BY ADDISALEM MULAT
Following Prime Minister Abiy’s green legacy initiative, the awareness level of planting tree seedlings in the length and breadth of the country has been on the rise in a short space of time.
In the current circumstances, Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, has been bedecked with green areas that can win the hearts and minds of everyone at the stroke of a pen. On top of that the community at large, and a wide range of organizations have been taking part in the campaign every once in a while with the purpose of turning the government’s dream into a reality.
They have been working with one accord with the incumbent regime and thus the envisioned target is being attained.
As things stand at present, all and sundry have been placing emphasis on planting tree seedlings and adding color to the beauty of the city. For the sake of truth, this was not the case in the past. However, nowadays, following the premier’s initiative, everybody is attaching importance to greening their respective areas more than ever before.
In former times, it is abundantly clear that the attitude of people towards planting trees and things of that sort were not that high. Against this background, some parts of Addis Ababa were not pleasant to look at.
While on the subject, one fine day, while I was heading straight to Mexico by bus, I came across various people exchanging ideas on the topic of various issues. The bus was packed with people. Everyone without exception was in their own worlds. Some of them were tossing a considerable amount of ideas around.
On the spur of the moment, one of the passengers said pointing his finger towards the Palace, “I was born and raised here. When I was a child, we could see lions. The compound was bedecked with dense forest. Among other things, at things currently stand; we cannot see the various houses and dense forests in the palace just like before.
“Quite a lot of people were residing around the palace where the Friendship Park was built. In times gone, the area was not that attention-grabbing and pleasant to the eye. I would venture to say, the area was an eye-sore.”
When I think of the green activities being carried out throughout the territory, I have a crack at requesting myself to what extent the total population places emphasis on greening every inch of the country.
In the olden days, the inhabitants of Addis Ababa have been holding wedding ceremonies at various parks located in most parts of Addis Ababa. Priority was given to parks betweenwhiles. However, as time went by the inhabitants of the capital set motion in celebrating wedding ceremonies in modern international hotels found in various parts of the country on the odd occasion. In due course, they ended up giving the cold shoulder to parks.
In this day and age, following the green legacy initiative of the country, the community at large managed to plant billions of trees throughout the national territory. Apart from that as the awareness level of the population as a whole has been increasing on many occasions, they managed to plant tree seedlings in the degraded areas of the country.
On a separate note, the green area located around ‘Sar Bet’ in Addis Ababa has been winning the hearts and minds of every Tom, Dick, and Harry as swiftly as possible. Properly speaking, quite a lot of people pay homage to the area time and time again.
One of the visitors who goes by the name of Yitbark said regarding the area, “I every so often go to the green area. Every morning, I take exercise around there. The instance I finished taking exercise, I take a rest in the attention-grabbing area. Nothing makes me happier than spending my time there. I am maintaining my health without spending a penny. If I am given the chance, I will take part in taking care of the area with all my heart. I will do everything I can.
To be honest, some of the things that spoil the cleanliness of the area take account of tissue papers, chewing gums, plastic bottles, and other related aspects. By any means, I do not partake in anything that could throw cold water on the beauty of the green area.
The other person whom this writer approached for an interview goes by the name of Tigist Tesfaye. She said, “My wedding ceremony was held at Ambassador Park. Prior to getting married, I was watching movies and going to the theater.
However, as I turned out to be as busy as a bee, I gave up going anywhere.
As a rule, I spend half Saturday, and Sunday with my kids. If I have time, I take them out for a walk. More often than not, when we stumble across different people we talk about newly opened restaurants and recreation centers seeing that there were no many green areas.
To my dismay, owing to my background, I have not paid a visit to the newly opened Entoto and Friendship parks. Needless to say, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has really made history.
By the way, once I had the opportunity to pay a visit to the Aba Geda building that has been bedecked with a wide spectrum of green areas. When I saw the inside out of the compound, I could not believe my eyes. I was taken by surprise. It is out of this world.
The other visitor who goes by the name of Sissay Dawit regarding the issue said, “I love spending my time in various green areas of the capital for the reason that I find immense satisfaction. After the inaugural ceremony of the Entoto Park, I managed to go to the park more than ten times. I do love the area very much. Whenever I got there I completely feel on top of the world. The feeling is indescribable. It is a mind-blowing park that can steal the attention of everyone at the drop of a hat.
countries learn from their experience in handling tourists and also provide them with possibilities of visiting Ethiopia in transit.
For instance, in marking the inscription of Timket at UNESCO during the upcoming Timket celebrations, special programs can be designed for tourists from African countries so that they would learn to appreciate the celebration in the context of African traditional cultures.
Timket is a religious celebration in which Ethiopian Orthodox Church invites leaders of other Coptic Orthodox to strengthen the solidarity of the EOC with similar to strengthen Ethiopia’s diplomatic relation through international relations with other churches around the world.
The other aspect of Timket that qualified it for inscription is the fact that it is a multi-ethic celebration in which Ethiopian Christians demonstrate peaceful coexistence among themselves. In this sense Ethiopians can fall back on their religions to build peace on solid foundations to ensure the future peaceful development of the country.
As a religious celebration conducted outdoor right after the harvest season, Timket provides a seasonal gap of rest for farmers in Ethiopia prior to the onset of the little rains showing the country between February and May.
From its social and cultural perspectives Timket provides an opportunity for young girls and boys to start dating in a traditional style. This is mostly done when young boys throw lemons to the girls of their choice in lieu of a proposal for courtship.
This year Ethiopians celebrate Timket with a mixed felling of happiness and pain after experiencing the tragic event triggered in Tigray Region by the so called TPLF Special Forces inhuman and unexpected attack on the Northern Command in Mekele as well as the unprecedented destruction of major infrastructural and social service in the region. The massacres in Mai Kadra, Humera, Metekel, Gulisso and at several other locations in Benishangul-Gumuz are still fresh in the minds of all Ethiopians.
In Ethiopia, Timket is a season of peace and I urge all faithful Christians across the country to work for peace and reconciliation in the country.
Even then, Ethiopians will hopefully show compassion to citizens who are affected by the above-mentioned incidents and will be ready to face a better reality in the future.
The Ethiopian Herald 19 January 2021
