Pandemics are not new to the world. Neither is the Ethiopian culture of helping each other during a tough time such as the novel pandemic corona virus (COVID-19) the deadly virus which, spontaneously spread to 210 countries with 1,623,130 people confirmed cases and more than 102,136 deaths on just a hundred days after the first discovery of the virus in Wuhan city, China. Though, 3756,499 people have recovered from the virus so far-as of, yesterday 11 the April.
No one was prepared for the corona virus, yet implementing coping strategies and the youth’s zeal to adopt social distancing and public health humanitarian interventions are encouraging and also compelling in some states like Tigrai. The Tigrai state is among the first to implement lock down and declare a State of Emergency which proved to be the most effective strategies to contain the spread and help quelling COVID – 19.
Other coping strategies followed by humanitarian assistance are set in motion in the state by some responsible citizens such as Tigrai Hiking group. Tigrai hiking group was first started as hobby by travel and hiking fanatics in Mekelle city some seven months ago. Recently, members of the group have showed quick response in helping adapt the culture of hand washing, creating awareness on wearing masks and observing physical distance by painting red tapped lines stripes in six feet pace in taxi and transportation queues. They have also reached the ones in need with sanitizers and other vital goods and materials by initiating Go-fund me pages and donation programs. Our guest for a peek this week is Andom Gebreyessus a herdsman turned himself to entrepreneur and General Manager Hadgi Tourism
Herald: Thank you for being our guest Would you tell us about yourself?
Andom: My name is Andom Gebreyessus. Initially, I’m B.A holder in Electrical/ electronic technology, and MSC as well in similar field -Industrial automation and process control. I worked in related occupations as instructor, supervisor, and electromechanical contractor for some years. As a kid my life was too mobile, from a cowboy in the remote dense jungles of western Tigrai to foreign skyscrapers. At the age of 6, I lost my mom. And I have travelled many places, from Eritrea to Sudan, and back to Tigrai following my dreams and following a journey of life. As a result of which, I remained a traveller.
Herald: Tell us about Hadgi. Where it is based, How and when was it first started?
Andom: Hadgi is a Tourism promotion and consultancy company. As most of the materials such as photos, videos, maps, guide books we use to promote our tourist attractions and destinations are produced by foreigners. I was always wondering why we couldn’t produce them all here by ourselves. That show I started Hadgi. It was established 6 years ago with a different name in Addis Ababa. Now we have moved the head office to Mekelle while still keeping a branch in Addis. At Hadgi, we produce different tourism promotion materials. Two four years ago, we produced graphical tourist map of Ethiopian, and last year Tourist Map of Tigrai, (www.hadgi.com/ethiopian- map & www.hadgi.com/tigrai-map). We have producing different guide books of popular destinations. Directories, posters, documentaries are what we are working on. The problem is, however, tourism promotion stakeholders, the government, private, NGOs don’t show interest to work with such private companies like Hadgi. They don’t think we can do the grossest things like the foreigners, even if they can still see us doing it with a better quality. Consultancy is also another basic service we provide to investors in the sector. From feasibility to finishing, we provide professional consultancy service in tourism and hospitality.
Herald: Tell us about how Tigrai hiking group first started?
Andom: Tigrai Hiking Group started almost 7 months ago when my friends and I started hiking to Choma, Mekelle, with other informal group of individuals that has been hiking for years every Sunday to the same place. Every time we hike, we take beautiful shots and post them on Facebook and other social media. Seeing that People became attracted, more and more interested individuals started joining us. After hiking some Sundays, we sat and discussed how to make it more formal and organized.
Then we created social media accounts, and started to post our programs ahead of time, update our hiking activities, etc. This way, it turned a popular hiking group. Herald: What was the aim and aspirations for starting the group ? Andom: The aim for which Tigrai Hiking Group was established is to travel and promote Tigrai. We aspire to create physically fit, mentally aware and psychologically stable citizen.
Herald: Where was your first hiking spot and how was your experience?
Andom : Our first hike was to Choma, Mekelle. Everybody was exited to make a relaxed group tour, taking shots, posting, etc. Herald : What discoveries have the group made so far and how many sites have your visited or hiked? Andom: The group has travelled almost all popular destinations and attractions in Tigrai.
It has also travelled and uncovered least promoted but important sites. We have been working to promote tourism in Tigrai, discovered new tourist destinations, created awareness among the local community, inspired many to visit and protect their environment, and created a lot more impacts. We have reached almost all popular destinations as well as dozens of less promoted areas.
