A natural disaster is always unpredictable and may occur in any part of the world and at any time without warning. A natural disaster is not a political outcome, it is not a punishment by mighty God, it does not distinguish between rich and poor countries, and does not favour a democratic government or punish a non-democratic one.
In recent years we have seen natural disaster after disaster; earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, tidal waves, hurricanes, tornadoes and droughts, you name it. Even the big power nations were and will continue to be hit by natural disasters. So Ethiopia is not an exception, in fact one way or another we are prone to natural disasters. It is in our mind that Ethiopia has been and will be affected by a specific kind of natural disaster time after time; one known as drought. As we know Ethiopia was hit by drought at the time of King Menelik, at the time of King Haileselasse, at the time of the Derg and again at the time of Zemen Meles.
Again, the blessing of God -if you believe in it- has turned out to be a natural disaster. Recently, as we have learned from the media, floods have affected Ethiopia, because of excessive rainfall most Ethiopian rivers received more water and the rivers burst. In Dire Dawa even the dry sand river locally known as Genfle gained excessive water from the heavy rain falling on the highland and 256 people have been killed in the nearby town since August 6. As a result hundreds and hundreds of people have become homeless. The same story was repeated in different parts of Ethiopia. When the South Western Omo River burst its banks thousands of people were affected and hundreds perished. One internet news agency reported the event as follows, “A disastrous cycle of drought and flood has hit the Horn of Africa, bringing misery and death to some of the continent's poorest regions. Areas that experienced painful drought for several months from late 2005 are now suffering deadly flooding caused by abnormally heavy seasonal rains.” The news agency added that “Flash floods from overflowing rivers have killed almost 1,000 people and displaced about 120,000 in parts of Ethiopia, Sudan, Eritrea and Somalia since early August.” http://www.eitb24.com
Similarly the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) indicated that “the death toll from recent floods will rise and human suffering will continue to happen to those already displaced and many others to come as a result of heavy rains predicted in most parts of the country.
"The toll in terms of death, disease, displacement and human suffering has been devastatingly high and will continue to grow as rains are expected to continue not only in South Omo but in other affected regions including Gambella, Somali, Afar, Oromia and Amhara regions," Bjorn Ljungqvist, UNICEF Representative to Ethiopia.
According to Ljungqvist, stagnant water coupled with poor sanitation will result in outbreaks of disease and hence high mortality rates.
"Stagnant waters contribute to poor sanitation resulting in outbreaks of diseases and adding to mortality rates. Pools of water that remain once the rivers have subsided create ideal breeding grounds for malaria transmitting mosquitoes. Averting potential malaria outbreaks, particularly in the flooded areas are a priority", Ljungqvist said. http://allafrica.com/stories/200608250220.html
What makes a natural disaster like floods unique is its unpredictability, we cannot predict when and where it may strike, and we cannot predict the scale of the disaster nor the extent of the damage. We only know after the event. Because of this, any nation that is the victim of a natural disaster is always caught by surprise and is thus unable to cope without international help. Particularly this is true of a poor nation like Ethiopia. That is why we always receive international help. However even if the international community gives its helping hand and we are grateful for such humanitarian assistance, it is also our responsibility to do whatever we can.
As far as our responsibility is concerned, in such situations the burden is on the existing government and also on each individual or citizen. In fact the existing government bears the main responsibility; but in my opinion the citizen can give extra support to the government’s effort to solve the problem. As a matter of fact the citizens have paid for the government in the form of tax to get the necessary help at a time of emergency. However if the government fails to deliver adequate support for a natural disaster then all citizens have the right to ask and challenge their government. That is what the Ethiopian people did at the time of the Wellos’ Famine.
Having said that, we might be argue that the current natural disaster did not get enough government attention, even if the government tried to do its best, we can argue that whatever it does it always inadequate. Here we are talking about prevention, not recovery. As a matter of fact “the main cause of floods is not geology or weather, but the distribution of human populations near water”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood. We may even argue that the government’s social, political and economic policies may have contributed or may have been the main cause for the loss of life of our fellow citizens after the current floods. However holding the government as the main answerable body should not stop the citizens from mobilising their resources to help the flood victims through their own channel of choice. The victims are all Ethiopians and after all they are our brothers and sisters.
