Posts filed under ‘Life’
Health Care Non-Solutions
By James Kwak
Ezra Klein makes an important point about our nation’s health care problem: it’s not just a government deficit problem. The underlying problem is that health care costs are not only growing faster than prices (inflation), but also faster than GDP (economic growth), and as a result the amount of stuff we as a nation will be able to afford, other than health care, will start to go down at some point in the future. (Picture originally from Joseph Newhouse in Health Affairs.)
This means that proposals to solve the long-term budget deficit problem by cutting Medicare benefits are not solutions: they simply shift the problem from the government to individuals–which means they shift the problem from us as taxpayers to us as old people or us as family members of old people.* If, for example, we increase the eligibility age for Medicare from 65 to 67, the government saves money, but only because people who are 65 and 66 lose money–or, alternatively, all of us lose money because their employers now have to pay more for health care. To read more visit:http://baselinescenario.com/2010/08/04/health-care-non-solutions/?
Source: Baseline Scenario
microfinance institutions (MFIs) continue to grow
Investments in microfinance institutions (MFIs) continue to grow. Significant media attention, as well as the emergence of new distribution channels, has generated a strong interest among new investors.
Retail investors, high net worth individuals and institutional investors all invest in MFIs. These investors often seek a double bottom line (i.e. both a social and a financial return). Investors can make either a direct investment in a microfinance investment vehicle (MIV), which in turn invests in a MFI, or an indirect investment via a fund-of-funds, which in turn invests in a MIV. Investments can range from US$100 to millions of dollars depending on the type of investor and vehicle.
MIV deals typically include debt, equity, or guarantee transactions, with debt deals being the most common. As the field is still in its infancy, equity transactions are not as prevalent.
Currently, the global average transaction is about US$1.5 million, and most transactions are hard-currency transactions. However, to support the growth of the industry and its risk management, it is critical that investments are done in local currency.
Ratings and assessments of MFIs play an important role in the investment process. The role of ratings and assessments is two-fold: 1) to allow MFIs to make an internal performance evaluation and adjust accordingly; and 2) to support investors in their due diligence process.
Source: CGAP
Teff: your next injera maybe made of gluten free teff
Farmers in Kansas seek to expand test plots of Ethiopian grain into marketable fields of teff
By Roxana Hegeman
Teza (Morning Dew)-Ethiopian Film Director Haile Gerima
Director: Haile Gerima
Minneapolis Exclusive Engagement
Teza is set in Germany and Ethiopia, and examines the displacement of African intellectuals, both at home and abroad, through the story of a young, idealistic Ethiopian doctor – Anberber. The film chronicles Anberber’s internal struggle to stay true, both to himself and to his homeland, but above all, Teza explores the possession of memory – a right humanity mandates that each of us have – the right to own our pasts.
After studying medicine abroad in Germany for several years, Anberber returns home to Ethiopia only to find his beloved Ethiopia, and soon the quiet of his dreams, stifled and disarrayed by the country’s political turmoil.
Seeking escape from the center of violence, Anberber turns to the solace of his countryside childhood home, but quickly realizes that there is no shelter there. The competing forces of the military and opposition factions usurp the comfort he thought the memories of his youth would invoke. Anberber must determine if he can bear the strain of his reality and piece together a life from the fragments of a complete existence that lie around him.
Teza documents Anberber’s recognition of his own displacement and powerlessness in the face of the dissolution of Ethiopian humanity and social values.
Click Here to watch TEZA trailer
ETHIOPIA, GERMANY, FRANCE · 2008 · 140 MIN · IN AMHARIC, ENGLISH & GERMAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES
TEZA Playing at St. Anthony Main Screen #3 – Fri. July 16 thru Thu. July 29 @ 4:15, 7:00 with Fri. thru Sun.
Purchase your tickets online or at the box office.
