The Original Barefoot Runner

I know barefoot running is the new craze right now. Ever heard of Abebe Bikila? His life is an inspiring story and an example of the determination and hard work that is part of the Ethiopian culture. He was running barefoot way back in the 50s.  

The year: 1960
The place: Rome, the location of the Olympics and former colonial power house that tried to conquer Ethiopia. 
What happened? TIME Magazine summed it up well. 

A few of the other runners sniggered when they saw Abebe Bikila turn up at the start of the Olympic marathon with no shoes. As a television camera scanned the scrum of athletes readying themselves for the starter's gun, a commentator asked: "And what's this Ethiopian called?" It was 1960, Rome. Africa was just shrugging off the weight of colonial rule and some sporting officials still doubted Africans were ready for the big time. A little over 2 hr. 15 min. later that myth lay shattered by the slight man wearing number 11, a member of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie's Imperial Guard and a proud African whose gliding, barefoot run through Rome's cobblestone streets announced his continent's emergence as a running powerhouse.

Abebe Bikila, a soldier in the imperial guard of Ethiopia's Haile Selassie, wasn't just the first African athlete to win a gold medal in Olympic competition. He won the marathon in the 1960 games while running barefoot, then defied odds to win again in Tokyo four years later. 

Fatherless

There some really interesting names for each generation. There is  the Silent Generation, Hippies, Babyboomers, Gen X and after that Gen Y & Z (some how we lost all creativity after the Baby Boomers...) With respect to names, this current generation is still up for debate. If it is not careful will be Fatherless. Regardless of ethnicity or socioeconomic standing fathers everywhere are missing. In some cases the are just absent, in other cases they are always at works and never at home. There are some astounding statics that show what happens to a society when a father is absent. Here are a few.  

• 63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes (US Dept. Of Health/Census) – 5 times the average.

• 67% of state prison inmates come from fatherless homes.

• 71% of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes – 9 times the average.  (National Principals Association Report)

So what should we do? Well if you find yourself in a position where you do not have a father, either because he is just plain absent or is always working, you need still a father figure in your live. It could be a an uncle, grandfather, youth leader, coach, someone who cares about you and who you can look up to.

If you are a guy out of  high school think about volunteering at a youth center, church youth group, after school programs or a sports team.There are so many people without fathers that need you and you will literally change this generation just by hanging around.  

Omo Child

Nowhere in Africa is more remote than the valley of the lower Omo river in the far south-west of Ethiopia. Isolated by mountains to the north, swamps to the west and deserts to the south, the lower Omo is the world’s last great tribal stronghold. Untouched by colonialism, largely ungoverned and only tenuously connected to the rest of Ethiopia, the valley is a vast elongated basin occupied by 16 tribes, totaling some 220,000 people.

The peoples of the Omo valley live by herding cattle and goats, planting crops after the river floods its banks, and conducting violent raids on each others’ livestock. Many wear animal skins and adorn themselves with mud, paint, goat fat, ostrich feathers, lip plates, elaborate hairstyles, piercings and scarification patterns.

I recently came across the inspiring story of Lale Labuko, a native of the Kara tribe in the Omo region, working to save Mingi children. Lale is one of the founders of Omo Child, an organization that rescues Mingi children in the Omo Valley.They also provide education and a safe, nurturing shelter for rescued children. Lale himself lost two sisters to Mingi ritual killing. He believes he can best help his tribe through education and developing humanitarian support to overcome their many hardships.Read more about this at Omo Child.


 

'Kony 2012,' World Changing or Slacktivism?

Kony 2012 is probably the most ambitious social media campaign to date. 

For those that need a quick background on the now viral issue, here it is. In 2002 a couple of young film makers were on their way to Darfur to cover the conflict and on their way became captivated with the conflict in Uganda, their transit location. This conflict has been going on for decades and is between the Ugandan government and the Lord's Resistance Army, led by Joseph Kony. Kony and his rebels abduct children and forces them to become child soldiers, among other atrocities. While in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, the film makers saw the plight of several hundred young children walking from the countryside every night just to sleep in the capital to avoid abduction. In the morning the second part of the mass migration continued and these children headed back to their villages in the countryside.(Somewhat reminiscent of the Lost Boys of Sudan). 

