The big lesson I learned from the Great Ethiopian Run

photo courtesy to @melmaclaine on Twitter.jpg

I never got myself ready for anything like I did for the first Great Ethiopian Run. I remember my dad used to bang my door at 6:00 AM. I would get up excited, change into my sportswear, and we used to run from Lideta all the way to Meskel Square and back. Of course, my dad would be walking fast, and I had to run to catch up with him.

Eventually, the Great Run became something I would just do for fun. I would get the tickets at a very last minute, after making sure how many of my friends were running, so that I would have more fun. I stopped exercising to get ready for it. I didn’t aim to get a medal or finish the race. The ‘Great Run’ became the ‘Great walk.’ I would just walk along with the group, chant with those who chant, even stop to see if there is any dance show on the way. Well I, along with my friends, just did it for fun.

At some point in my life, I realized my life has become just like the Great Run. I was running aimlessly, following the crowd, in a ‘luke warm’ state of life. Of course I had some sort of purpose, I took my work and relationships seriously, but I realized what ‘intentional living’ means and that it requires more than that.  

Intentional living is about knowing why you do what you do in every detail of your life. It is to be willing to step back and evaluate the things you are doing.

The Bible tells us that we should run the race of life in such a way as to get the price, to get a crown that will last forever. Everyone who competes in the game goes into strict training.  (1Cor 9: 24-27) Paul says, I don’t run like someone running aimlessly, No I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave…

2 Tim 2:3-7 “…not entangled in civilian affairs..”

Intentional living is questioning yourself, what one thing, if I did well all year would make the most remarkable impact on my life personally and professionally. 

Successful people practice intentional calendar control in their career, school, spirituality, health, learning travel and so on.

God was detailed and intentional in creating me, Psalm 139:13-18 tells that he intricately woven knitted me together in my mothers womb, I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” He was intentional in giving His only begotten son to die for me. He is intentional in letting me live, in letting me be in the place I am at right now and so much more. And I am created in His image!

When I go through my Bible in this mindset of, I realized Jesus, the apostles and the prophets... they were all intentional in their lifestyle.The Bible talks a lot about ‘making every effort…’ (2 Pet 1:3-15, Luke 13:24-25, 2 Pet 3:14). 80% of our results came from 20% of our efforts. Imagine how effective we would be if we exert more efforts? Being faithful to God requires being faithful to our life’s major roles.

Doing the same thing and expecting a different result is insanity. It is never too late to change, to start new and to be intentional. Make a list of things you need to do differently in your everyday life, if you really want to build up yourself, taking control of thought, spiritually grow in your walk with God, grow in your business or improve your grades.

I will soon start blogging detailed blog posts on intentional living; I hope this can get you thinking…

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

Glimpse of life part 4

Drawings by zerihun seyoum

I sometimes think that Ethiopia is the only place in the world, where people just start  conversations in public places, where all passengers in a taxi or bus talk on a certain subject, where anyone can ask for direction without feeling weird, where people who met in taxis (the minibuses) sometimes end up being good friends or dating...so forth! 

For instance let me give you two examples from yesterday and today and what happened in the taxis I took in similar times, going back home;

Yesterday-  a famous song was playing in the taxi by Tilahun Gessesse, 'japanwan wedejae' by a young girl who was a finalist on Idle show, last year. So this young girl is singing the song by Tilahun, a male singer about how a man fall in love with a Japanese woman. There is no change done to the lyrics to fit to a girl singer. I didn't actually notice this till two guys from the back seat laughed out loud saying, 'she is saying, she is in love with a Japanese girl. .how funny.' Then a woman who sounds so irritated by the guys start defending the girl, 'it is not funny, she has a good voice, which is what matters, and she is a young girl how can you laugh?' The guys kept explaining how funny it sounds, and that it is not actually the young singer's fault but the producers choice of music that was wrong...' The woman also kept explaining what a nice voice the girl has...' They kept arguing, they were loud enough for everyone to hear. The woman was so defensive and didn't actually listen to what the guys were saying to the point I feel that the singer could be her little sister. Some passengers gave their comments too...the argument continues till they all get off the taxi and go their own ways. 

