KEIKO KOMA NET

IDAKI SHIN AND NPO KOMA’S WORKS IN ETHIOPIA  

8 May 2012

IDAKI SHIN AND NPO KOMA are Japanese Organizations that accomplished noble jobs to unite the Japan and Ethiopia peoples. The spiritual, material, social and economical unification of these two ancient nations should symbolize the importance of peace and justice to the two big Asian and African continents and to their most respected creature, human being. Since the Japanese organizations jointly organized the famous “Communist Manifesto Concert” in Addis Ababa in 2001, several positive achievements have been shared and the relationships of the two peoples have been strengthened. The relief assistance that were channeled through Ethiopian Embassy in Japan and Relief and Preparedness in Ethiopia to famine victims in Ogaden; provision of hospital and laboratory equipment to Gode Hospital and Jijiga Water Office; installation of a model water purification system in the hot and dry place of Gode by a group of Japanese Experts; theoretical and practical trainings issued to the Employees of the Somali Water, Mine and Energy Resources Bureau of the Somali Regional States in Japan, and regular follow up are some concrete works to be promoted and taken as examples by many. The promotion of Ethiopian people and historic sites (the Semien Mountain National Park, Rock Hewn Churches of Lalibela, Castles of Gondar,Awash Lower Valley of Oromia, Axum Opliskes, Blue Nile Falls, Omo Valley, Harar Wall and Culture)to Japanese and to the entire world have played vital roles in popularizing the a few of enormous and fascinating tourist attractions that the country acquires. The Japanese group tourists that attended the Greatest Concert in Ethiopia and visited these historical sites and witnessed the peaceful, innocent and hospitality people had passed unforgettable memories to to their relatives, friends and colleagues in work places. From economic front, IDAKI SHIN AND NPO KOMA has never stopped promoting Ethiopian original coffee beans and handicrafts in Japan and other parts of the world. As part of their continued supports and cooperation, these organizations are finding dependable markets to Ethiopian natural honey and forest tea. The proceeds from the sales is expected to go to Gode Children and disabled. The program of sending visiting medical doctors to eye ailment in Somalia Regions and establishing small coffee roasting units are awaiting the approval of the Executive Director of the Organizations. All these development efforts are hoped to forge a sustainable relationships of the two peoples while looking forward that the beneficiaries take a leading role and commitment in initiating projects, making necessary follow up, ensuring successful implementation and effectively communicate of the progress.  




Mohammed Abdi Salih
NPO KOMA Ethiopia
 

Where is Africa Heading?
 
It is a pleasure to tell that African countries including Ethiopia are now experiencing the global economic and financial crises. This is reflected by increase in the prices of all basic consumable products like cereals, edible oil, milk, soaps, sugar, petroleum products, building materials, and others. Some are wondering whether there are invisible hands perpetuating the problems to the extent that no harmony exists between different religious sects, nationalities and peoples that share the same land and universe. Giving deaf ears to unwanted global changes would have pervasive consequences inflicting the whole natural and environmental balances and posing dissonance to well being of children and elders, animals and plants, solar system, flowing rivers and winds.
It is high time that genuine world economic order and world union emerge with the consultation of peace loving elders who contributed to human prosperity. The leaders should reflect the interests of their followers getting rid off their selfishness, self enrichment and popularity. What we hear and see in some African countries are tragedies. Keeping silence and covering eyes to African problems and Middle Eastern problems will make everybody in the world to pay for. Global accountability is required to check the claimers of super powers whose history filled with blood shed and expropriation of others’ resources.
The apparent natural disasters in various continents are only signals to the indifference of nations and their leaders, military and general publics without exception of every country. Let every one unit in action and in sprit to bring peace, love, prosperity and dignity to all living organism and economically use every single resource starting from the living and working spaces to far beyond national territories. There are different opinions to the contrasting episodes in Ethiopia. Some say there is continuous economic growth supporting their argument by putting figures like an annual average economic growth rate of 7.4% and growth in construction and service sectors by 8.4$ sec 25%, respectively and claiming substantial improvement in the living standards of rural people and uplifting Ethiopia to the level of middle income countries of the world. The opponents are complaints on the high cost of living, exodus the citizens to neighboring countries in search of employment and significant parts of them end in prisons in alien countries and their fates end death in the ocean. They continue saying that the mass media speaks only good parts without concrete achievements but the reality in on the ground does not showing sign of encouragement. Growing children are losing hope from high prices of land, building materials, foodstuffs, lack of job opportunities and preferential treatment between party members for vacant posts. I think both should work hard and for the truth and equality and rely on own people rather than external forces to bring happiness to the people. Ethiopia should continue resembling what it was in social interaction and self actualizations to be admired and attract human spirit. Finally, it will be of interest to have piece of advice from Mr. Saito and Ms Koma regarding Ethiopia, its people and culture. I try to send some pictures on aspects of cultural and artifacts. Best regards,