After film makers returned to the US they formed the NGO, Invisible Children to raise awareness about the plight of these young children and the brutal tactics of Kony.He is now the most wanted man by the International Criminal Court in Hague.   

So what is  Kony 2012 proposing we do? They want to raise awareness about Kony and his rebels, they want that awareness to translate into action by the Government to put boots on the ground in East Africa to help capture Kony and bring him to trial. 

So what is all the controversy about? Well the biggest criticisms  are about their finances and that they paint an unfair picture of Uganda. The Telegraph says this about their finances. 

  

Of more than £6 million it spent in 2001, less than £2.3 million was for activities helping people on the ground. The rest went on “awareness programs and products”, management, media and others.

The other side of this argument is that Invisible Children's main goal has always been to raise awareness. Their charter has not changed and their finances reflect that charter, anyone giving to them hopefully understands that their goal is not to rebuild villages, drill for clean water or implement educational programs, although they have done some of this type of work. 

As for the second criticism about Kony 2012 here is what  Arthur Larok,Action Aid's director in Uganda, says this about this film.

It doesn't sound like a fair representation of Uganda. We have challenges within the country, but certainly the perception of a country at war is not accurate at all. There are political, economic and social challenges, but they are complex. Being dramatic about a country at war is not accurate. 

So whether you agree or disagree with these criticisms Invisible Children has certainly done what they set out to do, to raise awareness. Their video has had more than 70 millions views and counting which is impressive since Uganda has no strategic importance to any Western country. It is has no oil, diamonds, minerals or US bases.

If you haven't seen the film as yet here is a link. It's only 30 mins.

So what do  you think, Kony 2012, World Changing or Lazy Activism aka. Slacktivism?

Just Love Coffee Roasters

I'm a huge fan of coffee, on the average week day I probably have 5 cups a day, and not that silly decaf stuff, I leave that for the wussies. 

Interesting fact: Ethiopia is the birth place of coffee, see my previous post about how Starbucks was beaten by a bunch of goats to discovering coffee and other interesting facts about Ethiopia. It was discovered in a region of Ethiopia called Kaffa. Traders from the Arabian Peninsula brought it to Yemen where the roasting process was refined and exported mainly through the Yemenese port of Mocha. The concept of a Coffee Shop was popularized by the Italians (I know the French would like to claim this and have tried to do so by popularizing the name 'French Press'). The French Press as we know it is actually attributed to an Italian designer named Calimani; he took the French Press Coffee Maker a step further by using a glass jar with a spout, much like a laboratory beaker, and fashioned a plunger with a filter on the end to press the ground coffee to the bottom of the pot.

I was surfing the web and found Just Love Coffee Roasters, they have a very cool story. Owners Randy and Emily Webb adopted from Ethiopia and during the process of learning about Ethiopian culture discovered the wonderful history of Ethiopia and its great contribution to coffee lovers all over the world. They've started their own coffee shop which has a store front and an online store. A large portion of their profits go to help with Ethiopian orphans. Check out their story.

A Walk to Beautiful (2007)

This an amazing story of hope for women in Ethiopia. This is a must see for anyone interested learning more about Ethiopia or East Africa. Often the AIDS pandemic overshadows some of the other struggles women and children face in this part of the world and Mary Olive Smith, the director, does an amazing job of capturing the stories of these five Ethiopian women.

A Walk to Beautiful is a feature length documentary that tells the stories of five Ethiopian women, who suffer from devastating childbirth injuries and make the journey to reclaim their lost dignity. Rejected by their husbands and ostracized by their communities, these women are left to spend the rest of their lives in loneliness and shame. The trials they endure -- and their attempts to rebuild their lives -- tell a universal story of hope, courage, and transformation.

See A Walk to Beautiful Preview here.