Media in Ethiopia III: Exploiting the potential

Critical Mass
“The long learning curve”, concluded with a reminder of the language and cultural barriers impeding meaningful exchange of product and experience between Ethiopian and other African media. However, this relative uniqueness of Ethiopia should not be an to domestic media development but rather a valuable asset. Depending on the reference source quoted, Ethiopia has anywhere between a conservative estimate of 77 million to as many as 85 million citizens. This is a huge potential audience, viewer and readership base and will most surly double in less than 25 years. Ethiopian media therefore, can blossom and develop into a powerful industry with such a vast target population to exploit. To bring this reality into perspective, if radio density in Ethiopia were at the level of the in the United States, there would have been up to 2500 radio stations in our country.
Treat the youth right
Nearly half (43.4%) of Ethiopia’s population is below 15 years of age. It can be said in all truth that one of the oldest nations in the world is also one of its youngest. Of course this poses policy makers and society with daunting challenges in meeting the huge emerging demand for goods and services. However, such a youthful population is also a national asset that is the envy of many developed nations who are worried about zero even negative birthrates.
Ethiopian media, like all other spheres of social, political and economic life, in our nation exists in a conducive and fertile demographic reality. Up to very recently a high school centered initiative popularly known as “mini-media” was going quite strong and not a few of our reputed media workers testify that it was an experience which directed them to the profession of journalism. Although this initiative to foster amateur journalism through extra-curricular, school sponsored media clubs has not completely ground to a halt, the momentum seems to have been lost as only a handful of high schools maintain the program. In this respect, I commend the efforts exerted by radio fana in promoting and supporting surviving mini-media. As schools are the best breeding ground for future talent, it is incumbent on Ethiopian media (as other actors). Should make efforts to sustainably support youth recruitment programs.
Economy matters
Vast and overwhelmingly youthful populations are not the only built in advantages on which Ethiopian media can develop firm foundations. Ethiopia’s economy is growing, actually booming, at 10 plus percent yearly and this vibrant atmosphere makes for the best conditions for any emerging sector, let alone media, which is at the forefront of the economy-and if at all possible, perhaps even a little quicker……..
Observe, Adapt, Create, Innovate, Disseminate
The Japanese are renowned for their talent of adeptly learning from others. They first observe a foreign product with express intent to adapt it to their particular vision of how best it could be copied and produced at less cost for sale at reasonable prices. After such a process, the Japanese apply their intuition and re-invent the wheel so to speak making improvements and innovations on now successful products. The final stage in the path toward global market domination is high quality- high volume production.
The Japanese model has been replicated in many countries and can also be applied (with heavy editing) to Ethiopia’s general economy and more relevantly to Ethiopian media which can register tremendous growth and emerge as a vibrant sector of national life if there was a systemic policy of emulating the experience of global media by adaptation, and an eventual ignition of creativity.

Amsale Balcha started up with a vision, her own hands and 10 young girls, teaching them about food preparation. Today, she runs a small community centre for 25 women, where they are taught additional skills, such as family and penalty laws, self-assertiveness and self-defense. And the teaching is free!

