Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter Speaks to Journalists

Addis Ababa (U.S. Embassy) -- Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter held a press conference with Minister of Health Tewodros Adhanom on Tuesday, February 13 in Addis Ababa. President Carter had just returned from a visit to Afeta, a community of 7,500 people in the Jimma Zone, where he distributed long-lasting insecticide-impregnated bed nets. The symbolic action was part of a new malaria control initiative in Ethiopia by the Carter Center. Malaria is Ethiopia’s single largest cause of death.

“Malaria preys on Ethiopia’s youth, destroying lives and jeopardizing the country’s future,” said President Carter. “It is our goal to help provide long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets, free of charge, to all members of at-risk communities to help put a stop to the needless deaths caused by this mosquito-transmitted disease.”

To help the Ethiopia Ministry of Health in its goal to protect 50 million Ethiopians at risk for malaria with long-lasting insecticide-treated nets by July 2007, The Carter Center purchased 3 million bed nets to contribute to the total 20 million bed nets that are needed to accomplish this goal. The Carter Center will assist in the distribution of nets and in health education programs to help protect 18 million men, women, and children in more than 100 districts (woredas) and several hundred Kebeles in malaria-prone areas. Distribution of these long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets began in January 2007. The same community-based networks which were established for river blindness and trachoma control programs in Ethiopia funded through The Carter Center are being used for the malaria control initiative.

The Carter Center’s work in Ethiopia has been extremely diverse, involving disease control and eradication programs for river blindness and trachoma, agriculture and food security development programs, conflict mediation, health education and training, elections monitoring, and the promotion of human rights. During his visit, to Ethiopia President Carter also attended a conference of the Ethiopian Public Health Training Initiative in Addis Ababa. This conference was held to illustrate the outstanding effect the program has had in helping Ethiopia meet its growing need for trained health care workers.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Ethiopia has supported the Carter Center with $12 million in funding for the Ethiopian Public Health Training Initiative, which has trained health care professionals such as Health Extension Workers, laboratory technicians, nurses, and environmental sanitation experts. USAID also worked with the Carter Center in their response to the 2006 flood emergency in Ethiopia.

Mark Your Calendar! Children's Festival - April 21, 2007

The excitement is building around the Ethiopian Children's Festival that will be held on Saturday, April 21, 2007 in Washington, D.C.

Mark your Calendar and plan for a day of fun.

Music, games, contests, food, entertainment: it will all be there in one location! It will be exciting!

Look for more information regarding this event on the Zethiopia Blog Site and the Zethiopia Newspaper.

Take One Book: Literacy Campaign for Ethiopia

There has been an overwhelmingly positive response to the literacy campaign that has been launched by EthiopiaReads.org and Zethiopia for the year 2007.

Ethiopia Reads, founded in 2003, has a mission to improve literacy and create a culture of reading in Ethiopia. Ethiopia Reads does this by planting libraries and publishing books in local languages. To reinforce the core program of Ethiopia Reads, they are offering continuing education programs to help educators in Ethiopia nurture a love of reading.

Since Ethiopia Reads opened Ethiopia’s first free children’s library in 2003, thousands of children have experienced the joy of reading, they logged 60,000 visits to the library in 2006. Ethiopia Reads sees first hand the difference that one library, one book, and one story can make in the life of a child.

The commitment of the volunteers and supporters of Ethiopia Reads, and the vision of it's founder, Yohannes Gebregiorgis, has created a new level of excitement about learning, reading, and empowerment through education in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia Reads and Zethiopia are now partnered in challenging the community to stand behind Ethiopia Reads projects and to support their goals and mission.

If you or someone you know is traveling to Ethiopia during 2007, Zethiopia and Ethiopia Reads challenge you to TAKE ONE BOOK with you, because we believe that education is hope and books can change lives. Books can be dropped off at Shola Children’s Library in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Shola Library is located in Beklo-bet, behind the Dashen Bank off of Debre Zeit road.

If you aren't traveling and would like to donate books to Ethiopia Reads in the U.S., there are currently two book drives taking place in the Greater Washington D.C. Metro area.

For more information on the TAKE ONE BOOK campaign, please contact Catie Dupont at ethiopiareads@aol.com. For additional information regarding Ethiopia Reads and how you can help their mission, please visit www.ethiopiareads.org.