Today- it was a bit late. The taxi was full. It was quite normal environment till the last guy entered. The weyala (the guy who calls out where the taxi is going and collects money from passengers) was telling every passenger that, 'the price is 5 birr.' The normal price is 3:00 birr but it is common to pay 5 Birr when it is late. So everyone agreed except this guy who entered last. I call him the deviant. 'No!! The price is 3:00 birr I am only paying 3:00.' The 'weyala' told him to get off the taxi if he doesn't agree, he however refused and kept arguing, then they start insulting each other... Everyone starts to give his/ her comment on the matter… the guy said 'everyone can get off the taxi, ' አራግፍ ከፈለክ!, am not paying!!'

The temperamental man:- Through all this there was this guy in the third row. He got so upset all of the sudden and got up to fight with the guy who said he will not be paying 5:00 Birr. Imagine, he is just a passenger willing to fight and he is shorter, younger...

The peace maker:- I wonder what our world would be like if not for these kind of people. He is a tall guy, doesn't speak loud, and doesn't say much but say what matters. Every time the temperamental guy got up to fight he said something softly to him and made him sit back. He just kept gesturing with his hands to let the tempered guy sit back and calm down. 

Then the deviant takes out 3:00 Birr from his pocket and said, ‘this is all I have got and this is all I am paying!'

Everyone then murmured ' why didn't you say that at first, it is okay if you don't have money.'

Then we started going but the deviant didn't stop complaining about the 5 birr, and how the ‘weyala’ disrespected him.

The Gurage lady- I was sitting at the back and this woman sat beside me, she looks older than all of us, she wore a scarf and 'diriya.' She has the typical Gurage accent and she is loud. So keep imagining the accent when I tell you what she was saying. 

When the deviant said 3 birr is all he got, she said,'አሃ!! እኔም 3 ብር ነው ያለኝ! እስገባኝ የለኝም አልኩ ለወያላ!  አስገባኝ!  ለምን አንተ ትበጠብጣለህ! ,' I also have only 3 Birr, I told the ‘Weyala’ that is all I have got, he said okay...'

The solution girls:- there were two young girls in the third row.  I call them the solution girls because they offered to pay for the deviant guy. But that turned out to annoy him more. He said, ' I have kids to feed, I carry cement all day to meet my needs. I work hard to earn money, and you all argue I should pay, comparing me with yourself. I can't! You can! And you a 13 year old girl (she could actually be 25) who are you to offer to pay for me? 'I really thought what he was saying makes sense!

He just keeps complaining though, then he asked the ‘weyala’ to turn the light on, he tries it himself and saw it doesn't work. He said, 'their light doesn't work, their car doesn't work, their mind doesn't work!'

I started to realize that he was actually drunk! 

Then the driver, who was murmuring the whole time pulled the car aside, said 'he is disturbing me! I can't drive!!' He jumps out of the car so angry and come to pull the guy out of the car. 

Here acts the peace maker, he jumps of the car, put his huge arm over the drivers shoulder, whispered something in his ears, walks him back to his driver’s seat, got back to his seat and we started moving again. 

The cheer leader: cheer leaders are never part of the game but they give energy to the players to keep playing; either positive or negative energy. The cheer leader of all this sat on my left side. He doesn't have a stand; he is a kind of guy who speaks anything that comes to his mind. At first he was speaking out loud that the guy should be dragged out of the taxi. He keeps commenting irrelevant things the whole time. He even got so evil, at one point when he said, this guy should be slaughtered, he is stupid....'The gurage woman responded, ' አረ በልደታ አንተ ምን ነው ምታወራ!

Problem avoider: that would be me. I just can't stand all this, I hear myself complaining out loud, ' ok let's go now, will you all be quiet everything is settled now, አንተም ተው አንቺም ተይ በቃ አሁን እኮ ተስማምተዋል…ና ሂሳብህን ውሰድ እስቲ.’.trying to change the subject. Then the gurage woman turns to me and said 'ተይ አንቺ ደሞ ዝም በይ አትበይን! Stop it! dont tell me to shut up' Oops I didn't expect that. I told her it is because I didn't understand the relevance of arguing with a drunken guy. 