Mohammed Abdi Salih
NPO KOMA Ethiopia
 

Let Ethiopian and Japanese Work and Pray for World Peace
 
The singing birds, gently breezing wind, flowing rivers, the underground minerals and the rich oriental and African cultural heritages and history are suffering more than any time now due to failure of world people to prevail peace in this planet.  As the result of this children and elders, weak and strong have never stopped weeping blood that eroding unnoticeable disturbance to the earth’s equilibrium.   
 
The so called super powers are giving deaf ears to the humble feelings and voices of   innocent citizens, civil organizations, truthful intellectuals and elders with sense of humor and/or natural power. International laws, conventions and norms built over decades have been ignored in the presence of world organizations.  Each and every member of the United Nations is responsible to the intolerable injustice perpetuated to the nature and human kind, the highest creature respected by all other creatures. 
 
It is not difficult to advice, negate, boycott, isolate and then untie diplomatic relationships with those adorning bullets and bombs to bring peace.  These senseless and destructive devices are causing physical and financial violence. Creatures on gentle earth are loosing hope and their peace persistently endangered by few and countable self centered individuals who wish to impose their wills on innocent creatures. 
 
Water, wind and fire are giving signs for their resistance but only few people are noticing.  Peace should spread across the continents particularly in Asia and Africa original places of creature and faith whose millions are extremely suffering from poverty, malnutrition and unemployment due to deliberate actions of the evils. Peace requires justice to nature and humans and is measured by happiness, ability to live freely, coexistence, trust in creator and equal share of naturally multiplying and not exhaustible resources as far as their servicing to human being is considered.     
 
The peace initiators all over the world must exert pressure without slightest fear for the good cause of super powers.  These powers are blinded by golden carpets whose unrolling is causing harsh injustice to millions of innocent people and universe.  So let world people join prayer with Ethiopian and Japanese Peace Seekers.  


Mohammed Abdi Salih
NPO KOMA Ethiopia
 

Message from Ethiopia No.2
 
Knowing More about Ethiopia 
Official Name:  Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
Capital City:  Addis Ababa. The city is headquarters of United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the African Union (formerly the Organisation of African Unity).
Geography

Surface Area:  At 435,071 square miles (1,127,127 km²). Arable land:  45%, Irrigable area 10 million hectares, and irrigated land only about 3%. 
Location:
Ethiopia is a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, Somalia to the east and Djibouti to the north-east. The major portion of Ethiopia lies on the Horn of Africa, which is the eastern-most part of the African landmass.
Climate 
Elevation and geographic location produce three climatic zones: the cool zone above 2,400 meters (7,900 ft) where temperatures range from near freezing to 16 °C (32 °–61 °F); the temperate zone at elevations of 1,500 to 2,400 meters (4,900–7,900 ft) with temperatures from 16 to 30 °C (61–86 °F); and the hot zone below 1,500 meters (4,900 ft) with both tropical and arid conditions and daytime temperatures ranging from 27 to 50 °C (81–122 °F). 
Altitude and Landforms
The topography of Ethiopia ranges from several very high mountain ranges (the Semien Mountains and the Bale Mountains), to one of the lowest areas of land in Africa, the Danakil depression. Within Ethiopia is a massive highland complex of mountains and dissected plateaus divided by the Great Rift Valley, which runs generally southwest to northeast and is surrounded by lowlands, steppes, or semi-desert. The great diversity of terrain determines wide variations in climate, soils, natural vegetation, and settlement patterns.
 

