Day 71: Happy New Year!

Last night I got to party like it was 1999 because in Ethiopia it was. Today is the New Year and the start of a new millennium for Ethiopia. It’s funny to think I’m now one of the few people on earth who has lived to see the coming of two millennium new years! It was a pretty typical new year’s eve with people taking off work to be with family and friends, the town decorated with festive lights, and everyone staying out til midnight, but for a country with so many problems and yet so much potential it was more than just a party.

Witnessing the excitement building up to this momentous occasion has been an experience in and of itself. The millennium has been the talk of the town escaping no one’s thoughts; it has been on the minds of the street kids to the highest officials in the land. Everyone has been planning for it for months and the celebrations will continue throughout the year. The expectations have ranged from complete indifference to predicting widespread change. I have heard stories of the poor thinking that the government is going to eliminate their debt and everyone in the country will suddenly be rich. Those are the sad tales of a nation filled with lost and helpless people. It has been interesting to hear observations that are so readily given. People have had mixed opinions about the occasion, but all are alike in recognizing it as a big deal.

You can’t deny its influence as roads are being torn up and multi-million dollar stadiums are erected for this one festive night. But government officials and event organizers would argue that it is more than just one night. Tens of thousands were expected to return to Addis for the celebration. As our latest guests arrived at the airport reporters hounded them asking if they were here for the millennium. In the past few months the city has been working round the clock. The Chinese, known for their low-cost, fast-paced labor, have been contracted to repair all the roads and complete most of the construction sites throughout the city. The construction has made transportation a bear. The government has worked hard to turn its image as political prisoners were released and public initiatives such as tree planting were implemented. The homeless are being removed from the city and relocated to the country and meat laced with poison has been laid out to eradicate the stray dogs. All of these things are an attempt to show the world that Ethiopia is ready to be looked at differently.

I remember when I celebrated my first millennium new year. I was a senior in high school and my class had been dubbed the “class of the millennium.” All of our talk centered on the ominous possibilities of Y2K. For me, it was just a bigger excuse to have a party and then life moved on. The only adjustment was writing the date differently. In any case, the approaching New Year forces a reflection on the past and present and creates anticipation for the future. It’s as if for one day history stops writing and offers you a chance to pen a draft of the coming chapters. Here there has been an underlying consciousness of that fact. It weighs heavily on every concerned citizen. This burden is under girded by a determination to close a door on the past, to start a new chapter in history – one without poverty, famine, and war.

It’s hard to tell what the majority opinion is, but I think the skeptics realize that for change to happen it must happen from within. It can’t be mandated through a government program. I think it is admirable for the country to unite in an effort to lift itself out of “developing” status. However, the New Year is just another day until someone makes the choice to change his ways. And for a country with nearly half its population of 77 million malnourished it also requires the compassion of others.

As I walked to work yesterday, I could feel a difference and slight shift in the mood from the past few months. It was as if the whole city was on the verge of a huge reality check – a hush and heavy disappointment looms. The beggars and homeless were nowhere to be seen – they’d been swept under a rug. But they’ll be back. It is sad. I was frustrated by the short-sightedness of sweeping the streets for one night. Hope has wrongly been placed on the temporal solutions of men with more money than the nation’s GDP. Valuable energy and resources have been wasted on band aids that do nothing to heal the suffering of the millions living in this country.

The reality check for most is that life is going to go on. The exterior may have been different for a time, but overall, the hardships or the privileges that define one’s life will remain the status quo. I’m just hoping the pressure to improve the standard of living will remain at the forefront of everyone’s mind.

For one night there was a celebration and people forgot that today brings with it a new millennium that has yet to be written. Last night we gathered in the streets and shouted “melcom millennium!” to each other. And Sheik Mohammed al-Amoudi put on an impressive fireworks display for all to see. Few people get to have a once in a lifetime experience twice, but those of us who were in Addis last night managed to defy logic.

Historic Background:
Ethiopia is the only country in the world to still follow the Julian calendar which is seven years behind the Gregorian calendar that the western world follows. The New Year typically falls on September 11, but this is a leap year so today is actually the New Year. Ethiopia is also unique in that it has a 13 month calendar that consists of 12 30-day months and one 5 day month. Their slogan is “13 months of sunshine,” which is a bold-faced lie! They also follow time differently from the rest of the world. What we consider 7:00 AM is actually 1:00 AM Ethiopian time.

Related Articles:
http://africa.reuters.com/world/news/usnL11910980.html
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/west/chi-ethiopia12sep12,1,7350619.story

A Student's Perspective:
In light of the approaching millennium I asked some of my older students to write an essay about it. Here are a few excerpts (unedited). This one was written by Namuna:

The country Ethiopia is prepared itself to colorfully celebrate the millennium; the current New Year goes special to all Ethiopians. During the Ethiopian New Year, the government, the people & friends of Ethiopian would make great preparation to colorfully marking the up coming Ethiopian Millennium.
It brings hope.....The history of the country which has been colored by wars & famine, would be reversed as the Ethiopian millennium torch beams across the nation. The celebration has different uses for the country like economically, historically,...
• From 30 generations the one can have the chance to celebrate the millennium.
• In the last 1000 year they are good things like the civilizations and others, and they are also bad things. We encourage the good things & we change the mistake parts. We learn from the mistake parts and we welcome the new millennium.
• Every world knows that Ethiopia is under poverty, famine, war, .but for the coming millennium we have to leave this thing as a passed history & we have to join our hand to make Ethiopia developing or developed country.
• The governments do the following works to the country for the millennium.
1Planting tree seedlings using Aforestation & teach the others about reforestation.
2.Working & teaching the young's about HIV aids.
3.Girls are half part of the society. So, teaching or changing the opinion of the peoples& obeying the right of girls, children's& others... They are also lots of things to do for the millennium.
The peoples can get some information from radio, television, newspaper, website, magazine, newsletter, &teater places.
Ethiopia is the origin of human being, civilization & Ethiopia is Africa's oldest independent country. a part from a five-year occupation by Mussolini's Italy, it has never been colinised,but the nation is better know for its periodic droughts and famines, its long civil conflict with Eritrea. We change these things in the coming millennium.

OUR DIFFERENT IS OUR BEAUTY&OUR STRENGTH.
REPORTED BY NAMUNA DEREJE.

This one is by Ruth:

Ethiopia invite some musician from foreign country like mike Madonna etc but in my idea Ethiopian people must not spend
Millennium by only dancing because they must think new idea for the year for example in my idea last year
1 . if some one is back by knowledge he\she must be get education in the millennium and every body must be educated person.
2 .If the country is not developing country they should be developing country.