Guzo, película documental dirigida por la etíope  Aida Ashenafi, traslada a la pantalla la historia dos jóvenes de Addis Abeba que viajan a una aldea etíope  cercana a Debre Birhan , cambiando el paso rápido de la gran ciudad a la tranquila  pero dura vida en el campo.

 La película pone de manifiesto problemas de la Etiopía rural como el  machismo,  la inaccesibilidad a los servicios sanitarios, la dureza de los trabajos agrícolas , etc…que llevan a los protagonistas a un desplome moral y físico.

 Durante la  película  se muestran también bellos paisajes de abundantes eucaliptos y rocosas montañas, así como escenas donde los aldeanos exhiben mediante cantos y bailes sus constumbres ancestrales. 

” Lidya convive con Belgenesh Belayhun ,su marido y sus tres niños mientras que Robera permanecía en una granja próxima con Shewangizaw Astatke ,su esposa e hijo . La película demuestra cómo los dos intentan hacer frente  a la vida cada vez más difícil de la granja y el cambio necesario que tienen que hacer para permanecer veinte días  en pequeño un pueblo de montaña ,unos 150 kilómetros lejos de la  capital Addis Abeba”

Trailer de la película:

Editorial in the Tallahassee Democrat

Leon County judge: Ashenafi Richardson is top choice

More than 47 percent of Leon County voters on Aug. 26 thought Nina Ashenafi Richardson was the best suited of three well-qualified candidates for county judge. The top vote-getter is now in the Nov. 4 runoff for Seat 5 on the county bench with second-place finisher Sean Desmond.

Voters are in the enviable position of having two strong candidates in this nonpartisan race, but Ms. Ashenafi Richardson has the edge — primarily because of her extensive volunteer and pro bono track record.

“I have worked in the trenches,” she said. “Making a difference is the essence of who I am.”

Besides having been staff legal counsel for the Florida Education Association since 1991, the 44-year-old attorney and mother of two daughters has an impressive record of professional and community involvement.

She was the first African-American president of the Tallahassee Bar Association, in 2004-05. During her presidency, the Terri Schiavo controversy motivated Ms. Ashenafi Richardson’s initiative, in concert with the Florida Bar, on living wills and advanced directives. Volunteers helped prepare living wills for people in the community as a result.

She also was first black attorney to lead Tallahassee Women Lawyers, in 1998-99, and served for five years on the Legal Aid Foundation board, from 1995 to 2000.

In addition, she serves on the steering committee of Whole Child Leon and is a past board member of several other cultural and civic organizations. Her list of awards and recognitions for volunteer efforts is even longer.

“Judges should be involved in their community,” she said. With “so many working families in desperate situations,” she said, it’s especially important for the judges who preside in the so-called “people’s court” to be familiar with the challenges facing citizens who can’t afford expensive legal advice.

Ms. Ashenafi Richardson, the wife of state Rep. Curtis Richardson, cites Rosemary Barkett, a former Florida Supreme Court justice, as her professional role model because she blended geniality and compassion with a sharp legal mind. But she says her late father, Florida State University ethno-musicologist Ashenafi Kebede, left the most “profound” impact on her by enriching their home with music and teaching her “to see the humanity in all of us.”

That should help ground her on the bench, where the humanity she will see, if Leon County voters elect her on Nov. 4, isn’t always in top form. Almost 29,000 cases were filed in Leon County Court last year including small claims and landlord-tenant disputes and minor criminal offenses, and effective judges combine a sense of fairness, impartiality and accountability with pragmatic strategies for relieving a strained criminal-justice system.

Those are the qualities we believe Ms. Ashenafi Richardson will bring to the bench.

Visit her site for more info.

OLF News, July 20, 2008 - An unjust “verdict” is reported to have been given to Oromo nationals who were in jail without any for over three years by fabricated charges. Our sources from Finfinnee (Addis Ababa) reported that the following innocent Oromo nationals charged under the file of Ashenafi Adunya are sentenced to 10 years of prison on July 10, 2008.

Ashenafi Adunya  sentenced to 10 years of prison.
Mangistu Desta  sentenced to 10 years of prison.
Sanyi Bakkalcha  sentenced to 10 years of prison.
Tsegaye Wolde Yohannes  sentenced to 10 years of prison.

The 4th victim of Wayyane sentence, Mr.Tsaggayee W/Yohanis, is an elderly who is a leadership member of the Mecha and Tulama self-help Association. He was a renowned writer in several newspapers and magazines. He has also published a history of Oromo people’s struggle for freedom and justice in Amharic language named “OROMIAN BEFEREQA?” meaning literally “Oromia is Ruled by Different Groups of Rulers Second Round”.
Moreover, the following innocent Oromos falsely charged under the file of Gammada Qasim are sentenced several years of imprisonment ranging from 5 years to 22 years.

Gammada Qasim sentenced to 22 years of prison.
Tadala Madde sentenced to 10 years of prison.
Guta Tullu sentenced to 10 years of prison.
Nagasa Yadata sentenced to 5 years of prison.

It is reported that the above sentenced oromos have been jailed and tortured over the last five years.

Meanwhile, workers of Oromia Agricultural Development of Ilu Ababor zone Bure district waged a peaceful protest against the Wayyane regime saying that they need good governance and that they were unable to work according to their profession because of Wayyane authorities interferance.

Source: OLF News