Games are among the most effective tools for keeping relationships fresh and exciting. Playing together brings joy, vitality, and resilience to relationships among groups particularly children. In this regard, Ethiopian children have different traditional games. Ethiopian children play such games in their home, village and school for refreshing themselves.
According to Ethiopian sociologists there are more than 100 children’s traditional games across the country of which about 20 are the most popular ones. Akukulu, Demo-Pepsi, Segno Makisegno, Kebeto (Mehareben Yayachiw), Awo Ayidelem, Kiliblibosh, Abarosh, Leba ena Police, Bagereta, Arenguade, Suzi, Biy, Ikaka, Teter are the most popular once with their own playing rule, according to Getenesh Belay, Children’s coach at The Right to Play Foundation in Ethiopia.
She also told The Ethiopian Herald that through regular play, such games help children to learn to trust one another and feel safe. Such games further help children to develop and improve social skill. Social skills are learned as part of the give and take of play. As to her, these games are even vital for children to scale up their
creativity and critical thinking capacity.
During childhood play, kids learn about verbal communication, body language, boundaries, cooperation, and teamwork coupled with learning cooperation with others from such games. Besides these, Ethiopian traditional games can also help for healing resentments, disagreements, and hurts, she added.
Biniam Yilma, Sociologist and Family Counselor in Addis Ababa on his part said that games in general and Ethiopian children games in particular have cognitive benefits. As to him, when an adult or child is playing a game, he or she is not only staring at the game inactively. The activities and actions provide a lot of mental stimulation.
For one to play, he or she will need to coordinate their visual, audial and physical movement. These games also improve attention and concentration as well as improving the brains speed, he noted.
He further stated that games are a great source of learning for children. While gaming, children are supposed to learn different lessons that can be developed through modern education. As to him; an Akukulu game, for example, may require children to be very observant. It requires them to be able to hide themselves well and find the hidden once carefully.
This traditional Ethiopian game can be described as a variant of the well-known “hide and seek” game, with about 6-15 people participating. The game begins when one (the seeker) in a group stares at a wall (known as his/her house, home base, or the Mariam), avoiding eye contact with the others. The others in the meantime, have to find hiding places.
After a while, the seeker on the wall will begin to make the “coocoolu” sound, imitating the sound hens make in the morning. The others attempting to hide will reply “alnegam” or it is not morning yet, implying that the hen (seeker) should not leave his/her house.
The seeker will continue to make the sound till everyone in the group trying to hide has hidden themselves and start to reply “nega” or the sun has risen. At this point, the seeker will actively attempt to find those in the group that are now hidden.
In the meantime, the hidden have to make it stealthily to the seeker’s wall or “home” and place their hand on it and kiss their hand. This makes them safe. The seeker will have to find the hidden before they reach the wall, and call out their name and go to his wall “home” and touch the wall while kissing his hand.
If the seeker arrives before the hidden whose name was called out, then the hidden will be “captured”, and remain waiting at the seeker’s wall. The winners are those that make it safely to the wall.
Kebeto or Mehareben Yayachiw is also the other traditional children game in Ethiopia, which is a close variant of the “duck-duck-goose” game played elsewhere, Getenesh asserted.
The game begins when five and/or more children form a circle, in which one is chosen to be the passer of the belt or handkerchief. This person will hide the material behind one of the people in the circle. This is done without letting anyone else in the circle know.
If found out, the person who the material passer was attempting to hide it behind will chase after the material passer around the circle. If the belt or the handkerchief passer makes it back to the open spot in the circle without being caught he/she will be safe.
All in all, as such games are powerful catalyst for positive socialization; every individual is responsible to keep these games for the future with their indispensable societal advantages especially for creating creative children, they suggested.
The Ethiopian Herald May 2/2020
BY HIZKEL HAILU
Some unique features of Ethiopia’s cultural environment
A culture is a system of shared knowledge, values, norms, customs and rituals acquired by social learning. No universal culture exists, so the environment of a transnational corporation includes a variety of cultures, each with differing people, languages, religions and values.
On one level, this variation causes conflicts of business custom and managers in foreign countries must absorb subtle and striking differences in employee loyalty, group versus individual initiative, the place of women in organizations, ethical values, norms of gift giving attitudes toward authority, the meaning of time and clothing worn in business settings.
On a deeper level, although no uniform world culture exists, there is a fundamental divide between the culture of western economic development and some other national cultures like Ethiopian’s. The culture of the advanced West promotes a core ideology of markets, individualism and democracy while Ethiopian’s culture mostly depends on togetherness.
John F. Steiner and George A. Steiner, on their edition titled by “Business, Government and Society” further stated that over the last half of the 12th century, some cultural values in developed nations began to shift creating changes in the global business environment.
But in the case of Ethiopians, Professor Ahimed Zekariya told EPA that there is no space for individualism. But it does not
mean that the cultural values of Ethiopia violate individual rights. Also Ethiopia’s culture is usually depends on strengthening
social bond rather than prioritizing the market, he noted.
According to him foreign oncologists also witnessed that the world can learn more from Ethiopia about creating cultural environment. They were able to recommend the above idea after their stay with Ethiopian ‘Mursi’ People that have a very enthusiastic culture of discussion, he added.
Therefore, he recommended that Ethiopia need to revisiting its cultural values in order to create well-structured cultural environment across the nation. This will be very significant for solving any problems of the country, he noted.
He also underlined that most of Ethiopian tangible and intangible values are depend on togetherness rather than individuality. Besides, its people give priority for its social bond than its individual interest, he underlined.
Sisay Asserie, Assistant Professor at Gondar University under the department of Political science told The Ethiopian Herald that Ethiopia is also striving for sustaining the truth democratic culture across the nation.
Adding to the point, he said that despite some continental and international influences, Ethiopia’s reformist government has brought different exemplary acts adopting democratic culture. Hence, the people should help the government in keeping this democratic culture as one of its intangible assets, he recommended.
The writers on contrary stated that most developing nations are adopting and spreading elements of western values as a form excluding countries like Ethiopia. They further wrote that; in older industrializing societies the drive for survival and material welfare dominated. And people sacrificed other values such as leisure and environmental purity to make money and buy necessities, then luxuries.
Whereas Ethiopians are still applying their national values, says Mulatu Belayneh (Ph.D), Private Marriage and Family counselor. As to him, for a country that has more than 800 cultural values in different aspects like religious, economic, social affairs (discussion, reconciliation, gathering, eating, drinking and working together), it is paramount to develop cultural environment.
Similarly, document from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Ethiopia indicates that Ethiopia and Ethiopians always preach about group but not about individuals. It further states that Ethiopia has ample of tangible and intangible values.
Apart from this, Ethiopia is a multi-ethnic country that harbors different religious beliefs and cultural values. Attractive cultural games and sports, reconciliation mechanisms like Geda, religious and cultural festivals, a culture of social life and cultural music style with dances are among its values that differs Ethiopia from the rest of world, the document revealed.
The Ethiopian Herald May 2/2020
BY HIZKEL HAILU
