Three years ago, Minasie Kifle, a video store operator turned journalist, had written an article in The Reporter on how street people fare during the rainy season. Whereas Minasie's article described the beggars' plight based on his observation (and it was a touching story) I wanted to have the beggars tell their story in their own words.

However, before I approached the beggars with questions for this piece, I decided to do an experiment in the belief that it would give me a first-hand taste of what I was planning to describe.

Therefore, a few days before interviewing them, I did the experiment. It has been a little over twenty years since I enjoyed playing in the rain as a boy for the last time. Little boys and girls love to do that although most parents do not allow it. This time, however, I did not mean to enjoy it.

Sometimes a single incident manages to shine a spotlight deep into the soul of a society. There was such an incident that occurred in the year 1967 that shocked the city of Addis Ababa. Taffara Deguefe in his book “Minutes of an Ethiopian Century” (2006, Shama Books) relates it like this.

It was in the year 1967 that an incident occurred in front of the Ethiopia Hotel that shocked the city: the shoot-out between Lt. Jarra Mesfin and Ato Assefa Dula.They were clashing characters representing different segments of society.

Jarra was the son of the powerful aristocrat Ras Mesfin Sileshi. He was himself a budding aristocrat, self-assured, pretentious, and arrogant and a man of definite opinions who would not brook contradicting. He was in his thirties and was home on holidays from his diplomatic post in Cairo. Assefa Dula was a radical, quick tempered and provocative. The Ethiopia Hotle bar had become a popular meeting place for young intellectuals just as the Itegue Hotel had been our meeting place some fifteen years earlier.

Addis Ababa, March 26, 2010 (Addis Ababa) - A market research and community business Plan project that aims at benefiting the community living in the Middle and South Eastern Rift Valley from the tourist attractions launched here Friday.

The study for the project was conducted by Ethiopian Sustainable Tourism Alliance (ESTA) in collaboration with Hawassa University, the George Washington University and USAID.

The study focuses on areas including the localities called Lepisi , Ziway Lake and Ziway Island in the Middle Rift Valley and the Eastern Langano Lake area.

ESTA Chief of Party Bedilu Shengen on the occasion said the objective of the project is to promote tourist attractions, organize discussion forums among all stakeholders and the local community and generate income for the local community.

Constructing schools closer to children's homes in rural Ethiopia

Nine-year-old Aster Arba lives in the remote village of Duguna Fango, about 450 kilometers southwest of Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa. Before Concern Worldwide intervened, Aster and her friends had to walk eight kilometers every day back and forth to school.

In fact, they walked barefoot in extreme heat and risked being raped, abducted or attacked by wild animals. When I first saw the area, I was humbled by how difficult it was for a young child to travel to school in this extremely hot climate over such long distances.

In response to these difficulties, Concern and our partner organization WRDA began constructing basic education schools in villages that didn't have any. Today, Aster and her friends attend school within a short walking distance from their homes.

During our regular monitoring visits to these schools, I met with the children who are now learning better and are far happier with their new situation. When I spoke with one of their teachers, Zinash, she explained that the closer proximity of the school gives children a sense of freedom and allows them to attend classes regularly, which in turn has contributed to a marked improvement in their performance at school.

Ethiopian-born American citizen Gashaw Tahir traveled back to his homeland several years ago and was shocked at the massive deforestation that had taken place since his departure.

Rivers have dried, mountains have been deforested, and rising temperatures due to climate change are making plant life more difficult to maintain. Tahir decided that something had to be done. His story is told in a new video from America.gov.

"My ultimate vision is making Africa green again," he says. "That inspires me, touches me, and moves me into action."

He gathered young people from his hometown -- only a few dozen at first -- but those young people recruited their friends and family until there were hundreds. On only two acres of land they planted thousands of seedlings. Now, Tahir owns 11,000 acres of Ethiopian land on which his group has planted one million trees.

If you're looking for a downright spiritual experience, wander into Sidamo Coffee and Tea in Maple Lawn around 2 p.m. on any Sunday. There, you will encounter a quiet Ethiopian woman dressed in white garb burning incense as she carefully fills little cups on a tray with the steaming arabica brew. The soothing scene is peppered with the strains of recorded ethnic jazz. What, no flat-screen plasma in the corner showing football? No karaoke?

