Saturday, October 8, 2016

BEKKA

‘በቃ’ ማለት ‘በቃ’ ነው።

እኔ ከልጅነቴ ጀምሮ እስከማውቀው ድረስ የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ ለብዙ ዘመናት ተከባብሮ፣ አንዱ ካንዱ ዘር ተፈቃቅሮ፣ ተጋብቶ፣ ተስማምቶና ሲጣላም በዘመድ እና ሽማግሌ ታርቆ የሚኖር ሕዝብ መሆኑን ነው። ብዙሃኑ ጊዜው ጋር ለመለወጥ የማይችለውን ግፍም ዝም ብሎ ተቀብሎት እንደሚኖር ነበር።
ይህ በዚህ እንዳለ አንዱ ዘር በሌላው ዘር ላይ የፈፀማቸውን የኑሮ ተፅኖና በደሎችን ምክንያት ባፌ ሙሉ ደፍሬ ለመናገር ያለአክብሮት ቢመስለኝም በድንቁርና፣ ባለማስተዋልና በግል ጥቅም ላይ የተመሠረተ፣ በጊዜው የተደራጀ የህልውና ትምህርት ባለመኖሩ፣ የስነሥርዓት አስተዳደር ጉድለትና ብዙ ኃላፊነት የተጣለባቸው የክፍለ ሀገርም ሆነ የሰፈሩ አስተማሪዎች፣ ሽማግሌዎችና የእምነት ምሁራን እምብዛም አድሎነትን ያዘለ አርአያነታቸው፣ ሀሳባቸውና አስተሳሰባቸው የሚያመጣውን ጣጣ ባለማወቅ በሕዝቡ ላይ በውድ ሳይሆን በግድ፣ በፈቃዳቸው ሳይሆን በኃይል በማስገደዳቸው ተግባራቸው በማስገደድ ላይ የተመሰረተ በመሆኑ ይህ ስነሥርዓት (ያላዋቂ ሳሚ ንፍጥ ይለቀልቃል እንደሚባለው) እውነታዊና ሕጋዊ ባለመሆኑ በጭቆና መልክ በመታየት በመላው ሕብረተሰብ ዘንድ ለመሰራጨት በቅቷል።
ማንኛውም የኢትዮጵያ ሕብረተሰብ ምንም እንኳን ተፈቃቅሮና ተጋብቶ አብሮ ቢኖርም ከላይ የተጠቀሱት የስነሥርዓት ጉድለቶችና አድሎነቶች በጭቆና መልክ እንዳሉ እያወቀ የሚያሸንፍበት መንገድና እውቀት ስለተሳነው የለውጥ ጊዜ እስኪመጣለት ድረስ ከችግሩ ጋር በትዕግስት ተቆራኝቶ ኖሯል።
በማንኛውም የዓለም ሕብረተሰብ ውስጥ ጭቆና እንዳለ ያየንና የምናውቅ ግለሰቦች፣ አገራችንም ከዚህ ነፃ እንዳልሆነች አጥብቀን ያስተዋልን ሁሉ አንዱ ብሔረሰብ በሌላው ብሔረ ሰብ ስሙን፣ ባሕሉንና ሃይማኖቱን በመቀየር ሥራ ለማግኘትም ሆነ፣ በየትምህርት ቤቱ ልዩነቱንና የዘር አድሎነትን ተፅኖ ለማስወገድ፣ እኩልነትን ለመጎናፀፍ፣ የራሱንና የቤተሰቡን የኑሮ እድገት ለማሻሻል፣ በትግል የተሞላ የኑሮ አኗኗር እንደሚኖር ያለፈው ትውልድ እንደሚያውቅና አዲሱም ይህን የተወሳሰበ የአድሎነትና ዘረኝነት ቁራኛ በመገንዘብ ችግሩን በጋራ ተባብሮ የሚፈታበትን የእኩልነት መንገድ መፈለግ እንዳለበት አጥብቆ ማወቅ ይኖርበታል።
እንደ ምሳሌ ለመውሰድ ያህል፣ አንድ የኦሮሞ ብሔር የጎሳ ስም ገመቹ፣ ጫልቱ፣ ገመዳ፣ ብሪቱ፣ ወዘተ የሚባሉት በገዢው ወይንም ስልጣን ላይ ባለው ብሔር ስማቸውን ቀይረው ገብረማሪያም፣አልማዝ፣ብርሃኑ፣እልፍነሽ፣ወዘተ በመባል እንደሚኖሩ ለሁላችንም ግልፅ ነው። በተጨማሪም የእስላሙም ሆነ ማንኛውም በቁጥር አነስተኛ ብሔረሰብ በሌላው ብዛት ባለው ብሔረሰብ ውስጥ ለመኖር ስማቸውን ቀይረው እንደሚኖሩ ነው። ብርሃን ሙሐመድ፣ መስፍን አብደላ፣ራሄል ሲራጅ፣ ወዘተ የሚባሉትን በምሳሌ መልክ ለማቅረብ ይቻላል። ገብረማሪያምና ዓይናለም በመባል የተወለዱትም ብሔሮች በኋላ በደበላና ቀነኒ ቀይረው አካባቢያቸውን (ከጥቅም አንፃር) መስለው እንደሚኖሩም ተመዝግቧል።
ይህ ስምን የመለወጥ ዘገባ ከቤተመንግሥት አካባቢ እንደመነጨም ታሪክ ይነግረናል። የእቴጌ መነን አያት ንጉሥ ሚካኤል የመጀመሪያ ስማቸው ሙሐመድ ዓሊ እንደነበርና የኃይለሥላሴ አያት ፊታውራሪ ወልደሚካኤል ጉዴሳ እንደነበር፣ ልዕልት ሰብለ ደስታ፣ የኃይለ ሥላሴ የልጅ ልጅን ያገቡት ደጃዝማች ካሳ ወልደማሪያም ኦሮሞ መሆናቸውንም ታሪክ መዝግቧል። የንጉሥ ኃይለ ሥላሴ ልጅ፣ የልዑል ሣኀለ ሥላሴ ባለቤት ኦሮሞ እንደሆነችና ስሟ ግን ማፀነት ሀብተማሪያም እንደሆነ ታሪክ አስተዋዮች በተጨማሪ መዝግበዋል።
በተጨማሪም በሕዝብ ብዛት አነስ ያሉት ብሔረሰቦች፤እንደ ከምባታ፣ጉራጌ፣ወላይታ፣ ወዘተ የመሳሰሉት ጐሳዎች በብዛትና በአገዛዝ አይለው በሚገኙት ብሔረሰቦች፣ በተለይም በአማራው ብሔረሰብ ተውጠው ቋንቋቸውንና ባሕላቸውን ከሞላ ጐደል መስዋዕት እንዳደረጉ ለመገንዘብና ለመረዳት የብሔሮቹን የቅርብ የኑሮ ሁናቴ ማጤን በቂ ማስረጃ እንደሆነም ባለታሪኮች ዘግበውታል።