What motivated me to write this article is my reaction to the so-called Diaspora (antigovernment (anti-Meles) force in the West) response to the flood victims and their crocodile tears in their related article by Ato Wondemmu Mekonnen: on the Ethiomedia website: Woyyanne’s Attempt to Cash on Flood Victims, TPLF cashes on flood relief (pdf)
At the time of the recent Israeli/Lebanon conflict (Israel against Hezbollah) most Diaspora (antigovernment (anti-Meles) force in the West) raised their voice loudly through the cyber world and through different media. At that time I was with them to condemn our government for their slow and inadequate action toward the rescue of Ethiopians from war-torn Lebanon. Apparently there were over 20,000 Ethiopians living and working in Lebanon. These citizens, most of them left Ethiopia through proper legal channels. In addition directly and indirectly they have been contributing their part to the country economy and above all they are Ethiopians. However the government did not take proper action to rescue these Ethiopians from Lebanon, even if the Government said that they did what they could. According to some report out of 20,000 less than 1,000 Ethiopians have returned to their homeland through government help. So we do not know what happened to the rest. Since the Middle East is always in turmoil, the same things will happen again.
As any other poor nation, we have sent thousands of Ethiopians as domestic workers to this region. I believe it is up to the government to prepare itself to rescue its citizens from any part of the world when necessary. Not doing so no other would be to blame except from the government itself. In that respect what the Diaspora did was right; their loud voice had an impact on the government and on politicians as well as on the rest of the population. However personally I have not seen or heard of any practical help from the Diaspora to the victims of the Israel-Hezbollah war.
After their loudest cry for the Ethiopians in Lebanon the Diaspora suddenly went silent when thousands and thousands of Ethiopians were hit by the flood. At this point I ask myself why then and not now. I believe it does not matter where we live or whether it is a case of war or flood; we have to be equally concerned for Ethiopians despite their geographical location and the type of disaster they face. However the Diaspora seems to have a choice of disaster and a preference for location. I believe that if we were able to cry for the war victims and willing to help them we have to do the same for the flood victims too. Unfortunately this is not the case in the so called Diaspora camp. Sadly, very sadly, they even tried to undermine the effort made by concerned Ethiopians to help the flood victims by raising an unrelated issue and by being there in the fundraising event and by trying to disrupt that event.
As “Yetekebery” Ato Wondimu indicated, there was a fundraising event for the Ethiopian flood victims in London organised by the Ethiopian National Consensus Forum with the collaboration of the Ethiopian Embassy and others organisations and individuals. The question I would like to ask “Yetekeberu” Ato Wendimu and his followers is, what is wrong to organise fundraising for the poor Ethiopian people which you call “Wegene”? If you really are a true Ethiopian and a true politician you would have done what the Ethiopian National Consensus Forum has done for the Ethiopian people. The only difference is that you may have used a different channel to send your contribution to the flood victims. Here we have to make a clear distinction between the ruling party and Ethiopian people. If we are not aware of this basic political difference we have simply lost the game.
One of the dramas I observed during the fundraising event was the unfortunate case of the so-called “patriotic Ethiopians”. As any Ethiopian and guest they were welcome by the event organiser, however their intention was not to help the flood victims but simply to insult the Ethiopian people. Sadly again very sadly they did not even donate a single penny; in fact based on Ethiopian custom they were invited to drink and eat and that way contribute to the fundraising efforts. However they unashamedly and arrogantly refused to drink and eat. Finally I saw them sticking out their two fingers in a “victory” sign for the media people and leaving the event. In contrast I saw a young Ethiopian girl proudly wearing the Ethiopian Green, Gold (Yellow) and Red flag “sendk Allama” and contribute her hard-earned money for the flood victims by drinking, eating and so on. Now this young Ethiopian Girl is much younger than those so-called “patriotic Ethiopians” but I am afraid to say so she is much more mature than them.
As you may know sticking up two fingers does not help or get you one loaf of bread for the flood victims. In fact doing so at that time and for that event is more than anything an insult to the flood victims. Be Enkert Lay Joro Degef endelu, “Yetekeberu” Ato Wondimu praised his troops for their shameful behaviour in a non Ethiopian cultural way; after all he might have been the one who sent them. In addition he posted his article on the Net and ashamedly called the fundraising event as “Woyyane’s attempt to cash on the flood victims”. His article, the Diaspora’s silence and the so-called “patriotic Ethiopians” behaviour during the event has clearly made me realise what the Diaspora really stands for.
My last advice is that the fingers you stick up in the air better put them in your pocket, fork out some money and send whatever you can, through whichever channel you want. And then and only then I would/might understand the meaning of those fingers, otherwise sticking two fingers in the air does not have any other meaning for me apart from an insult for the Ethiopian flood victims. There is a time and a place for everything, wegenne.
Taye Kelemmu:
London : UK