She later says, - ታቂያለሽ እንዲህ የሚያረገው አጋንንት ነው Then she whispers this to another girl, ...አጋንንት ነው.'  (It is the devil making him act this way). Then I looked at the cd in her hands, it was orthodox spiritual song. 

The deviant guy still complains.

The gurage woman all of the sudden shouts out loud saying 'እኔ ፍርድ እሰጣለሁ ይክፈል!! 'I give judgment he should pay!' Everyone laughs out loud...the guy already paid 3:00 Birr and we were moving peacefully, and then she brings this up? She then said, 'አንተ እሰራለሁ ነጋዴ ነኝ አላልክ ለምን አትከፍልም;...' Didn't you say you work, that you are a business man, why dont you pay?' I tried to think back, he only said he carries cement.  

A couple of people got off the taxi.

The gurage woman said, 'በሩ ጋር ጫፍ ጋር አውርደኝ አዚህ ካወረድከኝ ዱርዪዎች ይደበድቡኛል' (drop me off over there, I will be beaten up by thieves here!') Everyone laughs out loud again, the way she said it made it seem like there are actually some guys waiting for her to beat the hell out of her at that specific spot. She laughs with us saying, 'you all are laughing at me.' 

The deviant turns to the passengers and starts apologizing for his actions. Everyone is quite now. He specifically asks apology from the solution girls. The loud taxi is now filled with silence. He said he should be dropping off here but will go to the end with us till he gets forgiveness from us. The taxi stops. This was where he needs to get off. He got up still waiting for our response, he again said 'don’t you all accept my apology, I am sorry.’ Everyone was quite so I said, 'We accept! Have a good night!' He walks away waving his hands high. 

At the last stop, the driver said, I would have not act that way, if I knew he is drunk.'

What a glimpse of life!

Easy money

We live at a  time when almost everyone is after easy money. Young people almost do anything to earn money. They simply call it 'business' or ' shikella.' Wherever is the easy money, wherever is the shortcut to richness, there, you can find the youth. I often see people turn down job opportunities they are passionate about because it doesn't pay good; and I often, see young people engaged in activities just for the money; no interest, no passion attached to it. Growing in a certain career seems not that important these days.

So what triggered me to this idea? 

I was just reading the story of David on 1 Samuel 24 David was hiding from Saul in a cave, when Saul went to the cave to relieve himself (most probably for number two). This seems like a good, even a God designed opportunity for David to kill Saul and be enthroned. David could have just said, 'the Lord has given me my enemy in my own hands...' That is what his friends actually advised him, "This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, 'I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish." v.4 Imagine David at the corner of the cave hiding, while his enemy who was actually out to find and kill him is before him relieving himself. 

David had time to think, a moment to make a decision that can take his life from cave to palace, from living as a fugitive to a luxury of a royal life, from sleeping on a stone to a kings bed, from eating hunted food to the feast of the palace, from life of loneliness to the life he can marry and be friends with whoever he desires, from tiresome waiting to what God has promised to him, to taking by force and owning what God has promised. David could have just stabbed Saul at the back and become king of Israel. But David didn't kill Saul by the sword in his hands. David decided to wait on God instead of taking things in his own hands. 

David's integrity was tested, he was tempted to take the shortcut to success, he was tempted to take the easy way out, however he didn't fall for the temptation. David remembered Saul was appointed by God and it is against the law to kill the king. And that was a defining moment in his life and a lesson to us to this day.

It is funny, though David restrained from killing Saul, he made a bizarre decision in sneaking up to cut off Saul's robe. Ha, something to show off of his integrity, something to show to his friends later, and when the time comes to Saul himself.  It could be something to show off when he said, 'I could have killed Saul, look how close I was, but I have integrity.' 

In our words it could be... 'I didn't take a short cut, I didn't take a bribe at my work, I didn't do what those people do to earn easy money, look everyone I have integrity.' Often times we cancel out our integrity with pride. Integrity and pride can never go hand in hand. 

The very thing I always love about David is that he recognized his mistakes and took responsibility. David was conscious stricken for having cut off a corner of Saul's robe. He said to his men, "The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord's anointed or lift my hand against him for he is the anointed of the Lord. With this words David rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul." v.5 

"Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it." Proverbs 13:11

May God help us to keep our integrity like David; to not take the shortcut to God's long term plan for our life and to have a heart of repentance like David... Amen! 

