Quote of the day

"የበሰበሰ ዝናብ አይፈራም " አሉ ወ/ሮ የህዝብ አለም

ፓይለቱ ተንጠላጥሎ የወረደበት ታሪካዊው ገመድ

Why the wait?

Last time someone told me one  of elected officials from  Ethiopia who represents the largest Ethiopian ethnic groups "The Amharas" was insulting and making fun of his own constituencies  and that ugly comment was cough on tape and went  to public via social media. In many counties, if  an elected official making  a joke on his own district, it will be a political suicide. But in Ethiopia the politicians were  just watching when people  are looking for an answer. Later he came back with one of the lamest excuse I ever heard in my life. He blamed the technology. He said the voice is his own but the sentences are not his own. Mean,s he is saying someone purposely edited, mastered and mixed his voice (rearranged) and created a new sentences and played it over the internet. Now he is making another mistake, now he is saying his own people as damp.

Come on, this is not how you run a country, this is not a kids game, You can foul may be few people who are illiterate and afraid of saying any thing but do not try to foul 20,000,000 people. That is really very sad the federal government is watching when people's dignity is just abused by elected officials. The person should come foreword and ask mercy and excuse from  the victims. But fabricating  so called  nonsense reason will make things more complected and ugly.

I hope he will admit his dumb mistakes and ask mercy  from the people, also  his party should toss  him out in the street. Take away his shoes and let him walk bare feet..

Ethiopia bans export of workers to Arab countries

Ethiopia bans export of workers to Arab countries

A crackdown on illegal immigrants in Saudi Arabia in 2013 led to the death of at least three Ethiopians and the deportation of over 150,000 Ethiopians. Many of the workers have returned to Ethiopia with psychotic related issues mainly because of the suffering they are subjected to and refusal by Arab employers to pay them as promised.

The government of Ethiopia is blaming the employment agencies in the country for engaging in illegal human trafficking of Ethiopian to Arab countries. The agencies make the domestic workers sign contracts which are not legally binding. There are over 430 registered employment agencies in Ethiopia. According to government analysis these agencies make illegal deals with their counterparts in the Arab countries where they are paid a commission of as much as 200 dollars per person once they deliver them. This amount is then deducted from the salary of the Ethiopian domestic workers without their consent. After the recent massive deportation from Saudi Arabia, a special task force has been constituted to push for an amendment of the labor law. The new laws will ensure that employment agencies if necessary will only export labor that has basic skills which can be proven by a certificate from government vocational institutions. The laws will campaign for better pay and working conditions in Arab states. In addition they will also strive to create awareness that Arab countries are not the destination for job seekers. However, despite Ethiopia efforts, routes through Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania and South Africa remain porous for human trafficking of its unskilled labor by brokers

Ethiopia: Car Accident the number one Killer of our people

In Ethiopia you can drive a car if  you are willing to kiss the death. Today I did not have any plan to  blog any thing about car until I saw a car accident  post on one of friend's post(Facebok Page) . It took my attention, first I thought it was a garbage disposal dumpster.  It has some chairs and other stuffs but when I  closely  watch the pictures it was a faceless  SELEM  Bus. On the picture the face of the bus is gone, you see only the middle of the  bus wide open only few chairs dangling around. Since there were only few pictures I followed the poster's page from Facebook and found more pictures. Wow! the caption was scary, the bus was full of Gonder University students going back from vacation(not sure).  From the picture it seems the bus slammed face to face to another big truck , from the picture I can tell all the people (including the driver) could not survive because the truck cabin and the bus front (face)  were almost merged. Yeap they became one. That is so scary and sad. According to the  picture caption it happened in Selulta area  few miles  northern  West of Addis Ababa.

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My question is who do you blame?   The car, the road, the driver, the passenger, the law, or who?  From my opinion I blame three things,  these are the driver, the law and the road.

1. The Law. One of the worse traffic law in Ethiopia is passing  a car in a one lane road. Means if you have a car in front of you and the car is too slow you can  pass the car by entering to the incoming traffic lane. That means if in case there is any incoming traffic you will slam in full speed to the incoming car. That is deadly because two deadly weapons  collide  in full speed the impact will be twice. Means catastrophic. Another branch for the law is the law enforcer or traffic. Unless the traffic police is not stopping  driver and demanding money as   ATM machine the law will be broken all the time. Having a strict regulation  and avoiding bribe will reduce many accidents . Those drivers who are less competent, reckless and driving with alcohol should be banned. 

2. The Driver. Ethiopian Drivers are the most dangerous drivers  where they see driving fast and reckless is brave and skillful. Sometimes some drivers think they are in a Hollywood action movie. They underestimate people's life and forgetting  the car they are driving is a killing machine . In my opinion the government should confiscate all diver licenses and re-issue a new one after they pass a tough driving test. Some people think it may kill the country's economy but   it  can be done step my step. Like drivers whose last names starts from A- B in certain month and so on. When the first batch is ready the next batch will continue, the trend will continue until every one is ready to drive safely.

