Trócaire visit to Ethiopia, November 2024
I love the old names for countries. Hibernia for Ireland, Caledonia for Scotland and as I found out having visited there last week Abyssinia is the old name for Ethiopia. It is a unique, rugged, vast and densely populated country in the Horn of East Africa.
An English visitor once wrote of the scenery and mountains while in Ethiopia: “They look like a country where ancient Greek Gods took holiday playing chess with mountains.” Our car journey last week from Adigrat to the ancient historical city of Axum certainly bore strong testimony to this. We were part of a party of 10 who spent a week there exploring, encouraging and supporting the work of Trócaire.
It was harvesting season, and the temperatures climbed up to around 25 degrees during the day, (cool by African standards) and dropped down to the comfortable single digits at nighttime. The beauty of the landscape is matched by a people who are warm, welcoming and despite the many difficulties and challenges they have a grace, resilience and positive outlook on life.
Trócaire is an aid agency of the Irish Catholic Bishops that was founded 51 years ago and specializes in doing what is possible to relieve poverty and tackle injustice in many parts of the developing world. The work of Trócaire is guided by the five values of solidarity, perseverance, accountability, participation and courage. The well-known motto is “Together for a Just World”. Some of the most powerful adds for Trócaire finish with the strong caption “Until love conquers fear…”. Many generations at this stage are so familiar with the Trócaire box appeal, the annual Lenten collection and Irish people consistently have given with huge generosity towards the good work. The contribution of the Irish Government through Irish Aid has been a major help as well. The umbrella group of ‘aid agencies’ that work in this region is a joint effort called, CST Ethiopia, an amalgamation of the efforts of Cafod, Sciaf and Trócaire, hence the acronym. Cafod is the equivalent of Trócaire in England and Sciaf in Scotland.
The country of Ethiopia is a land of over 120 million people. It is a federal structure of 12 regional states and 2 city administrations. There are over 80 ethnic groups and languages. Most of the population is Christian which goes back to the 3rd century there, well before the time of St. Patrick. Most of the followers of Jesus Christ are Ethiopian Orthodox. A tiny percentage are Roman Catholic. Over a third are Muslim. There are a small number of Traditional Faiths and some other religions. According to legend or tradition the Arc of the Covenant is held in the ancient historical city of Axum in the Orthodox Tewhedo Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion. Locals there are proud of the fact that the Ark is guarded by a monk who is the only person who has access to the location. On a brief visit there we got the opportunity to view the chapel and unfortunately didn’t get to meet the monk on his daily walk around the garden where he takes a break each day from his prayer schedule to come out for air.
In terms of the political and socio-economic backdrop issues like drought, floods, land slides, desert locusts, currency devaluation, multidimensional poverty, humanitarian response, political instability, conflicts and unrest are the main concerns. Geopolitical Tensions with neighbours in Somalia, Eritrea and Egypt are a constant threat to the stability of the nation. Conflict and unrest have been a constant of the political landscape and from 2020 to 2022 a very bitter and devastating internal war was fought and still has far reaching consequences. There is a fragile peace agreement in Tigray where many IDP’s (Internally Displaced People) have still not returned to their homes as a result.
Following courtesy calls to the Irish Ambassador, the Episcopal Conference Centre in Addis Ababa along with local politicians we got a chance to visit many of the local projects that CST are involved with. Localisation is the modus operandi of Trócaire, working with and empowering local communities and industries to ensure self-sufficiency and independence. This included agri-businesses like poultry and seed projects along with women’s empowerment initiatives, educational work in schools. Some of the work is humanitarian, mainly IDP centres and health centres.
While staying in the local seminary in Adigrat we concelebrated a daily Mass which lasted for almost an hour and a half. Sunday Mass is well over two hours, such is the quality of the celebration and devotion. I can imagine how popular that would be back home!
Hospitality and welcome is the order of the day in Ethiopia. Invariably we were greeted with music, dance, freshly roasted Ethiopian coffee beans and accompanying pop-corn. Truly a worthwhile experience and I highly commend the outstanding work of Trócaire there along with the various collaborators.
✠ Fintan Monahan – Bishop of Killaloe
Clare Champion Article Friday, 29th of November, 2024