 
Ethiopian Highlands with Ras Dashan in the background.
Rainy Seasons
The rainy season is from mid-June to mid-September (longer in the southern highlands) preceded by intermittent showers from February to March; the remainder of the year is generally dry.
Ethiopia is an ecologically diverse country, ranging from the deserts along the eastern border to the tropical forests in the south to extensive Afromontane in the northern and southwestern parts. Lake Tana in the north is the source of the Blue Nile. It also has a large number of endemic species, notably the Gelada Baboon, the Walia Ibex and the Ethiopian wolf (or Simien fox). The wide range of altitude has given the country a variety of ecologically distinct areas, this has helped to encourage the evolution of endemic species in ecological isolation.
Demographics
Ethiopian population is nearly 80 million (male 40.1 and female 39.1 million) in 2008. The life expectancy had improved substantially in recent years. The life expectancy of men is reported to be 53.42 and women 55.42 years.
The country's population is highly diverse. Most of its people speak a Semitic or Cushitic language. The Oromo, Amhara, and Tigray make up more than three-quarters of the population, but there are more than 80 different ethnic groups within Ethiopia. Some of these have as few as 10,000 members.
According to the Ethiopian national census of 1994, the Oromo are the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia at 32.1%. The Amhara represent 30.2%, while the Tigray people are 6.2% of the population. Other ethnic groups are as follows: Somali 6%, Gurage 4.3%, Sidama 3.4%, Wolayta 2%, Afar 2%, Hadiya 2%, Gamo 1%.
Predominant Religion:  Muslim and Christian 
History: 
In English and generally outside of Ethiopia, the country was also once historically known as Abyssinia, derived from Habesh, an early Arabic form of the Ethiosemitic.  Human settlement in Ethiopia dates back to prehistoric times. Fossilized remains of the earliest ancestors to the human species, discovered in Ethiopia, have been assigned dates as long ago as 5.9 million years.
The 1880s were marked by the Scramble for Africa and modernization in Ethiopia, when the Italians began to vie with the British for influence in bordering regions. Asseb, a port near the southern entrance of the Red Sea, was bought in March 1870 from the local Afar sultan, vassal to the Ethiopian Emperor, by an Italian company, which by 1890 led to the Italian colony of Eritrea. Conflicts between the two countries resulted in the Battle of Adwa in 1896, whereby the Ethiopians surprised the world by defeating Italy and remaining independent, under the rule of Menelik II. Italy and Ethiopia signed a provisional treaty of peace on October 26, 1896.
Historically a relatively isolated mountain country, it became a crossroads of global international cooperation in the mid 20th century, a member of the League of Nations in 1923, signed the Declaration by United Nations in 1942, and was one of the fifty-one original members of the United Nations (UN). pal founder. There are about forty-five Ethiopian embassies and consulates around the world.
The independence of Ethiopia was interrupted by the Second Italo-Abyssinian War and Italian occupation (1936–1941). Some of Ethiopia's infrastructure (roads most importantly) was built by the fascist Italian occupation troops (not by corvee) between 1937 and 1940. Following the entry of Italy into World War II, the British Empire forces together with patriot Ethiopian fighters liberated Ethiopia in the course of the East African Campaign (World War II) in 1941, which was followed by sovereignty on January 31, 1941 and British recognition of full sovereignty (i.e. without any special British privileges) with the signing of the Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement in December 1944. During 1942 and 1943 there was an Italian guerrilla war in Ethiopia. On August 26, 1942 Haile Selassie I issued a proclamation outlawing slavery. 
Haile Selassie's reign came to an end in 1974, when a Soviet backed Marxist-Leninist military junta, the "Derg" led by Mengistu Haile Mariam, deposed him, and established a one-party communist state. The ensuing regime suffered several coups, uprisings, wide-scale drought, and a massive refugee problem. In 1977, there was the Ogaden War, but Ethiopia quickly defeated Somalia with a massive influx of Soviet military hardware and a Cuban military presence coupled with East Germany and South Yemen the following year.  Hundreds of thousands were killed due to the red terror, forced deportations, or from using hunger as a weapon. In 2006, after a long trial, Mengistu was found guilty of genocide. 
Recent Politics
Politics of Ethiopia takes place in a framework of a federal parliamentary republic, whereby the Prime Minister is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Federal legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament.
On the basis of Article 78 of the 1994 Ethiopian Constitution, the Judiciary is completely independent of the executive and the legislature. The current realities of this provision are questioned in a report prepared by Freedom House (see discussion page for link).
The election of Ethiopia's 547-member constituent assembly was held in June 1994. This assembly adopted the constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in December 1994. The elections for Ethiopia's first popularly-chosen national parliament and regional legislatures were held in May and June 1995 . Most opposition parties chose to boycott these elections. There was a landslide victory for the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). International and non-governmental observers concluded that opposition parties would have been able to participate had they chosen to do so.
The current government of Ethiopia was installed in August 1995. The first President was Negasso Gidada. The EPRDF-led government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi promoted a policy of ethnic federalism, devolving significant powers to regional, ethnically-based authorities. Today it has nine semi-autonomous administrative regions that have the power to raise and spend their own revenues. Under the present government, some fundamental freedoms, including freedom of the press, are circumscribed. Citizens have little access to media other than the state-owned networks, and most private newspapers struggle to remain open and suffer periodic harassment from the government. At least 18 journalists who had written articles critical of the government were arrested following the 2005 elections on genocide and treason charges. The government uses press laws governing libel to intimidate journalists who are critical of its policies. 
Regions, zones, and districts
Before 1996, Ethiopia was divided into 13 provinces, many derived from historical regions. Ethiopia now has a tiered government system consisting of a federal government overseeing ethnically-based regional states, zones, districts (woredas), and neighborhoods (kebele).
Ethiopia is divided into nine ethnically-based administrative states and subdivided into sixty-eight zones and two chartered cities: Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa. It is further subdivided into 550 woredas and six special woredas.
The nine regions and two chartered cities are:
Addis Ababa 
Afar 
Amhara 
Benishangul-Gumuz 
Dire Dawa  Gambela 
Harari 
Oromia 
Somali 
Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region 
Tigray 
 