(Would you like to donate books, but are unsure what is best? Any books, fiction or non, with African or Ethiopian themes are greatly appreciated. Non-fiction books, such as the DK books, that have specific themes like the Ocean, Dinosaurs, the Human Body, Animals, are favorites of the children who visit the libraries.)

WILL YOU TAKE ONE BOOK?

A special note of thanks to the SEED Public Charter School students who have spear headed the book drive in the D.C. Metro area.

Five Britons kidnapped in Ethiopia's 'land of death'

By Cahal Milmo
3 March 2007

Five Britons including diplomats and embassy staff were among 15 Western tourists being held by kidnappers in a remote corner of Ethiopia dubbed the "land of death" because of its extreme climate.

The Britons, who have links to the British embassy in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, were in one of two convoys intercepted on Wednesday in the barren Afar region close to the border with Eritrea, which is roamed by separatist rebels and bandits.

Whitehall sources said last night that there was a "national security dimension" to the kidnappings and that the government's emergency committee, Cobra, had met over the incident.

The second group, comprising between seven and 12 French citizens, was believed to be being held by the same kidnap gang after both convoys were stopped in the Danakil Depression, a spectacular desert bowl that contains the lowest point in Africa more than 500 metres below sea level.

A television crew working in the area which had been out of touch for more than 24 hours last night returned to safety, leading to incorrect reports that the French group had been released unharmed.

The Foreign Office said it was investigating the disappearance of the Britons but said the details still remained sketchy around the circumstances of how they were taken. Under Ethiopian government rules for tourists, all groups of visitors to Afar, in the north east of the country, have to be accompanied by at least two armed guards.

Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, said the British group consisted of embassy staff and their relatives and an emergency team had been sent from London to handle the crisis. She said Britain was working with the Ethiopian authorities who are "doing all they can to ensure that the situation is resolved peacefully". Whitehall sources underlined that situation was uncertain and potentially perilous. Dalol, the village where the kidnappings took place, is on the border with Eritrea, which has a fraught relationship with Ethiopia. The border is frequently the scene of clashes between armed groups and security forces.

One of those kidnapped was named as Rossanna Moore, the Italian-born wife of Michael Moore, the director of the British Council in Addis Ababa, which deals with cultural relations. The others are thought to be middle-ranking officials with the diplomatic service and the Department for International Development.

The British group was on a long-planned trekking trip to the spectacular salt mines in Dalol, which have become an increasing attraction for intrepid travellers in recent years. Several tour organisations have sprung up offering guided visits to the Danakil Depression in off-road vehicles. The region, which is of huge geological and archaeological significance after three-million-year-old fossils of human ancestors' remains were found in, is one of the most hostile environments on the planet.

The average temperature is 34C and the daytime heat can reach 45C. It is often wracked by volcanic eruptions and earth tremors. The renowned 20th century British explorer Wilfred Thesiger described it as a "veritable land of death".

It was unclear whether the tourists had fallen foul of a criminal kidnap group or Afar separatists who have been fighting a low-level campaign against the Ethiopian government for an autonomous state straddling territory in Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti.

The two groups are thought to have travelled on Sunday by road to Makele, the principal town in Afar, some 500 miles north east of Addis Ababa. They then travelled with their tour agency, Origins Ethiopia, to Hamedali, a remote village that was to act as a base. Each group was travelling in two off-road vehicles, accompanied by a guide, a cook and two armed guards.

According to reports, one of the tourists in the French group managed to escape the kidnappers and flagged down another tourist party and used a satellite phone to alert the authorities.

Stephane Gompertz, the French ambassador in Addis Ababa, said: "A kidnapping or kidnappings did take place. It seems that the incident or incidents happened two days ago. We don't know which group may be involved or why they have done this."

The crisis is a blow to the Ethiopian government's attempts to boost tourism. The Foreign Office said yesterday it was advising against all travel to Afar.

Now Available at Zethiopia - Silly Mammo

Silly Mammo is the retelling of a traditional Ethiopian folk tale written by Yohannes Gebregeorgis and published by African Sun Publishing. The text of the picture book is in Amharic and English.

Silly Mammo is the first bilingual English/Amharic children's book. The illustrations are done by Bogale Belachew, an Ethiopian artist.

