the balloons and the bombast. And yet when has it ever felt so urgently true? When have so many Americans had so clear a sense that a Presidency has—at the levels of competence, vision, and integrity—undermined the country and its ideals?
The incumbent Administration has distinguished itself for the ages. The Presidency of George W. Bush is the worst since Reconstruction, so there is no mystery about why the Republican Party—which has held dominion over the executive branch of the federal government for the past eight years and the legislative branch for most of that time—has little desire to defend its record, domestic or foreign. The only speaker at the Convention in St. Paul who uttered more than a sentence or two in support of the President was his wife, Laura. Meanwhile, the nominee, John McCain, played the part of a vaudeville illusionist, asking to be regarded as an apostle of change after years of embracing the essentials of the Bush agenda with ever-increasing ardor.
The Republican disaster begins at home. Even before taking into account whatever fantastically expensive plan eventually emerges to help rescue the financial system from Wall Street’s long-running pyramid schemes, the economic and fiscal picture is bleak. During the Bush Administration, the national debt, now approaching ten trillion dollars, has nearly doubled. Next year’s federal budget is projected to run a half-trillion-dollar deficit, a precipitous fall from the seven-hundred-billion-dollar surplus that was projected when Bill Clinton left office. Private-sector job creation has been a sixth of what it was under President Clinton. Five million people have fallen into poverty. The number of Americans without health insurance has grown by seven million, while average premiums have nearly doubled. Meanwhile, the principal domestic achievement of the Bush Administration has been to shift the relative burden of taxation from the rich to the rest. For the top one per cent of us, the Bush tax cuts are worth, on average, about a thousand dollars a week; for the bottom fifth, about a dollar and a half. The unfairness will only increase if the painful, yet necessary, effort to rescue the credit markets ends up preventing the rescue of our health-care system, our environment, and our physical, educational, and industrial infrastructure. Read more.
San Francisco - On Sunday, October 5, come see Tesfaye Tekelu, dance and aikido instructor, and Meshu Tamrat, theater director and gymnastic trainer, as they present a variety of colorful performances never before seen in the United States.
Their five-week nationwide tour promotes the Awassa Youth Campus. This unique center offers a range of learning opportunities for young at-risk students, through dance, theater, music, art, academic tutoring, and the discipline and nonviolence education of aikido. Its OneLove Theater carries out HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns through free public performances all over Ethiopia.
With your help and our collective hope we can sustain and nourish this mission– assisting children orphaned by HIV/AIDS, educating the region about HIV/AIDS prevention, and offering alternatives to violence in the solution of social problems.
Event Detail: Sunday, October 5, 2008, 7:00pm–PERFORMANCE at THEATER ARTAUD
450 Florida Street, San Francisco, CA 94110, 9:00pm–RECEPTION at the CIRCOLO LOUNGE
500 Florida Street.
For more info, contact Adoria - 415-516-2231 or Kris (krislefan@gmail.com) 323-387-2770.
Tadias TV
TV Subscribe
