A half-day panel discussion on Awra Amba Community was held on 22 October 2021 at the Multi-purpose Hall, Undergraduate Campus, SMU.
Misganaw Solomon (PhD), Vice President of Research and International Relations, SMU, welcomed participants and thanked HE W/ro Tsion Teklu, former State Minister of FDRE Ministry of Foreign Affairs for initiating the event and the guests Doctor of Honor Zumra Nuru, Founder of Awra Amba Community, and his wife W/ro Enaney Kibret for accepting the invitation and being willing to share their experiences with St. Mary’s University’s staff and students.
Panelists Doctor of Honor Zumra Nuru and his wife W/ro Enaney Kibret shared the experiences of Awra Amba Community with participants under the facilitation of Dr Zekarias Amdebirhan. The core points discussed included the philosophies that guide the living styles of Awra Amba Community, its historical accounts, the challenges it encountered and the current status of the Community.
While presenting the experience of the Awra Amba Community, the Doctor of Honor Zumra Nuru explained that the idea of establishing the community emanated from what he had experienced in the daily life of his father and mother at home during his childhood, where his mother labored more than his father and women in that society were treated as unequal. In addition, the child labor exploitation and the suffering of the elderly gave him no rest and thus had to find ways to curb the situation, he said. He added, getting people who dared to share his views was not easy and took him too long. It is through hard work and incessant efforts that his dream came true and the Awra Amba Community which “walks its talk” has been made a reality.
According to Zumra and Enaney, 145 households live peacefully and with the highest level of mutual understanding. This has been made possible through the fundamental principles the Community strictly adheres to. These are human being come first while money or property comes next; women are equal to men; children’s rights must be respected; there should not be any room for bad deeds as they affect human beings negatively; no one should tell lies; there should not be gender-based division of labor; respecting work is a necessity; believing that one can do what seems impossible if s/he is optimistic and works hard toward achieving it; and above all living what one talks is a must, they underlined. Their experiences revealed that the Community is a living witness, which has proven the proverb “Where there is a will, there is a way”.
The panel discussion was followed by Q & A, where participants raised several questions to which the guests responded. At the event, poems were presented by one of the SMU students.
At the end of the panel discussion, Ato Tibebu Belete, Manager of Ahadu Radio and Television, thanked St. Mary’s University for organizing the event, encouraged students to do research on the Awra Amaba Community and reminded the media to promote the Community.
W/ro Tsion, on her part, thanked SMU for organizing the event, Arts TV for promoting the Awra Amba Community and urged the participants to promote the Community and its objective via all opportunities they may come across. W/ro Tsion mentioned that this is part of the different events being held to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Community and recognize its contributions to Ethiopia.
Closing remarks were made by Misganaw Solomon (PhD), Vice President of Research and International Relations, SMU. In his remarks, he encouraged the participants to visit the Awra Amba Community using all means and become members and support the Community. He finally thanked W/ro Tsion and Ato Tibebu for the initiative, the guests and the organizer Wellness and Development Center, SMU, for their contributions to the realization of the event.
IRC Office/OVPRIR
