My third Interview

Introduction:

I choose an Ethiopian person for my next interview, because I was really curious about how is life over there. And most important I wanted to know the role of women in this African country.

Preparation:

As the objective of my interview was mainly to know about the position of women in Ethiopian society, my interviewee had to be a woman. I met Abby by chance, she moved to an apartment in my building and I knew from the janitor, that she came from Africa.

She was quite shy in our first meeting. I explained to her the purpose of the interview and after a day of thinking about it she agreed on that.

The list of questions was about mostly her reasons to be here, her family, her city and some memories of her country.

Interview report:

Abby and I met at home so we could have a long talk about all the possible topics. She was extremely polite and nice.

She proudly told me that Ethiopia was the only independent country in Africa, and that they have never been colonized, except for a five years Italian invasion, long time ago. That the role of women is changing all over Africa, though still exist oppression over women.

I also asked her about the city where she was born, the capital of Ethiopia, an important city where converge important economic, political and social activities.

She explained the many kinds of music and dances they have in her country, which usually are used to celebrate, to pray and to give thanks.

Interview Bio: 

Abby Saidi is from Addis Abbaba, Ethiopia. She has been living in US for almost ten years. She was raised in a humble home where the hard work produced the main income to her and her parents.

She thought that her opportunity to help her parents was travelling abroad to find a good job and provide them, back in Africa, of good money.

Country Report:

Ethiopia is a land-locked country located in East Africa, and is bordered by Eritrea,Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya and Sudan.  With an estimated population of more than 85,000,000, Ethiopia is Africa’s second most populous country.  Although Ethiopia’s official language is Amharic, there are a variety of officially recognized regional languages which are spoken among Ethiopia’s ethnically diverse population.  According to a census taken in 2007, 34.5 percent of Ethiopians are ethnic Oromo, 26.91 percent Amhara, 6.2 percent Somali, 6.07 percent Tigraway, with the remaining percentage divided among the Guragie, Sidama, Welaita, among others.

 History

Ethiopia is considered one of the oldest centers of civilization in the world with evidence of hominid habitation of the area from as early as 3.2 million years ago.  Ethiopia has been the home of many expansive empires, examples of which include the D’mt in the 8^th century BCE, the Aksumite reign in the 4th century BCE, the Zagwe dynasty which ruled from 1137  CE until it was overthrown by the Solomonid dynasty in 1270 CE.  The Solomonid dynasty ruled the Abyssinian empire which at that time included almost the entirety of the current geographic areas of Ethiopia and Eritrea.  The Solomonids reigned until a Marxist-Leninist military junta, the "Derg", led by Mengistu Haile Mariam,

deposed Haile Selassie, the last Emporer of Ethiopia, and established a one-party communist state. The communist regime which was established after the military coup that deposed the last Emperor of Ethiopia in 1974 was plagued by a series of ensuing

coups, drought and famines which contributed to wide-scale population migrations and displacement of populations.  In the 1980s, large scale famines killed 1 million Ethiopians and impacted the lives of 8 million more.   Demonstrations against communist rule began in the northern regions of Ethiopia and Eritrea.  In

1990 the Soviet Union completely cut all aid to Ethiopia furthering weakening the rule of the communist leader, Mengistu Haile Mariam.  Mengistu fled the country in 1991, and sought asylum in Zimbabwe where he resides to this day.  A referendum was held in 1993, in which Eritreans overwhelmingly voted in favor of seceding from Ethiopia, and Eritrean independence was declared on May 24, 1993.  Ethiopia’s first multiparty elections were held in 1995, after a constitution was adopted the previous year.  A border dispute with Eritrea resulted in the Ethiopian-Eritrean was that began in 1998 and lasted until June 2000.

Politics

The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia is described in its constitution, drafted in 2004, as a federal parliamentary republic.  Executive power is exercised by the Prime Minister who presides over a cabinet.  Legislative authority is vested in two chambers of parliament, leaving judicial powers completely independent of both the legislative and executive powers.  Ethiopia’s current government is led by EPRDF’s Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, whose policies have, according to an assessment by the non-profit Freedom House, “promoted a policy of ethnic federalism, devolving significant powers to regional, ethnically-based authorities. Ethiopia today has nine semi-autonomous administrative regions that have the power to raise and spend their own revenues”.

1Ethiopia’s first multiparty elections were held in 1995, however many opposition parties

abstained from participation which resulted in an overwhelming victory for the Ethiopian

People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).  EPRDF’s Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, was elected for a second 5-year term in the controversial 2000 elections in which opposition parties claim the polls and media coverage of the elections were heavily biased towards the incumbent EPRDF party.  Human Rights Watch has reported that access to non-state run media has been severely affected by Zenawi’s policies, indicating that private newspapers are routinely shut-down by the government.  

Interview

 Me: What is your name?

Abby: My name is Abby Saidi.

M: Are you from Africa?

A: Yes I am. I was born in Ethiopia, the only independent country in the

whole territory of Africa.

M: How long have you been here?

A: Almost four years.

M: Do you have family with you?

A: No, I am an only child and my parents are still living in Ethiopia.

M: What do your parents do in Africa?

A: My mother is a nurse in a Children’s Hospital, and my father is a soldier.

M: How is to be a woman in Ethiopia?

A: Right now is easier than in past times. In present days women in

 Ethiopia are actively involved in social, political and cultural activities of

 their communities. This hasn’t been always like that, but still there are a

 lot of points to work about, to reinforce even more the role of women in

my country.

M: After so long living here, what do you remember the most about your city?

A: Let’s see; in every street of the city, there is eucalyptus trees planted on

 the sidewalks, and they have a particular smell. I guess that one is the

most cherished memory I have of Addis Ababa, the smell of eucalyptus

trees.