Ticket Prices:
Matinees before 5:00pm $5.50
General Admission: $8.50
Student/Senior: $6.00
MFA Members: $5.00
Here is a link to Saint Anthony Main Theater:
Who is Mulatu Astatke
Mulatu Astatke (born 1943; surname also spelled Astatqé; Amharic: ሙላቱ አስታጥቄ) is an Ethiopian musician and arranger. He is known as the father of Ethio-jazz. Born in the western Ethiopian city of Jimma, Mulatu was musically trained in London, New York City, and Boston, where he was the first African student at Berklee College of Music. Later he combined his jazz and Latin music influences with traditional Ethiopian music.
He has worked with many influential jazz artists, such as Duke Ellington during the 1970s. After meeting the Massachusetts-based Either/Orchestra in Addis Ababa in 2004, Mulatu began a collaboration with the band which continues today, the most recent performances being in Scandinavia in summer 2006 and London, New York, Germany, Holland, Glastonbury (UK), Dublin and Toronto in summer 2008. In the autumn of 2008, he collaborated with the London-based psyche-jazz collective the Heliocentrics on the album Inspiration Information Vol. 3, which included re-workings of his earlier Ethio-jazz classics with new material by the Heliocentrics and himself. Mulatu’s signature instrument is the vibraphone.
In 2005, his music appeared on the soundtrack to the Jim Jarmusch film Broken Flowers. In addition, Volume 4 of the Ethiopiques series is devoted entirely to Mulatu’s music. Mulatu has also produced songs for many artists from East Africa, including Mahmoud Ahmed.
Mulatu released a two-disc set to be sold exclusively to passengers of Ethiopian Airlines, with the first disc being a compilation of the different styles from different regions of Ethiopia and the second being studio originals.
In 2007 and 2008, Mulatu completed a Radcliffe Institute Fellowship at Harvard University where he worked on modernizations of traditional Ethiopian instruments and premiered a portion of a new opera, “The Yared Opera.”1 Mulatu also recently served as an Abramowitz Artist-in-Residence at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA. In addition to a lecture and workshops, Mulatu served as an advisor to the MIT Media Lab on creating a modern version of the krar, a traditional Ethiopian instrument, for which he will return to MIT briefly in spring 2009 to check on its progress.2
On February 1, 2009, Mulatu Astatke performed at the Luckman Auditorium in Los Angeles with a band including such notable jazz musicians as Bennie Maupin, Azar Lawrence, and Phil Ranelin.
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What Is the Ethiopian Bible?
Many Christians are under the impression there is a singular bible that is available to all and is undisputed as the true word of God. Both of these are false assumptions. Not only has the Bible yet to be translated into some 2,393 languages, but also the actual content of the bible varies as well. One of the best examples of this is the Ethiopian bible
The Oldest Christian Nation
- Ethiopia is one of the oldest countries in the world, and many scientist believe it to be where humans first appeared on Earth. Ethiopia is also the oldest Christian nation dating back to the time of the Apostle Phillip. In Acts 8:27-39 we are told of a royal official from Ethiopia who wanted to learn about Christ. The teachings of Christ were taken back to Ethiopia and spread quickly. Some time in the 300s the Ethiopian Emperor Ezana was baptised. As a result, Ethiopia has a strong Christian heritage.
- Modern day Ethiopia is a nation of more than 83 million people who are almost evenly divided between Christian and Muslim. The 1.1 million square kilometers of Ethiopia are completely land locked, which is somewhat representative of its past. Ethiopia was a strong Christian nation, which was cut off from Europe by the armies of Islam. Forgotten by the West, Ethiopia was left to develop on its own in a hostile environment. As a portion of this development, the Ethiopian church developed the Ethiopian bible.