ሕዝብ ብዛት ያላቸውም ጥቂት የኦሮሞ ጐሳዎች ሰላሳ ከመቶው ያህል የገዥው የአማራ ቋንቋና ባሕል ተፅኖ ተጭኖባቸው ባሕላቸውንና ቋንቋቸውን ሳይወዱ መስዋዕት አድርገው እንደተቀላቀሏቸውና ተመሳስለው ለመኖር እንደተገደዱ የአኗኗር ሊቃውንቶች በሰፊው ያስረዱናል።

በተጨማሪም የአማራው ብሔር ከሌላዎቹ ብሔረሰቦቻችን ባህሪና ፀባይ የተለየ መሆኑንና ሌላውን ብሔረሰባችንን በመናቅና እንደበታች እንደሚያይ የባህሪ ጥናቶች ይናገራሉ።የኦሮሞ፣ጉራጌ፣ከምባታ፣ወላይታና ሌሎችም ብሔረሰቦች የዋህና መልካም ሥነ ልቦና ያላቸው ሕዝቦች መሆናቸውን ለብዙ ዘመናት አብሯቸው የኖሩት የአማራ ቤተሰቦችና የዘር ጥናቶች ይናገራሉ። የጥላቻና መጥፎ ባህሪ በማንኛውም ሕብረተሰብ ውስጥም እንዳለ ብናውቅም በይበልጥ ጎልቶ ይታይ የነበረው መጥፎ አቀባበልና የዘረኝነት ጥላቻ ስድብ ከአማራው ብሔረሰብ በየጊዜው እንደሚሰነዘር ጥናቱ ያሳያል።አንባቢያን፣ እናንተ ወይንም ወገኖቻችሁ ባታደርጉትም ሌላው እንደሚያደርግ ሳታውቁና ሳታዩ በደፈናው እራስን ለማሞገስ አትናደዱ። ይሆን ይሆናል ብለን እናስብ። 