St-Marry’s Community Development:
Cooking and confidence

By Tormod Nuland

“I used to teach cooking at a college around Bole, to students who never made use of their skills. But they could afford to pay 270 birr for a training. So I started to think that there were a lot of other ladies who really needed learning how to cook for a living, but who never could afford it. That is how it all began,” says Amsale Balcha, leader of the St.Marry’s Community.
From a small house between Siddist Kilo and Shiro Meda, she is reaching out to young women in poor sub-cities of Addis Ababa, teaching them how to earn a living, but also how to develop confidence and learn about their rights. Amsale does the cooking-bit herself, but through support from Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), gender relevant skills and self-assertiveness like Taekwondo has been included on the schedule.
Gender issues are often taught at workshops in hotels around Ethiopia in abstract and illusive ways. But in this particular training, the aim has been to link the terms with the participants life, including their own experiences from family and local environment.
“Before, I though that gender was the same as sex; the nature-given differences between women and men. But now I understand that we can and have the right to be and to do just as much as men. I have told this to my family, but whereas my sisters completely agree, my brothers are reluctant to accept the thought,” says one of the women.
Laws and legislation is another important issue on the agenda. Ethiopia is a country with huge problems related to abuse of women and violations of their rights. Although there are laws in place to secure equal, fair treatment as well as protection from abuse, there is a difficulty in implementing them. Knowledge about rights is scarce, and when taught about the laws in the lectures, participants recognize things they have seen and experienced as crimes. Besides rampant abuse and maltreatment, forced marriages is another major challenge in Ethiopia, often at a very early age. “ We didn’t know that there was an age limit for marriages”, says some of the women in the group.
Besides laws protecting women’s rights, they are also taught domestic workers rights. After all, they are here to learn how to cook for earning a living, and many employees in hotels, cafes and homes are being denied what the laws say they are entitled to- like the right to sign a contract when entering a job. Again, this is virtually unknown among the people at the course.
Another important part is informing them about the challenges they might face if they want to go abroad for work. A large number of Ethiopian women work as domestic servants in other countries, and suffer abuse and exploitation. There is also the danger of trafficking. Some of the women say that the course has made them think twice about going abroad, and that they would rather stay in their home country.
There is another component in the course, namely the noble art of self defense- Tae-kwondo! The participants have had ten lectures in this Korean form of martial arts, and they all like it immensely. “My sisters were so jealous of me,” says one of the girls. When they train Tae-kwondo, they dress up in a way that encapsulates the essence of the program; both cooking and confidence. The bottom of the outfit is a normal pair of tracksuit pants, but the top is the jacket they use for cooking! The self-defense aspect of the training is important, but so is the building of confidence and discipline. As one of the girls puts it: “Through this, we can become a full person!”
Norwegian People’s Aid has financed the training. In addition, St. Marry’s kitchen has also been “re-fitted” with support from NPA, enabling the small foundation to buy better equipment.
“These days, gender issues are often discussed in visionary plans of action, forums, workshops, on paper and in seminars. NPA’s point of departure is not a plan of action, but the actual lives of women. We wish to strengthen those organizations who are working directly and practically with women. We identify smaller NGOs who in practice fight for women’s rights. Providing skills training, credit or shelter can change many women’s lives. In addition, simple training about life skills, knowledge about the laws that are relevant to them, self assertiveness and self defense can make a real difference in the lives of these women,” says Ms. Kjersti Berre, resident representative of Norwegian People’s Aid in Addis Ababa.
Amsale Balcha wants to continue teaching young girls how to earn a living, and how to develop their confidence. She might be teaching girls how to make money, but the thought behind is far more than that. At the end, she puts it like this: “What I am doing is not business, but empowerment.”

Sensory Attack

Welcome to the fifth and final edition of “Sensory Attack”, a fortnightly series focusing on everyday irritants that assault the five sensory organs in the hustle and bustle of urban life. The sense of Touch concludes “Sensory Attack” and at this point, I would like to thank the many readers who phoned in, e-mailed and even dropped by to offer their comments and critical review.

Can I touch you…………
Michael Bolton knows a thing or two about touch. His late 90’s hit Can I touch you there? touched millions of hearts with its powerful lyrics. Aside from pop music, the sense of touch is taken for granted and is not as glamorous as the senses of sight, smell, taste and hearing.

However, medical research has confirmed that the sense of touch is the first of the senses to develop and can actually be fully operative several months before birth, depending on conditions in the womb. The sense of touch (also commonly called feeling, texture etc) is the first form of mother to child communication when the moving fetus brushes the walls of the womb-to the delight of the mother-to-be. The sense of touch has a powerful link with the emotions- it is a medium, if you will, of all emotive reactions and by the way, is the largest sensory organ of the five because our whole body, internal and external, is part of the biological mechanism and primed to be sensitive to touch.

How exactly do we feel?
Touch is literally touch sensitive. The sensation of having touched or been touched by someone or something is activated by the sense itself. Confused? Let’s give way for science to explain how this works as it is daunting to a lay person: The sense of touch is triggered by highly sensitive neurons that respond to any pressure that causes a deformation of the plasma membrane. In humans, these receptors are found beneath the skin in the form of nerve endings.

This is a complex system as each nerve ending is responsible for a particular kind of “touch –sensation.”

To ensure maximum response, specialized sensory cells called Barorecepters increase sensitivity by monitoring fluctuations in blood pressure inside each blood vessel.

The four most reactive areas on the human body are the fingertips, eyes, lips nipples and the genitalia. In general though, sensitivity to touch is greater in areas of skin with hair growth.

It is interesting that nerve endings related with the sense of touch are located in respect to importance of purpose. For example, since the human body requires a certain amount of warmth and therefore has a correspondingly lower threshold of cold, the receptors that detect cold are found closer to the surface of the skin than heat receptors which are embedded in deeper skin layers.

For some reason, most people associate the hands as being the primary component of our body responsible for the sense of touch. The truth is, touch is sensed by our skin and its underlying biological structure. As skin pretty much envelops the entire body, if we are to assign a specific organ to the sense of touch it should be skin. Keep in mind however that internal organs also sense touch.

