Obama Inauguration in Addis Ababa
Noted on February 4, 2009 by Christopher Bennett in
Niharika Bhattarai is in Ethiopia on an IE3 internship at Adoption Advocates International. She reports here on her experience watching Barack Obama's inauguration.
OBAMA EXPERIENCE
Everywhere you go in Addis Ababa, you see Obama. Whether it is on a wallet sized picture tapped to the front of a mini bus, next to other African idols, or on earrings with Obama's picture. Here the support for him is overwhelming. The local people sense change and hope, and therefore love him. They also know he is of African descent, so that helps his popularity. On the day of his inauguration was actually night time here in Addis. A few volunteers and I ended up going to Juventus Club, a local Italian joint where everyone was dressed in beautiful dresses or tuxedos. Everyone there was Ferengis (foreigners) from different organizations. At our table, we had 3 English people, one Australian and us. They all worked for the same Wildlife Conservation program, which is currently trying to increase the endangered population of the Ethiopian wolf. Anyways, we all watched Biden and then Obama take his oath on a massive screen about 9:00pm Addis time. When Obama stepped up to take his oath, the entire room stood up in support...in the room some people had tears trickling down their face, and others had smiles that reached from ear to ear. It was a sight to behold - All the global citizens in town were gathered at in Italian Club, in Ethiopia to watch the United States of America's Inauguration of Obama. It definitely was a world affair.
After the oath, corks from champagne bottles were flying all different directions, and toast were made. Food was served and the music began. The night carried on and people danced till midnight. At one point, the song Celebrate came on, and everyone went into a dancing frenzy. At that same moment, George W. Bush was boarding a plane and saying his farewells on the big screen. The entire room burst out into goodbyes and good riddance and began to sing the lyrics..."CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES... COMMON" It was a moment that brought laughter, smiles and bubbling energy to the room. The night carried on, and every appearance of Obama on the screen brought hurrahs and fist pumps. It was a night of unity, joy and hope.
On the way out, we picked up Obama T-shirts that spelled out Yes We Can in English and Amharic. I believe the pronunciation for the Amharic version is "Yich Chalill."
The next day, I got a lot of street shouts from local people as I wore my T-shirt. "Obama" was being shouted from every direction, and in response I said "Yes we Can"....It was a cliche but classy. The kids at Layla House went crazy over the shirts. They all were so excited by the Amharic words on the t-shirt and taught me how to say it. One little kid came up to me, pointed to himself and said, "Me - OBAMA!" His name is actually Shiferow, but is a little joker, and is in love with Obama. Later that day, we had America class. Since all the kids are being adopted into one of the 50 states, we have a class that teaches them about the USA. Instead of learning about states, we had a mini biography of Obama, which every kid was eager to learn about. The fact that Obama is half-African, gives so much joy and pride to these kids. At Layla house, a safe haven between Ethiopia and America, Obama is a connection they are proud to have. They even say, that when they got to America...they hope to be OBAMA. It definitely is inspiring.
"Yich Chalill"