ይህንን ሁሉ ለማጋነንና በቅይሜታ መልክ ለማቅረብ ሳይሆን፣ ካለፈው ጥፋት ለመማርና ምን ዓይነት ታሪክ እንደነበረንና እንዴትስ የሁሉንም ብሔረ ሰብ ሰብዓዊ መብት በእኩልነት መጠበቅ እንደምንችልና ከእንደዚህ ዓይነቱ ውዝግብ እንደሚያድነን በግልፅ ማወቅ እንዳለብን ነው።
ይህንንም ሀሳቤንና የጥናት ታሪካዊ ትንተና ሳካፍል ቅያሜና ጥላቻን ለማባባስ ሳይሆን፣ ከላይ የተዘረዘሩትንና ሌሎች ጉድለቶችን በመገንዘብ ላለፈው ክረምት ቤት አይሰራም እንደሚባለው ሁሉ፣ ተጠላልተን፣ ተወነጃጅለንና ቂም በቀል እየተለዋወጥን ለመኖር ሳይሆን፣ ያለማወቅ ስህተቶች የተከሰቱ ስለሆነ ያልሰማውም፣ ያላወቀውም ሰምቶና አውቆ፣ በአንድነት የሁሉም ብሔሮች የእኩልነት መብት ተጠብቆ፣ በፊት የነበሩትንና አሁንም ያሉትን ልዩነቶችና ያስተዳደር ስህተቶችን አስተካክሎ በአንድላይ ለሁሉም ብሔር ለውጥ ለማምጣትና አብረን የምንኖርበትን ዘዴ ለመፈለግ እንዲያመች ብቻ መሆኑን በትሕትና እገልፃለሁ። በይበልጥ ለማንበብ http://timeforchangesociety.blogspot.com.au/2009/02/we-need-change-not-vengeance.html 
ይሁንና አለማወቅና ሳያውቁ ማጥፋት ኃጢአት ስለአልሆነ፣ ማመን ያቃተንና ይህ ጥፋት እንደነበር የምንክድ ግለሰቦችና ብሔረሰቦች፣ እርቅ የምትባለዋን ቅዱስ ሀሳብንም መቀበል አቅቶናል ማለት ይቻላል። ለዚህ ነው እስከ ዛሬ ድረስ ጠቅላላው ሕብረተሰባችን የሰብዓዊም ሆነ የምጣኔ ሀብት ለውጥ ከማምጣት ወደኋላ እየተጎተተ ያለው።
ነገር ግን በአሁኑ አለ የሚባለው ለውጥ አገራችንን ለውጭ አገር ሽጠን፣ ሕዝባችንን ከመሬታቸው ላይ ፈንቅለን፣ በሀብት ተሻሽለናል የሚባለው ስለሆነ፣ ይህ ለውጥ ጤናማ ስለአልሆነ እንደገና በጽሞና ብሔረሰባችን የኑሮ ሁናቴ ጋር የሚራመድ መሆኑን ማጤን ተገቢ ይመስለኛል።
ዛሬ በአገራችን ብዙ ትምህርትና እውቀት ያላቸው ሰዎች ተሟልቶ እያላት ወደኋላ የምንሄድበት/የምንመለስበት ምክንያቱ ምን ይሆንየድሮውን አስተዳደር በመከተል እኔም በተራዬ ልብላ የማለት አስተሳሰብ ያላቸው የቀድሞው ትውልዶች/ብሔሮች/መሪዎች ምክንያት ይሆንይህ ከሆነ አዲሱ ትውልድ ሊመራ የሚችልበትን ሁናቴ ለምን ለመፍጠር አልተቻለም?
በአሁኑ ግዜ የተፈጠረው የብሔረሰቦች በክልል፣ በባንዲራ፣ በመታወቂያ፣ ወዘተ መከፋፈል ሕዝባችንን ከመቼውም ይበልጥ እርስ በርስ እንዲጠላላ አድርጎታል። ይህ የአገር ውስጥ መከፋፈልም በውጪው ዓለም ለሚኖሩትም ሁሉ ከፍተኛ የስምምነት ጠንቅ ሆኖ ይገኛል።
