Friday April 19 2024            July, August Double Issue

A Web Site For The Young Ethiopian Professional.
    Volume II   Issue IV

Front Page
Table of Contents
Editors' Note
The Mail
My Story
Money and...
Imeri SuQé
Delala, NY Style
Thirty Questions
Selling Out
Bawza
E Trade
The Hustle
The Profile
Corporate Arbegna
The 25K Challenge
Medrek
A Kiss Without...
Top 10
MBA Woes
Do The Right Thing
Hamsa Lomi:
Back Page
Comments
Archive

Do The Right Thing

The tragic famine in Ethiopia continues. Seleda is committed to publicizing ongoing famine relief efforts so as to prod our readers to give some …. and then to give some more. As Ethiopians, let us not forget our responsibility to our less fortunate kin. In the last famine of 1984 – 1985 we all saw the outpouring of generous support from ordinary people all over the world. Many deprived their own families of one meal a day just to send the money they saved to Ethiopia. We also saw the dedication of superstars such as Michael Jackson, Bob Geldorf and Quincy Jones to raise millions on behalf of Ethiopia. It is a tragedy that we find our country facing yet another famine. This time we can not expect the same outpouring of support for many reasons: donor fatigue, less publicity, politics, etc. It is time for us Ethiopians to go the extra mile, to deprive ourselves a little and give more.

It is gratifying to see many Ethiopian Community based efforts to raise money for this famine. Representatives of Ethiopian businesses and associations in Atlanta recently got together to form the “Ethiopian Emergency Relief Aid Coordinating Task Force” . These folks organized a $100-a-ticket fundraising event at the Atlanta City Hall with guest speakers such as Dr Mesfin Wolde Mariam and Dr. Seyoum Gelaye. The event also included poetry and auctions. This group was able to raise a total of $70,000 from this event and from Ethiopian and American businesses in the area. They plan to continue their fundraising efforts through concerts as well as drives that target businesses and churches. We wish you the best.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, concerned individuals and representatives of community organizations formed the Ethiopian Famine Relief Committee in Northern California to raise funds to fight famine in Ethiopia. The goal of EFRCNC is to raise $1 million by the end of September 2000 through fundraisers that target companies and individuals. A major event has been planned for the Ethiopian New Year on September 9 at the Oakland Marriott Convention Center. In the meantime they will be having smaller fundraisers such as barbeques and penny marches. A car wash held on June 24 and 25 raised $2,700. EFRCNC works in collaboration with the Ethiopian Foundation, a non-profit group formed by Ethiopian and American healthcare professionals who are committed to contributing to health care programs in Ethiopia. EFRCNC is working with OXFAM to deliver donated money to where it is needed in Ethiopia. OXFAM has agreed to reduce it’s administrative cost to 10% thereby guaranteeing that 90% of donated funds will be directly sent to the most severely affected regions in Ethiopia. We salute your efforts.

Seleda would like to publicize similar events in Ethiopian communities so write to us at charities@seleda.com and let us know what you and your community have been doing. Whether you are contributing through a community-organized event or donating individually to an NGO please be generous and please do it sooner than later. Many lives are at stake and agencies are reminding donors that most donations must reach their destination by July before the weather complicates relief delivery. Act now !!

Updates on famine relief news by Relief Web


DescriptionHow you can help

HOPE Task Force
CSR/letter grade N/A

          The acronym H.O.P.E stands for Help Our People Eat. This is a new organization formed by young Ethiopians in response to the latest famine in Ethiopia. According to their web page "HOPE's goal is to raise awareness, summon support and set up a fundraiser to help ease the suffering. The HOPE 2000 fund is set up to raise at least $1 million by the year 2000. HOPE is also committed to finding long term solutions to the problem of chronic hunger in Ethiopia."

          HOPE has partnered with WFP (World Food Programme) via the US Friends of WFP in order to deliver aid directly to where it is needed. Their web page says the WFP "acts as the primary agent responsible for the proper allocation of food, efficient transportation modes, effective distribution and follow-up services on the ground in Ethiopia." The US friends of the WFP are a DC area NGO that serve as the collection point for funds donated to the WFP by communities and individuals.

          The HOPE web page has a very informative special report by the FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Mission To Ethiopia

For Donations:

http://www.hope4ethiopia.org/donate.html
has a contribution form.

