Worancha ወራንቻ

http://www.flickr.com/photos/commonriverorg/3973721626/

This week I have been to Bensa Daye Woreda in Sidama Zone and I took some pictures (Even though I am not a professional photographer,I tried my best to do it). Bensa Daye is some 135 km far away from Awassa and 270 km from Wolaita Soddo. Naturally Bensa Daye is the source of Ethiopian coffee and other beautiful fruits like banana etc. Tabour Terara ( Mount Tabour) just 5 km away from Awassa Large Cattle field near Aleta Wondo, about 50 km away from Awassa Sidama Cultural Hats ( Sidamas are using the same ways to build their hats with Wolaitas). According to the experts these hats have 50 up to 100 years life span. Surprising!!! Inset (False Banana) is the main edible plant in the whole parts of Southern region. It is evergreen plant. If a family has no any of it in its garden, that family is said to be  extremely poor in our culture. In my experience, I know many families who have no any  “Inset”  in their garden, that mean there are many poor families in the region

Finance-Home   I   Banks   I   Micro-Finance   I   Insurances ( a )   General Information Year of Establishment July 1998 Legal Status SIDAMA Micro Finance Institution S.C. was legally registered by the National Bank of Ethiopia, according to Proclamation No.40/1996. Current Operational Area (s) SIDAMA is operating in the Southern Nations and Nationalities Peoples Regional State (SNNPRS). Future Expansion Plan SIDAMA has no intention of expanding to other regions. It rather wants to increase the number of Woredas to be served in the same region from 15 to 20 within the next three to five years. Total Number of Woredas Covered so far   10 Woredas Total Number of Branches Opened so far   Nine Branches with five sub-branches. Total Number of Clients served so far   12,318 with 3,218 urban and 9,100 rural clients. Gender Sensitivity   Male clients   = 52%, Female Clients = 48% ( b )  Loan Services/Products i General Loan; i Micro Bus

Ecco’s Brazilian coffee is just about done at all locations. That means we are moving to Counter Culture for our next guest coffee. It’s been fun getting to know these guys. They roast their beans down in Durham, North Carolina. I am so excited about this coffee. It is from a great coffee growing region in the southern part of Ethiopia, called Sidama. The name of the coffee is Shilicho which translates to “Good Taste” in Sidama. Not as wild as some other coffees from Ethiopia (Yirgacheffe), which can be very sour with varying degrees of fruitiness. This one is sort of sweet, round, and vibrant. If you take cream, we suggest you try it black first. You might be surprised how it tastes. We’ll be pouring this Ethiopian coffee for the next few weeks at all our locations. Oh and the picture is the bar at the HUB in Inman Square, we’ve been making food there since Saturday. http://www.cloverfoodlab.com/counter-culture-shilicho-sidama-ethiopia/

After a long dry summer in 2009, the community of Aleta Wondo was worried.  When would the next rain come?  Would their crops survive the dry spell?  Would they have the food they had counted on for survival?  What would happen to the coffee crop?  The elders of Aleta Wondo approached Common River staff and requested support for a Sidama ceremony to bring rain after months of drought. They requested a cow, which is the main part of the Sidama rain-making ceremony. Working to revive Sidama culture and re-ignite respect among tribal elders, Tsegaye and I were hesitant to support the ceremony.  What would happen if the ritual did not work?  Would this further the general feeling amongst the youth and middle aged that Sidama culture is unworthy of respect and not to be believed?  It could be disparaging to the elders if it didn’t work or it could be a powerful affirmation if it did. We took a leap of faith and decided to honor their request and support their tradition. We took a chan