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Showing posts from November, 2018

Monk in Town

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Monks and Monasteries Play an important role in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church since the beginning of Christianity in Ethiopia. Ethiopia is one of the first countries to accept Christianity. Christianity became a state religion at the time of Emperor Ezana in the 4th Century and it continued to be the state religion until the last of the Solomonic Danistey's Emperor was deposed in 1974. Throughout these centuries monks had and still have a unique role in the tradition of  Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity.  Monestries can be found in different part of the countries from cliff caves to lake islands. Often monasteries are founded in very remote and inaccessible part of the country to keep the monks away from civilization and from worldly temptations. A Monks is revered as an example of pious individuals who gave up the material world for the love of God. Monks are seen as Prophets too because society sees them as people who are very close to God.  Sometimes Monks wander into cit

The Dire Dawa Girl

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This picture was taken in Dire Dawa market in 2015. The young girl you see in the picture is posing elegantly to the camera with a shy but confident smile. The boys around her are acting curious or clowning as boys always do. The boys lack the elegance or the sophistication that the young girl has even though the boys are much older than her.  The girl is wearing a simple dress with a headscarf as adults do while the boy behind her is wearing a replica of an English premier league team jersey. I am sure the jersey is much more expensive than the girl's dress but the girl is more neatly dressed than the boy behind her. Throughout the world, boys are given the privilege to be just boys but young girls like the girl in the picture are denied of their childhood since society expects them to work by the time they start to walk. I am sure this girl was not in the market to just play and be with her friends. She is their selling things or accompanied her mother to buy items for the h