- The King James bible contains 39 books in the old testament. The Ethiopian bible contains a total of 51 books. The only book
of the old testament found in the King James bible, which is not in the Ethiopian bible is the book of Lamentations. There are however 13 books in the Ethiopian bible which are not to be found in the King James bible. It is not surprising the Ethiopian bible contains almost the entire old testament from the King James bible, since Ethiopia had a very strong Jewish presence. The books of the old testament which appear in the Ethiopian bible but not the King James are:Jubilee
Enoch
2 Ezra
Ezra Sutuel
Tobit
Judith
1 Maccabees
2 Maccabees
3 Maccabees
Tegsats
Book of Joshua the son of Sirac
The book of Josephas the son of Bengorion - The Ethiopian new testament contains the same 27 books of the new testament from Matthew through the book of Revelation. Unlike the King James bible, however, the Ethiopian bible continues past Revelations with an additional eight books. These books include;
Sirate Tsion (the book of order)
Tizaz (the book of Herald)
Abtilis
The 1st book of Dominos
The 2nd book of Dominos
The book of Clement
Didascalia - While many of the books found in the old testament of the Ethiopian bible are absent in the King James version, there are some interesting facts surrounding these books. One such example are the books of Enoch and Jubilee which are ancient Jewish texts. While they do not appear in the old testament of the King James bible, they are quoted in the King James new testament. Ethiopian scripture is based on some of the most ancient transcripts and records in existence, which gives the Ethiopian bible a broader content than any other version of the bible, and some feel a truer and more complete telling of the word of God.
Ethiopia Stands Alone
The Old Testament
New Testament
Canon of the Ethiopian Church
Africa ‘witnessing birth of a new ocean’
BBC News Science reporter
Africa is witnessing the birth of a new ocean, according to scientists at the Royal Society.
Geologists working in the remote Afar region of Ethiopia say the ocean will eventually split the African continent in two, though it will take about 10 million years.
Lead researcher Tim Wright who is presenting the research at the Royal Society’s Summer Exhibition, described the events as “truly incredible”.
Used to understanding changes in the planet on timescales of millions of years, the international team of scientists including Dr Wright have seen amazing changes in Afar in the past five years, where the continent is cracking open, quite literally underneath their feet.
Hot, molten rock from deep within the Earth is trickling to the surface and creating the split.
Underground eruptions are still continuing and, ultimately, the horn of Africa will fall away and a new ocean will form.
‘A smaller Africa’
Dr James Hammond, a seismologist from the University of Bristol – who has been working in Afar – says that parts of the region are below sea level and the ocean is only cut off by about a 20-metre block of land in Eritrea.
“Eventually this will drift apart,” he told the BBC World Service. “The sea will flood in and will start to create this new ocean.
“It will pull apart, sink down deeper and deeper and eventually… parts of southern Ethiopia, Somalia will drift off, create a new island, and we’ll have a smaller Africa and a very big island that floats out into the Indian Ocean.”
The researchers say that they are extremely lucky to be able to witness the birth of this ocean as the process is normally hidden beneath the seas.
The team hope to conduct experiments in the area that will help understand how the surface of the Earth is shaped.
They believe that the information they glean from observing the shaping of the Earth will help scientists better understand natural hazards such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
Source BBC
Taking organic farming to Ethiopia
He started out as an Ethiopian refugee and is now a successful small-scale farmer in Canada. But Berhanu Wassihun still has much he wants to achieve. He speaks of his plans to take subsistence farming back to Ethiopia, where he hopes to teach others the trick of growing chemical-free, nutrient-rich crops – armed with just a few animals, pumps and generators
Wassihun at his stall in Montreal. Photograph: Nachammai Raman
When I left Ethiopia it was a communist country controlled mostly by an uneducated junta that would use bullets, guns and power to push us around. As an educated person, it was not safe for me. I had gone to what was then Yugoslavia for higher studies in agriculture and I decided not to go back to live in Ethiopia any more. Instead I went to Italy and became a refugee. From there, I made an application to Canada and they accepted me. I came here in 1990 after two years in Europe.
I didn’t like the taste of the food when I arrived. I couldn’t get a decent job either. Looking at my CV, prospective employers said that I was overqualified. Finally, I lied and said that I had finished only high school and they hired me for odd jobs in factories and such. I didn’t really like it. My mind couldn’t accept it. I asked myself: “How can I establish myself?”