የብሔረሰቦቻችን ባህል፣ እኩልነት፣ መብትና ህልውና የሚጠበቀው ክልል በማጠርና በመለያየት ሳይሆን መብታቸው ተጠብቆ፣ ባሕላቸውንና ቋንቋቸውን ያለምንም አድልዎ፣ ፍራቻና ተጽኖ ባሌለው መንገድ በአገር ውስጥ እየተዘዋወሩ ከማንኛውም ብሔረሰብ ጋር ስማቸውን ሳይቀይሩ ለመኖርም ሆነ ለመሥራት እንዲችሉ በማድረግ ብቻ ነው። 
ዛሬ ምስራቅንና ምዕራብ ጀርመኖችን ያለያየው ትልቁ የግርግዳ አጥር እንኳን ይቅር በማለት ከጊዜው፣ ከሃያ አንደኛው ክፍለ ዘመን ስልጣኔ ጋር ለመራመድ አፍርሰው በአንድነት መኖር ጀምረዋል። ይህ መልካም ተግባር አንድነት ኃይል ነው የሚባለውን አባባል በደንብ የሚያፀድቅ ይመስለኛል።
ይህንንና ሌላም የሚያከፋፍሉ/የሚያለያዩ አስተሳሰቦች ላላቸው ማንኛውም ግለሰቦች/ብሔ ሰቦች፣የኢትዮጵያ ብሔረሰብ በቃ እንዳለና የሚሊኒየምን(millennium)/የአዲሱን ክፍለ ዘመን የኑሮ መብቱን በደንብ ያወቀ መሆኑን አጥብቀው ማስተዋል ይኖርባቸዋል።
ነገር ግን ይህንን መስተዋል ያላወቁ/ያወቁም ምሁሮች እኔ እሻላለሁ፣የእገሌ ልጅ ነኝ፣ ወዘተ በማለት እንደ ድሮው እራሳቸውን ከሌላው ከፍ በማድረግ ለሕብረት፣በሕብረት ለሚታገሉ የለውጥ ማህበሮች እንቅፋት መሆናቸውን በመገንዘብ ከዚህ በፊት በተደጋጋሚ የፈራረሱትን የፖለቲካ ፓርቲዎችን መጥፎ በማስታወስ እራሳቸውን ከጥሩ ሥነ ምግባር ጋር እንዲያራምዱና መልካም ስነሥርዓትን እንዲጠብቁ የሁላችንም ምኞት እንደሆነ ነው።
ወንዝ ውኃ ወደኋላ አይፈስም እንደሚባለው ሁሉ፣ እንግዲህ ሕዝባችን ከዛሬ ጀምሮ ወደፊት የሚጓጓዝበትን/የሚሻሻልበትን መንገድ/ዘዴ መፈለግ እንጂ በድሮው መንገድ/አስተሳሰብ እንደማይመራ በቃ እንዳለ አጥብቀን ማስተዋል ይኖርብናል።
ስለዚህ አዲሱ ትውልድ አገራችንን በአዲስ መንገድ/አስተሳሰብ ለመምራት ከመቼውም ይበልጥ አድሎ የሌለው ብዙ ምርጫ አለው፣ እውቀት አለው፣ አዲሱን ስልጣኔ አይቷል፣ እድልና መብት እንዳለውም ያውቃል፣ እንደ ድሮ ለመምራትም ሆነ ለመመራት እንደማይፈልግና በአንድነት ተስማምቶ ለመኖር ቆርጦ መነሳቱንም ብዙውን ጊዜ ከሚደረጉት ሰላማዊ ሰልፎች ለመረዳት ችለናል።
መልካም እድል ለሁላችን፣አገራችን ኢትዮጵያ!
አንድ ኢትዮጵያ ለሁላችን፣ ሁላችንም ለአንድ ኢትዮጵያ!
ስለዚህም ሆነ ሌላ አስተያየት በይበልጥ በድሕረ ገፄ ዲዘገባ ላይ ለማንበብ እዚህ ይጫኑ:
http://timeforchangesociety.blogspot.com.au/2016/10/been-there-seen-that-part-of-that.html 