In the morning...

Genaye Photography

When the sun shines through your window in the morning

When you don't want to wake up but sleep your life out

When you desire, for your mattress to be your coffin once and for all;

Remember Jesus is still standing by your bed side

to lift you up and walk with you

so hold his hand, let him help you up;

you see the sun rise again

only because God is not done with you yet

for his mercy is new every morning

for his love endures forever

So...

'Stand!!! and do everything to keep standing!!

Predators & Prey

One morning I got up with a taught about predators and prey;

The bible tells us to run from sexual sin. In order to run from something there has to be a chaser. The Bible also tells us, to “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. “1 pet 5:8

Imagine a lion …

Lions in general have two main hunting methods. The first is that the lion stalks from bushes it hides from, with a final burst of speed at the end. The second method is to find a bush close to something its prey NEEDS - usually water. It climbs in and waits where its prey HANGS OUT.

Once a lioness is close to a herd, they usually target the CLOSEST PREY. They don't abruptly run to every prey they see but stalk their chosen prey. The lioness sneaks up to its victim until they reach a distance of proximity. There are two things that are said to help the lion considerably; they’re incredibly good at hiding and phenomenally patient.The attack is SHORT & POWERFUL. The lioness often catches its victim in a fast run and one big leap. 

If you are a fan of national geographic like me, you might  have noticed how the lioness targets its prey and runs specifically after just that one prey it put its eye on though there are many other zebras running away from it. You might have also noticed this prey is often not alert for an attack.

A lioness takes advantage of factors that reduce visibility; many kills take place near some form of cover or at NIGHT. However, they will hunt whenever the chance arises and that could be in the middle of the hottest day.

When the lion runs and leaps on its prey, the prey might still try to keep running. But that won’t be easy thing to do since the lion has it by its neck. The only remedy the bible gives us, is to run from sexual temptations. “Run from sexual sin! No other sin clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body.” 1 Cor 6:18 Like a prey in a herd; we have to be alert and ready to run whenever temptations arise. There might be rare circumstances a prey can fight with its predator and win. I have seen various YouTube videos where a lion or hyena is killed by a zebra or buffalo, it tries to kill. However, the best option is to always run from the predator. Once the predator is on your neck, it requires so much prayer and struggle to pull that sin off before it kills you.

Nevertheless we should always remember the predator is already a defeated enemy. Let me bring one more scenario from the wild life. Often hunters use a poisonous arrow in hunting. Though the animal is hit by the arrow, it keeps living its life till that poison spreads in its body and kills it.The devil is like this animal attacked by the arrow, and it is doing everything in his power to take us with him.

Let’s keep alert!

Let’s run away from any temptations!

And if we have already been attacked, let’s be those exceptional preys that wrestle the enemy off their neck and be the victor instead of the victim.

What if you go crazy?

Have you ever imagined what kind of person you will turn out to be if you go crazy?

I talked on this with friends and it turns out to be one of the funniest things to talk about. So I am sharing this to give you something to experiment with friends, and I hope you will also have something to laugh about!

Here is how my friends and I thought would turn out to be if we go crazy.

So here is the list of what we thought our characters would be;

Meti

Under normal circumstances has the eye for errors. She sees spelling errors, grammar errors, and accent error...any error out of anything. FYI she is the editor of my blog and almost everything else I write, she is goooood.

So if ever Meti goes nuts...

She will be walking around the city with a ladder and a paint and brush, to correct all the spelling errors on banners and billboards in Addis. She would go to restaurants during lunch and dinner time, but spend all her time editing their menu....

Me:

First I will never be friend with Meti because she will be walking around with ladder, and I am terrified of ladder. And I would walk around the city talking about all the story that is always in the process of being made up in my mind, or I will do the opposite and stop talking, mine is kind of typical crazy:)

Kidi

Kidi is under normal circumstances a woman of love. She loves loving people and she actually loves and Sympathizes with almost anyone.

