BY KFLEEYESUS ABEBE
It cannot be an exaggeration if one says Ethiopia has travelled on such a bumpy road over this year. It had to go facing several bumps to reaching this day. Or, you could say it was swaying like a pendulum from calm to turbulence and the otherwise that we managed to get here. Ethiopia is winding a year that has been dark and distressing like the rainy winter—traditionally called Hamle (July). But, there is a glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel. The year was terrifying in the beginning, coming causal at times and now ending happiest as Ethiopian athletes dominate in Oregon Athletics Championship.
Following this, Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed extended a message of congratulations and asked Ethiopians to join him in extending their hands in gratitude to their creator. “Today, like yesterday, we have crossed the challenges victoriously, and we extend our hands in gratitude! Dear people of our country, Ethiopians: The name Ethiopia is a name of honor of not bowing down to problems, passing through challenges and overcoming obstacles. There are very few times in the history of our country without challenges. By the efforts of her unyielding children and by the grace of the creator, she has reached here by facing the onslaught of difficulties.”
It is customary to end a year thanking God; and the last months and days were usually reserved for this. The priemer in his message recalled this culture and highlight on the role of gratitude to everyones life. “For those of us who believe in our firmness and the Creator’s help, we always see the bright spring that comes next to the chilling winter. We know that beyond the darkness, there is a bright light. Believing that there is no reason not to overcome today’s darkeess, we will not fail to thank the Creator who has given us the stamina. Gratitude has the power to make us look at the past with victory, the present with luck, and the future with optimism. On the other hand, bitterness and ungratefulness create an attitude of defeatism and misfortune. It makes us unable to look at inside ourselves and others with positivity and love. He who is busy with bitterness and ingratitude does not see the grace that is bestowed on him..”
The priemer said Ethiopia has been tested numerous times in the past but had sustained enduring and triumphing over challenges. “Our country with an invisible force has resisted divisions inside like in that was the era of nobilities; colonial pressures from abroad. It can be called a miracle that it has remained strong without losing its history and identity. For modern Ethiopia to come from disintegration to unity, it had to face several wars, conflicts, countless invasions and power struggles. Although revolutions, civil wars, epidemics, severe famines, man-made and natural crises have stormed Ethiopia, of course, they have shaken it but cannot and will not destroy it.”
However, the past four or five years were baffling as Ethiopia had exprienced two extremes. “ It can be said that the past four or five years had been the time that we experienced hope and suffering, unity and diversity, international praise and condemnation, progress and setbacks, freedom and conflict at an unprecedented level in the history of Ethiopia. It was the time when Ethiopia not only found its children but also lost them. Our Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), whose construction was said to have been interrupted or came to halt , has already started generating power. A country that was dented with drought and misery continues its progress towards greenery by planting billions of saplings and setting up parks everywhere. While some think that the guarantee of its existence is westerners wheat, Ethiopia with its summer wheat and large grain and vegetable farms produced enough for itself and is on the verge of exporting.”
Prime Minister Abiy emphasized Ethiopia has lost a lot from the internal conflicts and war that happened the past two years. “When we look back at the past few years, where a brother was cruel to his own brother, where we clashed in such a way that we didn’t even live together, where human lives were taken by the greedy, and when the blood of our people was shed in vain by people who had no purpose but a target, our hearts break with sadness. As a generation, we feel shame. When we think of the human lives lost and the property destroyed owing to the conflicts in the northern and western parts of our country, it is not not only our eyes that tears but also our souls stain in tears .”
He also distinctively mentioned the mounting foreign pressure Ethiopia resisted the last two years but managed to be firm and committed. “Many countries failed to withstand similar international pressure and influence that came down on Ethiopia in the last two years and collapsed. But the God of Ethiopia did not hand us over to our enemies. It has given us strength and power to stand up, to persevere, to regain power and be strong. Even today, Ethiopia continues to amaze and witness the world. It looks forward to the future with the strong support of this arm. Praise be to the God of Ethiopia who let us see with our own eyes the steadfastness of Ethiopia that we have heard about in history.”
Prime Minister Abiy went on giving all the reasons Ethiopia should be grateful for by listing what it had accomplished over the year. The impressive Ethiopian athletes victory in 18th World Athletics Championships in Oregon, USA is also among the blessing of the year. Ethiopia collected ten medals; four golds, four Silvers and two Bronzes and ranked third in the overall medal table. “Are they not the Ethiopians who resist the internal challenges and the external pressure and secured victory after victory on the world sports stage? Aren’t there Ethiopians who wave the flag of their motherland high in the sports field, stretch their hands to unto the lord and thank their creator on the field where they won? If we think calmly and carefully, count our blessings, we Ethiopians have many other reasons and causes to be grateful for rather than nursing bitterness. That is why we should stand and praise and honor the Creator in many matters that our hearts have not understood or thought about.”
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD THURSDAY 28 JULY 2022