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

BEEN THERE, SEEN THAT & PART OF THAT GENERATION

My story is everybody’s story and everybody’s story is my story. We all have so much in common to bond us than differences that ostracize or isolate us. Like everybody before or after me, I left home leaving everything including my family, friends…continue reading my/your journey and more http://timeforchangesociety.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/the-start-end-of-my-journey-downunder.html

I was born and grew up in a typical humble and tough Christian family, attending church classes and services then joining public school with ethical prayers before commencing classes, sung national anthem to raise the flag before entering classes, honouring our teachers as our second parents to discipline and correct us if we did something out of conventional procedures, mixing it up and making friends with all types of students from different ethnic backgrounds without any preconditions.

I sung national anthem & honoured my turn to raise the national flag in school before entering and commencing classes.
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School Prayer
Prayers I Wrote For Myself
Some of the scriptural idioms our – (ግብረ ገብነት –moral) teacher taught us in our elementary school class remains reverberating with me to this day – (ክፋትን የዘራ መከራን ያጭዳልRT-Roughly Translates: He who sows iniquity will reap vanity/suffering) & (ክፉ ለሠራ ሰው በጐ የመለሰ፣ ዘላለም ይኖራል ፀጋ እንደለበሰ። – RT: Those who do good deeds to evil doers, will live on forever wearing gems of glory). 
Ethiopian Bible, Alphabets, All Political Pamphlets
Like the rest of devoted believers, the belief in my Christian values was deep-rooted in me; I was so absorbed in reading and studying inspirational bible verses and any spiritual scriptures to make it into church ceremonials. When I left my country, I took all my personal church prayer notes and my red Amharic Bible with me including some other virtuous nostalgic memorandums (see pictures).
The Old & New Ethiopian Money
Video of My Generation's Chronicle
 Without getting carried away and being incriminated for some of my honest revelations as in my all stories and to fend off from deeply falling into melancholic state –Home sick, I simply want to say, I am so proud to be born in a well-developed moralistic family/society at a time of all the reflections (generations) mentioned in –እኛ የመጨረሻዎቹ (Egna Yemechereshawochu) –narrative video.  
Arat Kilo Monument, City Hall, Train Station & The Trinity Church
This video really stirred up my emotions reminding me to reminisce about all the things I’ve seen, heard and done to provoke and revitalize my feelings to write and post this commentary about all the stuffs my generations & I have seen and enjoyed. These includes the abrupt and unyielding changes of my country’s map and its severed regional shape, the dominant figures that ruled it, the national anthems and the high-spirited music of the time, the looks of famous national flags and all my personal nostalgic mementos (see pictures) to affirm my allegiance to that generations that am gratified to belong to the reverence worthy and ethically unassuming generations who lived together in harmony and looked after their neighbours welfare. (Image updated Sept 2021)
Old & New Ethiopian Maps, Leaders & Flags 
Those were the real strong values we believed and lived together with love and good will in our diverse multi-ethnic society and I’ve lived up to that ethical code to this day.
Old & New National Anthems
Amassing all the genuine altruistic attitudes of our time, my generations have untapped wisdom to pass on to the new generations if and only if they are open minded and capable of taking it all in, luckily, by just using their fingertips to enter. We didn’t have today’s opportunities to use techs but certainly we were keen to read any how to books you can think of to soak up more knowledge wholeheartedly and eagerly.
Singer of That Generations, Bizunesh Bekele
In my view, the new generations are more informed, visionary, hold the power, have the choice, tolerant, knowledgeable, quick-witted, optimistic, progressive, confident, healthier, living longer, fortunate…and the luckier generations than all. Therefore, they have the choice to use it or just see it and look the other way. And this is an illuminating trend that will continue to transform generations after generations.