Human skin is a remarkable piece of Gods’ work. Besides serving as an attractive container for our sundry parts, the skin is also an air conditioner, a sensory organ, protective cladding and an early warning system, among dozens of other complex functions. As far as it concerns our topic, the factors that can dampen, heighten, or even obliterate the sense of touch are mainly sin disorders aggravated by pollution and skin compromised infectious conditions such as viral disease, extreme exposure to cold, heat, rain, sun and wind and Eczema.

Eczema
Eczema is a large group of related conditions that results in the skin becoming irritated. The most pervasive type of Eczema is known as atopic dermatitis. This condition causes the skin to swell (dermatitis). The adjective atopic refers to the dual nature of certain infections which are caused by both hereditary and environmental factors. Persons who carry a hereditary trait for eczema will suffer more from urban pollution relative to those who don’t. The best way to control atopic determatitis is to minimize exposure to direct sunlight. The skin should be kept well moisturized as dry skin aggravates the disorder.

The new improved Bush II

By Tesfu Telahoun

A world tamed by democracy and decent human value systems forms the bedrock of what critics call the ‘neo-conservatist’; right wing agenda of the Bush White House. More sympathetic observers would put it in less strident voice but then would be at a loss to find a proper term for the rather unsophisticated ideology that drives George Bush, his inner circle and the traditional spectrum of the Republican Party. So in the absence of an adequate term I have taken the liberty of calling it the “Bush Doctrine”. And while it may not sound as lasting a philosophy as the Monroe Doctrine, time will most likely confirm that the Bush Doctrine may well have set the tone for several decades to come.
Despite the heated, often low-brow anti-bush rhetoric of the last seven years, President Bush has registered significant achievements both domestically and on the international front. Though too many to cite in this brief space, the following stand out to remain lasting legacies of the Bush administration.

Homeland security
Following the cowardly attacks of September 11, 2001; ensuring that another such below the belt blow will never again occur on U.S. soil was foremost on the Bush agenda. To the chagrin of dedicated Bush bashers and his implacable foes in the terrorist networks, the United States is today safer than it has ever been. Not a single act of foreign led terrorism has taken place and dozens of plots to perpetrate mass murder have been foiled by sheer grit, U.S. technology and a lot of soul searching over constitutional rights. The U.S is not only secure, but has turned the corner in the war on terror. Assuring homeland security is a significant achievement on the domestic front and one that was accomplished only with a leader as determined and steadfast as George W. Bush.

Iraq
The international arena as mentioned in last week’s article had been the Achilles heel in an otherwise strong and consistent administration, with Iraq threatening to emerge as another Vietnam. It had seemed that getting good news out of Baghdad was as remote as expecting Putin to convert to liberal democracy.
However, the winds of politics shift radically and rapidly, and today, the Iraqi people have effectively kicked out Al-Quaeda in Iraq (AQI) and violence is down over 80%. Finally, the White House could turn on news of Iraq and not cringe as the days death tally of American soldiers and Iraqi forces and civilians dominated the airwaves. Iraq is still far from being stable and bombs are still too common. There are many who say that the surge has not worked and that the U.S. shouldn’t feel complacent at all. What does the president think?
“To the people of Iraq.” You have made your choice for democracy and you have stood firm in the face of terrible acts of murder. The terrorists and extremists are haunted by the sight of an elderly man voting or a young girl going to school because they know that a successful democracy is a mortal threat to their ambitions. The United States is fighting side by side with Suni, with Shia with Kurd to root out the terrorists and extremists. We have dealt them serious blows and the United States will continue to support you as you build the institutions of a free society. Together, we will defeat our common enemies.
To the people of Iran; you are rich in culture, in talent. You have a right live under a government that listens to your wishes, that respects your talents and allows you to build better lives for your families. Unfortunately your government denies you those opportunities and threatens the peace and stability of your neighbors. So we call on the regime in Tehran to heed your will and make itself accountable to you. The day will come when the people of Iran have a government that embraces liberty and justice. When Iran joins the community of free nations; when that big day comes; you will have no better friend than the United States of America.
And for the view of the point man in Iraq, General David Petraeus recently told journalists “People keep asking me if we have reached a turning point in Iraq. We’ll probably realize that we passed a turning point six months after we reach it.”

Two states solution with in 2008
Bringing reconciliation to the holy land
After assuring the security of the homeland, and the significant improvements being registered in Iraq, the robust re-engagement of the United States in leading the quest for lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians as represented by Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian Authority, reflects another aspect of the new improved world view of George W. Bush.
In the keynote address of his tour to the Middle East, the president appeared to the regions leadership to assist in finding a two state solution to the historic Israel- Palestine issue. Next week- Peace in the Holy land