Lesson #3

*Sorry, long post ahead, but don't miss the videos at the end! :)

Yep, we're already to Lesson #3! This week's lesson focused on language, religion, education, and literature of Ethiopia. We read two little blurbs about religion and education in Enchantment of the World: Ethiopia. (It was published in the late '80's, so is a bit obsolete, but I really liked the short, concise, easy-to-understand way it talked about big subjects.) My plan is to talk more about Christianity's specific influence in a couple of weeks, but we learned this week that Ethiopia has many Muslims, Christians, various traditional religions, and also a few thousand Jewish people, called the Falashas. One point I found intriguing is that the Falashas believed, until they were discovered by the outside world in 1860, that they were the only Jews on earth! They've lived in the northwest part of Ethiopia for about two thousand years and say that they were a "lost tribe" of Israel that broke away from the main group during the Exodus from Egypt. (Some scholars think the Falashas converted later than this, but still before Christ. America is just such a young country - I'm struck by Ethiopia's rich history!)

We also talked briefly about going to school in Ethiopia. It's a priveledge many children don't have because of the poor transportation system and the fact that about 75% of the kids live more than 1/2 a day's walk from a good road. (This was a great spot for me to plug how BLESSED my kids are to be able to go to school...hee hee) The levels of education sound a lot like what we do here - elementary, junior high, high school, and college. We read that not many are able to finish high school and even fewer attend college.

Which brings us to language and literature. One of my favorite parts! We learned that Ethiopia has a very rich oral tradition, and many of their stories have been passed down through generations as a way to communicate their values and beliefs to their kids. Like my friend Meg said in a comment from a previous post, "Often, it has helped me to understand a culture by learning what they teach their children...." I've been just itching to get my hands on so many of these incredible books that have been recommended to me by friends and various websites. Here's a start to my list - I haven't read these because they aren't readily available for check-out at our tiny library, so I need to pace myself in buying and starting our very own collection!

When the World Began, by Elizabeth Laird (A wonderful recommendation from Meg - thank you, my dear!!!! This is #1 on my list - an out-of-print compilation of stories published by Oxford Press. It's on amazon.com and will be my first purchase next month! :)
Fire on the Mountain
The Perfect Orange: A Tale from Ethiopia

We did read a couple of folk-tales from the back of the book I mentioned earlier and we started on American Girl's Saba: Under the Hyena's Foot by Jane Kurtz. It's a story about an Ethiopian girl - one of the books from their Girls of Many Lands series. Another great picture book I found that mentions Ethiopia, but is not specifically about Ethiopia (but that we loved and is definitely worth a read), is Brothers in Hope: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan, by Mary Williams. This book is based on a true story and is an incredible glimpse into the life of young refugees and the power of faith and perserverance.

Ok, if anybody has made it through this insanely long post (sorry - this stuff is fun for me), here's your pay-off. Some hilarious takes of our kids and me attempting to speak Amharic - the national language of Ethiopia. (And we found some good listening samples on YouTube, if you're interested in checking those out.)

This is what we're attempting to say:
Me: Hi!
Kids: Hi!
Me: Can you speak Amharic?
Kids: Yes.
Me: What is your name?
Kids: My name is....
Me: Thank you!
Kids: You're Welcome.
Me: Good-bye
Kids: Good-bye!