My access to the Internet here in Ethiopia has been more sporadic than I expected. I have only a short time to put together a post. Also, I'll be tapping this out on the iPad. When I get back to ann arbor, I'll post about the trip up north. It was amazing. We saw the Blue Nile Falls, the castles of Gondar, the Semien Mountains (where we walked with the baboons), the incredible rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, and the gorgeous countryside of northern Ethiopia. We have also had a couple of amazing days in Addis. One day seeing the city with some of our friends, people who work for or with Dr. Rick. Another day I spent working with my former student who is now a professor at addis ababa university, while thomas hung out with our friends.
But this post is primarily an update on the plans to go to dafe jema. When we arrived back in Addis, we learned from several sources of some concerns among our Ethiopian friends about the planned trip to the remote village in Oromyia, where Feleke is currently visiting his family. (If you are new to the blog, you will need to review previous posts to understand the context.).
Because of these concerns, our friends suggested the idea of having the family come to meet us in Adama instead. Kabede said that he would be happy to do whatever we asked, including bringing the family to Adama. The problem with that approach, however, would be the logistics. There may be dozens of relatives and friends of the Biru Kumbi clan who will insist on paying their respects to us and seeing Feleke off on this journey to America. They might all try to come to Adama, and where would we put them all? Plus, Feleke would Be very upset if we were unable to see where he grew up. Moreover, Thomas and I had been looking forward to seeing the village.
What were the concerns? Some of them dealt with safety, others with logistics.
First, someone expressed a worry about the possibility Islamic extremists operating in the area. There is a town known as Sheihk Husain that is the Region of Oromyia and that is home to a large Muslim community. One of our friends here had heard some stories about this place that made him worry about our safety. We called Kabede to ask him about this. He assured us that this town was not close to dafe jema and that any tension between the Christians and the Muslims was far from the village. I also contacted a friend who is a professor from the Oromyia region. He thought that this was not a real risk. Not where we were going and not given the amount of protection we would have all around us from the family. (There is always, of course, some level of risk associated with Islamic extremist groups in Africa these days, as evidenced by the warnings one finds on the State Department's webpage. But we will be less at risk than most people, given the circumstances of our visit and where we are going.) It also is reasuring that one of the individuals helping us plan our trip (who reserved our rooms in Adama) is not only a good friend, a native of the Oromyia region, but also a Muslim. He assures us that there is no risk of this sort in that area.
Second, one friend expressed some more general worries about the stability of the region. Oromyia is the largest of the separate political regions within Ethiopia, and the people there are not always happy with the government. There is something called the Oromo Liberation Front, whose stated purpose is to push for independence from the Ethiopian state. You can read about it at: www.oromoliberationfront.org and on wikipedia. Anyway, some regard the OLF, as they are called, a destabilizing force in the area. I of course am aware of this movement and have read about it. I have a friend who is an expert on it. And the OLF itself is a non-issue for us. The group is nonviolent, or has been for many years, and anyway, Feleke is Oromo. The Biru Kumbis are Oromo. If we should be suspicious of anyone, it would not be of the Oromo people.
The worry is more general and has to do with the current political situation. In case you haven't heard, the prime minister of Ethiopia is either vacationing abroad, is very ill and receiving treatment in a foreign hospital, or is already dead, depending on which blog or news site you read. If he dies, there could be some issues here. He has been in charge here since the revolution that overturned the communits Derg regime in 1991. If he dies, there is a worry that the struggle over succession could be destabilizing and could present some small risks for foreigners. If that is the case, my concerned friends here say, it would be best for Thomas and me to stay in the cities, addis and adama, where we could be more easily protected.
Obviously I don't want to put Thomas in any risk here. No more risk at least than he has already faced riding along the mountain roads in an Ethiopian tour bus or strolling among the untamed babons. We are not thrill seekers. We just want to visit Feleke's village. So I have been researching this and asking around. The US embassy says there is no special cause for concern now. My friends here say the concern is way overblown. And I think they are right.
The final, and ulmately most serious, obstacle is logistical. When our friend Steven Weinberg went to Dafe Jema he took public transportation from Adama. But this left him at the mercy of the public transportation system on his return, which meant he was left waiting for many hours for a bus on a deserted dirt road, not knowing when or even if it would come. Given all of the other concerns, and given that we have a plane to catch, that route seems unacceptable. But if we don't use public transportation, we need someone who is willing not only to drive us (Thomas, our translator, Kabede, and me) to the dropping off point (where we have to take horses), but also to pick us back up there or to wait there for us. That person is not easy to find. But we now have such a person. He will drive us and wait there for us. This means we will not be spending the night, but rather will have only a few hours to see the village and visit the family. Our friend and driver will be waiting alone for us in his car. This will have to be enough.