There are 31 endemic species, meaning that a species occurs naturally only in a certain area, in this case Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Wolf is perhaps the most researched of all the endangered species within Ethiopia.
Deforestation
Deforestation is a major concern for Ethiopia as studies suggest loss of forest contributes to soil erosion, loss of nutrients in the soil, loss of animal habitats and reduction in biodiversity. At the beginning of the Twentieth century around 420,000 km² or 35% of Ethiopia’s land was covered by trees but recent research indicates that forest cover is now approximately 11.9% of the area. Ethiopia is one of the seven fundamental and independent centers of origin of cultivated plants of the world.
Ethiopia loses an estimated 1,410 km² of natural forests each year. Between 1990 and 2005 the country lost approximately 21,000 km².
Current government programs to control deforestation consist of education, promoting reforestation programs and providing alternate raw material to timber. In rural areas the government also provides non-timber fuel sources and access to non-forested land to promote agriculture without destroying forest habitat.
Organizations such as SOS and Farm Africa are working with the federal government and local governments to create a system of forest management. Working with a grant of approximately 2.3 million Euros the Ethiopian government recently began training people on reducing erosion and using proper irrigation techniques that do not contribute to deforestation. This project is assisting more than 80 communities.
Urbanization
Population growth, migration, and urbanization are all straining both governments and ecosystems’ capacity to provide people basic services. Urbanization has steadily been increasing in from time to time.  Urban populations have continued to grow with an 8.1% increase from 1975-2000. The current Urban and rural population is estimated at  13.2 and 66.8 million, respectively.   
Rural Vs. Urban Life Migration to urban areas is usually motivated by the hope of better living conditions. In peasant associations daily life is a struggle to survive. Only 45% of rural households in Ethiopia consume the World Health Organization’s minimum standard of food per day, (2,200 kilocalories), with 42% of children under 5 years old being underweight. Most poor families (75%) share their sleeping quarters with livestock, and 40% of children sleep on the floor, where night time temperatures average 5 degrees Celsius in the cold season. The average family size is six or seven, living in a 30 square meter mud and thatch hut, with less than two hectares of land to cultivate. These living conditions are deplorable, but are the daily lives of peasant associations.
The peasant associations face a cycle of poverty. Since the land holdings are so small, farmers cannot allow the land to lie fallow, which reduces soil fertility. This land degradation reduces the production of fodder for livestock, which causes low amounts of milk production. Since the community burns livestock manure as fuel, rather than plowing the nutrients back into the land, the crop production is reduced. The low productivity of agriculture leads to inadequate incomes for farmers, hunger, malnutrition and disease. These unhealthy farmers have a hard time working the land and the productivity drops further. 
Although conditions are drastically better in cities, all of Ethiopia suffers from poverty, and poor sanitation. In the capital city of Addis Ababa, 85% of the population lives in slums. Although there are some wealthy neighborhoods with mansions, most people make their houses using whatever materials are available, with walls made of mud or wood. Only 12% of homes have cement tiles or floors. Sanitation is the most pressing need in the city, with most of the population lacking access to waste treatment facilities. This contributes to the spread of illness through unhealthy water. 
Despite the living conditions in the cities, the people of Addis Ababa are much better off than people living in the peasant associations due to their educational opportunities. Unlike rural children, 69% of urban children are enrolled in primary school, and 35% of those eligible for secondary school attend. Addis Ababa has its own university as well as many other secondary schools. The literacy rate is 82%.
Health is also much greater in the cities. Birth rates, infant mortality rates, and death rates are lower in the city than in rural areas, due to better access to education and hospitals. Life expectancy is higher at 53, compared to 48 in rural areas. Despite sanitation being a problem, use of improved water sources is also greater; 81% in cities compared to 11% in rural areas. This encourages more people to migrate to the cities in hopes of better living conditions.
