By Abraham Teklu Gobeze
In 2018, I joined Gobeze Goshu Support for the Elderly and Children, because Dr. Tsigeroman Gobeze was no longer able to work due to age and ailments. I was running the organization until I left due to the invasion of Tigray in November 2020.
Before Dr. Tsigeroman Gobeze retired and left for Ethiopia from the USA, she was a member of the Annunciation Orthodox Church of Santa Maria, California. Father Lawrence Russell, the head of the Church said today, “Memory Eternal. We will begin praying for the soul of one of the most amazing people that I ever had the pleasure of knowing. So many things rush forward in my head, may God bless her soul”. She was born in Adwa from her mother W/ro Desta Barakhi and her father Memhr Gobeze Goshu. She was the first Ethiopian woman pharmacist. She passed away today at her home, in Adwa Tigray at the age of 84.
When we think of developmental or cultural changes of a society, we usually think of what the future holds, for example life after retirement and its implications but it is equally important to learn from the past to understand the future.
In short, what do we learn from our parents, grandparents, and those before them on how they cared for the elderly? What cultural or governmental arrangements were in place to care for the elderly after retirement? The approach lacks societal commitment to sustainable planning.
The shortcomings were twofold.
- Government systems did not foresee and plan cultural changes for the continuity of improved human life.
- History and activities of the society were not recorded and preserved to support the generation that follows.
For the reasons described above, it’s easy to understand the current situation. It is natural to hear people talk about various eras such as “zeben anbeta (ዘበነ ኣንበጣ) (locust era)”, “zeben akahida (ዘበነ ኣካሒዳ) (era of betrayal)”, “werar (ወራር ድርቡሽ፡ ወራር እከለ..) (invasion) of so and so”. These events allowed the societal disintegration up to destruction which took decades to rebuild. These unfortunate events caused unthinkable damages not only to the hard-earned properties but also to the psychology of the people. Gaps were created between generations. History and culture were broken up. We continued from generation to generation without regard to the missing links. That’s why there is no sustainability and without it, the number of needy elderlies will grow. Dr. Tsigeroman Gobeze understood this and made a huge effort to do her part.
Let us forget about what our parents did to support our grandparents and talk about what we did to improve our parents’ lives after retirement. Even though there is so much disproportionality among the different sectors of the society, literate and the illiterate, government employees and the farming societies, it is highly unlikely that the elderly are considered productive after certain age. We leave our homes early in life for education in faraway places or looking for work and do not have the capacity to contribute to our parents’ retirement. Even though this is government’s responsibility, due to those shortcomings, I discussed earlier it does not materialize.
This endeavor of caring for the elderly started in 2004 by my aunt who is a Doctor of Pharmacy and passed away today (November 3/2022). She went to Tigray after serving in the USA for 25 years and established this organization.
This organization supports about two hundred elderly and one thousand poor children. There were sixty elderlies at the beginning and now it has risen to two hundred twenty-five (according to September 2022 report). This gives us an indication of ever-increasing lack of organization and commitment by the government and society.
ብሞት ኣዴና ወ/ሮ ጽጌሮማን ጎበዜ ጎሹ ዝተሰማዓኒ ሓዘን ክገልፅ እፈቱ።ኣጋጣሚ ኰይኑ ብዛዕባ ታሪኽ ኣቦይ ጎበዜ ክፅሕፍ ኣብ ዝተበገስክሉ እዋን እየ ተላልየየን።ቀስ ብቀስ ድማ ሕውነትናን ፍቕርናን ንዳራ በረኸ።
ወርሒ ኣቢሉ ይገብር፡ወ/ሮ ኣልማዝ ኣበራ ብዝሞታ፡ጓለን ወ/ሮ መስከረም በኣሉ ግርማ፡ብዛዕብኣን ኣጥቢቓ ሓቲታትኒ ምንባራ እዝክር።ዝከኣሎ ክሕግዛ ድማ ቃል ኣተኹ።ኣባሊግኣ ብምንባረን ብዛዕባ መስከረም የውግዓኒ ነይረን እየን።
ብዝኰነ እተን ኣብ ታሪኽ ኢትዮጵያ ፈላሚት ፋርማሲት ዝኰና ኣዴና ወ/ሮ ጽገሮማን ጎበዜ ጎሹ ብዙሕ ምዝራብ ዘይፈትዋ፡ልዕሊ 700 መጽሓፍቲ ንኣኽሱም ዩኒቨርስትን መቐለ ዩኒቨርስትን ዝወፈያ እየን።
ካብ ዝሕዝነን ዝነበረ ድማ እቲ ኣቦይ ጎበዜ ወርሓዊ ዝጽሕፉለን ዝነበሩ ደብዳቤታት ብምጥፍኡን ምቕጻሉን እናሻዕ ከውንግዕ ከሎና ይፀውያኒ ነበራ።
ኣቦይ ጎበዜ ጎሹ ሓደ ካብ መስረቲ ቤት ትምህርቲ ሳባን ኣብ ትግራይ ቤተ መጽሓፍትን መሸጢ መድሓኒት ካብ ዝኸፈቱን ተጠቓሲ ታሪኸኛ ኣቦ እዮም።
ወ/ሮ ጽገሮማ ድማ ብስም ወላዲት ኣዲኣን ኣብ ኣዲስ ኣበባ ፊት እስታዲየም ዘሎ “ፋርማሲ ደስታ” ናተይ እዩ ነይሩ።ብስም ወላዲት ኣዲኣን ዘውጸአኦ ቤተ-መድሓኒት እዩ ነይሩ።
ኣብ መወዳእታ፡ንቤተሰብ ጽንዓት ይሃብ እናበልኩ።እዘን ኣብነታዊትን ጅግናን ኣደ እዚኣን ብሃብሮምነተንን ብተወፋይነተን ካብ ዉልድ ናብ ዉልድ እናተዘከራ ክነብራ መኣንታን ታሪኸን ብኣግኡ ክፀሓፍ ኣሎዎ እብል።
An extract about the massacre of Tegaru at the camp near Mirab Abaya, as witnessed by Katharine Houreld
December 4, 2022 at 2:00 a.m. on Washington post:
“By sunset the next day, around 83 prisoners were dead and another score missing, according to six survivors. Some were shot by their guards, others hacked to death by villagers
. Many of those killed in the prisons were among the thousands of Ethiopian troops who have served in international peacekeeping missions under the United Nations or African Union.
An extract about the massacre of Tegaru at the camp near Mirab Abaya, as witnessed by Katharine Houreld December 4, 2022 at 2:00 a.m. on Washington post: “By sunset the next day, around 83 prisoners were dead and another score missing, according to six survivors. Some were shot by their guards, others hacked to death by villagers . Many of those killed in the prisons were among the thousands of Ethiopian troops who have served in international peacekeeping missions under the United Nations or African Union.
In a detention center near Didessa, near Nekemte town, at least five soldiers were killed and 30 others taken away and never seen again, a prisoner previously held there said. Two imprisoned soldiers, accused of having mobile phones, were also killed by guards at a detention center in eastern Ethiopia between Harar and Dire Dawa, a witness said.In Garbassa, two prisoners said six detainees had been killed and others injured so badly they had lost the use of limbs and eyes.
Most of the guards who did the killing were from the Amhara region!!!