The weekly ceremony illuminates the importance Ethiopians place on preparing, serving and enjoying the world's most popular beverage. And for good reason. Word is that more than a thousand years have passed since a humble goat herder in the forested highlands of this East African country plucked some red berries from a green tree and popped a few into his mouth. He liked how it tasted, not to mention the little buzz that followed.

Sidamo, which opened last fall, joins its sister shop near Union Station in Washington. Co-owner Mimi Desta, of North Laurel, greets me at the door, placing her two hands over my one. That solitary act delivers a bigger jolt than any dose of caffeine I can ingest. Feel the love! Desta, and her husband, Kenfe Bellay, are pulling out all the stops in their mission to introduce the unwashed to the sheer pleasures of coffee. When I ask Mimi to explain the ritual, she lays it out. "This is a tradition," she intones, her spirit upbeat and engaging. In Ethiopia, she adds, "we like to sit down with families and talk. We make coffee a different way. Oh, my God, yes. We roast it every day. Even the pot makes a difference," she adds, jumping up and bringing out a clay pot to show me.

The new product will address issues of security and safety on the net while surfing, according to the giant software company.

Internet Explorer 8, which was recently released, is the latest version of Microsoft’s popular Internet browsing software and has been designed specifically to make your online experience more secure.

“Internet Explorer 8 does open you up to a security minefield that you need to be aware of, particularly if you’re using a computer that hundreds of other people also have access to,” stated Emmanuel Birech, Developer & Platform Manager, Microsoft East and Southern Africa.

“If one is not careful about cleaning off all the traces that is left behind on a public computer, it’s possible that someone else could have access to another persons’ most personal information like credit card numbers, bank account details or passwords,” Birech pointed out.

“Luckily,” he added, “companies like Microsoft are working hard to ensure that you can surf the Internet on public computers without worrying about having your personal details stolen when you leave.”

A New poetry book entitled 'Yediviwu Likift" [The Craze of Diversity Visa(DV) Lottery] written by Anteneh Wondimu.

The book contains a collection of 86 poems, which he wrote in the last four years inspired by his life experiences, the writing of that book time.

Every year many people fill DV lottery forms to go to United States for a better future. That's the main theme of the book.

As he tells the story, a long time ago he himself went to fill the forms on the deadline day of the DV lottery. Because of that he missed his working hours and in consequence he was punished by his office manager.

"I have seen so many crazy things happening but what people forget is, that it is just a single chance which you might get or might not get", explains Anteneh.

Many people see the west as a solution to their problems they are facing. They tried to escape the dark poverty, which deprives them to try out dangerous toots to leave their country. And surprisingly many people pay more than 50,000 Birr to go to those countries with fake documents of marriage.

A traditional food festival which is according to the organizers was held for the first time with a variety of more than 630 food items and drinks. Organized by the center for indigenous questions in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, it aimed to create awareness on indigenous cultural foods and drinks of the various nationalities of Ethiopia.

Even if there are diversified foods and drinks of the various nationalities that food doesn’t represent the whole cooking culture of Ethiopia rather some segments of the society.

Last time at the convention center more than 3,000 people attended to test the variety of foods. People seemed eager to test everything, which took more than two hours to finish on round.

The food cuisine of 67 nations and nationalities was served. Only few people were familiar with some of the food items, but many of the guests didn’t even know the names.

An original and interesting contribution to the scholarship on European views on Africa. Particularly valuable is its detailed discussion of Egyptian and Classical texts dealing with northeast Africa and their relationship to later European racial discourse. The book is well written and likely to appeal to a broad academic and non-academic audience. – Stanley Burstein, California State University, Los Angeles

The First Ethiopians explores the images of Africa and Africans that evolved in ancient Egypt, in classical Greece and imperial Rome, in the early Mediterranean world, and in the early domains of Christianity.

Inspired by curiosity regarding the origins of racism in southern Africa, Malvern van Wyk Smith consulted a wide range of sources: from rock art to classical travel writing; from the pre-dynastic African beginnings of Egyptian and Nubian civilisations to Greek and Roman perceptions of Africa; from Khoisan cultural expressions to early Christian conceptions of Africa and its people as 'demonic'; from Aristotelian climatology to medieval cartography; and from the geo-linguistic history of Africa to the most recent revelations regarding the genome profile of the continent's peoples.

The research led to a startling proposition: western racism has its roots in Africa itself, notably in late New-Kingdom Egypt as its ruling elites sought to distance Egyptian civilisation from its African origins.