But this post is primarily an update on the plans to go to dafe jema. When we arrived back in Addis, we learned from several sources of some concerns among our Ethiopian friends about the planned trip to the remote village in Oromyia, where Feleke is currently visiting his family. (If you are new to the blog, you will need to review previous posts to understand the context.).
Because of these concerns, our friends suggested the idea of having the family come to meet us in Adama instead. Kabede said that he would be happy to do whatever we asked, including bringing the family to Adama. The problem with that approach, however, would be the logistics. There may be dozens of relatives and friends of the Biru Kumbi clan who will insist on paying their respects to us and seeing Feleke off on this journey to America. They might all try to come to Adama, and where would we put them all? Plus, Feleke would Be very upset if we were unable to see where he grew up. Moreover, Thomas and I had been looking forward to seeing the village.
What were the concerns? Some of them dealt with safety, others with logistics.
First, someone expressed a worry about the possibility Islamic extremists operating in the area. There is a town known as Sheihk Husain that is the Region of Oromyia and that is home to a large Muslim community. One of our friends here had heard some stories about this place that made him worry about our safety. We called Kabede to ask him about this. He assured us that this town was not close to dafe jema and that any tension between the Christians and the Muslims was far from the village. I also contacted a friend who is a professor from the Oromyia region. He thought that this was not a real risk. Not where we were going and not given the amount of protection we would have all around us from the family. (There is always, of course, some level of risk associated with Islamic extremist groups in Africa these days, as evidenced by the warnings one finds on the State Department's webpage. But we will be less at risk than most people, given the circumstances of our visit and where we are going.) It also is reasuring that one of the individuals helping us plan our trip (who reserved our rooms in Adama) is not only a good friend, a native of the Oromyia region, but also a Muslim. He assures us that there is no risk of this sort in that area.
Second, one friend expressed some more general worries about the stability of the region. Oromyia is the largest of the separate political regions within Ethiopia, and the people there are not always happy with the government. There is something called the Oromo Liberation Front, whose stated purpose is to push for independence from the Ethiopian state. You can read about it at: www.oromoliberationfront.org and on wikipedia. Anyway, some regard the OLF, as they are called, a destabilizing force in the area. I of course am aware of this movement and have read about it. I have a friend who is an expert on it. And the OLF itself is a non-issue for us. The group is nonviolent, or has been for many years, and anyway, Feleke is Oromo. The Biru Kumbis are Oromo. If we should be suspicious of anyone, it would not be of the Oromo people.
The worry is more general and has to do with the current political situation. In case you haven't heard, the prime minister of Ethiopia is either vacationing abroad, is very ill and receiving treatment in a foreign hospital, or is already dead, depending on which blog or news site you read. If he dies, there could be some issues here. He has been in charge here since the revolution that overturned the communits Derg regime in 1991. If he dies, there is a worry that the struggle over succession could be destabilizing and could present some small risks for foreigners. If that is the case, my concerned friends here say, it would be best for Thomas and me to stay in the cities, addis and adama, where we could be more easily protected.
Obviously I don't want to put Thomas in any risk here. No more risk at least than he has already faced riding along the mountain roads in an Ethiopian tour bus or strolling among the untamed babons. We are not thrill seekers. We just want to visit Feleke's village. So I have been researching this and asking around. The US embassy says there is no special cause for concern now. My friends here say the concern is way overblown. And I think they are right.
The final, and ulmately most serious, obstacle is logistical. When our friend Steven Weinberg went to Dafe Jema he took public transportation from Adama. But this left him at the mercy of the public transportation system on his return, which meant he was left waiting for many hours for a bus on a deserted dirt road, not knowing when or even if it would come. Given all of the other concerns, and given that we have a plane to catch, that route seems unacceptable. But if we don't use public transportation, we need someone who is willing not only to drive us (Thomas, our translator, Kabede, and me) to the dropping off point (where we have to take horses), but also to pick us back up there or to wait there for us. That person is not easy to find. But we now have such a person. He will drive us and wait there for us. This means we will not be spending the night, but rather will have only a few hours to see the village and visit the family. Our friend and driver will be waiting alone for us in his car. This will have to be enough.