Eventually, I went back to school. I studied agriculture again, at McGill University in Montreal. In the meantime, I had started gardening. I found the best crops that I could grow and continued doing this on the side. Many farmers wanted me to start organic farms for them. One farmer took me to Ontario and I worked with him for about eight years. When I started my family I found that the hours were too long and the pay too little. So I was a bit down when I had my first child. I was unemployed for a while before I became a tenant farmer in Ontario. Independent farming is not easy, but at least I can pay my bills.
I have very diverse produce on my farm. I have my own beef, butter, eggs, milk, chickens, strawberries, raspberries and several types of vegetables in the 50 acres of land that I’m now renting. A couple of years ago the agriculture students at McGill approached me for organic produce and I started working with them. I now bring my produce to sell at the campus once a week. I also offer a few wraps, biscuits, breads and cakes based on Ethiopian cultural traditions.
My farm is basically a family effort, but two of my teenagers have already left for university. So that leaves me, my wife and three young children under nine at home. My wife and I have a knack for handling a heavy workload. We sometimes have students who come in to help us, and we’re doing well. I sell my produce at various grocers and farmers’ markets, which are very popular in the summer.
My farming life doesn’t come to a halt in winter. I have a cold room in the basement where I store some of the produce. In addition to this, I use a special technique of burying vegetables, such as carrots and potatoes, in the ground. They come out looking as fresh as if they were picked yesterday. When they’ve just been in the cold room, the taste isn’t the same. It’s something I discovered by trial and error, which is mostly how I function.
I love my work. It’s clean and blessed. I love being outside, winter or summer. I don’t need an alarm clock to wake me up in the morning. I would say that I’m a workaholic – I work more than 16 hours a day, seven days a week, and I take naps whenever my body needs rest.
People really like the things I grow, and it’s a good example of how small-scale farming can feed communities. Large-scale farmers in Canada are finding it increasingly difficult to cope because they have thousands of hectares they need to treat with expensive pesticides and fertilizers, and a lot of machinery worth half a million dollars on average. As a result, they end up just paying the interest on their loans.
In small-scale farming, you’re self-sufficient and you don’t have much debt. That’s the best way forward, in my opinion. Instead of having a small percentage of big farmers, countries are better off with a large number of farmers with small farms that produce a variety of crops.
The advantages of organic farming are that the soil will always be rich in nutrition and micro-organisms, and the crops tastier and healthier. It’s simple. At the most, you’ll need an irrigation system; but not here in Canada, where there’s a lot of rain and snow and the land is fertile.
It’s my dream to help people. I want to use my expertise to give something back to Ethiopia. The people there are willing to work hard on their land. If somebody could lead them and give them a boost, they would be able to do a lot. Ethiopia has a reputation for drought, aridity and disease. If you give a little bit of hope to people by training them and giving them models to duplicate, there will be a change. Giving them grains and flour when they’re starving doesn’t bring any change. Their problems will just come back.
I’d like to start a farming model in my village in Ethiopia. I’d train young people, who, when they became independent, would go to other parts of the country and share their know-how. I’d ensure that they commit to being responsible for the education of other people before I took them in. Another requisite is that they be on a par with the local people – that means no car, no frills, no perks. We’d farm with animals and a few pumps and generators.
People are encouraging me on this path and a fund-raising dinner is on the agenda. With some start-up capital – CDN$5,000-10,000 – I’ll be ready to launch the project.
• Berhanu Wassihun was intervewed by Nachammai Raman.
Ethiopia-UNICEF’s Clean Water for Ethiopia Project
BURLINGTON, Mass. & BRUSSELS, Jun 15, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE)
StreamServe, Inc., a leading provider of business communication solutions for document efficiency and customer experience management, announced today that they have joined again with SAP AG /quotes/comstock/13*!sap/quotes/nls/sap (SAP 45.41, +1.03, +2.32%) in co-sponsoring the Clean Water for Ethiopia project. At the SAP(R) Conference for Utilities 2010 for Europe, Middle East, Africa, and India being held June 14 — 16 in Brussels, Belgium, StreamServe and SAP together committed to donating an additional 10,000 Euros to UNICEF, which will use the funds to dig additional wells, build latrines and educate the population in Ethiopia on proper hygiene. This sponsorship adds to the 20,000 Euros the companies together donated to UNICEF’s Clean Water for Ethiopia project in October 2009.
