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Ethiopia
Ethiopia is one of the world's great crossroads
-- bringing together the cultures, traditions,
and arts of the Middle East, Africa and the Mediterranean.
Whether you are in the capital city of Addis Ababa
or in the rural areas of the country, you'll find
a range of faces, dress, food, language and ceremonies
-- each representing different ethnic backgrounds,
but all Ethiopian. These differences, which often
are initially unrecognized by Northerners because
of the overwhelming poverty and throngs of people,
have created a multitude of arts and artifacts.
Originally based on practical need, many modern
Ethiopian artists and artisans apply their traditions
to the production of high quality ornaments, furniture,
decorations, clothing and art.
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Street
scene in the old city in Harer, Ethiopia. |
Bikers
supporting the first Bike-athon for a school
for autistic children in Addis.
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Ethiopia
is a fragile country. The economy showed signs
of recovery after the hunger crisis of the mid-1980s,
but a variety of obstacles prevent unimpeded progress.
In 2002, the government funded a border war with
Eritrea which consumed valuable financial and
human resources. While parts of the country still
suffer from drought, fertile areas produce food
that can’t be shipped because of inadequate
roads. As much as 18% of the adult population
is believed to be HIV+. And like many parts of
the world, the gap between the rich and poor is
growing. Beautiful cars and well-dressed people
share their capital and country with some of the
most impoverished people in Africa. ( See www.ethiopianembassy.org)
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Yet,
wherever I went, I met Ethiopians who are making
a difference. I met:
- Young people
who are planting and maintaining community gardens
in Addis;
- Lawyers at
the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Associations who
are helping women obtain property rights
and human rights; (see, www.etwla.org)
- Women raising money
to create and staff a primary school for the
children of pastoralists and assuring
that girls attend;
- A Canadian
woman who is developing a small silk production
and weaving business that trains and employs
weavers, sewers, dyers;
- Young adults
who started a self-help support organization
for young people who are HIV+ or
living with AIDS.
It's
this synergy of people and passion that gives
Ethiopia the energy and hope it has today. |
The
Hand-Weaving Tradition
Creative
Women capitalizes on this energy by working
in Ethiopia and focusing on the tibeb,
a traditional hand-woven textile. For generations,
Ethiopian weavers, mainly in the Dorze and Chencha
areas of southwest Ethiopia, have woven netelas
and gabbies on traditional looms using
centuries-old patterns and designs. On Monday
and Thursday mornings, weavers from these areas
walk from their homes -- sometimes over an hour
each way -- to sell their fabrics at the textile
market. Merchants from Addis wander through the
crowd of weavers, negotiating for the best deals,
while local women look for a good price for their
limited purchases.
Weaving
is a family activity in Ethiopia: sometimes a
supplement to a family's farming, sometimes the
entire source of income. Women are responsible
for gathering the cotton grown in the Rift Valley
lowlands, carrying huge loads on their heads and
climbing steep mountains back to their villages.
Women of all ages spin cotton, using a simple
drop spindle to make the thread used for the weft
(horizontal) threads on the loom. Most of the
cotton used for the warp is factory-made.
Traditionally,
the men do the weaving. Their pit-style looms
are typically set up outside the house. Whenever
possible, they are built into a hillside and the
weaver digs a hole, and sitting with his
feet hanging into it. Four vertical posts and
two horizontal pieces connecting the posts support
the Doko loom. Two harnesses, with many string
heddles, are suspended from the horizontal pieces.
Attached to each harness is a long rope that forms
the treadles of the loom. In front of the harness
is the reed that holds up to 600 threads.
Today, many of the Dorze and Chencha weavers have
moved with their looms to Addis, and sell their
fabrics at the big market at the foot of Entoto
Mountain. There, among hundreds of overflowing
stalls of weavings, Ethiopians and ferengis (foreigners)
look for the ideal piece of fabric to make a traditional,
or sometimes Western, dress, each with just the
right touch of tibeb and color that says, hand-made
in Ethiopia.
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Weaver
in Dorze, Ethiopia. |
 Ellen
visiting the weavers at the
Monday market. |
"Money
that gets into the hands of the women goes to
the family. And--this is not just my idea, there's
a lot of research on this--if women can be economically
independent, they have a lot more control over
their sexuality, their safety, their life in general."
Ellen Dorsch |
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70 East Shore North, Grand Isle, VT 05458