New Year of Indifference

By Wondwossen Mezlekia | September 18, 2006

The Americans empathize with me as I reiterate that, unfortunately, we do not draw a New Year party as we used to prior to September 11, 2001. As the unique 13th month of year 1998 culminated, I called my siblings who have already given up their hopes of seeing me over the New Year for the seventh year in a row and I made the usual promise to be home next year, God willing.

Despite the scars of homesickness, I am relieved that Enqutatash is over – for now! What is not over yet is the guilt of my living with indifference to human sufferings, the guilt that many of my compatriots share.

While growing up in Ethiopia, my friends and I used to enjoy the news about Ethiopians living in North America; we watched video clips of them dancing on holiday parties. We heard those Ethiopians living in the US America, Canada and Europe sing together all sorts of songs about love for the land they call home - Ethiopia. We used to sing their songs and memorized the lyrics out of ignorance to their real life and feelings. My friends and I thought we shared their feelings and shed our tears listening to Aster Awoke’s song, “Inem Ager Alegn Yemitay Beruku.”

That song was a perfect fit to our situations during the national service to ‘do away with illiteracy’ (Meserete Timhirt Zemetcha)that we took part after graduating from high school and camped at the Babile station in a remote arid rural village about 100 miles to the East of our home town, Dire Dawa. We likened the weeks we spent at Babile with the situations of those in exile.

Now that things have changed, I burst into laughter whenever I remember those days. Today, several years later and thousands of miles away from home, I still listen to Aster Awoke’s “Inem Ager, Ager, Ager Alegn” but this time for real. Today, I am a foreigner, an alien pretending to be living peacefully.

The New Year has this habit of bringing undesired moments and memories to life every 13 months and this one was no different. I have had to explain to my colleagues, who are not big fans of geography and history, that I will not be seven years younger when I go back home; no, my age remains the same because, if and when I go, I will still be traveling within this same solar system. The brief smile on the faces of the Americans is comforting and a sign of understanding of my frustration despite the futile sarcasm.

The answers to some of the questions my colleagues ask are as easy as “trust me we will not have a Y2K fear on the eve of year 2000 in our calendar.” Americans are usually satisfied with such an answer because in part they do not have a need to know any more than that about the country I preach about.

Every now and then, friends and I reminisce the good old days - those days when we had a national anthem of ours; the days we barely understood the secrets behind the words ‘country’ or ‘countrymen’ or ‘home land’; the times when only some jerks associated ones identities with places of birth to spice up their sick jokes over this or that city or town or village. We recall those days when “country of origin” had a meaning for us only when used in talks related to foreigners, people who are new to the country but are welcome and always guaranteed the unconditional sincerity and hospitality no questions asked!

Ethiopians living in the US discuss their country’s problems more than any other national in the world. These days, most are too focused on the political crisis and even have their own solutions and possible action plans that they want everyone else to follow. While few dedicated individuals honestly devote their precious times, other Ethiopians are still discussing and deciding. Yet few scoff of any efforts by others.

I hear people talk about their preparations for the Ethiopian millennium celebrations a year ahead. What I have not heard so widely is a unified plan of action for justice, to eradicate poverty, for civilization, and development of that country. I seldom hear people talk about, if any, the number of Americans we have reached out so far to create awareness about Ethiopia and the situation therein. I do not have a clue of whether Ethiopians use the opportunity we have to make Ethiopia known throughout the world.

Call it bless in disguise, Ethiopian-Americans have untapped resources and opportunities in their host countries, their second home. We all brag about the unique cultural resources we are blessed with but never come to consensus on how to use those resources of paramount value. I am not sure if there are Ethiopians who draw their satisfaction of accomplishments out of the haphazard public demonstrations they participate on during peaks of the political crisis to let the world know the sufferings of the Ethiopian people amid plenty of resources.

I find it disturbing that the toughest subjects, such as supporting HR5680 (the Ethiopia Freedom, Democracy and Human Rights Advancement Act of 2006) engage Americans more than it does some Ethiopians in the US. Americans nod their heads in agreement when I ask them to help Ethiopia by contacting their Senators for that country to come out of the misery she is in currently whereas some Ethiopians discuss the problems and not what they could do to help solve it.

Year 2000 is only 12 months away and even if the Ethiopian millennium will not bring the Y2K fear, it will not relieve us of the guilt of inaction.

Though there are gazillions of ways we could help the Ethiopian people, there are not so many easy ones as supporting HR5680. Ethiopians can help the people by educating themselves and others about the real problems, connect with NGOs that are engaged in development works, involve citizens of their host countries in collective action efforts, etc. Such minimal gestures will go a long way in making a difference in the lives of millions back home beyond supporting our own small families. Ethiopians should educate ourselves that we are sitting on huge resources, which others could have taken the best out of had they gotten the chance. What it takes to educate ourselves is to open our eyes and “think outside the…” Identifying areas where we can make a difference with little effort while maintaining our regular life styles takes as little research as reading Ethiopia related websites with a sense of ownership.

A simple case in point is to first believe that HR5680 a bill that addresses some of the problems we all discuss. Let’s read it for ourselves to see if it really enables Ethiopia and Ethiopians:

• build strong democratic institutions, processes and practices,
• enjoy human rights and civil liberties,
• become a just society by requiring release of political prisoners who are jailed unlawfully,
• professionalize and modernize its judicial system and promote the rule of law, and
• strengthen ties to the United States and forge an effective anti-terrorism partnership in Africa

If we believe this bill will not only help advance forward the cause of freedom and democracy in Ethiopia, but it will also maintain the United States' interest in the Horn of Africa, which I am convinced it will, it is not late yet to contact our representatives in the US House.

To contact your representatives, visit http://www.house.gov/writerep/ and enter your state and your zip code. The web site tells you who your representative is; after that, enter the required fields and click on the "continue" button to write to your representative. For effective communication, follow up your email with a phone call a few days later. The phone numbers for the representatives are located at http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.shtml.

This is only a small action but a big step forward to engaging ourselves in the development of the country from the convenience of our desktops in a place we do not deserve to be in.