Worancha ወራንቻ

Side Goodo “Human inability to alter the course of wretchedness and misery results in a desire for diversion. But the flaw in diverting our attention via diversion lies in the fact that it keeps us from realizing truth: And yet it is the greatest of our miseries. For it is that above all which prevents us thinking about ourselves and leads us imperceptibly to destruction … diversion passes our time and brings us imperceptibly to our death”. (Pascal, 1995. Trns.) Based on naturalistic framework taken for granted by scientifically validated common sense, human beings are considered to be a particular sort of evolved animals, homo sapiens. Thus, undeniably, as a particular animal species, human beings have common attributes that distinguish them from other animal species. However, unlike other animals, human beings have passed through intricate processes of identity development which takes us far beyond the philosophy of human being. Human identity is just that animal identity re

Side Goodo 1. Introduction Time and again the Sidama people have rejected the use of the derogatory term “Sidamo”. The term was a deliberate fabrication by the invading Abyssinian soldiers of King Minelik as part of the campaign to humiliate, undermine and subjugate the newly conquered territories in the South of the country. This article is motivated by the outrageous statements made by Eremias Woldemikael during his email conversations with Kambata Xola of Sidama National Liberation organization (SNLO) regarding the Abyssinian occupation, subjugation and exploitation of the Sidama land. Eremias writes: “When I was referring to Sidama and Oromo relationship, I was using the term ‘Sidama’ in a historical sense. Historians use the term ‘Sidama’ to refer to peoples that lived South of and including some part of Shewa. The term "Sidamo" is used to one of the ethnic groups of those peoples. As you may know the region was conquered by the Oromo during their expansion in the 1

በሲዳማ ዞን አርቤጎና ውስጥ በአገር ሽማግሌዎች የተከወነ የፍትሃዊ ምርጫ ሂደት ተመክሮ እንካችሁ… ምርጫው ሊካሄድ ሁሉም ነገር ተዘጋጅቷል… አስመራጮች… ታዛቢዎች… ጸጥታ አስከባሪዎች… ሽማግሌዎችና ሌሎች የሚመለከታቸው አካላት ሁሉ ቦታ ቦታቸውን ይዘዋል…. መራጩ ህዝብም የምርጫ ካርዱን እንደያዘ ተሰልፎ ይጠባበቃል… ምርጫው ይጭበረበራል፣ ኮሮጆው ሊቀየር ይችላል ብለው የሰጉት የአገር ሽማግሌዎች የራሳቸውን የፍትሃዊ ምርጫ መላ ዘይደዋል… ሁሉም ነገር መጠናቀቁን ሲያረጋግጡም ተነሱ… ለጸጥታ አስከባሪዎችም አሏቸው: ”ቴኔ ኮሮጆ ሃዺ !” … በደምሳሳው ሲተረጎም ”ይህን ኮሮጆ ወዲያ አንሱት!”… ”ኮሮጆውን ውሰዱት!” እንደማለት ሊሆን ይችላል… በመቀጠልም የለበሷቸውን ረጃጅም ቡሉኮዎች (ጋቢዎች) ለሁሉም ግልጽ በሆነ መሃል ቦታ ላይ አነጠፏቸው… ለፍትህና ለሃቅ ቆሙ… ለመራጩ ህዝብም አሉት… ”ኮኤ ፉሺ !…” ”ሃኮ ፉሺ !…” በግርድፉ ሲተረጎምም : ” እዚህ አድርግ! … እዚችው ጣል !”  ” እዚህ አስቀምጥ! … እዚችው ቁጭ አድርግ !” … እንደማለት ሊሆን ይችላል … ሕዝቡ በሽማግሌዎቹ እምነት አለውና አላንገራገረም!… የፓርቲዎች አርማ ያለበትን ወረቀት ወስዶ… ሚስጥራዊ ክፍሏ ውስጥ ገብቶ… የሚመርጠው ምልክት ላይ የ X ምልክቱን አኑሮ… ወረቀቱን እያጣጠፈ ወደ ውጭ ይወጣል… ወደ ተዘረጋው ቡልኮ ላይ ሁሉም እያዩት ወርውሮ ይሄዳል… ሽማግሌዎቹም በንቃት ይጠባበቃሉ… ድንገት የሚያንገራግር… ከሂደቱ የሚያፈነግጥ ሲገኝም ሽማግሌዎቹ ይገስጹታል… ”ኮኤ ፉሺ !…” ”ሃኮ ፉሺ !…” … ይሉታል… ”እዚህ አድርግ! … እዚችው ጣል!” … ወይ ፍንክች!… እያሉ ይመልሱታል… እንዲሁ ቀኑን ሙሉ ”ኮኤ ፉሺ !… ”ሃኮ ፉሺ !…” እንዳሉ ይውሉና ምርጫው ይጠናቀቃ

“Most of these women trek for as long as eight hours from their villages to the waiting house just because they know MSF is here and they will get quality medical care" EVA DOMINGUEZ MSF NURSE AND MIDWIFE, ARORESSA Aroressa is a beautiful, green mountainous area, with small coffee plantations irrigated by natural waterfalls and streams that meander down the steep slopes of the valleys, with cliffs falling 300 metres and more. At the bottom, cattle graze alongside the streams and children play outside onion shaped huts, typical of the Sidama zone, southern Ethiopia. Two Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) programmes are located in these highlands, separated by dusty mountain roads of more than 80 kilometres. The beauty of the area can deceive the visitor regarding the very serious health problems faced by the population. Remote health centres Health centres are scarce; as are qualified medical personnel, and maternal and child mortality rates are

Photo by  http://www.msf.org.uk/country-region/ethiopia Hawassa – In Sidama Zone these days it is not uncommon to see health supervisors on motorbikes traveling quickly throughout each of the 19 districts, transporting information and education as well as test samples. These are people who have become bridges between their own rural communities and far-off healthcare facilities. They are part of a project which has newly energized effort to control tuberculosis (TB) in Ethiopia. Read more: http://www.stoptb.org/assets/documents/global/awards/tbreach/TBREACH_Flyer%20Lille%20LSTM%20and%20GF%20Ethiopia.pdf