The continued urbanization and migration poses a threat to environmental sustainability in Ethiopia. As more migration occurs, there will be decreased food production to sustain the population. Rather than fixing the problems of degraded land and water resources, people move to cities in hopes of a better life. If nothing is done about the problem, the capacity to grow food will decrease as populations continue to increase, while poverty and health conditions get worse.
This is a problem many NGOs (Non-Government Organizations) are working on fixing. But there is clear evidence that most are far apart, less coordinated, and working in isolation, with no effective mechanisms for them to relate with other NGOs. This is why a consortium is required to solve the problem. The good news is that the Sub-Saharan Africa NGO Consortium is already coordinating efforts among NGOs in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Sudan, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Mali, Ghana, and Nigeria. By sharing information, techniques, and resources, NGOs are better equipped to help the rural farmers of Ethiopia.
Economy
Ethiopia has remained one of the poorest countries in the world. Recently, Ethiopia has showed a fast growing annual GDP and it is the fastest growing non-oil dependent African nation in 2007. Since 1991, there have been attempts to improve the economy. This is reflected in the ten percent economic growth registered for the past six consecutive years. Despite the improvements, the rapidly exploding population means that Ethiopia remains one of the poorest nations in the world. According to a recent UN report the GNP per capita of Ethiopia has reached $160. Yet, a daunting task of maintaining this growth and reducing urban poverty remains to be done.
Provision of telecommunications services is left to a publicly owned monopoly. It is the view of the current government that maintaining public ownership in this vital sector is essential to ensure that telecommunication infrastructures and services are extended to the rural Ethiopia, which would not be attractive to private enterprises.
There are some sectors which are reserved to Ethiopians only. The financial sector is one of them. There are now three government and eight private banks (excluding National Bank of Ethiopia)  in the country but none of them are owned by foreigners.
The Ethiopian constitution defines the right to own land as belonging only to "the state and the people", but citizens may only lease land (up to 99 years), and are unable to mortgage or sell. Renting of land for a maximum of twenty years is allowed and this is expected to ensure that land goes to the most productive user.
Agriculture accounts for almost 41 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), 80 percent of exports, and 80 percent of the labour force.Many other economic activities depend on agriculture, including marketing, processing, and export of agricultural products. Production is overwhelmingly by small-scale farmers and enterprises and a large part of commodity exports are provided by the small agricultural cash-crop sector. Principal crops include coffee, pulses (e.g., beans), oilseeds, cereals, potatoes, sugarcane, and vegetables. 
Ethiopia's livestock population is believed to be the largest in Africa, and as of 1987 accounted for about 15 percent of the GDP. Ethiopia is also the 10th largest producer of livestock in the world.
Exports
Ethiopia was the original source of the coffee beans, and coffee beans are the country's largest export commodity. Other main export commodities are oil seeds, khat, gold, skin, pulses, live animals, flower, meat and meat products, leather products, cereals, fruits and vegetables, spice, textile and garment, others.   Recent development of the floriculture sector means Ethiopia is poised to become one of the top flower and plant exporters in the world. 
The country also has large mineral resources and oil potential in some the less inhabited regions.  The country is blessed with large deposit of precious minerals (gold, opal, gemstone, emerald, platinum, etc.), industrial minerals (tantalum, iron, nickel, chromium, copper, zinc, lead, cobalt, phosphate, kaolin, quartz, dolomite, silica sand, soda ash, limestone, diatomite, gypsum, grphite, bentonite, sodium chloride, feldspar, clay mica, pumice, etc.), energy minerals (coal, oil shale, geothermal energy, natural gas, etc.) and construction minerals (sandstone, marble, granite, gravel, cinder, greenstone, etc).  
