Ethiopian Millennium Celebration
Today I was fortunate to be invited to the Ethiopian Millennium Celebration at the Ethiopian Cultural Centre in Winnipeg, 595 Notre Dame Avenue. The little hall was packed with people, most of them Ethiopians with their families. It was nice to see that there are so many children in this community. The Ethiopian community in Winnipeg is a young one. The children were having fun while the parents tried to keep them quiet during the formal part of the presentation. It reminded me of home. Children and adults are always part of an audience and people appeared to have developed an ear to hear over the natural noises of children as it was at the celebration. There were some special guests in the personage of Dr. Jon Gerard, Leader of the Liberal Party, Mr. Harvey Smith, City Councillor and the owner of Palliser Furniture, who owns one of the largest furniture factories in Winnipeg and who employs a large number of new immigrants.
The celebration was open with a prayer by the Minister of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. He wore a long black gown bearing a huge gold-plated cross around his next and he held a smaller one in his hand. Members from the community would come up to him and he would offer the cross which they kissed in several places and then hugged or in some cases kissed the Minister. It is obvious that the Minister is highly respected. Like Catholic priests, Ethiopian Orthodox priests do not marry.
Ethiopians follow the Gregorian calendar. According to an Ethiopian woman who sat next to me during the proceeding, this is the original calendar. She said the Western calendar deviated from the original calendar after Jesus' birth.
Another reason said the Guest speaker, Taye Zegege, past President of the Ethiopia Society of Winnipeg, is that one of the three wise men was an Ethiopian and that he took seven years to walk back to Ethiopian (LOL). Anyway, this Millennium is seven years after Canadians celebrated its Millennium and like that time, it went by uneventful.
Mr. Taye gave a brief historical background of Ethiopia, the only African country that was never colonized. He boasted that twice the Ethiopians fought the Italians who was trying to colonize them and twice they succeeded in driving them out. He said Ethiopians are found all over the world because of despotic governments but that Ethiopian has a long history of democracy and good government. He said that Ethiopians embraced diversity because within it million odd square kilometres, there are 80 different cultures with their own distinct languages coexisting in peace. He said that Ethiopia have some of the most fertile lands in the world but there is famine which he claims is man made through poor government and wars and only partly because of drought.
There was a display of traditional Ethiopian clothes followed by a sumptuous meal of injera, chicken, beef, vegetables, seasoned cream cheese, Ethiopian flat bread and samosa. The meal was absolutely fabulous.
The meal was followed by the Ethiopian coffee ceremony. The coffee was roasted in the building and the fragrance inhaled and passed around as a feast to the sense. The coffee was brewed in a traditional pot and then served in small espresso containers. Great coffee.
I had a great time. Theinvitation was sent out to the entire community but I was the only person of colour who was a non Ethiopian. Why? We have to move out from our insularity and embrace community life in a big way. That means supporting other communities as they celebrate important cultural events.