Silly Mammo is available for $10.00 + $4.95 Shipping and Handling.

A portion of the sale of this book will benefit EthiopiaReads.org.

To place an order, please contact dereje@zethiopia.com.

Now Available at Zethiopia - Water Hole Waiting by Jane and Chris Kurtz

Water Hole Waiting, Hardcover Book, New, by Jane Kurtz and Christopher Kurtz

From the bookflap: "It's a hot day on the savanna. The sun sizzles, bristles, and bakes. A young monkey wants to drink at the water hole. But wait! Blocking the way are irritable hippos, sharp-hoofed zebras, a toothy lion, huge elephants, and a lurking crocodile. Will Monkey ever get to taste cool water? Why is waiting so hard?"

Annotation from the publisher: "Waiting is hard. And if you are a small vervet monkey with a big thirst, it's even harder. But wait you must, because snap! go Crocodile's jaws; slip, slap go Lion's powerful paws; thrum, thrum go the rumbling elephants...Water holes on the African savanna are popular places. Will Monkey and his family ever get to drink? Take this unforgettable (and noisy!) armchair safari and find out! It's the perfect book for animal lovers, and Lee Christiansen's lush and expressive pastel portraits of the animals take you right to the water hole. Also includes an informative authors' note on the facts behind the fiction.

Available through Zethiopia for $16.00 plus $4.95 shipping and handling. A portion of the sale of this book will benefit EthiopiaReads.org.

To order your copy now, contact dereje@zethiopia.com.

Now Available from Zethiopia - Only a Pigeon, by Chris and Jane Kurtz.

Only a Pigeon, by Christopher Kurtz and Jane Kurtz - Hardcover

Only a Pigeon was awarded the Parents' Choice Gold Award -- the award is "a distinguished and coveted award" and a "wonderful honor." Parents' Choice is a nonprofit consumer guide to children's toys, books, software, video, and magazines that has been dedicated to helping parents select great products for their children since 1978. In 1997, about 1000 publishers and companies participated in the Parents' Choice awards competition.

A reviewer wrote that the book was, "A low-key, compelling story about an Ethiopian boy who raises homing pigeons. Readers accompany the 12 or 13-year-old Andualem as he tends his brood, protecting them from attack by a mongoose or stray cat. His is a circumscribed life, but we enter it willingly, sharing its perils and triumphs. E.B. Lewis's tender watercolors transport us to Addis Ababa, with its tin-roofed houses; and muddy streets. Both authors grew up in Ethiopia, and the artist traveled there to assure the authentic flavor of his pictures.

Available for $16.00 + $4.95 Shipping and Handling. Order your copy now, this book is no longer in print and we have limited copies.

A portion of the sale of this book will benefit EthiopiaReads.org.

Contact dereje@zethiopia.com to place your order!

Now available from Zethiopia - Saba, Under the Hyena's Foot by Jane Kurtz

Saba, Under the Hyena's Foot, by Jane Kurtz - Soft cover book - BRAND NEW

Quoted from the book flap: "When twelve-year-old Saba and her older brother are kidnapped and taken from their rural home to the royal palace at Gondar, Saba finally learns about her long-lost parents--and her own royal past. With Ethiopia's rulers in the midst of a fierce strugle for control of the throne, what can the King of Kings--Emperor Yohannes II--possibly want with her."

Available from Zethiopia $7.00 + $4.95 shipping and handling. A portion of the sale of this book will benefit EthiopiaReads.org.

Contact dereje@zethiopia.com for more information.

Clever Mimi - Children's Book by Alem Bantayehu

Clever Mimi, by Alem Bantayehu, is a light-hearted story based on the Ethiopian folktale, Silly Mammo. This a warm story about Clever Mimi, who convinces her mother that she needs keremela.

The illustrations are bright, eye-catching, and sure to entertain the young reader. This 28 page book is published in English and is for an audience age 4-8, although this 36 year old enjoyed the story.

The author, Alem Bantayehu, was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. As a young child she lived in Mexico, Kenya, and Zimbabwe. Ms. Bantayehu received her higher education in the United States, attending college in Virginia and obtaining an MBA from prestigious Georgetown University. She now resides in the United States with her husband and two small children.

This book is available for purchase on Amazon.com.