Fetiya Osman is a ranger in Babile Elephant Sanctuary which is a protected area and wildlife sanctuary in eastern Ethiopia. The sanctuary is located in Babile district, East Hararghe Zone of Oromia State, which lies 560 km east of Addis Ababa and 40 km south of Harar.
Fetiya is known for her deep love for nature, especially her special affection for elephants. She always tells people that elephants are innocent creature; which never attack unless people cross their boundary.
Due to her excessive love for nature, she was forced to pay many sacrifices in her life. Be it from standing against the culture she was raised by to leaving her marriage. Women in the area are not allowed to wear trousers yet, she had to wear the ranger uniform and she did.
And, when her spouse insisted that she had to stay home after getting married and having a child, she chose her career over her family. Both of her decisions not only put her in a difficult situation but also made her to be condemned by the entire society.
She was born in Bisidimi Kebele, Babile District. She has never had the chance to travel to any area till she became a tenth grader. In one incident, she saw a vacancy that was posted by Babile Elephant Sanctuary looking for a Scout member. She didn’t need to think twice before starting her way for the registration. Fortunately, she easily passed the exam and was hired.
However, her job came with a cost. Her families including her neighbors were against her starting the job. They were concerned that the job requires rangers to be outdoors through various weathers including night shifts. Moreover, the uniform that she is supposed to wear is highly forbidden not only in their culture but also in her religion.
But Fetiya did not let them get in her way of joining the sanctuary. She told them that she loves and respects the religion as well as the culture but she is also able to bear all the possible challenges.
After serving for about three years, she got married and gave birth to a baby boy. Unfortunately, her spouse started insisting that she should stay home with her child saying that a woman should not do this job. To the worst, he told her he would leave if she chose her job. Fatiya had a firm stance so he left.
The good thing was that she took the challenge as a springboard and decided to empower herself with better education. Thus, she was able to take weekend classes and accomplish both diploma and degree levels. She is currently raising her son on her own while doing her job successfully.
Fetiya usually shares her experience in different schools where she tries to empower young women and men to have a positive attitude towards the job. Though being a ranger is an outdoor job, she said that it is doable.
“I usually slept in the forest, at times I had to tolerate the heavy rainfall while I was out in the jungle. But I survived the situation given my commitment. There is no one thing that we can’t achieve if we set our minds to it,” she underscored.
As a Travel Journalist, Henok Seyouim said, elephants in Babile sanctuary are exposed to illegal gunfire. Being there is like witnessing the heavy gunfire in a battlefield. This is a simple indication of what Fetiya encountered and survived in the sanctuary.
A ranger is supposed to go long miles barefoot, sleep in the jungle which is not only risky but tiresome. Nonetheless, knowing the elephants are safe takes all the hard work and demands more courage. Fetiya recalled and shared a single incident that she encountered that almost took her life.
“In 2020, we went to inspect the agricultural activity that illegal settlers conduct in the sanctuary using two vehicles. We found out that the illegal settlers were building houses in the sanctuary. We told them that they were not allowed to build houses there and gathered their construction materials and returned. Immediately, over two hundred people opened gunfire on us.
She went on saying: We were not more than 22 and in addition to the defense forces, only three people were armed at the moment. The firing continued for about three hours. I was able to leave the area with the help of one of the members in a different direction after walking for five hours in barefoot. The shooting stopped once the East Command Defense Force arrived in the area. Sadly, one of our rangers was killed while four people both ranger and members of the defense force, got injured.”
Fetiya has served as a ranger for around 14 years. She stayed as the only woman ranger for the first 10 years. Her courage and commitment has gradually helped her to get recognition from her families as well as the community. Four women who have followed her footprints also joined the sanctuary. Currently, she is the head of the sanctuary that has more than 62 rangers.
Tsigereda Solomon is also a ranger in Babile Elephant Sanctuary. She never gets tired of speaking about her colleague, Fetiya. She has deep appreciation and respect for her as she describes the reason that Fetiya is a very hard working individual.
“I was a janitor when I joined the sanctuary. When I saw her dedication and affection for nature and the elephants, I became attracted to being like her. With that in mind, the sanctuary announced a vacancy for internal employees. I joined without hesitation,” said Tsigereda.
Another ranger and colleague named Abdela Shemsedin stated that Fetiya is very determined and a hard worker with a good personality. For him, she possesses the kind of personality that allows her to work with anyone. Besides her good leadership role, Fetiya is a positive influencer in her area that opened the eyes of the community to what a woman could do if she is given opportunity.
In 2022, she received recognition of certificate and prize from Oromia Regional State for her contribution in preserving the environment and animals. She has also won the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) that draws together 140 competitors from 50 countries and was awarded 20,000USD.
Fetiya has only one dream, seeing the elephants in Babile Sanctuary be free from illegal settlers.
BY BETELHEM BEDLU
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD THURSDAY 25 APRIL 2024
