25092008, week 04

I used InfoTrac's search engine to find an article on something I should know about. I really was kind of behind on who the current leader of Ethiopia was, and I found a good profile, which you can read here. I did learn some important things while reading.

I found out that Ethiopia was at one point a Marxist-Leninist country, due to the 1987 Constitution. In 1991, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front held elections, in which Meles Zenawi was sworn in as prime minister and made a new constitution. I learned about Zenawi's Foreign Policy, and how they played the middleman in border conflicts, with Somailia, Eritrea, Rwanda, and Yemen. Finally, an important thing I learned were some of Ethiopia's recent political activity. There had been protests in 2005, against Zenawi, in which Ethiopian police forces responded by shooting. In November 2005, Meles created a commission that would investigate whether or not the violence was too much or not. The latest update is December 24, 2006. Zenawi said that they had sent troops into Somalia to help fight against Islamic military that may be hurting the government.

Meanwhile, my curiosity led me to NationMaster.com, where I found that the per capita GDP was $159.61. I compared it to Luxembourg, who has the highest per capita GDP with $79,851.00 and the United States, who has $41,889.00, and Burundi, with the lowest GDP at $105.45. You can find the full list here. Now this fact is incredibly shocking. Especially because of the previous article I read. That article said that their per capita was at $600 in 2000. Why is it, that in five years, it has gone through a drastic change that has left it with 150.00? I believe that it might be because of the famine. There are definitely much less crops than before due to the ongoing famine. Many of those who do grow the crops end up exporting it, which means they get money - but not enough to sustain a lifestyle. Barely anything can come out of Ethiopia with the small amount of food, that is being given away, instead of being given to those who need it.

23092008, week 04

Last year, I bought a book called Eyewitness to History, which are many accounts of certain events in the past thousands of years. I chose it as a summer book, but put it down because it was a little complicated. However, the other day, I found it and looked in the table of contents. I found out that there were a few eyewitness accounts of the history of Ethiopia. One that interested me was The Italian Campaign in Abyssinia: Retreat of the Emperor's Army to Korem, 4-5 April 1936 this account was written by Colonel Konovaloff, a Russian military advisor to the Ethiopian army.

I was already aware of the Italian occupation during World War II. But it was interesting to see it from this perspective. I think it was great to see the perspective of someone in support of Ethiopia. Even though they are not a true Ethiopian perse, they do have a different kind of perspective that is not often seen. I thought it was also interesting because this isn't just something that goes in a text book. It is very personal, so they do reflect on what they see. For example you can actually hear the thoughts racing through his mind as they are fighting. "As I go, I see again a face now no more than a pulp of bleeding flesh, over which a young boy hangs, sobbing, trying his best to help the wounded." This quote did really stick out to me, because it gave a more realistic view of the situation. Most of the research I did was neutral, and was just, "Mussolini invaded, in 1935, etc." This made it much more human. I did learn some facts too. I saw the technology being used such as the airplanes dropping bombs, and the ones in the roads. 

21092008, week 03

I was looking at the recent updates among some of my classmates, when I found an interesting post. It is called The Perfect Paper World of Volvo Driving Communists. This was written by Kevin McWilliams. It can be found here: http://runslikeakenyan.blogspot.com/2008/09/perfect-paper-world-of-volvo-driving.html

In this blog, Kevin talks about how much people complain about the world being unfair, and how communism is actually fair. He brings up a good point. Communism is fair in a way. If we did live in a communist world today, we would all have certain things: the same kind of house, same income, and same car. All of these things could be successful, functional, or might just be something that breaks every five minutes. Maybe that's why communism is so frowned upon by countries. "But had the government stepped in when you were picking cars and said 'You must drive this Volvo, no other cars are allowed in the country.' Everyone elses car would've broken down too. That's fair." We weren't sure whether our lifestyle would actually be nice, or if we would be struggling to survive like the proletariat class was at that moment. I also think that we are human, we all have a different way of viewing life and way they see themselves. Some think that they are much better than others, some think that they are all the same. So what would happen if someone with such a high authority of themselves be forced to take up the same occupation of a lowlife? Or have to drive the same car? They think they're better than that. That's where communism becomes a problem. 

Communism does make sense, for those who believe that the world should be fair. But, it becomes a problem when it comes to human being's beliefs.

20092008, week 3

I wanted to look at some of the current crises that were affecting Ethiopia at the moment. I found two articles that were focused on the same problem: the drought affecting them at the moment. The first article is Ethiopian Children face starvation (http://bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7449523.stm,) and was published June 11, 2008. I had already known that Ethiopia was known as a country who had problems collecting water as well as food, but I did not realize that 4.5 million people were critically affected.  It especially worries me knowing that there is a high risk for children five years and under. This basically is holding Ethiopia's development. Since Ethiopia is so focused on fixing the drought, the country cannot move forward. The children also cannot receive an education and die at a young edge. This famine is stopping Ethiopia's future.

