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 An Ethiopian youth club based in the United States expressed its readiness to work in collaboration with various youth associations in Ethiopia in the efforts towards democratization and marking accelerated growth and development. In his recent visit to Ethiopia , founder of the Club, Samuel Gebru told the press that Ethiopians around the globe should work hand-in-hand toward the efforts of building a better Ethiopia . Following is the excerpt of His press briefing.
Q: When did you come to Ethiopia ?
Samuel: - I came to Addis Ababa a few days ago Tuesday from Washington DC the United States of America. I came to Addis Ababa up on the invitation of His Excellency Ato Seyoum Mesfin, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia. The Minister had invited me because he has seen some good work that I have done in the United States specifically the Boston area where I am from. Tomorrow, actually I will be going back to the United States.
Q: Would you tell us what you did during your stay here in Addis?
Samuel: - Well, throughout my stay here in Addis Ababa, I met with two different youth associations and I met with their presidents and one of the Public Relations Officer was with them. We talked about their general needs, what have they been doing so far, what do they need, any troubles that they have encountered, what their future plans. I also spoke with the State Minister for Youth and Sports His Excellency Mr. Abdissa Yadeta. We talked for an hour and we talked about generally the issues of Ethiopian youth in the rural areas and in the urban areas. We talked about employment, education, we talked about agriculture, also we talked about foreign investment, how we can utilize the natural resources that we already have here in Ethiopia and we can market it for domestic and international markets so that we may gain money out of that and profit.
Q: - What were the points of discussion with the officials here?
Samuel: - Well, I came up on the invitation, as you know, of His Excellency Seyoum Mesfin. We talked about different things, especially, our main aim of discussion was Ethiopian youth whether they reside here in Ethiopia or if they are abroad in any country as a diaspora. What I want to do is I want to unite all the Ethiopian youth whether they are here in Ethiopia or whether they are outside in Europe, or in America or wherever else they may be. It is important that they are united under one umbrella so that they can always work together as a big, united strong Ethiopian youth so that they can focus on the peace, development and democratization processes of Ethiopia. These are the main aims of the government, as you may know. We also discussed a lot about what can be done throughout the Ethiopian youth for the Ethiopian youth in different countries, the vitalization of the diplomatic missions abroad such as embassies and consulates. And just in general my mission is that if we can have the Ethiopian youth, especially in the diaspora, united most of them have been born there or some have actually been born here in Ethiopia or in Sudan and went over to the United States or Europe. And they have learned many things they have this immense potential of knowledge. They have the skills. Some of them have already graduated colleges. And it is important that if they come back to Ethiopia, they can share their wealth with the Ethiopians here that in that past have not going the correct education and correct implementation of practices. So, now, what I am going to do is if I can get many Ethiopian youths, within Ethiopia and outside Ethiopia to work together to form associations wherever they may be, they can all look towards their country under one umbrella of peace, democracy and development. And what they are ensuring is they are ensuring that Ethiopia will become much … place in the future.
Q: How do you express the negative attitude of the diasporan community?
Samuel: - Well, first, I think it is important to emphasize that not all members of the dispora are negative. It is unfortunate that we have seen last year's events and foes in front of arise and become very unfortunate. However, what we must do is we must learn from our mistakes and we must learn from what we have done positive also. Everybody has some sort of association with different groups. It is unfortunate that some diaspora members were involved with some anti-Ethiopian and anti-democratic forces. Nevertheless, what happened was unfortunate and we just need to move on forward and we need to learn from our mistakes. Now, the diaspora has an immense potential to carry this country forward. And they can also destruct the country. They can do both of their choice to. And I believe that most them want to carry this country forward. And if they want to carry the country forward, what they need to do is invest in the country and help in the economic growth of the country. For example, there are many Ethiopians that come back they have built many establishments whether it is factories or hotels or restaurants or anything, they have built these and they have employed people. And the people, the locals, meaning they have been employed and they are getting money and they are supporting their families. So, the diaspora should really look forward in this sense of way. If they help Ethiopia, especially to the economic growth, that is what is needed the most because they have the knowledge, they know French, English, Portuguese, Russian, Italian, Arabic different languages they know. And they also have many skills in the country they have lived in. They have acquired these skills. So, what they should is if they go back to Ethiopia as a returnee, they can invest in the country and they can really help for the future of Ethiopia. Now, as to what they could do democratically, they can really support civic organizations that are nonpartisan to help the democratization process because there always needs to be a check and balance like in the United States where you have three branches of government that was check and balance each other. So, it is always important to have that. But we need the diaspora members to help us not to destruct us. If they help us, then what they are doing is they will be guarantying the future generations of Ethiopia a good life. Well, if they destruct us, then all they will be guarantying the future generations of Ethiopia is that they will live in worst poverty than we have already seen now.
