Happy New Year, Ethiopia!
In Ethiopia, today marks celebration day of a year of anticipation. The millennium is here and Ethiopians worldwide have entered into the year 2000. The Africa Ethiopian New Year and all of the celebrations that have been occurring in this past year, leading up to this day, have had a two-fold purpose. First, the purpose is to celebrate the distinct and ancient culture of Ethiopia. Just as the millennium was covered in the news all over the globe when nations using the Gregorian calendar celebrated the year 2000, Ethiopia wanted the eyes of the world to turn to them this year and notice that which makes Ethiopia a distinguished and unique civilization. The second purpose of the energy, efforts, and finances put into the yearlong celebration is for Ethiopia to open a new chapter in their history. When the year 2000 came across the globe nations used the new millennium as a motivator for political and social change.
In talking about Ethiopia today, more is heard about the poverty, AIDS, illiteracy, and devastation than about the rich and ancient heritage of the civilization. It is good that we talk about the conditions of Ethiopia as they are real and need attention in order to change. The call of the new millennium celebrations is to remember that the wealth of Ethiopia is its people and that the conditions must change in order to Ethiopian rich heritage to be focused on once again. Ethiopians are hoping to use the new millennium as a motivator for change in helping their nation establish a strong political system, recover economically, cure and reduce disease, and provide resources to decrease the number of families in poverty.
Today is truly a day of celebration. Many adoptive families who have adopted from Ethiopia are using today as an opportunity to celebrate their children’s unique and beautiful heritage.
If you are interested in learning more about the Africa Ethiopian New Year I have provided some resources below.
Enjoy learning about Ethiopian culture and by the way- have a Happy New Year!
You Tube Video: Happy New Year, Ethiopia!
YouTube Video: Ethiopian Millennium Song
Ethiopian Millennium Website: Know the Past, Dream the Future and Take Action in the Present
September 13th, 2007 at 11:53 am
It is really good to celebrate our kids unique heritage. There are some interesting radio shows in NPR specifically about the new year celebration and the pro’s and con’s of the money spent for the celebrations. We should all take opportunties to celebrate the events that are a part of our kids culture.