You can donate by check or credit card. Make checks payable to US Friends of WFP, Inc and put HOPE Task Force in the memo section.
Mail to
HOPE TASK FORCE
P.O. Box 122,
1718 M Street, N.W.,
Washington DC 20036

They are working on on-line donation capabilities

100% of donated funds go directly to WFP relief efforts in Ethiopia

All contributions are tax deductible.

For Information
http://www.hope4ethiopia.org/

or contact :
eliabt@email.com
HOPE TASK FORCE
P.O. Box 122,
1718 M Street, N.W.,
Washington DC 20036


International Red Cross
CSR/letter grade N/A

          According to their web page "The Federation, in conjunction with the Ethiopian Red Cross Society, will initially be focusing on two districts in South Wollo - Ambassel and Kutaber, where a six month supplementary feeding program was put into operation last year for 40,000 people. The Red Cross is the only international aid organization to work in these two areas, scene of some of the worst famine in 1974 and 1984. " also .. " Nearly 140,000 people in Ambassel and Kutaber are now badly affected by the drought. The Red Cross will be helping the most vulnerable amongst them - the farmers. Speed is of the essence if their lives are to be saved. Funds raised for the appeal will help provide food rations for up to 15,500 farmers for eight months, supplementary feeding for 23,250 at-risk individuals including children under five, pregnant women and mothers with new born babies. The Red Cross will also initiate an employment generation scheme that will provide work for approximately 12,400 households. The money earned will enable the people to buy food on the open market. " and .. "The Federation and the Ethiopian Red Cross will also be assessing the possibility of aid interventions in other areas of the country. In addition, the Federation will be coordinating with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) which will be conducting relief operations in various districts in the Somali National Regional State"

For Donations:
On http://www.ifrc.org/ click on the "Help Now" button and you can make donations on-line or by mail

For More Information :
http://www.ifrc.org/
For further information or to arrange interviews please contact:

Caroline Hurford,
Information Delegate,
Addis Ababa
Satphone: (873) 682 282 080
Hotel tel: (2511) 518 400

Richard May,
Head of Delegation, Ethiopia
Tel: (2511) 51 45 71
Media Service, Geneva
Tel: (41 22) 730 4214
Mobile: (41 79) 416 3881


OXFAM
CSR/letter grade N/A

          The OXFAM page had one of the most extensive coverages of the famine in Ethiopia. The OXFAM Great Britain site was especially detailed and informative. OXFAM has offices in Canada, UK, USA, Spain, and Hong Kong who are active in Famine Relief in Ethiopia.
The OXFAM America page says "Oxfam America was one of the first NGOs to recognize the seriousness of conditions in Ethiopia and respond, both on the ground and over the airwaves. Mike Delaney, Oxfam America's director of Humanitarian Assistance Programs, visited the Yabello area in southern Ethiopia in February and immediately initiated an emergency grant to the region. This relief effort supports pond rehabilitation, water distribution, the supply of seeds for planting in case the rains come, and veterinary medicine. Oxfam is working with Action for Development (AFD), a non-governmental organization that we have supported since 1998. Through AFD, Oxfam already has been able to initiate the digging of new wells and trucking in of water. This initial grant is expected to benefit about 49,650 people in the Yabello region.
According to the OXFAM Canada page "Oxfam is providing clean water and food in the Jigjiga, Shinille and Liben zones of the Somali Region; in Borena ; and North Wollo , and has deployed a team of experts to prepare for additional emergency relief. Oxfam Canada has worked in Ethiopia for over fifteen years, supporting sustainable development and providing relief in times of war and natural disaster"

For Donations:
You can donate to one of the OXFAM offices listed on http://www.oxfam.org/
news/Ethiopia.htm
.
Donations to OXFAM America can be earmarked specifically for Famine Relief in Ethiopia and are tax-deductible. Donations can be made on-line,
by phone (800/OXFAM-US (800/693-2687), or by mail :
Oxfam America
Ethiopian Famine Relief
26 West St.
Boston, MA 02111

For More Information
Please refer tohttp://www.oxfam.org/
news/Ethiopia.htm

or contact:
Lynsey Miller
617 728 2559
info@oxfamamerica.org


Catholic Relief Service
CSR/letter grade 85/A-

          This organization's web page says, "Catholic Relief Services is a founding member of the Joint Relief Partnership (JRP), a group of mostly Ethiopian faith-based organizations formed during the 84-85 famine. Through the JRP, Catholic Relief Services is helping to reach nearly 400,000 with food aid. Local Ethiopian partners are managing the food distributions on the ground while Catholic Relief Services is supplying materials and technical support. Current emergency efforts focus on helping those victims in the southeast region of the Ethiopia. However, the JRP continues to reach the people located in the north as well as the hardest hit areas of Ethiopia.

