Shonkie, an Argobba community village in Dewachefa district of Gidota Kebele is located 25 KM’s East of Kemise, the zonal administration town, Oromia zone located in Amhara region. It is estimated to be more than 900 years old. The village was founded by two religious leaders namely Abayie Kulubak (Shonkie) and Abayie Feki Ahmed while the name of the village was drawn from the leader and it’s called Shonkie Village. However, it was not as well developed as its rich history due to various reasons.
Ahmed Shonkie, Researcher on the issue of Aregoba’s community at Kemise town told The Ethiopian Herald that the village is one of the historical place located in Amhara region. The village is found at the tip of the hell and it has an ancient mosque which established by the two famous religious leaders.
According to Ahmed, lack of due attention, promotion, and backward cultivated system is serious problem which hinder to develop the area and ensure adequate benefit from it.
On the other hand, the village used as Islamic religious institution that followers come from Jimma, Guragie, Hareri, Balle, Wollo, Gojjam, Gonder, and Shewa as well as Yemen.
As to him, the village is settled at the tip of a hill which was used as defending enemies, but the East and West directions of the village has not entering and exiting doors. Therefore, the residents still have used the north and south directions of the village. In this regard, Guddeba and Gedehamba is the north and south doors directions each of which having a mosque. Guddeba stands for “amazing” in the local community’s language. The name of the door was drawn from a helicopter arrived for the first time in the area while Gedhamba means my riches.
‘Since the traditional houses made up of Stones, sand, mud, and woods it is easy to destroy. This shows that the rich traditional architecture of the Argobba community during house building‘’ Ahmed said.
Currently, 224 traditional houses exist in the village, out of which 180 are traditional wall houses while the remaining are cottage houses where more than 1,000 people reside. Modern houses are also built in the area as a replica of the ancient architecture of the area.
Meanwhile, not only the village but also
other heritages have not obtained adequate attention during the past many years across the nation.
Ahmed further stated that Shonkie village has endemic animals like red fox, leopard, lions, Zebra, and giraffes in the forest parts of the area but those animals are displaced from the area due to deforestation. On the other hand, Borkena River is the other symbol of splendor to the village as it starts from Borkena area across through Kemise and the bottom of Shonkie to flow Awash, Afar region. However, the residents still fetch water from pond. This shows how much the area is seriously ignored.
An elder of Argobba people Aminu Endirs on his part said that in addition to being historic the village is different from other similar parts of Argoban rural parts. In this regard, the structure of the village is like trace and similar to the back part of the camel. As part of this, the village has only a narrow road which is not able to transfer walkers coming from opposite direction. Particularly, the opposite sex walkers are not seen face to face and the women or girl give their back to the man due to the local religious tradition.
According to Aminu the name of the village drawn from the Argoban ethinic group called Shenkorefara, them enter from Areb and an expert of handcrafts that they enable to established houses with uniquely. This group is expected as like as kings on the side of Argobba people until now. Although, Shonkie has potential
of natural relics and enable to develop through harnessing Borkena river, it still struggles for a viable intervention.
As a result, pure water supply, irrigation, and infrastructure have become serious problem of the residents that displace them from the village to satisfy their wants, Aminu added.
The Ethiopian Herald May 2/2020
BY MESERET BEHAILU