Just as a piece of land has to be prepared beforehand if it is to nourish the seed, so the mind of the pupil has to be prepared in its habit if it is to enjoy and dislike the right things. –Aristotle

The new generations must be mindful and ready to encourage and re-validate fundamental ideals of human dignity, egalitarianism, fairness, and so forth in order to guarantee an honest peace based on contemporary social revolution (change) without rhetoric hollow political clichés and deceitful old ways of unity by reintegrating our people separated and divided by tribal based regions, flags and ethnic nationalism (see pictures). No ethnic elites are forced to renounce their ethnic identity to chase their dreams. Of course, peaceful change – (ሰላማዊ ለውጥ) requires a well thought out and comprehensive approach. They must first and foremost build trust through an open reconciliation and mutually recognized healthy policies.

Given our past traditional track records, patterns of cultural behaviours and many aphorisms of the social characterization, absolute power, hating and abandoning others just because our friends don’t like them and a favouritism tend to corrupt society, the cultural politics and both mind and spirit of those at the helm of their companions genuinely where other’s absolute influence has a tendency to encourage it. We all need to give up the cardinal sins of status quo ordeals and endeavour to reform progressive objectives to form a seamless existence.
“People deserve much less punishments, or even perhaps no punishment, for what they did many years ago as compared to with what they did very recently.” –Derek Parfit

Acknowledging all those changes are not only pivotal for our society, it’s an ultimate way to survive and thrive interconnected. Generations must draw strength from past patriots, scholars and senior elders and comprehend the immoral, virtuous and flaws to pave the way for perfect social transformation.
Singer of That Generations, Abebe Tessema
They must also understand the arduous task of coming together with a contested past that requires a robust and inclusive debate that can only happen within a democratic environment capable of reconciling social conflicts according to shared rules.

Our old habits can get so deeply engrained in us that they affect our body and mind at a cellular, organizational and cultural level to outlaw any new methods of doing businesses and connections.   
“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.” –Gandhi 
 
The concept of solidarity based only on shared mutual loses and grievances we are currently witnessing are not based on a shared dreams, values, equality and unity that will build new Ethiopia. Principally, Solidarity doesn’t equate to unity, rather the idea of upholding to sustain multi-national understanding, tolerance, respect and acceptance of differences. Thus, we have mistaken solidarity for unity, thereby staining our united activities.
 
The majority of ethnic elites have never been able to honestly discuss any complaints or sensitive matters of the past at a table and challenge partisan relevance with mutual conviction and understanding apart from individually writing, posting and talking about it incessantly.

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” –Albert Einstein
Star Singer of That Generations, Tilahun Gessesse
Like my generations, I grew up in a multi-ethnic culture and loved it deeply to this day. Unlike some (I said some not all) of my generations, learning a positive attitude towards life goes a long way in achieving knowledge and mental peace and thereby keeping me stress free. I quickly transformed myself to be able to adapt with the rapidly changing social order and beliefs without stubbornly staying with my old traditional social creeds. I stand back but not remain silent and don’t let the daily hassles grind me down. It’s too easy to become angry and cynical. There are millions of reasons and excuses not to do things without hating anybody.
"I choose to be strong by being soft and pliable rather than inflexible, brittle, and hard." - Dr Wayne Dyer.