Q: - What is your future plan?
Samuel: - So, my future aims for Ethiopia and in general for the youth of Ethiopia is I want to unite them under one vision, under one mission and to undertake these activities together as one because we will be modeling for the younger generations and for the next generations. And what I want to do is I want to change the line of thinking of my generation. I want to promote them to become democratic; I want them to become independent, to become critical thinkers. Because what they need to is we need rejuvenate the country and we need to halt this backwardness that has existed for decades and decades. So, we can do this. We just need to become united. And so, what I planned to is I planned to communicate and connect with different Ethiopian youth throughout the United States and throughout north America and just throughout the world in general so that we can become linked whether it is through e-mail or through telephone or through mail or through other forms of communication so that we can network and form associations. Once we do that, we can really built on these different things and we can built the foundation as to how we want to work and we need to work as one. If we work as one, everything will be fine. But if we always have this politics hatred or this ethnic divisions, then what will we ever achieve? We won't achieve anything. If we always say oh, you are this you are that, you are that, then we are always going to stay backward. And that is how it works in today's society. Every country is now becoming progressive and Ethiopia needs to jump and board.
Q: - What is you impression about the recent flooding in Dire Dawa?
Samuel: - Ok, well, Dire Dawa, yes I heard that there are floods recently and it is unfortunate that they have this. However, it is fortunate that there are generous Ethiopians out there that have helped with the relief processes in the Dire Dawa area whether it is social groups, non-government organizations, government organizations and including regional states and woreda and kebele governments they have helped the area. And it is good when you see that kind of support and when they extend their arms to their fellow Ethiopians. That is what is needed the most.
Q: Do you have any plan to be engaged in humanitarian activities?
Samuel: - Well, one other important aspect of my life is the humanitarian side. And I am the President Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Ethiopian team. The Ethiopian team as an organization that I founded a little over a year ago and in April 2005 with 13 other youth just like me, a little older and a little younger than me. We are all Ethiopian and the youth are very energetic youth. They seem what they want to have their country because they know the conditions of poverty that there is especially in the rural areas and that they would like to support these types of activities. So, the Ethiopian team basically is just a non-profit organization in Boston area and we also want to fund raise for different Ethiopian institutions within Ethiopia that basically serve our purpose of development and rehabilitation from poverty. Actually, our first project that we did was we helped the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital here is Addis Ababa. It has been operating now for 31 or 32 years. What so especial about Fistula Hospital is that ever since the house was founded by Dr Reginald Hamlin and Dr Catherine Hamlin, they have always cured patients for free. They have never charged patients. Now, even they still don't charge patients and this is a very important thing that they will keep because they know the women that come to them that have fistulas are very young and some are odd but they are very neglected; they have been shunned; they have been kicked out of their homes; they have nowhere to go; some of them don't even have any money. So, they are very lonely. And the women that have fistula need help. So, the fistula hospital understands this. Since they understand it, they will not charge them. However, the only way that they can continue not to charge the women, which they would charge around 450 dollars which is over 2,000 birr, the only way they cannot charge is if they get support from outside organizations whether it is from non-government organizations like ourselves, whether it is from government organizations, whether it is from United Nations or any other institution that deals with humanitarianism they need their support. So, what my organization did is we sponsored the Fistula Hospital for 5,138 dollars and that is around 45,000 Birr and what did was by this money, we sponsored 11 women for free fistula surgery at Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital. Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital now will be opening five fistula centers throughout Ethiopia. They already have two centers currently operating within the country. It is Bahir Dar and Mekelle. They will also be opening their fistula center in Yergalem pretty soon. Afterwards, they will also be opening their centers in Harar and Metu. It is important that they open this because what they want to do is they want to eradicate fistula. And so far, in 31 or 32 year of working, they have cured over 27,000 patients and this is a very powerful number. And it is exemplary work for other countries to follow. And essentially the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital is going from Addis Ababa to Africa because they are now working in different African hospitals trying to cure the fistula patients there.
Q: - Could you brief us what your discussions were all about with the youth associations?
Samuel: - Ok, well, the other day when we were meeting with the Ethiopian youth associations, two of the youth associations, here in Addis Ababa, we talked about fostering cooperation between their organizations and my organization. And however, that would be premature for me to agree by myself. I generally told them that I would consult with the Board of Directors of my organization and it seems like an important thing because when we have organizations within the country and organizations outside of the country work together, and foster cooperation, that grows into bigger organizations and in turn it grows into more members, more unity and more networking within the country. I think its is very important that would do such a thing and that we need all Ethiopian youth forgot those of you who you are, where you come from, what your political views, what is your religion, or what is your ethnic group within Ethiopia and regardless of where you live to come together and unite for their country. It is a very important thing because if we do this, we will set the standards for the future generations to come. |
