More Pictures....
Other pictures will be put up at a later date
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More Pictures....
Other pictures will be put up at a later date |
I traveled as a tourist over much of Ethiopia, witnessing the beautiful countryside and rich and varied cultures of the Ethiopian peoples.
Some of the things I noticed the most ....
Ethiopia is a mostly mountainous or plateau country, with deep gorges cutting through the tablelands.
No matter where we went, to what seemed the remotest areas, people appeared as if by magic whenever we stopped the car. In most regions, there was a constant stream of people walking alongside the roads.
In most towns or villages, whereever we stopped, we were surrounded by young people wanting to befriend us. Many had their hand out and were somewhat demanding (but never threatening). In many villages, young children 3-4 years old came along and grabbed our hands or a couple of fingers, offering to become 'instant' grandchildren, calling us 'mama' or 'papa',.
Nearly every town or village had one or more AIDS, FP, RH, or women's promotion sign.
While I saw no signs of starvation, I did see: stunted growth of children, land erosion, soils that seemed unsuitable for cultivation being tilled, the extensive use of land for farming and grazing - going right up into the high elevations - even at 12,000 feet! Even animal preserves had domestic animals grazing there.
The people in this country (and probably much of Africa) subject themselves to a number of purposeful injuries, including decorative scarring, lashing the back with a switch as a sign of devotion, ritual cutting vertically through the eyebrow (sometimes leading to infection and blindness), self-inflicting wounds or keeping wounds open for the sake of sympathy while begging, and female genital mutulation (FGM).
Unlike much of Asia, Ethiopians have a large number of cows, goats, and sheep. Consequently they do not seem to hunt wildlife for meat, but the resulting overgrazing may have the same impact on the region's biodiversity.
Ethiopia is currently undergoing a famine in which 11-16 million of its 65 million people are expected to be seriously impacted.
From the Brandt Travel Guide 2002 ...
Ethiopia has the third highest population in Africa, at 65 million people. Only Egypt and Nigeria are higher. Over half the population is under age 17. It's growth rate is 2.5% per year. It's capitol, Addis Ababa, grew from 1.6 milion in 1987 to 2.3 million in 1994 and today approaches 3 million.
Ethiopia is one of the world's poorest nations with an average income of US$120 per year. AIDs has caused life expectancy to drop from 47 to 45 recently. The infant mortality rate is 10%. Adult literacy rate is 35%
Most of the economy is dominated by subsistence agriculture. Some parts of the country are prone to rain failures and locust plagues. 25% of the population grows coffee, which is the country's major export.
Development in the country and infrastructure have suffered as a result of the recent war with Eritrea. Half of Ethiopia consists of a high fertile plateau with deep gorges.
The predominant religion is a form of Orthodox Christianity, influenced by Judaism.
In 1985, Ethiopia experienced a famine that killed one million people, one-fifth of the population. The deaths of so many was due mostly by a three year drought, but also because of Western refusal to send aid to a socialist country and also because of the refusal of the provisional leader Mengistu to allow aid in certain areas.
Ethiopia saw its first democratic elections in 1995, and at that time was on its way to economic developlent.
However, in 1998 Ethiopia engaged in open hostilities with neighboring Eritrea which lasted nearly two years, killing about 20,000 in each country, displacing many, and resulting in wholesale economic and social disruption, and disrupting education and building of infrastructure. If the current peace continues, along with Ethiopia's recent good governance, there is hope that the future economic growth rate will outstrip its prodigious birth rate.
From Planned Parenthood Golden Gate, who partners with The Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus in Ethiopia ....
46% of Ethiopians have access to health services and there is only one doctor for every 250,000 people.
75% of women are illiterate and the same percentage are married before age 17. On 2.3% of the house of People's Represetatives are held by women. Rapes go mostly unreported - there are only 20 rape convictions a year.
25% have no access to potable water.
Only 1/5 live within a two hour walk to a health care facility.
75% of women are illiterate and the same percentage are married before age 17. Only 2.3% of the house of People's Represetatives are held by women. Rapes go mostly unreported - there are only 20 rape convictions a year.
Average fertility rate (2000) - 6 children per woman.
Maternal mortality rate - 871 deaths per 100,000 live births. and infant mortality rate - 97 per 1,000 live births (compared to U.S. 7.5 and 6.82)
Backstreet abortion is the 2nd highest killer of mothers after TB
Obstetric fistulae, where young women have obstructed births resulting in incontinence, is common
26% have access to prenatal care (1996); only 8% have access to family planning services
1/5 of Ethiopian children die before age 5 - diarrhea, measles, respiratory infections, malaria.
1.8 million children will become orphans by 2010 due to AIDS
Ethiopia has 10% of the world's HIV
1/14 Ethiopian adults have HIV and of ages 15-24, 12% of females and 7.5% of males have HIV.
The capitol, Addis Ababa, has a 17% HIV infection rate. For sex workers the rate is 54%
17 million are expected to have died from AIDs in Ethiopia by 2001
While the age for marriage is legally 15 for females, girls as young as 9 are subjected to arranged marriages.
Femal Genital Mutilation has been performed on 73% of Ethiopian women (1997), although the practise is prohibited. Infibulation is the most common form, leading to obstructed labor and the high mortality rate for women 14-19 years old.
In the News....
Unfair Trade
The severe hunger and poverty in Ethiopia have been caused partly by debt and drought but also by unfair trade. Ethiopia relies on foreign sales of its coffee crop for two thirds of its income. In the past three years world coffee prices for farmers have fallen by 50% and yet giant coffee companies like Nestle continue to make handsome profits.