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As I drive home in the evening after work and get closer to the neighbourhood and my residence, I can’t help but wonder what next surprise or shock will meet me on the way.
A few months ago, roads in the neighbourhood were broken open to allow for the placing of large sewage pipes. While that seems a good thing to do, the workers carrying out the job seem to have only one responsibility and that is to place the pipes. After the job was done, the unearthed selected materials were shovelled back into the open spaces. The roads were not brought back into their original state and became very poor passages indeed. Now that we have entered into the main rainy season, the roads are in an appalling state and difficult to negotiate by both pedestrians and vehicles. Only the young motorbike riders, who have joined city traffic over the past year or so, seem not to be troubled. In addition, a major road is being constructed, crossing the neighbourhood, causing all sorts of inconveniences, including undirected traffic diversions and unannounced irregular electricity and water supply interruptions. Two weeks or more without water is now more the rule than the exception. The past few weeks we also saw a flaw in solid waste collection. Normally the waste is collected manually from the residences by groups of young workers using a hand cart, who offload the waste bags at collection points for further removal. The waste is collected from the homes alright but never picked again from the collection points, where heaps of waste bags were left to the elements and street dogs, turning into serious health hazards. One such collection point is right in front of my home and next to a medical clinic. I don’t know exactly what went wrong in the system but somebody did not do their job, leaving entire neighbourhoods in a mess.
What we are witnessing is some of the fastest urbanisation taking place in Africa. Cities and towns throughout the continent, including Ethiopia face serious challenges of growth and management. There are issues of potential overcrowding, congestion, insufficient infrastructure and inadequate provision of services, which if not handled adequately will negatively affect social-economic development. Urban planning is therefore key, together with the capacity to organize cities, manage their growth and make them more efficient and sustainable.
There are good examples in terms of providing housing for families of various income groups and in terms of widening major roads and there are also examples where the expansion of infrastructures falls behind the exponentially increasing population numbers. Effective and efficient infrastructure will provide for the quality of life and enhance social and economic development.
We also see climate change causing more heavy rains and a rise in temperature threatening city life, causing flooding and health hazards. The sprawling buildings need to be constructed in a way to withstand earthquakes and tremors, while the sewage and drainage systems have to be able to allow a smooth outflow of storm water and liquid waste. There are real risks that need to be understood as well as the social, economic and financial consequences when the causes of risks are not mitigated effectively.
Shocks and stresses that cities endure include but are not limited to unprecedented growth, water scarcity, unemployment, floods, fires and traffic accidents.
To render cities habitable and more resilient it is important to understand the nature of any immediate threats to people and assets, as well as the dependencies and interdependencies of urban services and systems, which can cause disruption or failure or compound existing vulnerabilities.
A holistic rather than a sector approach is necessary to identify critical gaps or areas of weakness, followed by the planning and implementation of aligned actions and investments. If done effectively, this will help urban communities better able to withstand hazards that come their way.
I foresee a few challenges though, including coordination, capacity to deliver quality works and the need to include the people in the neighbourhood in the entire process. In terms of coordination we see a road being constructed, only to be broken up to lay down the sewage or water piping system. Closing it again leaves permanent marks in an otherwise new road. As far as the quality of public works is concerned we see roads made but without proper sidewalks endangering pedestrians and with gaping manholes on the side, which people fall in to and which get clogged by solid waste instead. As a result, we create health hazards instead of preventing them.
Finally, it is crucial we include the people who live in a neighbourhood in planning. Their opinion in the design of the neighbourhood matters, including green areas, playgrounds, location of schools and health centres, the kind of business and services, solid waste management etc.
Otherwise we will continue seeing the youngsters blocking the road on Sunday morning to play a game of football. Let us ensure inclusive urban development planning instead, so that cities can grow and go through their growing pains in a controlled manner instead of being suffocated in the process.

