Today I took my first ‘bagagg’, a little 4-stroke motorbike with some seats tacked on the back; they are very cheap little taxis with any ride costing 1Birr. I also had my first ‘bableno’ (a greasy, donut-like cake), which was absolutely gorgeous, and I am annoyed at myself for not sampling earlier! On top of this, I found printing digital photos is quite reasonable, but photocopying on to card is a total rip off… however every student in Abba Gebremichael will now have a certificate and a photo of Tommy and I as their parting gift on Monday.
In our second trip, we travelled through Adi-Haki (dodging Ashenda girls, it goes on for 3 days and is costing me a relative fortune!), up the hill to the ‘Monument’. There were a nice number of boys with us who were excited and looking forward to experiencing some of the more modern history of the region. To understand a little more about why this museum is important and why it had such a profound effect on some of the boys, it is important to understand a little about Ethiopian political history and some of what the people of this country have had to endure.
The TPLF, or Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, or even ‘Weyane’, are a political party in Ethiopia. They form part of the coalition that has ruled Ethiopia since the last election in 2005. The Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Deomcartic Front (EPRDF) won 327 of the 527 available seats, and the TPFL actually make up the biggest proportion of the EPRDF. There are many Tigrinyian’s sitting in governement, which gives great prominence to the region. In the regional elections, the TPFL won all 152 seats in Tigray.
The TPLF began in 1975 as the armed force, which together with Eritrean People's Liberation Front, fought against the authoritarian Derg regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam. EPRDF took power after the final collapse of the Derg in 1991. They then retained their power after an election victory in 1995, the first ever real election for the Ethiopian people. However, most opposition parties chose to boycott these elections; observers concluded that opposition parties would have been able to participate had they chosen to do so but this was still not true democracy.
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's government was re-elected in 2000 in Ethiopia's first multi-party elections and then another general election was held in May 2005, which drew a record number of voters; 90% of the electorate turned out to cast their vote. However all was still not well: the opposition complained that the EPRDF engaged in rigging and intimidation. EPRDF complained their main opposition, the CUD (The Coalaition for Unity and Democarcy) had also engaged in intimidation. This lead to the massacre of 193 protestors by Ethiopian police, mainly in Addis Ababa, during protests in June and November of 2005.
Under the present government, the Ethiopian people enjoy greater political participation and freer debate than ever before in their history. On the other hand, there are some fundamental freedoms that are still not available including freedom of the press, and the writing of webblogs and the sending text messages! A few priest who visited us at St Vincent’s acknowlegd that whilst there are worse African contries to live in, that Ethiopia was pretty much still a dictatorship in disguise.
These recent polictics strugles are relatively minor in light of what they proceed: ‘The Derg’. This group was a miliatary junta that came to power after the overthrowing of Emporer Jaile Selassie in 1974. Derg means ‘committee in Ge’ez and is the short name for the ‘Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police, and Territorial Army’; their rule lasted until 1987. The Derg executed and imprisoned tens of thousands of its opponents without trial in a terrible period of history for Ethiopia. Campaigns such as ‘Red Terror’ and enfroced resettlement programmes displaced millions and around 100,000 reportedly lost their lives in the resettlement programmes alone.
The famines of the 1980’s brough Ethiopia to the attention of the world, an image that many people still have of this country. Controversially, some funds raised for the people ended up in the Derg’s hands, as they controlled several NGO’s (Non-Governmental Organisations). The Derg repeatidly failed the people they were in place to serve and there are countless stories of how much needed aid never reached the people who were staving to death, particually in the north of country. The resentment has still not been overcome; this, afterall, is very modern history and in many a living memory.
The Derg government officially came to an end in 1987 upon the formation of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. However, Major Mengistu Haile Mariam remained in power as President of the new government, as he had done since 1974.
1991 finally saw the end of the Mengistu governement as a coalition of rebel forces, including a very large contingent from the TPLF, took over Addis Ababa. The EPRDF had succeeded. By December 2006, 72 officials of the Derg were found guilty of genocide.
And so, the TPLF are now based in Mekele and have built a large monument, museum and conference centre to remember all those who died in the long struggle for freedom in Ethiopia. Many Tigrinyian’s sacraficed their lives to liberate the country – starting with the north – from the evil Derg regime. The 51m high tower, reaches over the whole of the city creating a striking and poigniant reminder to what these people suffered. It was built in 1993 and as well we being a memorial, it also house a museum which features TPLF equipment, weaponry and many many photos. Progress is also celebrated at the complex with a state of the art theatre, conference and arts centre. It was here that the Abba Gebremichael drama group won a recent award – third in Tigray.