Cuisine
The best known Ethiopian cuisine consists of various vegetable or meat side dishes and entrees, usually a wat, or thick stew, served atop injera, a large sourdough flatbread. One does not eat with utensils, but instead uses injera to scoop up the entrees and side dishes. Tihlo prepared from roasted barley flour is very popular in Amhara, Agame, and Awlaelo (Tigrai). Traditional Ethiopian cuisine employs no pork or shellfish of any kind, as they are forbidden in the Islamic, Jewish, and Ethiopian Orthodox Christian faiths. It is also very common to eat from the same big dish in the center of the table with a group of people.
Music
The Music of Ethiopia is extremely diverse, with each of the country's 80 ethnic groups being associated with unique sounds. Ethiopian music uses a unique modal system that is pentatonic, with characteristically long intervals between some notes. Influences include ancient Christian elements and Muslim and folk music from elsewhere in the Horn of Africa, especially Sudan and Somalia. Popular musicians include teddy Afro, Tilahun Gessesse, Aster Aweke, Hamelmal Abate, Tewodros Tadesse, Ephrem Tamiru, Muluken Melesse, Bizunesh Bekele, Mahmoud Ahmed, Tadesse Alemu, Alemayehu Eshete, Neway Debebe, Asnaketch Worku, Ali Birra, Gigi, Dawit (Messay) Mellesse, and Mulatu Astatke.
Sports
Ethiopia has some of the best middle-distance and long-distance runners in the world. Kenya and Morocco are often its opponents in World Championships and Olympic middle and long-distance events. As of March 2006, two Ethiopians dominate the long-distance running scene, mainly: Haile Gebreselassie (World champion and Olympic champion) who has set over twenty new world records and currently holds the 20 km, half-marathon, 25 km, and marathon world record,[] and Kenenisa Bekele (World champion, World cross country champion, and Olympic champion), who holds the 5,000 m and 10,000 m world records.[citation needed] Ethiopia has also had various successful sweeps by taking all three medals in various world races including during the Olympics. The last few years Ethiopian women runners have joined the men in dominating athletics, particularly the multi-gold medalists Meseret Defar and Tirunesh Dibaba Ethiopia has added more events to the list of its preeminence in athletics, including the steeplechase which Legese Lamiso recently took the top honors.
Ethiopian distance-runners include Derartu Tulu, Abebe Bikila, Mamo Wolde, Miruts Yifter, Addis Abebe, Gebregziabher Gebremariam, Belayneh Densamo, Werknesh Kidane, Tirunesh Dibaba, Meseret Defar, Million Wolde, Assefa Mezgebu, etc. Derartu Tulu was the first woman from Africa to win an Olympic gold medal, doing so over 10,000 metres at Barcelona. Abebe Bikila, the first Olympic champion Θ representing an African nation, won the Olympic marathon in 1960 and 1964, setting world records both times. He is well-known to this day for winning the 1960 marathon in Rome while running barefoot. Miruts Yifter, the first in a tradition of Ethiopians known for their brilliant finishing speed, won gold at 5,000 and 10,000 metres at the Moscow Olympics. He is the last man to achieve this feat.
Archaeology
Ethiopia offers a greater richness in archaeological finds and historical buildings than any other country in Sub-Saharan Africa (including Sudan). In April 2005 , the Obelisk of Axum, one of Ethiopia's religious and historical treasures, was returned to Ethiopia by Italy. Under the orders of dictator Benito Mussolini, Italian troops seized the obelisk in 1937 and took it to Rome. Italy agreed to return the obelisk in 1947 in a UN agreement, and it was finally returned in 2005 . As of January 2007 the obelisk has not been erected in Ethiopia. The monument was returned to Ethiopia in three or four large segments to facilitate easier transport. The pieces are so large that the Ethiopian government has been unable to erect it or even devise a way it could feasibly be done. The original site of the obelisk is an unexcavated area that would be damaged by heavy machinery, if that were determined to be an appropriate method of erection. There have been plenty of significant discoveries including the oldest known, complete fossilized human skeleton, Lucy. Other discoveries are still being made. Recently, archeologists uncovered the ruins of the legendary ancient Islamic kingdom of Shoa, that included evidence of a large urban settlement as well as a large mosque.
  Mohammed Abdi Salih
NPO KOMA Ethiopia
 
