Flying for Kosovo

Another very influential country in Africa is Ethiopia, which is nearly 100 times larger than our Kosovo and has nearly 80 million people. Their capital, Addis Ababa is home to the African Union and for that reason, Ethiopia is sometimes considered the political capital of Africa. This country also has the most stable economy within East Africa. I am looking forward to getting our message out in a country as influential as this one. Hopefully we can share our story here and gain some political momentum in this part of the world. If we were to gain recognition from a place as strong as Ethiopia, than it is likely that several smaller countries in this region may follow the lead. Let’s hope we can make a difference here.

I have also been looking forward to visiting this country for many other reason. Since I am in love with the different cultures of the world, I can’t wait to learn about the ones here in Ethiopia. Since this place is very important to all three major religions of the world, I’m excited to know more about that, not to mention the fact that there are many indigenous cultures here too. That usually means that there are fascinating traditions, languages, dances, foods, to experience, etc.

Flying over this great land from Uganda and Kenya from the southwest, I had to fly over many different terrains during my flight to Addis Ababa – from dry areas to wetlands, valleys, to high hills and mountains (remember that I mentioned in my Kenya description that Ethiopia is sometimes called ‘the roof’ of Africa), etc. I was able to see some of the fascinating, picturesque landscapes of this historic place as I had to fly to elevations over 12,000 ft. at times.

At an altitude of that level, our baby plane doesn’t really want to work hard like it should. At one point, I was near the hilltops of the Ethiopian Highlands and thought I would have to pay a visit to some of the farmers below who, as it turns out, are members of the indigenous Gurag culture. That is the population that resides up here where it is very isolated from other places. They are historicaly farmers and/or tend to raise cattle in order to survive and some of their housing even looked liked huts made with a grass roof. It would have been nice to learn more about their culture someday, but I was not looking forward to landing in their yard because our plane did not want to fly any higher. Luckily, just when I thought I would have to make a surprise visit to some poor, unexpecting family, I approached a valley and was able to start my 4,000 ft. descent into Addis Ababa.

I’m also interested in visiting this country to learn more about it’s history. Ethiopia is known throughout the world as one of the oldest sites of human existence known to scientists today. Further, it has strong ties to all three major world religions. In addition to this being home to the Ethiopian Orthodox community, Ethiopia is considered one of the first Christian countries in the world, the site of the first hijra in Islamic history (when a group of Muslims were counseled by Muhammad to escape travel here in order to escape persecution in Mecca in 615) and has also had a substantial Jewish population (also known as the Beta Israel). One other religion that Ethiopia has ties to is the Rastafari religious moement, which has popularized the Ethiopian flag and helped to spread reggae music across the world.

It is late afternoon when I finally touch down in Addis Ababa. I quickly find a decent hotel within my budget (at least this one has breakfast in the morning) and I go to bed early. Even though you just sit in the airplane all day when you are flying, you have to maintain a lot of focus and concentration when flying an airplane -so believe it or not, a long day of flying like this can be physically and mentally exhausting.

While I am here in Ethiopia, I am going to see about getting back over to the Ivory Coast, which is on the West side of Africa. Since I had to skip that country back in December due to political unrest, I want to make sure that I visit them now that they are more stable. Our airplane will be staying here in Addis Ababa though, because it would take me more than a week of flying to get all the way over there – not to mention all of the brutal logistical hell that I would have to go through. I also have to get a few visas for some upcoming countries, so that will take some running around and more money for sure. My three days here will probably be as hectic as hell and very busy, but I am used to that by now and I like to start seeing progress immediately, so I am willing to put in those long 18 hour days. The first thing I need to do tomorrow is get a feel for the environment.

After traveling to so many countries, you never know what to expect from the media, government, people, etc.. I have learned to be prepared for anything and to be very cautious initially in regards to security and such. After a few years, I have just learned to expect the unexpected and ‘go with the flow’ of the surrounding environment. I have no idea how I will be received here in Ethiopia, so I guess I will just have to wait and see.

It is not long before I start chatting with the local people and find out that this country has a recent history of being under military control. Until 1974, Ethiopia was ruled by Emperor Haile Selassie I, who was overthrown when the country destabilized due to the people’s unrest regarding many of their living conditions. In 1974, a Marxist-Lenin group established a one-party communist state called the People’s Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. During that time, especially in the 1980’s, a series of famines affected this great nation and nearly 8 million people faced food insecurity, with one million of them dying from starvation. Once stabilized in the 1990’s, a constitution was finally developed and multi-party elections were held. But stability wouldn’t last long because 1998 a border dispute led to the Eritrean-Ethiopian War, which would last until June 2000, with an estimated 70,000-100,000 people dying as a result. Even today, relations between the two countries remain tense and there remains tight control within the realm of local media. Freedom of speech is still very limited.

So I spend the next two days running to over ten media houses trying to get our cause covered without a lot of progress to show for it. Either the ‘editor isn’t here’ or they say that they are too busy to meet with me. What this means is that a sensitive subject like ours will likely create a lot of tension, which they are trying to avoid out of fear that it could get them into trouble with their government. Ethiopia and Serbia have been trying to build closer trade relations with each other and I can tell that the media people are trying very carefully not to rock the boat.