Ton Haverkort
ton.haverkort@gmail.com

Art of Ethiopia Aspiration or Affirmation

Arts and Culture

admin

July 23, 2018

“We consider it a matter of great importance to revise and develop the fine arts in Our country in a manner which will enable Our artists to combine the historical and traditional art of Ethiopia with the advantages of modern technical developments in the field.” H.I.M. Haile Selassie I
On July 23rd, the premier art school in Ethiopia, Addis Ababa University Ale School of Fine Art and Design (ASFAD) will enjoy its 60th year anniversary. That day in history, also the b-earthday of the art loving monarch, H.I.M. Emperor Haile Selassie I offered the following advice in the Art School’s inaugural speech. “We have established this institution because We consider it a matter of great importance to revise and develop the fine arts in Our country in a manner which will enable Our artists to combine the historical and traditional art of Ethiopia with the advantages of modern technical developments in the field.” And so they did.
ASFAD was the first university based art school on the continent to be established by Africans for Africans, as 1958 had a mere eight independent African countries. Realizing the significance of the art school and arts in general, The Emperor personally continued to visit and support the young budding Ethiopian art students for the decades of His reign. With his sentiments setting the tone for the trajectory of fine art out of Ethiopia, the School’s namesake and frankly the inspiration for the Majesty’s backing, Artist Alle Felege Selam, would live to see the school graduate hundreds of young aspiring artists. Consistent with the Majesty’s vision of the development of fine art, Ethiopia has produced some of the most outstanding yet underrated artists on the continent, in my opinion. The level of skills, vast array of media, cultural and contemporary content, and international representation at various international art fairs and biennales would make all Ethiopians feel proud. Yet we have much more to do to truly realize our full capacity in Fine Art.
Even with a handful of common Ethiopian household names including Gebre Kristos Desta, Laureate Afework Tekle, Eskinder Bogosian and Laureate Desta Hagos; we have yet to know the names of the other scores of artists over the decades who helped fulfill the aspiration of the founders and early visionaries of the art school. From the 1960’s to present, many of the exceptional graduates would also go on to receive higher education in fine art in Russia, Czechoslovakia, Cuba, USA, Germany, England and France. Upon returning home to Ethiopia, they pursued careers at their alma mater, in government offices, public and private commission for statues and murals and of course as studio artists. Most importantly, they would teach and mentor new generations of artists armed with the best international fine art education. That said, ASFAD has gone from providing diplomas in fine art to a range of degrees in five major departments including Industrial Design, Painting, Printmaking, Sculpture, Art Education. They also currently provide two graduate degree programs in Fine Art and Film Production, expanding the opportunities for artists to pursue education that subsequently opens up myriad career prospects.
The King who loved culture desired the development of an African country firmly positioned and recognized on the international art stage, affirming its past contributions and future potential stating, “The ancient paintings that are still to be seen in the great monasteries and churches of Ethiopia, and the carvings in wood and stone which have come down to us in the ruins of the ancient palaces, bear witness to the fact that the fine arts had attained a comparatively high degree of development even in very early times.”
So parents, when your talented children tell you they would like to pursue degrees in fine art, do not worry and do not consider it is any less valuable than a degree in higher education in Business, Engineering, Medicine or Law. Encourage their aspirations and affirm their God given gifts to create memorable and meaningful art works that will be historical markers of Ethiopia’s contributions to the world. So as we mark the 60th Anniversary of the Art School let us be inspired by the closing words of His Majesty’s opening speech of the art school. “As we have stated, time and time again, it is easy to begin but hard to finish, and We express on this occasion both our happiness at what we see here today, as well as Our strong hope to see this work which is now begun bearing fruit in the neat future.”

Dr. Desta Meghoo is a Jamaican born Creative Consultant and cultural promoter based in Ethiopia since 2005. She is also the Liaison to the African Union for the Ghana based, Diaspora African Forum.

Informal Essay Writing has to Thrive in Ethiopia

Society

July 23, 2018

Before the advent of ‘Social media’ platform opening access for informal essay authors, there were iconic figures who pioneered within the trends of informal essay writing in Ethiopia. As a typical genre of creative writing, one can easily find those informal writing so close to heart. In authoring Informal essay, the author seems at the lowest easy access to get the comprehension of the reader throughout the texts of the informal essay.
Thus far, our fair nation is not devoid of ‘real ambassadors’ of Informal Essay writing in Ethiopia. From the very beginning, the late Mesfin Habtemariam was cherished as the classic and notably pioneering in Informal writing. As for Mesfin “Ye Buna Bet Seiloch- to mean ‘The paints of pub’” “auda a’amet- to mean ‘Holiday’ and ‘Yelelit Dimtsoch -to mean ‘beeping in overnight” was dime enough to be domesticated as historic literary products under Ethiopia literary development. In their attribute, the irregular order and the seemingly nature to jumble the orderly fictional writing, indeed caught the intention of the reader. In several rounds of media documentary, Mesfin disclosed as to how he was provoked to author ‘auda a’amet’ ( to mean holiday). In his tale, he was inspired so suddenly in his exposure to attend on e of the Ethiopiaan Pass over festivity. And to his credit, the work was so descriptive to narrate the nitty gritty of how an Ethiopian household prided the rites of holiday celebration. Mesfin graciously uncovered the very sacred life of celebrating holiday in a rush cosmopolitan vibe.
Very recently, we find Bewketu Seyoum who has debatably reincarnated Informal Essay writing once again the literary soil while he wrote several episodes . The author contributed several articles under the column dubbed as Megbat ena Mewtat (to mean – ‘Exit in and Exit out’) whose protagonist – Muaz is known for critically observing the society. Thus, the protagonist-Muaz observes just from his waiter assignment where he comments on the character of many café visitors.
Also, Daniel Kibret also joined argumentative essay as showcased on various papers and non-fictions. Apparently, with such informal publication one can face with the personality and temperament of the authors. In our case, somebody may got Daniel as a very ‘opinionated’ person through a prism of his blog site, newspaper articles and a book containing collection of articles. Ever since his former articles appeared on the defunct ‘Addis Neger’ weekly Amharic paper, he nudged issues ranging from social incidents to outright political crisis.
Lately, the reflection and political memoire of the late Assefa Chabo was known to be too informal in ways of communicating the text of his narrative. Awhile his narration, he draws the words just like as he spoke a long story of his experience and mixing up the different episode. Interestingly, all what he wrote is keen for one’s hearts just like to hear a story from a big brother of a household.
On the other hand, we find ‘ Efrem Endale’ who sharpened his pen whose articles successively appeared for the past one and half decade on Addis Admas. The satiric style of his arguments created a different colorful identity for his publications. Though, the mood of his writing ends by hilarity, perhaps one can the argument as he shared it from his soul. He touched all current affairs to be commented
In sum, HOHE Awards contends that promoting ‘Informal Essay Writing’ as an important step on which it is part of promoting Ethiopian literary culture. We yearn to see many more Mesfin Habtemariam who delves into the folks of cosmopolitan festivity.

(This article is contributed by HOHE Awards. HOHE Awards started in 2017, is an annual award presented for an author of a distinguished book possessing notable literary merit and critical perspective and illuminating important contemporary issues)