          The JRP demonstrates a unique local collaboration of the Church family in Ethiopia. It is motivated to maximize the efficiency and reach of various local Church groups working to prevent famine. Today, as opposed to the famine 16 years ago, the Church network is actively working together to respond to the emergency.

          Complementing the efforts of the JRP is a consortium of international faith-based non-governmental organizations. Catholic Relief Services is the administrative agency of the consortium tasked with delivering US government food to the other organizations, each of which is responsible for a certain area of the country. Working together, the consortium will reach more than 730,000 people with wheat, corn soy blend, and vegetable oil. The goal is to keep food in the pipeline so that the people of Ethiopia have food until the next harvest."

For Donations :

https://www.catholicrelief.org/
contribute/contribute.cfm

(please specify that your donations are for Ethiopia)

or by mail/phone :
Catholic Relief Services
P.O. Box 17090
Baltimore, Maryland 21203-7090
1-800-736-3467

For Information :
http://www.catholicrelief.org/
emergency/ethiopia.cfm


Medicins Sans Frontiers
CSR/letter grade N/A

          According to their web site "At the present time, MSF has identified the Gode zone for immediate intervention. MSF has submitted a request to the Ethiopian authorities for MSF to undertake an immediate nutritional intervention in Denan city. A permanent base shall be set up in the Gode town. The immediate intervention shall be a therapeutic feeding programme that has a minimum length of three months." MSF also provides surgical training for hospitals in Woldya, Wello and runs a n AIDS program in Addis Ababa.

For Donations :
(please make sure you specify that your donation is for Famine Relief in Ethiopia. If this is not specified donations can go to other MSF projects in the world as deemed necessary)

M‚decins Sans FrontiŠres/Doctors Without Borders has a web site which contains a donation form at http://204.243.96.231/ You can also make a donation by calling 1 (888) 392 0392, or you can send your donation directly to:
M‚decins Sans FrontiŠres
Doctors Without Borders
6 East 39th Street, 8th Floor
New York, New York 10016

American Express, Visa and MasterCard are accepted.

If you have any questions, you can call the Donor Services Department at (212) 655-3759. Tax receipt will be provided

For More Information
http://www.msf.org/
projects/africa/ethiopia/

CARE
CSR/letter grade 87/B+

          The CARE web site says "CARE is one of the world's largest international relief and development organizations, with projects in more than 60 countries. CARE began working in Ethiopia in 1984 to distribute food during the famine. The organization's activities have evolved into development work, including small economic activity development, agriculture and natural resources and reproductive health programs. Responding to the crisis in Jijiga, CARE is tankering water to local and refugee communities, and will launch an emergency food distribution of 360 tons of maize over three months, starting the week of April 24. An estimated 20,000 people will benefit from the program. CARE also works in hard-hit Borana Zone and East and West Haraghe, providing food, water, employment generation and other emergency services."

For Donations:

https://ssl.charityweb.net/care/
(on-line donations can be earmarked for Ethiopia)
or by phone :
1-800-521-CARE ext. 999
Outside the U.S., call 404-681-2552

For More Information :
http://www.care.org/

For general information you may call 1-800-422-7385 Monday - Friday 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m


Save the Children
CSR/letter grade N/A

          According to a press release on April 5, Save the Children joined with Oxfam in calling international attention to the deteriorating conditions in Ethiopia. Their web site states that their activities in Ethiopia include "operating relief efforts primarily in the Gode Zone region of southeastern Ethiopia, until now the hardest hit region. Save the Children has established a therapeutic feeding center at the local hospital where the agency has hired a nutritionist to oversee the program. Therapeutic feeding is recommended for any child under 70 percent of the standard weight for height. The number of children being admitted to the hospital to receive this feeding is double what was first expected. There is also a supplemental feeding center for malnourished children, helped by the recent emergency airlift of 30 metric tons of high protein biscuits by USAID"

For Donations
To contribute to the Ethiopia Famine Relief Appeal Fund visit website at www.savechildren.org/ethiopia or call 1-800-SAVETHECHILDREN.