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia- Some writers have the power to explore hidden stories and to reveal those stories in the language their society understands. They create this kinship between their society and the readers and they influence people for better or worse. One of the Ethiopian writers who have won many fans with his writing talent is Hailemelekot Mewael, a man who spent more than half of his life in writing and teaching.

Many students call him ‘Memhir’ [teacher] as he also likes to be referred as. But he also became one of the propounding writers of our time - a man who believes in telling his society stories in their own language and ways.

He got critical acclaim with his two published books ‘Yewodianesh’ and ‘Gungun’, also because his books transcend the typical generational gap.
“I write about aspects of life, which I know. I don’t know about the luxurious life in Addis, but I know about my neighbourhood. So I describe that beautifully.” Hailemelekot comments.

For him writing is an innate thing. The opportunity to explore his passion for writing in Amharic language came when he started working for the ‘Ethiopian Workers Voice’, a newspaper under the Ethiopian Workers Association. Before that experience his icebreaking texts were written in Tigrinya language when he used to live in Asmara, the city where he grew up.

Around 8:00am on Wednesday, March 3, 2010, the usual hustle and bustle was happening at Atekilt Terra, the centre for the distribution of fish, fruit and vegetables to the various parts of Addis Abeba.

The shop managed by Desalegn Brehanu, 26, seemed the busiest among the rest alongside it in the midst of the vegetable and fruit market centre. He and his four employees were busy loading a pickup truck for a customer who is an hotelier. Most of his customers are restaurateurs and hoteliers, according to Desalegn, who seemed reluctant to stop for a word in the midst of the intense activity that did not seem to give him a moment’s respite.

Usually, the morning hours starting from around 5:00am are the busiest, as most bulk buyers, mainly traders and hotel owners, prefer these hours to get the best parts of the agricultural produce.

The price increases that follow the higher demand of the fasting season started a month ago today and are keeping the always busy market even busier. Some prices have even doubled since the fast began.

The Council of Ministers decided on March 5, 2010, to establish the Information and Communication Technology Park Corporation with a capital of five billion Birr.

The directive for the establishment was approved by the council after it deliberated on the proposal of the Information and Communication Technology Development Agency (ICTDA). Its starting capital far supersedes the capital of both the Housing Development and Railway corporations, each of which started out with three billion Birr.

“We believe that it will elevate the development of ICT in Ethiopia,” said one of the officials who attended the meeting.

ICTDA has already secured 200ht of land from the Addis Abeba City Administration in the Yerer area of Bole District. Since last week the district has been issuing notices to property holders on the site, mainly to owners of quarries who are supplying gravel for construction work in the city. These owners have already started complaining to the district for ordering them to leave.

Two Ethiopians, supermodel Liya Kebede and journalist and visiting scholar at Stanford university, Abebe Gellaw, are named among the Young Global Leaders honorees.

In a press release it issued today, the World Economic Forum noted that the honor was bestowed on 197 Young Global Leaders who were selected from a pool of nearly 5000 nominees from around the world for their “professional accomplishments, commitment to society and potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world.”

This year’s list of Young Global Leaders, who are all below the age of 40, include tennis star Roger Federer, Evan Williams, Co-founder and CEO of Twitter, Steven Chen, Co-founder and Chief Technologist of Youtube, Jon Favorue, Obama’s chief speech writer, Wyclef Jean, Singer and Founder of Yélé Haiti Foundation, Nelson Mandela’s grandson and South African Member of Parliament, Mandla Mandela, Saudi Arabian Prince Khalid Bin Bandar Bin Sultan, Crown Princess Mette-Marrit of Norway, sixteen ministers from around the world and many CEOs.

The huge recent progress that has been made in improving Ethiopia's power supply should not be over-shadowed by the recent hitch at Gilgel Gibe II. Many other projects are underway that will soon see Ethiopia become the power hub of East Africa. Therefore, the government and its power corporation should be praised, not ridiculed, argues Groum Abate.

GGII glitch is not a doom and gloom scenario

Recently it was announced that Gilgel Gibe II stopped producing the much-needed power the country urgently needs.
Just a week after it was officially inaugurated by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and Italian Foreign Affairs Minister Franco Frattini, the largest ever hydropower station in Ethiopia's history came to a halt after the tunnel collapsed.