 

Message from Ethiopia
 
It is pleasing to introduce Ethiopia, a land of human origin and of the ancient African Dynasty, to Japanese people of various age groups. Despite the two countries’　separation by long geographical distance, stage of development and culture, the peoples of the two countries have never separated.  The spiritual unity, resistance to colonial powers and over 60 years of diplomatic relationships of the two peoples and countries and Abebe Bekila's winning of Tokyo Marathon and lately development partnership at bilateral and civic levels would remain binding forces for continuing friendship.  
This historical moment should evoke Japanese colleagues to dare courageous move to become true and honest development partners not only to Ethiopia and but also to all African countries.  The Africans are in dire need of sharing the rich agricultural, industrial and technological advancement experience of Japanese Peoples.  The peoples Africa are upset by seeing the growing and severe disparity between nations, peoples, resources and powers the disturbance of balance left world peace and tolerance to be  verge of vanished, natural environments to be threatened by unchecked global injustice merely due to hunger to resources and powers, negation of nature and failure to evaluate one's action.    
African people are now looking for genuine development partners to alleviate poverty, poor agricultural planning, political insatiability and ineffectiveness and mismanagement of natural resources as the result of which millions are starving, exported and/or dying.  The African countries have enough natural and human resources with its peoples and others but these endowments are eclipsed by selfish powers; lack of governance, right education, transparency, hard work, positive thinking and losing of trust that problems can be solved peacefully through mutual discussion and traditional system where uncorrupted elders are socially respected.  It is high time that the Japanese peoples share their wisdom with Africans for a good cause of humanity.  NPO KOMAS has took initiative to go deep to Ogadan and closely worked with Ethiopian people in the areas of water, health and orphanage and this examplary work will continue by NPO KOMA with the full participation of Japanese.
May I also urge Japanese know Ethiopia to be the starting place for collaborative cooperation as it is an origin of humankind? 
 
1.  Location :  Found in Horn of Africa. 
2.  Borders :  Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea and Kenya 
3.  Population :  Nearly 80 million
   - Urban :  16.45% of the total 
   -  Rural  :  83.55% of the total 
    - Growth rate :  2.6% 
4.  Land Area :  1.14 million kilometers
   - Arable :  45% of the total 
   - Irrigated  :   3% of the total
5.  Macroeconomic indicators:
     -  GDP per capita (USD) : 255.4
     - GDP at current market (USD) :17.092 million
     - Real GDP Growth rate (2007) : 11.4%
6.  Inflation : 15%
 
 
7.  External Trade ( in million of USD)
- Export of goods and services  2,545.4
- Import of goods and services 6,332.7
- Net Trade in goods and services -3,787.3
8.  Number of Foreign Tourists (2007)  340,000
 
 
Mohammed Abdi Salih
NPO KOMA Ethiopia