Ethiopia is one of the driest countries on earth and the water supply is extremely poor, especially in rural areas. Close to 80 percent of Ethiopia’s population does not have access to enough clean water to support basic living requirements. To meet the pressing need for clean water, UNICEF is currently drilling 80 new wells that transport ground water from a depth of 40 to 50 meters. The result is in less polluted water sources and wells that continue to work during periods of drought. Through these efforts, almost 40,000 people will be supplied with clean drinking water. Furthermore, an investment is being made to construct toilets for 30 schools in the area, and many educational training sessions have been set up. These sessions are aimed at teaching hygiene basics and the skills required to build latrines. UNICEF also helps maintain existing wells and invests further in educating and empowering locals with the skills needed to maintain the wells themselves.
The continued sponsorship of UNICEF by StreamServe and SAP is part of SAP’s global corporate responsibility program, which focuses on education and the environment, among other issues. In addition, it expands StreamServe’s commitment to the environment that it established through its StreamServe Sustainability Program, which helps businesses become more cost-efficient while aiding them in achieving their goals of becoming less reliant on our planet’s resources. The StreamServe Sustainability Program offers a series of research, best practices, and tools designed to help businesses determine the eco-savings that can be achieved through StreamServe’s business communication solutions.
“StreamServe and SAP have a long-standing, solid partnership that has provided utilities and other businesses around the world with solutions that help them simplify business communications, reduce costs and become more sustainable,” said Dennis Ladd, StreamServe’s president and CEO. “Both of our companies are also extremely committed to helping improve the world around us through our corporate social responsibility and sustainability programs. UNICEF’s Clean Water for Ethiopia program is such a noble and needed cause, and we are thrilled to be sponsoring it once again with SAP. In addition to helping to improve the health conditions in Ethiopia with clean water and education, we hope that this sponsorship serves as an example for other businesses to consider ways in which they can give back as well.”
Since its founding in 1997, StreamServe has provided businesses in the financial services, utility and supply chain sectors with business communication solutions that meet the demanding challenges for producing and delivering highly customized documents in any format. StreamServe Utilities(TM), an SAP-endorsed business solution, offers utilities an easy way to improve their customer and business communications through the delivery of highly-personalized documents and invoices in either paper or electronic format.
About StreamServe
StreamServe is a leading provider of enterprise business communication solutions. Simple to deploy and maintain, the company’s dynamic composition, document process automation and enterprise output management solutions meet the demanding challenges of today’s global businesses for producing and delivering highly customized documents in any format.
StreamServe’s advanced software solutions ease the process of composing and automating business communications, enabling organizations to increase the value and profitability of their business relationships. This is done all while leveraging existing business applications such as ERP, CRM and ECM.
The company was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Burlington, Mass., with 14 offices worldwide. StreamServe serves more than 5,000 customers in 130 countries, primarily in the financial services, utilities, manufacturing, distribution and telecom sectors. Customers include BMW, CLP Power Hong Kong, AmerisourceBergen, and Siemens Financial. StreamServe’s strategic partners include Adobe Systems, IBM, InfoPrint Solutions Company, Lawson and SAP AG. To learn how StreamServe’s business communications solutions can help drive efficiency and improve costs within your organization, please visit StreamServe online at http://www.streamserve.com, or join the conversation on StreamShare(TM), StreamServe’s online community forum: http://www.streamshare.streamserve.com/.
StreamServe, StreamShare, and the StreamServe logo are all trademarks of StreamServe Inc. Some software products marketed by StreamServe Inc. and its distributors contain proprietary software components of other software vendors. SAP and all SAP logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. (C)StreamServe Inc. 2010
SOURCE: StreamServe, Inc.
