AWRA AMBA: ONE MAN'S MODEL FOR A JUST SOCIETY

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- Picture of the Day
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Democratic Uncertainty in Ethiopia (Report/Study by Lahra Smith, professor at Georgetown University, for The United States Institute of Peace, USIP)
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AWRA AMBA, ETHIOPIA - He can't read or write, but Zumra Nuru created a society that would have made Karl Marx proud. The 60-year-old Ethiopian farmer founded and cochairs Awra Amba, a commune where men cook, women plow, and religion has no place.

His inspiration came from his childhood: He was sent to the fields instead of to school and beaten for eating meat at his Christian neighbor's home.His mother had to work much more than his father.

"It made me sad," says Mr. Nuru. "When I asked my parents about it ... they acted as if I were foolish."

In the 1980s, Nuru finally launched the egalitarian society he dreamed of with 19 other people who adopted his vision. Today Awra Amba has some 400 members and is lauded as a model to alleviate poverty and promote gender equality in a country where women generally hold a subservient status to men.

The experimental community first came to national awareness when Nuru gave an interview on national television a few years ago. Since then numerous camera crews have driven out to the northern village. They are not alone.(MORE...)

Also:
-Enjoy Ahmed Teshome's amharic single - 'AWRA AMBA' (Music)

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TWO ANTI POVERTY CAMPAIGNERS REMAIN IN ETHIOPIAN PRISON

Two civil society activists, Daniel Bekele, 40, of ActionAid Ethiopia and Netsanet Demissie, 29, of the Organisation for Social Justice in Ethiopia, remain in prison in Addis Ababa despite the release of 31 opposition supporters.(More...)

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Today's Top HEADLINES^Updated

-FREED ETHIOPIANS DESCRIBE THREATS (Washigton Post)
-Chancellor Merkel to visit Ethiopia (Capital)
-PM Meles’s Interview with Dimtse Woyane radio(ethiomedia)
-Statement on the Ogaden (Civic, media organizations)
-Preventable diseases kill 300000 children in Ethiopia (UNICEF)
-Expelled Eritreans seek damages from Ethiopia
-Eritrea says U.S. must change policy in Horn of Africa
-Mogadishu blast wounds four near peace talks venue
-Will AFRICOM be an Impetus for Changing US-Africa Trade Policies? (Analysis)
-TOP STORIES FROM LAST WEEK (The Week in review)

INTERNATIONAL NEWS^Updated

-Gaddafi son unveils reform plan
-Obama Calls for End of Cuba Embargo
-U.S. academic held in Iran freed on bail
-EU agrees to resume fuel supply to Gaza
-Anger At Plight Of 181 Miners In China
-Greatest Mysteries: Where is the Rest of the Universe?
-5,000-year-old piece of chewing gum discovered

Picture of the Day

(Asegedech Asefa, the First Ethiopian Woman pilot)
The First Ethiopian Woman pilot Asegedech Asefa, in an interview with Talk Show host Nigist Abate, shares incredible experiences from her fascinating life as a pioneer in the aviation field.

[Video] Asegedech: First Ethiopian Woman pilot




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