BY BETELHEM BEDLU
With all its diversified and longstanding social and cultural values of Ethiopians, charity and sharing for destitute is amongst the well-known habit that mainly occurs during holiday seasons.
Passing from generation to generation, the value has developed its own indications depending on peoples way of life and living standard. Various individuals, religious organizations as well as non-governmental organizations provide clothing, edible and non-edible support for the poor.
However, people are having concerns that this valuable culture is fading out due to various reasons. Though the outbreak of the corona virus pandemic stimulated the culture of serving and supporting the poor, the frequent unrest has long been disturbing and testing the survival of the culture.
Kesis Tagaye Tadele, General Secretary of Inter-Religious Council of Ethiopia said that Ethiopians have developed a culture of sharing with destitute during holidays. In both Christianity and Islam, both followers share meals and other necessary materials.
As to him, lending hand for those who cannot afford to spend the holiday as the rest of the society is not new to Ethiopians. “We are known for our welcoming character. Through times, we have also learned the habit of caring and showing concern even for animals.”
Even though it is a longstanding culture, due to many reasons, it seems that the culture is fading out. Various studies have indicated that these things are struggling to survive. The atrocities that we are witnessing today are the main reason for the in-sustainability.
Just like the unity we have shown in the victory of Adwa, we need to stick together and defend our challenges together. “We need to pay visit to patients and prisoners.”
According to Haji Messud Adem, Deputy Secretary of Inter-Religious Council of Ethiopia noted that there are currently two things that are seen in cities regarding helping one another and celebrating holidays together. Although the situation is conducive to social cohesion, in some places, their social bonding is becoming less among people who are living in the same areas especially in apartments.
On the contrary, the cultural value of Ethiopians to celebrate holidays together is beyond spending holidays together as they rather use the opportunity to build a family kinship.
He further stated there are many challenges Ethiopians social networking is facing right now. One is that people are losing the chance of getting to know each other due to the difference in their working hours. That has a huge negative impact in strengthening their social ties with their neighbors.
The other challenge is the ideological difference. There are few individuals who despise the social values and try to inherit and reflect their personal ideas of the western culture. As to him, people need to learn the negative impact it can put on and erode our culture.
In the current context, there is almost no one who does not want to spend the holiday together unless there is an economic crisis. As an illustration, the response of Ethiopians to the Prime Minister’s meal-sharing in the wake of the Covid-19 Pandemic was a resounding success. This shows that values are built on solid foundations, he noted.
According to Islamic teachings, forty doors to the left and right of your home are your neighbors even with different religion, language and ethnic group. Therefore he conveyed the message that social values are the responsibility of all and everyone should take part to overcome adversity, strengthen solidarity, build peace, create a generation and preserve our heritage.
Similarly, Pastor Zerihun Degu, Former Chairperson of the Ethiopian Evangelical Churches Union said that holidays have two purposes. The first is to give thanks to the Creator and the second is to strengthen the connection between our language, our ethnicity, and our social status. “God is pleased with the place and compassion we give to the souls of men, which is more important than the way we celebrate our religious festivals,” he added.
“We need to focus on two things, especially as we are celebrating the current holidays at a time when many civilians have been displaced and killed. The first is to pray for God to give mourning for those who have lost their families for various reasons. Second, we must make a commitment to ourselves and as a nation to stand together on the issue of solidarity that will save the country,” he added.
According to Pastor Zerihun, the social benefits of celebrating holidays are attaching people together. He said that not only during the holidays, but also in our daily lives, it allows us to share with others, which strengthens not only religious values but also social ties.
Recalling that Ethiopia is a blessed country with more than 95 percent of its total population being religious, he urged religious leaders, politicians, activists, and the entire society to strengthen peace and solidarity of the country by advising and reprimanding every citizen through religious teachings and paths.
Moreover, celebrating a religious holiday without preparing for forgiveness and cherishing a feeling of resentment and hatred is valueless. Religion has meaning only when there is forgiveness and love. Pledging the people for forgiving and accepting forgiveness beyond hatred and revenge, he stated that everyone should stand together for the development of the country by praying for the needy and sharing with them. Besides, he stressed the need to work for the peace and unity of our country, he said.
Organized by Memher Zemedkun Bekele, a feeding the poor event that included children, elders and other segments of the society took place at Jan Meda recently. A number of religious fathers took part at the feeding ceremony where they admired the deeds and urged everyone to contribute their part and help the needy.
The Ethiopian herald January 13/2021
