Sheba Azeb Zekiros

The artworks of Sheba Azeb Zekiros were exhibited at the Harvard Kennedy School during the Africa Week celebration from April 4 to April 12, 2009.

Ms. Zekiros’ artworks were accepted well by the gusts and the Africa Caucus at the Harvard Kennedy School that prepared the program.

Ms. Zekiros explains the experience as “encouraging and inspiring for me and will focus on creating more. I'm also honored by your letter and thank you for everything.”

Corvallis-Gondar: Sister Cities

The Corvallis-Gondar Sister Cities Week event will be held in Corvallis, OR from May 10-16.

The host organization of the event, the Corvallis-Gondar Sister Cities Association, is a non-profit organization in Oregon that was formed in 2004. According to the website, the organization aims to improve the quality of life for the citizens of Gondar, Ethiopia, by developing sustainable solutions to local community challenges.

Every year, the organization plans and presents Sister Cities Week activities and holds an annual membership meeting.

This year, Itsuhi Kawasi and Setegn Atenaw are some of the invited guests to the Sister Cities Week.

The city of Corvallis, Oregon has also forged a sisterhood with Uzhhorod, Ukraine.

For more information about the organization, visit http://www.sistercities.corvallis.or.us/

M.K. Asante Jr.

Langston Hughes Award - Last week, M.K. Asante Jr. was honored to receive the 2009 Langston Hughes Award from the Langston Hughes Society. Best Documentary at AWDFF –

This week, his latest film, The Black Candle, narrated by Maya Angelou, won the Best Documentary prize at the Africa World Documentary Film Festival.

Green Footwear

Just in time for the warmer weather comes stunning and sustainable footwear from Ethiopian soleRebels. The soleRebels Collective makes some of the most stylish and green footwear on the planet.

Started by Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu several years ago, the company has grown from a small operation to a major employer in an impoverished community of Addis Ababa.

The African company produces Ethiopia’s first Fair Trade certified footwear, the company also uses organic cotton and recycled tires in their handcrafted footwear.

The prolific eco-company makes a wide range of eco-shoes and sandals. You can purchase soleRebels via Urban Outfitters, Amazom.com or Endless.com.

Source: www.greenmuze.com

Chris Brown

Chris Brown was recently spotted shooting hoops in his home state of Virginia at the University of Mary Washington. A photo has surfaced on TMZ that shows Brown with the school's women's basketball team. In the photo, Brown is surrounded by smiling team members while he poses with his arms crossed and his head tilted back.

Source: www.mtv.com

We strongly believe abusing a person mentally, emotionally, or physically is wrong.

Seble Alem

Desta

SIGNAL MOUNTAIN, TN (WRCB)- Desta Bume's 11th grade classmates at Signal Mountain High School listen when he speaks. Occasionally he helps teach them Pre Calculus. The 17-year-old Ethiopian exchange student is attending the school thanks to host parents Jock and Megan Dunbar, who found Desta through the Cherokee Gives Back student exchange program.

Desta says, "Day to day, I help students in class, if there's something they don't understand, I try to help them."

Desta's help is much appreciated by junior classmates. He has earned their respect with his knowledge, his kindess and his work ethic. In addition to excelling in the classroom, he has emerged as the star of the school's cross-country team. He says the classroom facilities are similar in Ethiopia, but while his largest class at Signal Mountain is 28 students, his smallest in his home country is about 150...in the same size classroom. His high school in Ethiopia has about seven thousand students.

Wouter Dewet, a fellow junior says, "You can't help but be inspired, because he has so little, and has managed to do so much."

What Desta has done is rise to the top of his class in Ethiopia, at a school with 7,000 students, far removed from the luxurious surroundings of Signal Mountain. He had to work hard to support his family, walking several miles each day with no shoes until he was 14.

Classmate Tim Hatch said, When i heard his story, I felt like a complete jerk. I take everything for granted, and the things he went through, i can't even imagine."

His host family says Desta is enjoying the U.S. but it's their lives that are enriched. They smile when remembering his first visit to a pizza restaurant (his favorite food), a drive-through car wash, the beach, Atlanta, Nashville and the top of the Empire State Building in New York. Megan Dunbar says the family didn't expect to learn so much from an Ethiopian exchange student.

She says, "When you get into the program, you think about how much we can give this Third World student. But it's the exact opposite. It's how much we have learned from him.

Desta is completing his junior year at Signal Mountain, and must return to Ethiopia for his senior year. What happens after that?

Classmate Aaron Pierce says, "Well actually, I'd like to see him to go a really good college and become a surgeon."

Source: http://www.wrcbtv.com/Global/story.asp?s=10084964

Daggy D + Ras Kidus- Abran ymerbenal

Abeba and Tigest

Andargé Asfaw

By Hohete Arefeaine

I am pleased to announce that Washington area professional photographer, and my friend, Andargé Asfaw, will be bringing his traveling gallery exhibition Ethiopia From the Heart, to the Rouse Foundation Gallery at Howard Community College in Columbia, Maryland.
The exhibition reception, artist talk and book signing will take place March 19 from 6-8pm. The exhibition itself will run from March 5 - April 18. 2009.

In Ethiopia From the Heart, Andarge has captured Ethiopia’s quiet splendor and highlighted the country’s deep and abiding link to faith and culture. Deeply concerned that the Ethiopia resplendent in his photographs is rapidly disappearing, Andarge has committed to doing his share in working towards raising awareness of the degradation of
the environment, placing at risk the traditional livelihoods and cultures of his homeland, Ethiopia.

The belief that no-one person can do everything, but that each and every one of us has the power to do something characterizes Andarge’s work. Not only is his book, Ethiopia From the Heart, produced using post consumer materials where possible.

In addition, proceeds from each copy of Ethiopia from the Heart funds tree planting projects in Ethiopia. Through partnerships with Trees for the Future, Greener Ethiopia, Mission Green Earth and Ethiopian Airlines, Andarge is embarking on an exciting project that he will be sharing with us during his artist talk.

His goal for the coming year of planting up to 100,000 trees through this partnership, beginning with his mother’s village in Ethiopia, and of how each one of us can be a part of this legacy is one of the highlights of the evening.

I invite you to share an evening celebrating the works of Andarge Ethiopia from the Heart, and the ongoing mission of this powerful new partnership.

To find out about Andargé Asfaw visit www.ethiopiafromtheheart.com.

Earth Hour: Turn off lights

The District of Columbia will participate in Earth Hour 2009, a global event in which tens of millions of citizens, businesses and government leaders will turn off their lights to make a statement about the urgent need for action on climate change.

Beginning at 8:30 pm on March 28th, the District will turn off non-essential lighting on many buildings and landmarks, including four facilities owned by the District government. Emergency lighting will remain on as required by law and regulation.

More than 850 cities in 80 countries have committed to turning out for Earth Hour.

You should also turn off your home and office lights to preserve our beautiful earth for the future generation. By turning off lights around you, you will also get a brake form the daily light pollution.

Source: DC Government

Color photo of Earth from NASA