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Ethiopia: Pride, identity and purpose, people harbor hope and determination to succeedDate: 24 Mar 2005 by Bob NewellPeople harbor hope and determination to succeed Proud Ethiopia! Known to most in the West as the home of Emperor Haile Selassie, the so-called Lion of Judah. Ethiopians are proud of their beautiful and varied country because they alone among African nations were never colonized. Just that fact gives Ethiopia something of a different feel than other places in Africa. But Ethiopia also has a heritage of natural disasters, mostly in the form of drought, that has caused it to be the focus of international aid for decades. It is probably impossible for a country to go through such experiences without acquiring a certain mentality of dependence. Time and again, the international community has responded to such disasters with food and other essential supplies. We've all seen the searing images of dying children, parched land and dry riverbeds. But too often, the response of relief agencies has done little to address the recurring problem. After Selassie's reign, the country suffered through a period of imposed "socialism" based on the Soviet model which brought some needed improvements but which was also quite unpopular. Following its demise in 1991, the government has made slow but seemingly steady progress, though there is a long ways to go. The literacy rate is estimated at between 25 and 40 percent, though of course it is much lower in the rural areas, and Ethiopia is, if nothing else, a rural country. Everywhere one goes, there are people walking along the roads, tending their sheep, goats or cattle. Some are farmers, some are pastoralists, but all have ties to the land. And the land is known by the tribe that occupies it. Place names are often tribal names. Social structure and personal identity is frequently tied to tribe. I was repeatedly introduced to people by name, followed by the name of their tribe, which also was usually their place of origin. Mercy Corps' work is just getting started in Ethiopia and it currently has two areas of focus. The first, which is well under way, is an animal vaccination program centered in the West Harerge region, east of Addis Ababa. The goal is to vaccinate 200,000 cattle and camels against common diseases that are often the cause of death during a drought. This will give pastoralists a better chance of preserving their most valuable assets through a disaster and hasten the recovery should it happen. The other focus is in the south in a region called the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR), which is home to some 56 minority groups (tribes). The program just beginning there is aimed at providing training and small grants to individuals and groups for the purpose of enabling people to resolve conflicts. Conflict is an ongoing problem between tribes and even within tribes. Often, conflict is exacerbated by stress, and there are few stresses greater than a life-threatening drought. Organized cattle theft is a frequent problem, as are other fights over scarce resources, water chief among them. If conflict can be managed peacefully, the chances of the entire community to get through a drought goes up significantly. One approach will be to use what's called "positive deviance," which Mercy Corps has used elsewhere in other contexts. That is, we have already located one significant conflict that the parties themselves successfully resolved. By identifying the component parts of that success and applying them to other conflicts, people can achieve their own peaceful resolutions and then "own" the solution, such that the method is far more sustainable than anything imposed from without. The people I met here are characterized by hope and a determination to succeed. There is no reason to believe that the proud Ethopians will do anything less. Bob Newell is a partner with Davis Wright Tremaine and Chair of the Board at Mercy Corps. Go to SOURCE of article |