So . . . we're having to find things to do while we're waiting for our visa appointment. This morning we watched a little tv after breakfast. Cartoons!!! There is an Arabic station our of Dubai that the guest house gets by satellite. Nothing like Bugs Bunny in Arabic!
Then we headed out about in Addis. We went to the "Red Terror" Martyrs Memorial Museum down by Meskel Square.
What an unbelievably moving experience. A guide met us at the door and offered to give us a tour. The museum was free, but donations were graciously accepted. Our guide started telling us about the transitions from the rule of Emperor Hallie Selassie to Mengistu. Right away you could tell this wasn't an ordinary tour guide. He spoke with such conviction.
He told us the people of Ethiopia became very unhappy with Emperor Selassie. He was living lavishly while the people of Ethiopia starved. There were efforts to overthrow the government. In 1974 the monarchy was overthrown and the militaristic Derg regime began.
After 3 months the new government began executing the former dignitaries they had imprisoned. There were no trials, they were simply executed. Our tour guide told us how the young adults of the universities began to rise up and create anit-Derg pamphlets. People that were caught with the anti-Derg material were shot on site. As demonstrations began around the capitol the government gave orders for the military to imprison or kill anyone that opposed them. Over the course of the regime the government tortured and killed hundreds of thousands of people most of them young people.
The tour came to a very real place when our tour guide showed us a model of how the government tortured their victims. As he was describing it he said, "I can't tell you how painful this form of torture is." He was one of the many tortured by the Derg regime. We found out he was 13 at the time. He was a youth fighting and demonstrating against a military government. I couldn't stop the tears from pouring down my face.
The tour continued to show pictures of the mass graves and the sites where they were. Some of the bones had been moved to the museum with the permission of the families. These killings continued through the 1980s. There were many attempts at an overthrow of the regime. Finally around 1990 they were able to overthrow Mengistu and establish a democratic government with elected officials.
Besides the torture, what seemed like one of the most painful things for our guide to talk about was the fact that Mengistu escaped to Zimbabwe. That country has granted him asylum there and will not turn him over to Ethiopia to be brought to justice for the atrocities he committed. Also, two of the high officials of the Derg regime sought asylum at the Italian embassy in Addis Ababa. They were granted asylum and have been living there at the Italian embassy for 22 years. Unless the Italians turn them over they will never be brought to justice. I can tell for our tour guide this added "salt to the wounds" he experienced.
It was a very sad part of Ethiopian history, but a very important part of Ethiopian history. Of all the museums we have visited no one . . . not one of the museums addresses this time period.
After our experience at the "Red Terror" Museum we headed down the street to the Addis Ababa Museum. Kevin and Nati decided they needed to race up the steps!
These are the gardens around the museum. Beautiful.
Here is the building that the museum is housed in.
The building was built by Emperor Menelik for an armory storage. He later gave it to his illigitimate son, Ras Biru, and his wife as a home to live in. During the Derg regime the home was turned into a museum for the city of Addis.
These were the house pets of Ras Biru and his wife. After they passed away they had them stuffed.
This is a drum that the Emperor Menelik used to spread his messages over the country. The drums were spaced out along the countryside. People would send messages back and forth using different beats and rhythms.
This is a shield that was used in the battle of Adwa against the Italians. It is made of rhinoceros skin. It's very light, but extremely tough.
The oval basket was used to take food along the battle lines. Our guide also told us that if a baby was born early in that time this type of basket would be used as a sort of incubator. They would wrap the baby up and place it in the basket until it was big enough to be on strapped and carried on it's mother's back like healthy infants.
Hey, there's the three of us!
After the museums we headed to Lucy Restaurant. Another wonderful meal. The atmosphere is very nice (although very Disney World ish). It is definitely a highly manicured garden area.
After lunch we headed to the local scarf factory. The scarf factory is an effort by a foreign group to help women that carry wood for a living. You can see women all around carry humongous parcels of wood strapped to their backs. If is often twice their own body weight. They walk around 16 kilometers to gather and then bring back wood to the city. Through this factory the women are able to have a better opportunity to provide for their families.
Their hands were so fast on the looms. It was amazing to see them so expertly weave the beautiful scarves.
Of course for such a wonderful cause we had to buy some scarves! I'm so excited to bring them home to the girls!
While we were buying for a good cause we headed over to a jewelry shop. It helps support women with HIV/AIDS. I found an awesome necklace that is made from reclaimed metal and coffee beans! Sweet!
We had a great day! We still have not heard about our embassy appointment though. Please pray that we'll have good news in the morning!
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