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On the shores of the spectacular lake Hawassa

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Photo Web By Teis Feldborg Gregersen Located in southern Ethiopia beside an enormous lake is the city of Hawassa. Around 140,000 people live there, surrounded by the most beautiful and exotic nature I have ever seen. Monkeys are sitting in every single tree, eating or grooming each other and no matter where you look in the sky, colourful birds will be seen, especially the very characteristic Marabou Stork, which is a very common sight around the lake. Hawassa was the destination of a journey out of Addis Ababa, a short vacation, making it possible to experiencing the exotic nature of Ethiopia that the capital cannot provide. I travelled along with a group of fourteen volunteers and interns and we left Addis Ababa early on Friday morning for an extended weekend in Hawassa. The hotel where we stayed was located right beside the lake and the area around it served as a park where the Guereza and Vervet monkeys as well as exotic birds live side by side. From chairs placed a

Sidama

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Sidama  (galla Sidāma)  Nome con cui i Galla indicano, genericamente, le popolazioni cuscite o semitizzate dell’Etiopia sud-occidentale con cui si sono trovati a contatto dall’epoca della loro invasione (16° sec.). Propriamente, S. è la forma che in lingua galla sembra avesse il nome dei Sidamo, la prima popolazione etiopica con cui i Galla si scontrarono nelle loro migrazioni verso N. Il nome indica oggi un gran numero di popolazioni dell’Etiopia meridionale parlanti lingue cuscitiche. Le lingue sidama rappresentano la punta estrema verso SO del cuscitico e sono suddivise, in corrispondenza approssimativa della distribuzione etnica, in due sottogruppi: sottogruppo occidentale, comprendente le varie parlate  gonga  e ghimirra  (tra cui la meglio nota è la lingua cafficciò) e le parlate ometo, proprie delle popolazioni abitanti il bacino medio del fiume Omo (uolamo,  kullo ,  konta , ciara, borodda, zala ecc.); e sottogruppo orientale, parlato in regioni comprese fra la riva sinis

Bamboo roundhouse by the Sidama people of Ethiopia

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This is a traditional split bamboo plaited roundhouse by the Sidama people of Ethiopia. The dome, with its pointy top, is designed to shed heavy rainfall where a circular dome would have a flat region prone to leaks. Bamboo once played an important role in the rural economies of East Africa but indiscriminate clearing of natural bamboo forests have resulted in losing natural resources and many of the traditional building skills. You can find out more about traditional bamboo construction at  The International Network for Bamboo and Rattan . Read more on  http://naturalhomes.org/timeline/ethiopianroundhouse.htm

የፀረ ኤችአይቪ ሕክምና ተስፋ ፈንጣቂ ዕርምጃ

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ባለፈው ሳምንት ኤችአይቪ ፖዘቲቭ ሆና የተወለደች ሕፃን ወዲያው በተደረገላት ሕክምና ከቫይረሱ ነፃ የመሆኗ ዜና መሰማት በዓለም ኤችአይቪን በመዋጋት ረገድ ለሚደረጉ እንቅስቃሴዎች ተስፋ ፈንጣቂ ሆኗል፡፡ አሜሪካ ሚሲሲፒ ውስጥ እ.ኤ.አ. 2010 ላይ የተወለደችው ሕፃን ከቫይረሱ ነፃ ልትሆን የቻለችው እንደተወለደች ባሉት 30 ሰዓታት ውስጥ ከፍተኛ የፀረ ኤችአይቪ ሕክምና ተደርጐላታል፡፡ ሕክምናው በዚያም ሳያበቃ ለአሥራ ስምንት ወራት ዘልቋል፡፡ በአሁኑ ወቅት ሕፃኗ ከቫይረሱ ነፃ መሆኗን ይፋ ያደረገው በባልቲሞር የሚገኘው የጆን ሆፕኪንስ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ተመራማሪዎች ቡድን መሪ ዶክተር ዲቦራ ፐርሳውድ ግኝቱ ኤችአይቪ ፖዘቲቭ ሆነው የሚወለዱ ሕፃናትን ከኤችአይቪ ኢንፌክሽን ነፃ በማድረግ ሕክምና ትልቅ ዕርምጃ መሆኑን ተናግረዋል፡፡ ቢሆንም ግን ተመራማሪዎቹ ኤችአይቪ ፖዘቲቭ ሆነው የሚወለዱ ሕፃናትን ሕፃኗ ከተፈወሰችበት መንገድ በተሻለ ሕክምና ከኢንፌክሽኑ ነፃ ማድረግ፣ በተለይም ሕክምናውን ለስድስት ሳምንታት ማሳጠር ሊተኮርበት የሚገባ ነገር መሆኑን ገልጸዋል፡፡ የሕፃናት የኤችአይቪ ፖዘቲቭ ኢንፌክሽንን በመከላከል ረገድ የኤችአይቪ ቫይረስ ከእናቶች ወደ ሕፃናት እንዳይተላለፍ የሚደረግ ሕክምና ዓይነተኛው መፍትሔ ነው፡፡ ነገር ግን ሕክምናው በቀላሉ በሚገኝባቸው እንደ አሜሪካ ባሉ የበለጸጉ አገሮች እንኳ ሕፃናት ኤችአይቪ ፖዘቲቭ ሆነው ይወለዳሉ፡፡ ለምሳሌ አሜሪካ ውስጥ በየዓመቱ ከ100 እስከ 200 የሚሆኑ ቫይረሱ በደማቸው ውስጥ የሚገኝ ሕፃናት ይወለዳሉ፡፡ የሮይተርስ ዘገባ እንደሚያመለክተው ዓለም ላይ በተለይም በማደግ ላይ በሚገኙ አገሮች በቀን አንድ ሺሕ የሚሆኑ ኤችአይቪ ፖዘቲቭ ሕፃናት ይወለዳሉ፡፡ ግኝቱ ለእነዚህ ሕፃናት ትልቅ ተስፋ ነው፡፡ የ28 ዓመቷ አሜሪካዊ

Boulder coffee entrepreneurs believe in following their product back to the source

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By Avalon Jacka For the Camera Mark Glenn,co- founder of Boulder's Conscious Coffees, third from right, with  Sidama  coffee producers in Ethiopia. Coffee is a common breakfast drink for many Americans, but coffee drinkers rarely think about the origin of their morning pick-me-up beyond the grocery aisle. A cup of coffee triggers few to think about the living conditions or salaries of the growers. At Conscious Coffees, however, that is at the forefront of its roasting and distributing. Mel Evans-Glenn co-founded Conscious Coffees and its trading co-op, Cooperative Coffees, with her husband, Mark Glenn, 16 years ago to bring fair trade coffee to Boulder. Under Fair for Life certification, Conscious Coffees buys green, organic coffee directly from its coffee producer partners. Buying and negotiating directly with Cooperative Coffees, a traditional co-op made up of 24 roasters, guarantees producers a higher amount that is "mutually beneficial for both parties," E