Saliha Abdela, is the land lady where I used to live. Saliha has a great respect for every individuals living in her house. She treats everyone in that house with love and respect. This respect and love is more visible in times of holidays (Both Christian and Muslim holidays). During my stay at her home, I never had a sense of stranger. Whenever there is holiday, I was never felt loneliness. I had always a feeling of being part of her family.
Next to family members, neighbors are the most important parts of our life. In a traditional society like Ethiopia where the housing and the living style is more sociable and connected, neighborhood has a special value. No matter what the economic status of people living in that particular village neighborhood has great value. Whenever there is public holiday, wedding ceremony or funeral it is the neighbors who come first before distant blood families.
This bondage among neighbors will become more strong in times of holidays. The strong cultural values among Ethiopians give holidays a special place among every Ethiopians. For instance, drinking coffee- which is one of the traditional practices among Ethiopians- cannot be adorned with out inviting neighbors.
Likewise, eating Doro wot or drinking Tela or Tej (locally made alcoholic drink) is unthinkable without sharing with neighbors. During holidays, Ethiopians did not prepare the Doro wot or Tella for only the consumption of family. Rather, it includes neighbors.
Berhanu Tebebu, is 80 years old. He has been working in different positions in the field of Journalism. For Berhanu, neighborhood is special and it has something invisible bond among individuals. It gives a sense of security for individuals living in a neighborhood.
An individual with millions of birr, who lives in a luxurious house or drives a fancy car will not feel security if he/ she is abandoned by his neighbors. This is a good indication how valuable neighborhood is in our daily life and in times of holidays.
In Ethiopia, holiday has a power to bring individuals living in a village into a single roof to discuss matters. It encourages them to share what they have together and to love each other.
Whenever there comes holidays it is customary for Ethiopians- both the poor and the rich- to invite guests and enjoy the day. They treat each other with respect. This is our unique quality. Ethiopians have adopted to live a life style that binds them as one.
Abere Ayele, is the other young man whom I interviewed. For Abere, holidays and neighborhood are two sides of a single coin. Holidays have great advantages to cement brotherhood among neighbors.
“For instance, last Thursday, we have celebrated the Ethiopian New Year. In which Ethiopians have warmly spend the day enjoying with families and friends. Kedus Yohanis, or New Year is special for Ethiopians. It is the Day that signaled a new beginning for the rest of their days. For that reason, every Ethiopians have celebrated the day with families and friends.”
Drinking locally made alcoholic drinks or other liquors with neighbors is one of the manifestations of holidays. In some villages, there is a common practice of sharing raw meat (Kercha) among neighbors in which, a group of 10 to 20 people buy a live animal, slaughter and divide the meat among them. This gives them another sense of belonging to each other.
The other surprising thing about holidays and neighborhood is love and tolerance among villagers. Whenever there comes holiday, neighbors from different religion and culture will gather in a single roof to drink coffee and eat injera. This is a common trend among Ethiopians. No matter what the religious or ethnic background of a person, holiday gives a chance to him/ her to associate with others. In this respect, holidays and neighborhood are strongly attached with each other.
Valuing neighbors is part of Ethiopian daily life. All our daily activities are directly or indirectly attached affected by the neighbors we are living with. We may not live in a single roof but the wellbeing of our neighbor concerns us. This is Ethiopiansim.
The Ethiopian Herald September 18, 2019
BY LEULSEGED WORKU