So if Kidi goes nuts, she will be walking around the streets of Addis, hugging everyone, smiling for everyone and telling them she is sharing the love of Christ :)
And she would definitely be dancing outside of music shops of Addis,  she always envies drunk men dancing under the tune of music opened at music shops.

Aye 

Aye under normal circumstances loves numbers (he works in finance) and he loves jocks. So if he went nuts he would be walking around the streets with a calculator, and laughing loud! 

Well these are few of my friends I had this ‘what if we go crazy’ conversation with. Go ahead and think of what kind of person you or your friends will turn out to be and have some fun!!!!

Rapture happens in a blink of an eye!

Can you imagine walking on street with a friend, and in a blink of an eye, your friend is not there? 

You reach home, some members of your family are not there,....

People you see on the street,

 one by one disappear...

I bet, when this happens you don't want to be left behind; 

I bet when this happens you don't want to leave your friends and family behind.

Cartoon by: Genaye Eshetu

" For with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God, the Lord himself will descend from heaven, and those who died in Christ will rise first. Afterward we the living who remain, will be caught up along with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we shall ever be with the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)

Right to life- for the unborn

I went to Hawassa recently to direct a documentary video production. Part of the shooting involved abortion clients in a hospital. We found a volunteer who was willing to be video-taped while she was having a counseling session with the nurse. The girl, who is in her early twenties, came to the hospital for an abortion accompanied by her mother. They both look nervous and at the same time there is so much strength about them. The girl tells the nurse that she is a university student who currently got raped in the university compound by two guys & she thinks she is pregnant. The nurse asked the girl when she last had her period, when she last had HIV test, what kind of contraceptives she used and so on. It is obvious why the girl visited the hospital, and specifically why she visited this nurse, it is to have abortion. 

In my personal definition abortion is the killing of babies, nothing more nothing less! So it was painful for me to hear the conversation between the girl and the nurse. At some point all I wanted was to reach out to the girl and hug her  that would be weird though. At the same time my heart was groaning for the baby inside her.

When I was in high school I remember a group who came to our school and taught about sexuality. Most of all I remember the video they showed us about abortion which has always stuck in my mind. The video shows the various ways of abortion. One of the things that always stuck in my mind is a garbage can in hospital with little hands, legs, heads of babies aborted. That set up my views about abortion once and for all. 

As I was standing and listening to the conversation between the girl and the nurse, my eyes fells on  this piece of paper on the wall which has a text from the constitution of Ethiopia on abortion; 

1.When the pregnancy results from rape or incest; 

2. When continuance of the pregnancy endangers the health or life of the woman 

or the fetus; 

3. In cases of fetal abnormalities; 

4. Women with physical or mental disabilities; 

5. For minors who are physically or psychologically unprepared to raise a child; 

6. In the case of grave and imminent danger that can be averted only through 

immediate pregnancy termination

Till recently this is Ethiopia's law on abortion. Any girl can have an abortion if she got pregnant due to the six reasons above. No proof is required beyond the woman’s statement that it has occurred. This means the girl I mentioned earlier might not even be rapped. I believe, this is the kind of law that doesn't forbid the thing but makes it seem as though it is forbidden, because Ethiopia is a religious and culturally strict country with people who will not accept legalization of things like abortion.

I remember the controversy, the various appeals made by different organizations some years back when the constitution legalized abortion, if for the aforementioned six reasons.

Later I talk to the nurse; there is no way she believes this girl is raped. She even made jocks that she has the physical strength to rape others let alone be raped. She then told me there are a minimum of 30 clients who come to her every month for abortions. Most of the clients are high school and university students. This is like one abortion, by one nurse every single day and just in one hospital in Hawassa. Imagine how many abortions are done daily throughout Ethiopian hospitals, and there are so much more abortions done by traditional midwives every day, that puts even the mother’s life at risk. 