Or mail: Save the Children Ethiopia Famine Relief Appeal
PO Box 975- E,
Westport CT 06881

You can specify that your donation is for relief efforts in Ethiopia. An acknowledgment will be sent for donations. "Contributions are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law."

For More Information
Please refer to :
http://www.savethechildren.org/
press/pr00_ethiopia2.html


World Food Program
CSR/letter grade N/A

          The current work of the World Food Program in Ethiopia according to their web page includes "In January, WFP launched an emergency drought operation aimed at providing 2.3 million people with 250,000 metric tons of food aid for a period of nine months from April to December 2000. WFP also plans a program of supplementary school feeding which will target 145,000 school children per year in the worst affected areas of the country. This brings to 265,000, the number of children benefiting from the project" In addition WFP uses free school lunch programs to encourage parents to send their children to school, and combats urban poverty by providing food aid to migrants from the countryside to the towns and cities.

For Donations
please go to :
http://www.wfp.org/
hoa/help.htm

Donations go to Famine Relief efforts in the general Horn of Africa region, and are tax deductible for US tax payers.

For More Information
please refer to :
http://www.wfp.org/
hoa/ethiopia.htm


Christian Children Fund
CSR/letter grade 79/A-

          Their web page informs readers that "CCF began providing famine relief support last year to children and their families in the rural Shashemene District where CCF projects are located. Now, the government is requesting additional emergency aid to avoid mass starvation among its already struggling people.

          CCF has procured additional maize for some projects and food distribution will begin shortly, but that is only a start at curbing this disaster. Your help is needed."

For Donations:

Please go to:
https://secure7.nmpinc.com/cgi-bin/ccf/
parseForm.pl?template=famine_donation.html

To donate by phone call 1-800-776-6767

or by mail
Christian Children's Fund
2821 Emerywood Parkway
PO Box 26484
Richmond, VA 23261-6484

For More Information:
http://www.christianchildrensfund.org/
emergency/famine.stm


Food for the Hungry
CSR/letter grade N/A

          According to their web site, the activities of Food for the Hungry in Ethiopia are summarized as follows "Food for the Hungry has worked in Ethiopia since 1984 and is implementing a $5 million emergency relief program to help more than one million people living in the Amhara and Oromo regions. "Our strategy is to focus most of our efforts on South Gondar where we have the logistical capacity to implement relief efforts," said Stocker. "This is in line with the government's desire to see agencies focus their relief efforts where they are already working," he added. "We also will airlift food and medicine as needed to the most affected regions," said Starks. "In many places there is no infrastructure for trucks to deliver food." Food for the Hungry is an international relief and development agency of Christian motivation with programs in 30 countries. "

For Donations:
Call 1-800-2-HUNGER (1-800-248-6437)
Or visit
http://www.fh.org/
_forms/donate.html

Donations go to general Famine Relief in Africa
For More Information
please refer to
http://www.fh.org/home.html


Action Against Hunger

          Action Against Hunger (AAH) has apparently been active in Ethiopia, particularly in the Ogaden region, since 1985. According to their web page, AAH was the only international organization active in Kebri Dehar when the drought was declared a national emergency. So far they have provided water for around 30,000 people. Their activity report summarizes their activities in the Korahai zone of the Ogaden which include: therapeutic and supplementary feeding programs, measles vaccination, seeds distribution and animal health.

For Donations:
www.aah-usa.org/donationsonline.html For on-line donations.
Donations are also taken by fax, telephone or mail, refer to http://www.aah-usa.org/howtohelp.html

 

All contributions are tax-deductible.

 

For More Information: http://www.aah-usa.org/

 

or contact Anna Kar at anna@aah-usa.org

 

Action Against Hunger
875 Ave. of the Americas
Suite 1905
New York, NY 10001
(212) 967-7800

InterAction

          InterAction, is a coalition of over 160 US-based private relief, development and refugee assistance agencies who have agreed to abide by a set of standards to for accountability, professional competence, and quality of service.  Some of the organizations listed in our summary are members of InterAction. Their web site provides a list of the member organizations that are active in famine relief in Ethiopia, as well as a summary of their activities.

For Donations:
Donations are given directly to one of the member organizations. Please refer to the InterAction web site for the list at http://www.interaction.org/ethiopia/index.html

For Information: http://www.interaction.org/ethiopia/index.html


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