Very little seems to have been written about the post-Haile Selassie Ethiopia, book shops look at you blankly, yet I have been fortunate enough to have been loaned a hisotrical novel entitled the Meaza of Ethiopia wirtten by a white farther living in Adigrat called Kevin O’Mahoney. It had me in tears in places descirbing stories of broken families due to the Derg regime, yes it is a novel but it is based upon true events. I hope to meet the athour this weekend and acquire a few copies to bring home to share with others the tragedy that took place here way beyond ‘the Live Aid famines’ of 1984. It is heartbreaking that alongside the poverty, drought and famine there was a governemnet in place who had no regard for human life in any capacity.
The boys were visably moved, and some of them listed family members who had TPLF involvement. Stories of the revolution seem to be passed on by friends and family and so there was a certain mythical and legend slant to many of the stories. There was great respect for those who had given up their lives, and great pride for those who were now in powerful governement positions. The Tigray region has a very solid and distinct idenity; maybe that’s why nearly every boy in the project headed down to the stadium this morning to watch Tigray U17s win 5-0. Maybe they are just fed up of me and Tommy’s English lessons…
It was certainly another worthwhile outing, but we spent too much time there (surprise surpise, lots of photos!) and missed dinner. Having a great sense of responsbility we tried to treat all the boys to dinner at a restaurant, we managed to convince them to share injera but nothing more. Around ten boys were fed on less than £2.
---------------------
One of the boys today gave me some photos which he had signed on the back, bascially saying thank you. It was a simple but touching gesture and these small items I will treasure and look upon and remember all the good times. I arranged to meet this oy to go to Photo Desta to pick up all our photos, he was keen as I had developed a few extra for him and some of the others who have made a big effort to look out for us. He wasn’t about so I went on my own…
As soon as I got home, my mobile rang (the one CAFOD lent me for my time here) and it was the boy wondering where I was. Theere are loads of ‘phone shops’ where you can mke calls from and I guess the boys call me so often as they really enjoy going in and making a phone call, to a mobile phone, and then speaking in English. I guess, if only for a little while it transports them into that world of which they hope and dream to be one day really part of.
Whoeever gets the phone next just better be wary of Danny, Gary and the boys phoning them up!
--------------------------
Just to let you know Tommy nor John nor I ate very much of Stuey… he tasted pretty horrible and I don’t understand why they don’t kill the poor sheep a little earlier as they meat is so touch and chewey! Irene, the German lady from CARITAS was the only one to make a real statement about it…
In our second trip, we travelled through Adi-Haki (dodging Ashenda girls, it goes on for 3 days and is costing me a relative fortune!), up the hill to the ‘Monument’. There were a nice number of boys with us who were excited and looking forward to experiencing some of the more modern history of the region. To understand a little more about why this museum is important and why it had such a profound effect on some of the boys, it is important to understand a little about Ethiopian political history and some of what the people of this country have had to endure.
The TPLF, or Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, or even ‘Weyane’, are a political party in Ethiopia. They form part of the coalition that has ruled Ethiopia since the last election in 2005. The Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Deomcartic Front (EPRDF) won 327 of the 527 available seats, and the TPFL actually make up the biggest proportion of the EPRDF. There are many Tigrinyian’s sitting in governement, which gives great prominence to the region. In the regional elections, the TPFL won all 152 seats in Tigray.
The TPLF began in 1975 as the armed force, which together with Eritrean People's Liberation Front, fought against the authoritarian Derg regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam. EPRDF took power after the final collapse of the Derg in 1991. They then retained their power after an election victory in 1995, the first ever real election for the Ethiopian people. However, most opposition parties chose to boycott these elections; observers concluded that opposition parties would have been able to participate had they chosen to do so but this was still not true democracy.Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's government was re-elected in 2000 in Ethiopia's first multi-party elections and then another general election was held in May 2005, which drew a record number of voters; 90% of the electorate turned out to cast their vote. However all was still not well: the opposition complained that the EPRDF engaged in rigging and intimidation. EPRDF complained their main opposition, the CUD (The Coalaition for Unity and Democarcy) had also engaged in intimidation. This lead to the massacre of 193 protestors by Ethiopian police, mainly in Addis Ababa, during protests in June and November of 2005.
Under the present government, the Ethiopian people enjoy greater political participation and freer debate than ever before in their history. On the other hand, there are some fundamental freedoms that are still not available including freedom of the press, and the writing of webblogs and the sending text messages! A few priest who visited us at St Vincent’s acknowlegd that whilst there are worse African contries to live in, that Ethiopia was pretty much still a dictatorship in disguise.