After drafting this, I was talking with a friend and she told me the constitution of Ethiopia now totally legalized abortion, that they just keep it quite because of how people and certain organizations would react. I know one in seven women die from pregnancy-related causes in Ethiopia, and unsafe abortion causes more than half of the 20,000 maternal deaths that occur annually. I only wish we worked more on contraceptives to avoid unwanted pregnancies, and on physiological and financial support on mothers who got pregnant due to rape, incest, also in cases of women with physical and mental disabilities, for minors who are physically or physiologically unprepared to raise a child.... after all it is a baby that is inside these mothers, a precious life, a great potential, not just a fetus!!

http://www.lwym.org/pure/2012/10/24/what-really-happens-
to-the-baby-during-an-abortion-this-will-shock-you/

"Words are things; and a small drop of ink,

Falling like dew upon a thought, produces

That which makes thousands, perhaps millions think."

- Lord Byron (1788-1824), from "Don Juan"

"Lord Byron never finished his masterpiece, the epic poem "Don Juan," but he might never have begun it had he been conceived today. For Byron was born with a slight deformity - a clubfoot - that nonetheless left intact ...." (Read more on Famous people who would have been aborted http://facta-non-verba.blogspot.com/search/label/beethoven)

Let me just leave you with few list of famous people who would have been aborted but survived and greatly contributed in changing the world.

Could you please do me a favor, whether you agree on what I am saying or not in this article, if you recognize any of the following names, please copy and paste their name under Comments, you can also do this on the shared link on facebook or twitter. Thanks!

Andy Berlin 

Anthony Williams 

Aristotle 

Art Linkletter 

Beethoven

Bo Diddley 

Buffy Sainte-Marie 

Carl-Theodor Dreyer 

Charlotte Anne Lopez 

Christina Crawford 

Clarissa Pinkola Estes 

Crazy Horse 

Dan O'Brien 

Daunte Culpepper 

Dave Thomas 

Da Vinci

Debbie Harry 

D.M.C. 

Edgar Allan Poe 

Edward Albee 

Eleanor Roosevelt 

Eric Dickerson 

Faith Daniels 

Faith Hill 

Freddie Bartholomew  

George Washington Carver 

Greg Louganis 

James MacArthur 

James Michener 

Jean Jacques Rousseau 

Jesse Jackson 

Jett Williams 

Jim Palmer 

John J. Audubon 

John Hancock 

John Lennon 

Langston Hughes 

Larry Ellison 

Lee Majors 

Leo Tolstoy 

Les Brown 

Lynnette Cole 

Malcolm X 

Mark Acre 

Matthew Laborteaux 

Melissa Gilbert 

Michael Reagan 

Moses 

Nancy Reagan 

Nat King Cole 

Nelson Mandela 

Patrick Labyorteaux 

Peter and Kitty Carruthers 

President Gerald Ford 

President William Clinton 

Priscilla Presley 

Ray Liotta 

Reno 

Sarah McLachlan 

Scott Hamilton 

Sen. Paull H. Shin 

Sen. Robert Byrd 

Steve Jobs 

Surya Bonaly 

Tim Green 

Tim McGraw 

Tom Monaghan 

Tommy Davidson 

Victoria Rowell 

Wilson Riles

Recommended reading:

http://www.lwym.org/pure/2012/10/24/what-really-happens-to-the-baby-during-an-abortion-this-will-shock-you/

http://www.catholic-convert.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/AbortionDecide.pdf

http://www.bible.ca/s-Abortion.htm#hands

http://www.bible.ca/s-Abortion.htm

This is why I write :)

Being in Late 20's

Or shall I give it the title my friend gave it; 'Genaye's crazy moments':)

I don't know if it is a good thing or not but I am enjoying it; the thing that comes with being in your late 20's. Is it growing up, is it growing careless or is it growing old? For all the late 20s friends out there, I want to ask is it just me or it is same for everyone? 

I remember when I was in high school and first years of college, I used to feel all  eyes were on me. I dress for all the eyes, I walk for all the eyes, I take every move for all the eyes. 

Now it is the other way around, my eyes are on everyone. And I don't care anymore whether their eyes are back on me or not. I dress for myself, I walk for myself, I do anything for my comfort and joy. So is this growing up or growing old? And when I say my eyes are on everyone, that is, literally. I can look at anyone, yeah of course except those people with the weirdest stare. Now, I take pleasure in assuming who people actually are from their looks. It doesn't matter whether I got them right or wrong. I take pleasure in making stories in my mind. But one challenge I always face is I can't take my stories further, I don't think I have lived enough to make full stories of people. Or maybe it is just because I get bored easily. 

