{"id":1669,"date":"2010-03-10T05:55:27","date_gmt":"2010-03-10T11:55:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ezing.me\/transfer\/?p=1669"},"modified":"2014-09-23T08:35:44","modified_gmt":"2014-09-23T13:35:44","slug":"ethiopia01","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/ethiopia01\/","title":{"rendered":"Ethiopia"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cHe is the best teacher I have had at this university,\u201d a student wrote last January in the evaluation of Zenebe Beyene.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Zenebe is the assistant dean at the School of Journalism and Communication at Addis Ababa University and a doctoral candidate at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.\u00a0 He taught JOUR 400 International Communication during January Intersession at Ole Miss.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Thus, it was exciting to be invited to dinner by Zenebe\u2019s family when I was in Addis last week.\u00a0 I had traveled to Ethiopia from Dubai to try to finalize the partnership agreement between Addis Ababa University and the Meek School of Journalism and New Media at The University of Mississippi.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Gebremedhin Simon and his wife picked us up about 7:15 at the Hilton Hotel in Addis for the 15-minute ride to Restauraunt Yod Abyssinia<\/em> for an evening of Ethiopian food and folk dancing.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

When we entered the restaurant our hosts were already seated.\u00a0 They included many of Zenebe\u2019s family and his wife Hanna\u2019s mother and uncle.\u00a0 When we walked up, everyone stood.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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I greeted Nigist Teshome, Zenebe\u2019s sister, a brilliant business woman; Genet Reta, Zenebe\u2019s sister-in-law; and Aberash Teshome, another of Zenebe\u2019s sisters.\u00a0 She works as an accountant at St. Mary\u2019s College. \u00a0Then I gave Shibeshi Beyene, Zenebe\u2019s brother, and Berhane Gelan, Zenebe\u2019s mother-in-law, a big hug.\u00a0 I met Tafesse Wondimagegnehu, Hanni\u2019s uncle, for the first time.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Tiblet Gebremariam, Zenebe\u2019s mother, greeted me for the first time since she left Lincoln more than a year ago.\u00a0 Then I hugged Teshome Beyene, Zenebe\u2019s father, the 73-year-old patriarch of the family who had been ill off and on for the last decade.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

What an honor.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

He has not been well for the last decade and had not been able to join us for a previous dinner.\u00a0 However, he made a special effort to be with us this time.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

He was wearing a long, black winter overcoat and a brown stocking cap.\u00a0 He does not speak English and I do not speak Amharic, the trade language and his tribal language, but we understood each other and, when necessary, Hanna\u2019s mother and Zenebe\u2019s brother translated throughout the night.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I sat at his right side and watched him throughout the evening.\u00a0 He is only five years my senior, but he has survived incredible hardship.\u00a0 He endured the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah who ruled from 1930 until 1974 when the Derg took over under General Mengistu Haile Mariam.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

His older son, Shibeshi, had been in Megistu\u2019s military and when the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) took over in May 1991 anyone associated with the Derg was out of work.\u00a0 So Shibeshi works for enterprises created by Zenebe.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Meles Zenawi, now Prime Minister of Ethiopia, emerged as the leader of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) when that party defeated the Derg.\u00a0 He was Head of the interim government of Ethiopia, May, 1991–; elected president on July 23, 1991; elected Prime Minister in 1995, 2000 and 2005.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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I had met Zenebe the first day I visited the Graduate School of Journalism and Communication at Addis Ababa University in October 2004.\u00a0 He took me to lunch, and I immediately observed his efficiency and organizational talent.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe would love to have you as a doctoral student at Nebraska,\u201d I told him.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

We did not have the budget for such a commitment, but I believed having an alumnus like Zenebe would enhance Nebraska\u2019s reputation.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Zenebe knew English well.\u00a0 He had a reputation as an honest able leader whose RECORD of good grades and military heroism had gained him respect throughout the university.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

During his first year at Ethiopia\u2019s Naval Academy, he had been captured by the Eritrean military when he went to graduation ceremonies at Massawa.\u00a0 For two years he did hard labor as a prisoner of war. \u00a0(Of his graduating class of 16, eight died during the war; one managed to escape and seven were captured. \u00a0From those 100 naval candidates who went to the\u00a0graduation, more than half died.\u00a0 The majority of the survivors were captured.)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Clearly, Ole Miss students are fortunate to have a classroom teacher of Zenebe\u2019s knowledge and experience.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Clearly, the Meek School of Journalism and New Media has enhanced its reputation.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Thus, it was a very emotional evening for me as I enjoyed an Ethiopian dinner complete with Ethiopian dancers and singers.\u00a0 The family was expressing their thanks to Ole Miss for Zenebe\u2019s opportunity to teach at the Meek School.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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However, we were the ones to express our gratitude for the honor of having Zenebe in Farley Hall.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cHe is the best teacher I have had at this university,\u201d a student wrote last January in the evaluation of Zenebe Beyene. Zenebe is the assistant dean at the School of Journalism and Communication at Addis Ababa University and a doctoral candidate at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.\u00a0 He taught JOUR 400 International Communication during JanuaryRead the story …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[222],"tags":[346],"yoast_head":"\nEthiopia - Ole Miss News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/ethiopia01\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ethiopia - Ole Miss News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cHe is the best teacher I have had at this university,\u201d a student wrote last January in the evaluation of Zenebe Beyene. Zenebe is the assistant dean at the School of Journalism and Communication at Addis Ababa University and a doctoral candidate at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.\u00a0 He taught JOUR 400 International Communication during JanuaryRead the story …\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/ethiopia01\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ole Miss News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-09-23T13:35:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/ezing.me\/transfer\/wp-content\/uploads\/stories\/dscn0034_0026.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@OleMissRebels\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@OleMissRebels\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/\",\"name\":\"Ole Miss News\",\"description\":\"The official source for University of Mississippi news\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/ethiopia01\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/ezing.me\/transfer\/wp-content\/uploads\/stories\/dscn0034_0026.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/ethiopia01\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/ethiopia01\/\",\"name\":\"Ethiopia - Ole Miss News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/ethiopia01\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-09-23T13:35:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/4515cb1b4f8a759552c0827c3df56430\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/ethiopia01\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/4515cb1b4f8a759552c0827c3df56430\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/0.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3e8e7562bf6d779d771ad8ce4cecd7ef?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1669"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1669"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1669\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41811,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1669\/revisions\/41811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}