3. The  Road. The road is one of the contributing factor for accidents. It is narrow and  can not accommodate more than one car in each way. Means fast drivers have two choices pass or follow the car in fornt of them. If they follow they will be late, if  they want to pass they will take 50/50 chance. Means, in most cases they will be ok but one day they will end up exposing to worst  bad dream in their life. So what will be a solution? At least two way lanes in each directions for certain traffic accident prune areas or designate pass and no pass areas may help .   That means NO PASS in one lane road and OK PASS in two and more lane roads.

There several reasons and propositions to reduce traffic accidents in Ethiopia but it will be up to the citizens to seek safety. At the end of the day citizens are the one who will loose  their lives 


Real Traffic Accident on Feb 23 2014 nearby Selulta between sinotruck and selam bus.90% of the passengers were GONDER UNIVERSITY STUDENTS traveling for vacation their family. 3 persons were dead. Photo Credit Kidist Solomon

Holy water washes away sins at Ethiopia's Timket festival

Every week, Inside Africa takes its viewers on a journey across Africa, exploring the true diversity and depth of different cultures, countries and regions. Follow host Errol Barnett on Twitter andFacebook.

Gondar, Ethiopia (CNN) -- France has Lourdes, India has the Ganges. Ethiopia, meanwhile, has Gondar.

Situated about 450 miles north of Addis Ababa, encapsulated by hills and tall trees, and dotted with 17th-century relics from the city's glory days (when it was the country's capital), Gondar today can seem somewhat remote. During the religious festival of "Timket," however, the city is inundated with pilgrims who come to re-enact the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan, and take a dip in the holy waters at the historical Fasilides Bath.

Nearly two thirds of Ethiopia's 94 million population is Christian, and the majority of those belong to the Orthodox church. For them, Timket -- celebrating the Epiphany -- is among the most important occasions of the year. It's is a two-day affair that begins with a procession of "tabots," holy replicas of the Ark of the Covenant -- the sacred chests described in the Book of Exodus as carrying the stone tablets on which the 10 Commandments were written.

The tabots are wrapped in cloth and placed on the heads of Ethiopian Orthodox Christian priests, who parade the streets en route to the bath. The priests, clad in ceremonial robes, are escorted by drums and by the clapping and singing of worshipers, who hold an overnight vigil until dawn.
There are services the following morning which culminate in the priests blessing the waters of the historic bath, while onlookers crowd every nook surrounding the bath -- some getting a pristine view from nearby trees.
When the priests are done, the mood turns jubilant, and the spectators rush to jump into the pool.
The water is now sacred, and the sick shall be cured
Ezra Adis, head priest
"The water is blessed in the name of the Holy Trinity ... in the name of God. The water is now sacred, and the sick shall be cured," explains Ezra Adis, the head priest at the local Medhanelem Church.
"That is why the young people who jump in first get excited; it is a spiritual love," he adds.
Read this: Ethiopia's churches "built by angels"
The plunge is so swift that some participants get battered in the process -- though most are unperturbed by a few scratches.
Awaiting daybreak during Timket Holy water wash away sins
"I jumped from high above," boasts one man who dived into the waters from one of the nearby trees.
"I was apprehensive," he adds. "The branches could give way and you could fall on the rock edge of the pool, and there was a possibility I could have lost my life, but at this moment, I am doing what I feel good about, and that possibility of death doesn't scare me."
The Timket festival dates back to the 16th century, but it was marked only in churches until the baptismal ceremonies were introduced, explains Bantalem Tadesse Tedla, a historian at the University of Gondar.

The baptisms, usually held on January 19, are celebrated differently in other parts of the country. "There are three options for Timket," says Tedla. "To be immersed, to collect water from three pipes and pour it on people, or to collect water and sprinkle it -- it depends on the availability of water.
"In Gondar, the first is implemented, because of the existence of this very important building," he adds, referring to the stone bath -- a UNESCO world heritage site built in 1632 for King Fasil (Fasiledes).
As the afternoon winds down, people begin to leave the pool and head back to the streets, but the festivities aren't quite over. Each tabot is now paraded back to its respective church with crowds of onlookers eager to get one last look at them.
Back at the churches, it's a different, quieter scene. Congregants fill the church grounds to listen in on a final service, and after a closing prayer it's time to send the tabot back inside the church to its resting place.
The locals will eventually return to their homes for a special feast, but in the meantime, the celebrations on the streets of Gondar continue -- a chance for orthodox Christians to celebrate and come together for one of the most sacred and festive days of the year.

A group of Ethiopian Comedians are ready to Entertainer San Diego

• A group of Ethiopian Comedians are ready to Entertainer San Diego 

It is easy to make people cry but making to lough will be one of the hardest job in this world, but for these trios making people lough is their profession. If you are a person ready to be happy and have a good time we think this will be your opportunity to be there. The trios Battery  Temesgen, Leg Yared and Dokile Wondwosen will be in San Diego on March 16, 2014 at the Normal Heights Masonic Hall which is located at 3366 Adams Ave, San Diego CA 92116. The trios are brought by the EthioWoods Entertainment  and  some of the sponsors are  Awash Ethiopian Market and Restaurant and Yebbo Travel Tours. Ticket will be available for sale on local Ethiopian stores. For more information please call 619-677 8789 or 619-733-7407.