Well the other thing about being in your late 20's.....

I am no more bothered about being alone. Ok there is a different type of being alone, don't go there, I bet all the late 20's in some way or the other get a little bothered with that:) Instead, for instance I am now at the reception of an art exhibition opening at the Sheraton. I came almost 2 hours earlier before my friend, I attend the speech, strike up a conversation at some point with a famous photographer, then I went to see the art works by myself, then I got tired and I am now out by the lobby area sitting alone and of course typing. This doesn't bother me at all though everyone is here in couple or groups. They are so loud for that matter. 

'When the music is loud for you......." If u only know how that quote ends take the pleasure of laughing at me :)

Everyone is dressed in elegant cloths, I just got the ticket at the very last minute so I am in my jeans, and this doesn't bother me at all.

I actually enjoy moments like these, unplanned time alone, when I can reflect, look at myself, look at people and think of their stories. For instance, now I am surrounded by; 

Dreadlock people

Old people

Young people

White people

Black people

Grey people :)

Women with hijab

Women with too much make up, and really short skirts

People with really elegant cloth

Pregnant women with colorful dresses

Teenagers 

Well it seems like art is for everyone in here or food is :) will so many people show up if the food was not served?

Oh the cakes look heavenly! .....

When u are in your late 20's you don't wear that shoe:) sorry I was about to talk about cakes but the girl wearing that shoe ...!!!! I am ladder phobic, if there is such a thing, I can't climb on a ladder without my legs shivering...all symptoms of fear can be seen on me... And looking at that girl wearing those shoes brought back my phobic memories. You know what?  if I am not in my late 20's I might be the one walking on those shoes:)

My friend is here, well thanks for accompanying me :):)

Clinic vs Garage

I'm from a country that has a lot of alternatives to maintain vehicles. There are all sorts of suppliers, self made mechanics and garages who can successfully enable a baby Fiat for an on road driving. It's very common to see a 1970s car wondering in the streets of Addis. If  all goes bad, it will be towed to suburban area or  rural area. It's as if as long as they are away from the light, we can bear them.

Unfortunately we the people don't worth that much. Keeping a healthy lifestyle is not a luxury. It's a necessity for if you get sick-god forbid, you may not recover. A car has a better survival rate than the people because of the alternatives available. I haven't done the exact figure nor do I want to do so 'cause I'm busy counting the dead all for the wrong reasons.

Our self taught mechanics are so good that they can diagnose a car over the phone. The irony is our DOCTORs couldn't make a proper diagnosis even after telling them your symptoms in person. That is why the majority of the population still trust the traditional medical practices than the modem med schooled physicians.

  

Why would one gamble with life when there is a modem scientifically proven medicine,  you may ask. Well when it costs too much and for no apparent results, associated acquired illness from wrong diagnosis, vulnerability to overdose, pompous and often humiliating patient handling of the modem Doctors made the whole modem stuff in jeopardy.

It's sad to be known as the hospital with a very high price tag yet a very high contributor to Minilik Hospital autopsy department-the only facility for the entire country with 85 million people. Most big companies have a health insurance for their employees.  One  friend of mine was the few lucky ones to enjoy such a privilege. However, when he was sick and was admitted to one of the very best private hospital, we were not at ease. The hospital is well known for the worst-walk in alive, ...! Fortunately he made it out alive - yeah the situation is that dire - after few days of hospitalization.

Last year we heard the sudden death of the iconic music legend of the country only because of lack of ambulance and proper paramedics. This weekend a young legend in the making passed away in a hospital in Kenya all because DOCTORs in Addis couldn't diagnose him although he went for a check up weeks before the strock, there was no proper ambulance and paramedic after he collapsed and hence $25000 was paid for an medical team and ambulance airplane so that the treatment could begin at Bole airport. They did their best but could not save him.

How many more souls should we loose to wake up from our deep comas? How many last minute calls should we make for donation? Isn't it high time to use our expertise and hard earned cash for the betterment of the health care system? Isn't high time to think 'neg bene'?

By: Jemal M. Hussien