Herald: How many members does Tigrai hiking group have currently?
Andom: Tigrai Hiking Group has four big branch units. Mekelle Unit, Adigrat Unit, Axum unit and the main organizer group. In all units, we have now close to 1,000 members. We are working to open hiking units in all cities and towns of Tigrai, Addis Ababa and the Diasporas. We want everyone to be part of our group and be ambassador of his homeland. Herald: What was the challenging part of planning such tours?
Andom: There are some basic challenges in planning such tours as tours are selfsponsored and most of our members don’t have economic freedom. The biggest challenge becomes in planning the tour with the least possible cost. Camping is still not commonly known in many parts of our country. Safety, security, environmental issues, etc are concerns.
There are no facilities and services for travellers even in the most visited areas, as a result of which, we are obliged to carry all our foods, drinks, tents, bags, etc. Many important places have no road access. Some are even very difficult to access on foot. All our tours are self-sponsored. That means hikers cover their own expenses in a shared mode.
The organizing team sets monthly plans, or 6 month plans, or so, posts it on the social media accounts for its followers. In the meantime, the organizing team arranges local guides, security guards, camping facilities, etc. in cooperation with the local community. All our nights are in camping, accompanied by discussions concerning the sites to be visited, campfire, roasting meat, cultural dances, jokes, etc. When hiking, sometimes some companies sponsor us in kind, like for example transport, packed water, hiking materials, etc.
Herald: What good outcomes or impacts do the group made on promoting tourism and tourist destinations in the Tigray State?
Andom: It has created irreplaceable awareness on domestic and international tourists. Least known places have started to become highly frequented. The group has created a mentality shift in time management. Many youth are now detached from unnecessary activities and stay eager to join every other trip. Apart from benefits in tourism, we are creating awareness in protecting the environment. We clean places from plastic waste. We never throw any waste in places we visit. We are striving to create physically fit, mentally aware and psychologically stable citizen.
We have achieved in gaining the interest and attention of large groups. All these movements will create positive impact on the regional economy.
Herald: What was the most fun and unforgettable moment while hiking and touring with the group?
Andom: Many funny and challenging things happen in the tours. I don’t know which one to mention.
Herald: Regarding the recent pandemic COVID -19, what initiatives did members of Tigray hiking group awareness creation and humanitarian assistance and how many people are you planning to reach?
Andom: Although our main objective it to travel and promote Tigrai, as part of our responsibility to help our society cope with the virus. If we don’t have a healthy society and a healthy environment, we can’t hike. The first time Tigrai Council passed stay home declared, our group cancelled all pre scheduled trips and decided as a group of young force to help our society. Our first move was creating awareness on the streets of Mekelle wearing the recommended masks and gloves.
Then we collected some funds from volunteers within the group, bought soaps (both solid and fluid) and started donating to the most vulnerable parts of the society, like street kids, rehab centers. Then the deeper we go into the society, we learnt that telling people to stay at home, wash their hands wasn’t enough.
The fact that small businesses, like coffee house, street sales are closed affected those living on daily basis. Therefore, we decided to mobilize our team and help as much as we can. In our first call, we were able to mobilize 109,938 birr and 221kg rise, 175kg macaroni, 35kg oats, 175lit edible oil, 904 soaps, 48 hand washing liquid soap, and 30 lit laundry soap. We bought some more food staffs and started to record highly vulnerable associations and households. For associations, it depends on the size of the people under it. Especially the orphan centers have different packaged that include diapers, wipers, cerifam, endomi etc. So far we have helped more than 605 households and 4 associations. Our short plans are to reach more people and include more places in Tigrai.
We are asking permission from the task force to do so, as mobility has been limited. As a group we don’t believe what we are giving to each household or association is enough to survive the lockdown, our main objective is not this, but promote those highly in need through our social network channels, so that more people will get involved to give as much as they can.
Herald: At last, what are your wishes and hopes in the future what plans do you have ahead?
Andom: We have many future plans. One is tour Tigrai inch by inch, document and promote it to the world, we also plan to establish hiking units all over Tigrai, so that people can hike to places nearby, thereby improving their health while promoting the sites they visit.
This way others can learn what to see everywhere, establish hiking groups in different parts of the world, where the diaspora participates. They will be designed in such a way to be good will ambassadors of their land and people, and also upgrade the hiking group into a more economically strong organization equipped with all necessary materials to operate such interest group tours.
The Ethiopian Herald April 12/2020
BY FASICA BERHANE