These recent polictics strugles are relatively minor in light of what they proceed: ‘The Derg’. This group was a miliatary junta that came to power after the overthrowing of Emporer Jaile Selassie in 1974. Derg means ‘committee in Ge’ez and is the short name for the ‘Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police, and Territorial Army’; their rule lasted until 1987. The Derg executed and imprisoned tens of thousands of its opponents without trial in a terrible period of history for Ethiopia. Campaigns such as ‘Red Terror’ and enfroced resettlement programmes displaced millions and around 100,000 reportedly lost their lives in the resettlement programmes alone.The famines of the 1980’s brough Ethiopia to the attention of the world, an image that many people still have of this country. Controversially, some funds raised for the people ended up in the Derg’s hands, as they controlled several NGO’s (Non-Governmental Organisations). The Derg repeatidly failed the people they were in place to serve and there are countless stories of how much needed aid never reached the people who were staving to death, particually in the north of country. The resentment has still not been overcome; this, afterall, is very modern history and in many a living memory.
The Derg government officially came to an end in 1987 upon the formation of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. However, Major Mengistu Haile Mariam remained in power as President of the new government, as he had done since 1974.1991 finally saw the end of the Mengistu governement as a coalition of rebel forces, including a very large contingent from the TPLF, took over Addis Ababa. The EPRDF had succeeded. By December 2006, 72 officials of the Derg were found guilty of genocide.
And so, the TPLF are now based in Mekele and have built a large monument, museum and conference centre to remember all those who died in the long struggle for freedom in Ethiopia. Many Tigrinyian’s sacraficed their lives to liberate the country – starting with the north – from the evil Derg regime. The 51m high tower, reaches over the whole of the city creating a striking and poigniant reminder to what these people suffered. It was built in 1993 and as well we being a memorial, it also house a museum which features TPLF equipment, weaponry and many many photos. Progress is also celebrated at the complex with a state of the art theatre, conference and arts centre. It was here that the Abba Gebremichael drama group won a recent award – third in Tigray.
Very little seems to have been written about the post-Haile Selassie Ethiopia, book shops look at you blankly, yet I have been fortunate enough to have been loaned a hisotrical novel entitled the Meaza of Ethiopia wirtten by a white farther living in Adigrat called Kevin O’Mahoney. It had me in tears in places descirbing stories of broken families due to the Derg regime, yes it is a novel but it is based upon true events. I hope to meet the athour this weekend and acquire a few copies to bring home to share with others the tragedy that took place here way beyond ‘the Live Aid famines’ of 1984. It is heartbreaking that alongside the poverty, drought and famine there was a governemnet in place who had no regard for human life in any capacity.
The boys were visably moved, and some of them listed family members who had TPLF involvement. Stories of the revolution seem to be passed on by friends and family and so there was a certain mythical and legend slant to many of the stories. There was great respect for those who had given up their lives, and great pride for those who were now in powerful governement positions. The Tigray region has a very solid and distinct idenity; maybe that’s why nearly every boy in the project headed down to the stadium this morning to watch Tigray U17s win 5-0. Maybe they are just fed up of me and Tommy’s English lessons…
It was certainly another worthwhile outing, but we spent too much time there (surprise surpise, lots of photos!) and missed dinner. Having a great sense of responsbility we tried to treat all the boys to dinner at a restaurant, we managed to convince them to share injera but nothing more. Around ten boys were fed on less than £2.
---------------------
One of the boys today gave me some photos which he had signed on the back, bascially saying thank you. It was a simple but touching gesture and these small items I will treasure and look upon and remember all the good times. I arranged to meet this oy to go to Photo Desta to pick up all our photos, he was keen as I had developed a few extra for him and some of the others who have made a big effort to look out for us. He wasn’t about so I went on my own…
As soon as I got home, my mobile rang (the one CAFOD lent me for my time here) and it was the boy wondering where I was. Theere are loads of ‘phone shops’ where you can mke calls from and I guess the boys call me so often as they really enjoy going in and making a phone call, to a mobile phone, and then speaking in English. I guess, if only for a little while it transports them into that world of which they hope and dream to be one day really part of.
Whoeever gets the phone next just better be wary of Danny, Gary and the boys phoning them up!
--------------------------
Just to let you know Tommy nor John nor I ate very much of Stuey… he tasted pretty horrible and I don’t understand why they don’t kill the poor sheep a little earlier as they meat is so touch and chewey! Irene, the German lady from CARITAS was the only one to make a real statement about it…
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