However, to motivate myself, I have to get up each day to try again and again until my search is contented no matter how small. It could be to get out of the house, read or write about something I truly love, sort out my jobs, visit friends or parks or do what comforts me to restore my energy and spirit. I try to change something I don’t like when I can and accept what I can’t. Be grateful and contented with what I already have that includes all my past sufferings, because I’ve learned from those griefs to persevere and produce my best character thereby looking up to an infallible hope to respect all people irrespective of their  social eminence, status and cultural background.

Always having to please everyone is detrimental to our wellbeing. It drains us mentally and has the ability to damper our self-esteem. It is common that always trying to please others may lead to people mistreating us. I’ve, like few people, fallen into this category by mixing up with challenging individuals several times in my life time. I’ve learned to live with all circumstances as they are.

"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody." - Bill Cosby
Star Singer of That Generations, Mahmoud Ahmed
This is one resilient and profound statement that the new generations must establish and practice in their own way by setting disciplined boundaries without being carried away by their peculiar personalities.

Life presents challenges and sufferings such as accidents, illnesses and the loss of loved ones by death or alive.  There are times when we are overwhelmed by sudden calamity, natural or manmade –similar to the current unbearable situations in my country of birth. We all make mistakes.  And at times we are lost.  And as we get older, we learn we don’t always have control of things.  But we do have control over how we respond to the circumstances we encounter every single day.
Stevie Wonder & Soul Train, Dances of That Generation
“If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got.”

We do have the choices and power over how we treat one another. Without doubt, the ruling classes lost control of the dreadful treatment of our people, lost their senses of what, how, when to do their job properly, governed by greed, hungry for power or not well informed and prepared to follow the vicious cycles of regimes from one era to the next, being terribly exposed to maltreatments and killings for so long.

"They carry around a deep wound, and when a doctor touches a wound, it makes you feel better. I sort of rubbed their wounds." –Feyisa Lelisa

Like Feyisa, new generations hold the power, have the choice, must be true to their beliefs, no one can force them and above all, can decide what they want to perpetuate.

The world must know and our new generations must also discern that as we live in an open society, we do not persevere alone.  Our existence is not found in isolation.  Hope does not arise by putting our fellow human beings down; it is found by embracing each other.

One Ethiopia For All, All For One Ethiopia!

Sunday, September 25, 2016

The Great Australian Run in Melbourne 2008

The Great Australian Run, renamed City2Bay in January 2011, was an annual 15 kilometres road running race which took place in Melbourne, Australia, held for the very first time, in November 30, 2008.

I entered the run to be able to run with homeboy champion runner, Haile Gebre Selassie, who finished 1st in the race, way ahead before I even got to the race’s half way mark, in a time of 42:39, Kenyan, Makau, 2nd and Australian fellow runners, Birmingham & Mottram, finishing 3rd & 4TH respectively.
I may not be Gebre Selassie or the modern day Rio Olympic hero, Feyisa Lelisa, but completed the race on both occasions at the happiest moments, in those days, without getting my hands crossed over my head.
The race starts with the women’s race and men’s line-up starts at 5:12 marks on video. After you spotted me in the crowd, like in my photo indicator, just far behind Mottram (on his right) on this part 1 video, you can continue to part 3 of this same video to see Haile finishing the race.
It was a good experience to test my fitness and endurance and I didn’t disappoint myself finishing the race in a time of little less than an hour with no prior preparation or running experience, although, I did run The Big M Melbourne Marathon 1984 as soon as I arrived, quite long time ago. The race was won by, the amazing Tanzanian, Juma Ikangaa, three in a row since 1982. It was also good to see few of our local community’s members, supporting Haile and I, waving Ethiopian flags. 
 The course of the race started and ended in Albert Park, passing many of Melbourne's famous landmarks including the Yarra River and Flinders Street Station heading north from Albert Park before turning at Flinders Street direction toward the Royal Botanic Gardens round loop run. Then passing along Fawkner Park into St. Kilda Road route and finally turning into Queens Bridge Street and back into the park to complete the path in Albert Park.
If you want to see the amazing curve route map, view here: http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/fullscreen/4545563/