The second article was published yesterday, Ethiopian needy 'not getting aid' (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7624466.stm) I chose to read this one because it is so recent, as well as focusing on the problem I previously mentioned above. It seems that the problem is not going to be disappearing any time soon. "only 41% of the food allocated for July has reached its intended recipients." It does seem efficient, but less than fifty percent actually reaching those who need it. This makes me wonder: Does this mean some other people are also getting food that don't need  it? I also think about an old saying, often repeated very often: "Give a man a fish, feed him for a day, teach a man to fish, feed him for life." Would a better solution be growing a food that is sustainable in their environment? 

This is a Time Magazine cover from 1987. As you may see, it is about when there was a famine. I see that this may be a cycle, so why are we just donating food? Why can't we get then ready for the future famines as well?

Photos 14092008, week 02

Therese:

Therese: Center

Therese: Far Left

Pictures of Africa:

An Ikoro tree, 30 - 40 meters in height. 

Crawfish fishing.

A hut in Cote d'Ivoire

Yvette, my great aunt, with two friends employees from the salon Therese worked in.

Yvette with a friend.

[interview reflection] 13092008, week 02

Therese Berenger: a native of Cote d’Ivoire, or in its more Americanized name, Ivory Coast. She went to a boarding school in her village, and never returned to another school afterwards. She was the second child of eleven and financially helped her mother. As an adult, she worked in a salon until 2003, when she moved to France to help an ill friend, and has stayed there since.

When she received news of a proposal to be interviewed, she was more than happy to share her story. She gave us a taste of her life on Sunday, September 7^th, around 11.15 am, when Christian, Gabi, and I called her. We were all sitting somewhere around my bed, whether it be cross-legged on it or on our knees on the wood floor. She answered, and we gave her a little introduction. Many of our questions were based on her childhood, responsibilities, and her growing up in the small country. We got some short responses, as well as some in which we could tell she deeply reflected upon it.

She told us of her dreadful experience at school. Where she would have to clean the classrooms before she started, and swept. I found that it was great. She had the chance to receive an education, and I thought she was extremely lucky to have. But I did notice that she had been given a lot more responsibility than most children in the United States have in regard to their school. One of the things that struck me was when she told us of her father. He dropped her off at the boarding school, and told her that he’d be back in a year. He never came back. In fact, he had walked out on them. Therese told us: “…my dad dropped me like a beast.” I guess that families in Africa do have the same struggles that many American parents do.

On lack of water: “We have to stop to dig…there is a problem to find drinkable water.” I also found it relieving to know that many people are aware of the issue of water, no matter if they are students like us, or people who have had the struggle of finding water. They all realize that there needs to be a solution to end the crisis once and for all.

One thing that really gave me a shock was when she told us, “There is no retirement plan.” The people in Cote d’Ivoire did not know anything at all regarding this. Many would spend all of their life working without even knowing that they had the possibility of stopping. They would waste away, with no savings. 

I was extremely nervous about the interview. I have known Therese for a long time, but to get to know her on this level was exciting. I have had experience with conducting interviews, but I was still concerned about catching all the words she said, all of her thoughts pouring out. However, it was great because she did clarify things, as well as take time to spell things out. As a matter of fact, I do still think interviewing is a tough job, but I do still look forward to conducting many more.

This interview really gave me the chance to experience growing up on a different continent. They had responsibilities, “I helped my mom financially.” While we have simple chores such as emptying the dishwasher. “At 7 am they opened the classes and I swept, cleaned.” This made me realize that we are very privileged to be able to walk into class and learn right away. I also look at the law here: you vote at 18, alcohol at 21, and I know I probably shouldn’t complain. “You had to be 25 years old to vote.”

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I will try to see if I have any pictures to share tomorrow.

11092008 week 02

I stopped by the library today , and looked at some books on the subject of Ethiopia. I picked up a travel guide. I knew that it would certainly be one sided, and leave out the details concerning any events that would give Ethiopia a reason not to go.

I learned a significant amount of information on Haile Selassie and the Italian Occupation. Haile Selassie was the Ethiopian Emperor from 1930 - 1974. He was the son of a governor and had succeeded the throne after Iyasu had been overthrown. He called the first parliament in 1931 and made the Ethiopian constitution. There had been only one flaw at the time, which was that it had given almost no power or protection to Ethiopia. In 1955, years after the Italian "colonization" Selassie redrafted the constitution to include them.

The Italians had currently been occupying Somalia and Eritrea, and in October 1935, the Italians entered Tigray, the Northern region. The fighting started in 1936, which resulted in a few minor victories in the favor of Ethiopia. However, with the West's revolutionary warfare technology such as mustard gas soon entered the conflict, and after the Italians won the battle of Maychew, Haile Selassie was exiled, and Ethiopia fell to Italy. In 1941, the British finally became involved, and defeated Italy.

I learned a new piece of trivia. It turns out that Ethiopia uses the Julian calendar . This means that they are seven years and eight months behind the Gregorian calendar. The new year begins on September 11th.

You can really learn a lot out of travel guides.

Source: Ethiopia, Phillip Briggs