In two full working days, I have a very hard time trying to convince the media here that our story is important. In my experiences, if you are not able to obtain an interview within two days, then you might as well stop your begging because they aren’t going to give in to you. The more that they can avoid you, the easier it gets for them, so if you don’t get their attention within the first few days, then there isn’t much of a difference that you’re going to make if you keep bothering them.

I did, at least, get two newspapers who were willing to take a risk and cover our story. Thank you very much to Mr. Dejene Tesemma, Editor-in-Chief of the Ethiopian Herald (a government owned agency to my surprise)*. Mr. Tesemma is a great gentleman with lots of field experience who is striving hard for a positive change. He assigned his journalist Mr. Eyob Fitwi to our story, who was very knowledgeable about Kosovo and asked me several questions during the interview. Thank you so much to Mr. Tesemma for his risk-taking and delicate care that he showed to our story.

*Note: On 1 June 2011, we received notice from Mr. Tesemma that Z. Dragan Momcilovic, Serbian Ambassador to Ethiopia, contacted the The Ethiopian Herald to express his anger about the publication of our story. Please take time to thank those brave media sources who are willing to risk their professinal credibility in order to cover our story.

The other newspaper that I would like to thank is the Capital newspaper. Managing Director, Mrs. Teguest Yilma, was an excellent lady with a geat personality. She showed great interested in helping our country. She was very professional and stood behind her words, promising that someone would be calling me for an in-depth interview. The next day, the Editor himself called me. Mr. Groum Abate showed great attention and dedication toward our interview. A few days later I was able to see the article being published which made me even happier. Thank you again to both newspaper teams who took a risk in covering our cause.

Ethiopia only has one television station, which I contacted to no avail. There leadership was very upfront with me and admitted that Kosovo was too sensitive of a subject to be presenting to the public and that he was worried about the consequences that it might produce. He stated that his country was trying hard to improve it’s economy and could not jeopardize the international relations that they had with other nations. Basically this means that Ethiopia and Serbia are trying to build stronger relations in which Ethiopia will benefit from in some way. It’s too bad that our government won’t lobby harder, because if Kosovo were recognized, we could be the ones building these relationships instead.

At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I thought that they were quite receptive for being such a huge nation and knowing their political situation. Though the Minister himself was not there, the Chief of Cabinet, Mr. Tsegab Kebebew was there to greet me. He was gracious enough to spend some time with me and said that our letter from Vlora Citaku will get into the Minister’s hands as soon as he meets with him again. Thank you also to the Minister’s Secretary, whom I presented with a copy of the letter to give to her boss. Despite not getting any solid answers, I was well received within the Ministry and though the Chief of Cabinet did not want to elaborate, he did mention that I could rest assured that there will be further discussion about Kosovo within their office. He also showed me a book about our country which was laying on his coffee table and had been published during war times. It is good to know that we are at least on the minds of local government and that our name is known here.

No matter how hard I tried those two days, these few accomplishments were all I could manage to gain in this country. One thing that I did not like about all of my activities here is that all of the buildings (not just the government ones) required a security screening in order to enter. Not only did this take up a lot of time, but during one of my many visits into these types of offices, I managed to leave my camera behind and lost more than 1000 photographs of my travels. Though I could care less about my camera, I am very disappointed that I lost all of those pictures. Since I like to travel lightly and don’t waste our money on things like souvenirs, those photos were all that I had to show for the countries that I have visited. I went back the next day to try and find it, but it was nowhere to be found (no doubt taken by an eager security guard I’m sure). The worst part of the whole thing is that I had to file a police report and had to waste more time dealing with that type of nonsense.

After those two long days of work with only little progress being made, I refocused my efforts and bought a ticket to Ivory Coast. I am looking forward to going there and finally finishing the West African portion of our mission. That country has been on my mind every since I had to avoid it back in December. Since then, I have been paying close attention to their political situation and looking for an opportunity to go back there. But it certainly won’t be cheap. Ethiopian Airlines is the major airline in this part of the world, so they pretty much set the local prices. But I guess when you consider that the flight will be nearly seven hours from here to there, $1300 ends up being a lot less to pay than all of the money and time it would take to fly my plane there and back.

On the night before I left for the Ivory Coast, I was able to enjoy some authentic Ethopian cuisine, listen to local music and experience some of the traditional dancing of this country. What makes each nation unique is it’s people, traditions, culture, geography, etc. and I could easily spend more time here learning more about this subject, but of course, we are on a mission my friends and I must keep going.

One other thing that I must tell you all now is that the ladies here are absolutely enchanting. I’m not joking when I tell you that walking down the street in Addis Ababa felt like I was walking down a runway full of models. What an invigorating moment to enjoy for sure. Another thing that I keep forgetting to tell you is the Lada is a very popular mode of transporation down here in Africa (which is also the case here in Ethiopia). I am guessing that its because those cars are so cheap and must be more accessible.

As I was traveling all around in my Lada taxi, I was able to see that the economy of Addis Ababa is picking up pretty fast. There was a lot of construction everywhere, with roads being built, infrastructure increasing, etc., which is always a good sign of progress. My time in this town has also shown me that Ethiopia is very much a country that respects outsiders and is trying to build stronger relationships with the world in order to benefit the people of this beautiful land.

Capital Ethiopia

Capital Ethiopia PDF

Society Ethiopia PDF