- Message from
the Founders
-
- As we enter
the new millennium, we need to recognize that all of us share
a common purpose, obligation and duty to our country and fellow
countryman. To achieve this unity of purpose we need to recognize
that we are a diverse nation with a common mission of making
Ethiopia a great and prosperous country. A mission of transcending
antagonism and overcoming conflicts and establishes consensus
to create a better life for our fellow mankind.
-
- Deforestation
and desertification of our land has become a national crisis.
We all have our personal experiences in this regard and shared
these stories with each other. But most particularly from those
of us that grew up in the country side and who have gone back
to visit our childhood village and have come back invariably
in shock, at the condition we have found our birth places; areas
where once was covered with trees and thick vegetation are now
barren rocks and where once there was an overflowing river is
a dry river bed.
This is an urgent call for action and time is running out. Our
country is dying, but for that matter maybe our planet is also
dying. By saving a small piece of earth we can say we have done
our share to save the beautiful and most fragile planet-Earth.
The Israelis have achieved a significant success in the area
of reforestation and we should learn from their experience. Most
of Israel was once an arid land with no or very little trees
and vegetation, today Israel is the only country in the world
with an annual net gain of forest land. This was achieved through
the concerted reforestation effort of the Jewish community living
in US and the rest of the world
-
- Even though
we are constantly overwhelmed by the news of the numerous and
enormous problems that our fellow Ethiopians face on a daily
bases, that finding ways to reverse the degradation of the ecosystem
could be at the heart of finding solutions to most of our national
environmentally caused problems, such as; draught, erosion, starvation,
malnutrition and disease.
-
- My message is
to every one but most importantly to Ethiopians and persons of
Ethiopian origin. As part of our mission we envision to explore
the unlimited possibilities of enjoying and protecting the wild
places of our home land; to practice and promote the responsible
use of the land and its ecosystem and garner all of our resources
to reforest our land, enlist fellow Ethiopians and other people
of goodwill for the protection and restoration of the quality
of the natural human environment.
-
- We all remember
the old Ethiopian saying “Dir byaber anbessa yaser”
meaning if one can gather several rolls of knitting wool, one
can tie up and incapacitate the mighty lion”. So, let’s
join hands to conquer the deserts and dry lands that were ones
lush with trees and wild vegetation and repopulate them with
the wild animals that ones roamed the jungles of Ethiopia and
with the many beautiful and indigenous birds that piped sweet
music to our ears. We can do it!
-
- Thank You and
God bless Ethiopia
-
- Demissew
Gedamu, ETFF Co-Founder
|
