Life in Sidama
In the 1980s, the Ethiopian Tourism Commission published several books. The text that follows is from one of those books, titled Ethiopians and The Houses They Live In , written and illustrated by Jill Last. The book is broken up into various regions of Ethiopia. I've copied the section on Sidamo, as that is where most children from Sele Enat are from. ___________________________________________________ Sidamo Region, stretching from Lake Abaya to Lake Awassa, is the deep south and the name instantly conjures up a picture of green coffee-growing country. The huge shady forest trees dense on the mountain slopes, and the brighter green of the ubiquitous ensete plant which surrounds every smallholding, fades gradually to the brown and sand of the semi-desert near the Kenya border. Ensete actually exists as a wild plant throughout tropical Africa but the sixty-eight cultivated varieties grow exclusively in Ethiopia. Ensete is a root tuber, the same sort of thing as a yam, an