By Dula Abdu
Yeharwork Gashaw, an Ethiopian human rights advocate, was gingerly allowed to take the stage for 5 minutes to speak about her organization, Ethiopian Women for Democracy, at the Ethiopian Sports Federation in North America event in Dallas, Texas, on July 6.
During her brief speech when she started talking about political prisoners, the microphone was unplugged and the whole stadium went quiet.
After a brief commotion — some thought it was a deliberate sabotage, others said it was a technical glitch or an accident — the microphone became live again. Although her main aim was to introduce Ethiopian Women for Democracy, she, like everyone, was probably confused and probably scared by the commotion even her mild appeal for prayers was not welcomed by ESFNA leaders because her time was cut short and was escorted of the stage. Her two companions, who were on the stage left without saying anything.
It appears ESFNA officials panicked or some equipment malfunction took place. Nonetheless, the audience was taken aback by the incident, because none of the speakers during the ‘Ethiopia Day’ experienced such
microphone problem or interruption.
Was this an accident or deliberate attempt to silence Ethiopians of different view while giving the stage and great accolade to the likes of Mohamud Ahmed?
Families and Children are also a victim of ESFNA
ESFNA continues to abuse Ethiopian of all sectors including mothers and children and by ignoring the wishes and the interest of the majority. Fetya, a mother of three beautiful children is a good example.
During the long wait for ‘Ethiopia Day’ as it never started on schedule, Fetya was getting desperate because of her three kids were becaming restless. To give her some solace, I opened a conversation, as she was sitting straight across from me.
She said she has been in the stadium in this blazing Texas sun for the whole day because the ESFNA website claimed that there is activity for children in the morning and for adult entertainment in the afternoon.
On Friday, July 6, Fetya brought her 3 children to watch and participate in the children soccer. According to ESFNA website, Friday, July 6, 2007, schedule includes two programs for Children Soccer at 8:30 AM and 10:00 AM. Fetya said, she checked the website in the morning to make sure there was no change. When she arrived, there was nothing. When she asked two ESFNA officials about Children Soccer, they told her that they knew nothing about it.
After paying $15 dollar entrance fee, she decided to wait for ‘Ethiopia Day’ that was also scheduled to start at 5:30 PM according to their website. Fortunately, it started, but almost two hours late at 7:20 PM. Even after that, despite 3 months of planning according to the MC, technical glitches abounded. The sound quality was poor and a great commotion took place among the organizers.
One of the singers decided to stop in the middle of the song because the sound system was too bad. The MC, after a few minutes, decided to explain what was going on, cancelled the whole show and ordered the
staged cleared. After a brief hoopla, ESFNA officials decided to start the program again.
Fetya, a petite Ethiopian and her children endured a small ordeal. She said she cancelled school for her children to be with Ethiopian children, because as she explained that they live quite a distance from Dallas and they don’t get a chance to see other Ethiopians.
For Fetya, none of her expectations were met. ESFNA is about money, said said. Like many Ethiopians, her conclusion was on the mark.
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