Yetemare YigdelegN?

by: Teniniet Bereket

"We have a lot of book sense," my mother says, "But we greatly lack common sense." My mother has a GED.

We all argue that the only solution to the problems Ethiopia faces is a highly trained and educated citizenry. But what kind of education or timihirt? Ever since I was a little boy, I've heard around me how much education was important for me and to our country. Families put great emphasis in learning and graduating. Most of us took up that call or challenge and got that education. I'm sure Ethiopians of all ages are more educated at this juncture of our history than any other. But how come our problems seem to be getting more complicated and the solutions slow in coming?

But, I also argue that Yetemare (educated), both the people and the concept, need a closer look, especially in the Ethiopian context. Let me try to answer what yetemare should mean. Yetemare should reflect the root of the word, which is temare. Temare could mean mihret agegne; it could be before a judge in court or in the heavens before the feTari. Thus, yetemare should be one that has received favor, forgiveness and without blame.

In the same breath, yetemereQe (a graduated one) should transcend a mere indication to graduation from school. YetemerQe should rather indicate the root of the word temereQe or miriQat yagegne. Be it from an elderly person or from his/her god. Therefore, the meaning should be one that has been blessed, bestowed, anointed.

A decade ago, Ethiopians used to discuss how the Red/White Terror and that long civil war claimed the lives of someone we loved or knew. Today, there is no Ethiopian who could say "I haven't lost a loved one or don't know someone who was claimed by the horrifying calamity of AIDS." Sntun chigir Qotiré ichilalehu!? I agree that the solution for our underlying problems is education. Mihiret yelesh nen ende? Consequently, being educated (in the book sense) should not be equated to being learned or yetemare.

I was in Ethiopia earlier this year. Although I can bet on my life that Ethiopians today are exposed to more things than even a generation ago, despite our new sophistication, I saw more lawlessness and incivility than even ten years ago. For example, in the capital city (where more educated people live), no driver respects a STOP sign. What good does education do, then, without common sense? Our fore-parents were not educated in the book sense, but I believe they had more praiseworthy common sense than we do.

Our generation knew how to torture, maim and kill his fellow countrymen despite it being more educated than, say, our grandparents. Knowing what we have done to each other and our nation, especially in the past thirty years, do you still say, yetemare yigdeleN? I don't! Especially, if our education is measured merely by how far we have marched since grade school or Qés timihirt bet.

If education is collecting alphabet soups in the forms of B.A. B.S., M.B.A., J.D., Ph.D., Dr., M.P.A., and more, as a people, how far are we, Ethiopians, really from the big K--Kindergarten?

Although our country is in dire need of every aspect of resuscitation, as a people we don't act like we are in any urgency. I guess we have become desensitized; nothing shocks us. We have become accustomed to the calamities of dying from war, famine, AIDS. Hence I ask, if we are educated, how come we can't alleviate our own problems? How come we are almost incapable of taking collective action and finding solutions to our important problems?

Then, what good is tmhrt yale memar? What is yetemare mebal without being blameless? I think the educated sons and daughters of Ethiopia are blameful. We are blameful because we are not there for the downtrodden in the corners of Afar, Gambella, Gojjam and Gode. While we have the degrees and the expertise, the financial capability and many other possibilities to alleviate their suffering, we have chosen to find petty excuses, and seclusion to evade helping our countrymen.

Forget these grandiose calls, we don't even educate our own children our languages and culture. How many times were you tempted to maTafat some Ethiopian brat? Just wanted to muzzle his/her English speaking mouth in the middle of church service because neither his mother nor his father could bother to tell him/her to be quite? How much yetemare are we then if we can't even inculcate the best of ourselves in our children?

In the meantime, Ethiopians, especially here in America, are classified as one of the most educated immigrants (Amharic is the 50th most spoken language in American Business Settings). A growing number of Ethiopians are enrolled in the best universities, local colleges, technical and trade schools. And, you know mn yahil gobez temariwoch indehon. We are also climbing up the corporate ladder. We own businesses from Laundromats to high-tech companies. Actually, there is no Ethiopian out there who has not finished at least high school (without counting the azawints). It shows that we are growing in many of aspects in the Diaspora. However, yetemare or yetemereQe nen? Are we really educated or have graduated if Ethiopia is to be asked? What would inat Etiopia say if we asked her?

Therefore, what should be the measure of yetemare/yetemerQe? What qualities should possess? Here are three things I think are paramount. First, Yetemare/yetemerQe thinks collectively or for civic good. A simple example is Seleda.com and its editors. What they are doing may seem simple but, it brings me to you and others to you and I. They are civic minded; they are trying to do what they can to self-actualize their Etiopiawinet.

Second, yetemare/yetemerQe atones for her/his mistakes or wrongdoings. A truly educated person takes responsibility for his/her own action. Have you ever heard anybody taking the blame for what has happened to Ethiopia over the past thirty years? With all the killings and plundering, by the educated, is there a group or an individual who has admitted fault or wrong-doing? I haven't heard one. Have you?

Third, an educated person wants to leave a legacy behind him/her. It doesn't have to be big. Actually, yetemare sew could be the best Ethiopian by simply being a genuine man or woman, friend, husband or wife, father or mother and/or grandparent.