Rationality of selflessness

The world's richest man for over two decades, the most powerful individual at the pinnacle of a mighty, high-end industry, multi-millionaire maker, owner of his personal island….and blessed with all the prestige one can ever enjoy. These and more are the enviable achievements of Bill Gates but, they pale in comparison to how Gates and spouse Melinda, having attained what would seem to us as utter bliss, decided to give it all away. In fact, tomorrow, Bill Gates is officially retiring to devote the rest of his life on charitable works.
This sort of philanthropy is the greatest added value of wealth and of a life well-lived. Bill and Melinda Gates have inspired other mega rich people - Warren Buffet of BH, Gordon Moore of Intel and others to contribute their billions, even entrusting the philanthropic couple's foundation to manage the vast funds. Today, thanks to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation's funding and cooperation with other stakeholders including UN agencies, Rotary International and others; malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis are being dealt fatal blows, especially on the African continent.
In the Ethiopian context, we certainly do not have super wealthy people on a par with America's Bill Gates (Microsoft’s annual turnover is ten years value of Ethiopia's current exports.) and the tradition of philanthropy has not yet publicly engrained itself as not for only the humanistic duty it is but also as a sound component of good corporate citizenship. At this point, we commend, (as we have done in this space before) the exemplary role repeatedly and generously displayed by Sheik Mohammed Al-amoudi’s philanthropy. Among the most notable of his many philanthropic initiatives is the ETB 33 million forwarded to the nation's first Children's Cardiac Center. The project is well underway and soon, life threatening heart complications will not cause so many deaths among our children.
We chose to remind the public of the series of initiatives that led to the first ever, yet most modern children's cardiac center in order to raise another, equally vital and pioneering initiative that would literally spell the difference between life and a certain death to thousands of kidney patients who can not afford (who would!?) the up to 10,000 ETB required for a single month's regimen of dialysis treatment. This inspired initiative could not have come any sooner because according to the Ethiopian Kidney Association, more and more cases of kidney and hypertension related disorders are being recorded, especially in urban areas. Therefore, it is with the greatest enthusiasm that we extend our profound appreciation to Mr. Charalambos N.Tsimas, more popularly known as Mr. Bambis (of the namesake supermarket) who has not simply stated a goal-the establishment of a free of charge, nation's first, dedicated Dialysis Center-but has matched his commitment with ETB 1,000,000 to serve as seed money. Currently, he is mobilizing the diplomatic corps, expatriate communities and others to raise the sufficient funds required for not just the purchase of the expensive machines but importantly, to fund the operating costs of the proposed center. We wish Mr. Bambis the best of success and urge all to do their part, however modest or generously abundant, to help realize this important project.
The Ethiopian private sector is an untapped and virtually inexhaustible resource that can be a major factor for the multi-faceted changes required in order to eradicate the perpetual scourge of poverty.
The challenges facing this nation are too many to number, too complex in character, overly pervasive in nature and overwhelmingly linked to the entrenched levels of poverty. No government, however it may try, can ever have the human and material resources, not to mention time and adequately sweeping policies, to address the challenges. It is incumbent upon newly successful entrepreneurs and established business personalities to emulate initiatives such as the nation's first ever, and free of charge, Dialysis Treatment Center proposed by Mr. C.N. 'Bambis' Tsimas.
In need of private sector intervention and well within reach of the sector's capacity, are several potential areas of intervention such as activity toward a dedicated trauma victims center, senior citizen support structures and others. Most recently we commend the initiative of the AAU and Psychology Beyond Borders (PBB) which on June 17, 2008 jointly organized a workshop chaired by relevant professionals on the theme "raising trauma awareness among primary health workers". The workshop was a success and it is hoped that insights have been gleaned on psychological trauma induced by various causes, the treatment of the affected and best practice of experienced nations. It is such welcome developments that a conscientious private sector should monitor, "pick up the baton" and explore how best to galvanize personal and/or corporate resources.