I like having my cup of coffee right after I had lunch and I usually order it from a near by café in the building I work. That very day I had lunch with a friend. I usually bring my lunch box with me like the rest of my working mates as we can’t afford to have lunch out. Lunch time is the best time for break and relax. We talk about all kinds and sorts of things and that very day it happened to be about the cafe we use and their services. One of my friends with regret told me that it has been long since she stopped using their service and that she chose to go out and drink the traditional coffee. She told me how fresh and interesting to observe it is. To those of you who don’t know about Ethiopian coffee ceremony follow the link. http://www.ethiopianrestaurant.com/ethiopian_coffee.html
Obviously my topic is not about the coffee ceremony but, about my unusual experience of that very day.
So it was time to have my cup of coffee. I usually drink it right away but I was preoccupied with the previous chat with my work mates about the bad services they provide. My instinct told me to take the spoon and started to stir and to my surprise I found a cockroach floating on the surface. I have never encountered such a thing in my life and I jumped out of my seat. Finally the waiter came to collect his money and told him what happened. As much as it surprised me to find the animal in my cup of coffee it even surprised me more with his response. He said,” is there any thing wrong beside the cockroach thing?” It was then that I learned it was normal to him and probably he has seen bigger happenings than that of mine, but to me it was a new and unpleasant experience. I wonder what happens behind the doors of the kitchen while preparing the food we eat.
God save us!

Cultural legacies are powerful forces. They have deep roots and long lives they persist generation after generation virtually intact. Even as the economic and social and demographic conditions that spawned them have vanished, and they play such a role in directing attitudes and behavior that we can not make sense of our world with out them. As a woman who lives in a conservative culture (by culture I mean the  harmful ones ) I have seen many young women go to the worst because of what has been done to them at the young age.

It is a tradition to go to visit a new mother who gave birth and congratulate her in my community. So i went to congratulate the coming of three baby girls in my neighborhood one at a time. The new mothers now were my friends of a young age and shared from mud toys to stuffed balls and went to the same school. We are considered better educated and informed better than our mothers; however to my surprise i was stunned to find out that three of the moms repeated the crime over their innocent ones. The process is done hidden by an old woman who thinks she is the only living legend of the old culture who saves the honor of the families who chose to give away delicate part of their child. An old woman who hardly sees with traditional unsafe instruments. What is more shocking is that all the process took place with out the consent of the fathers. I still have found it hard to believe to what could the reasons behind their decisions would be rather than being swayed by the old wave of harmful culture that resided at the core of a family as a honor to the family than horror.

These mothers are urban mothers where the practice would be thought to be absent and above all the young mothers whom I expected got awareness and the wake up call moment when we all first learned the dangers of it early in our ages. I was in a world of my own and asked my self how many of these generation youngsters who come about to be mothers apply their knowledge and pass it to their children and it is very intimidating.

 It is a fact that educating a mother means educating the whole family, community and the whole nation. I am surprised how many girls are being taken by their mothers to be circumcised. To make it worse I have learned that there is 8.9% of prevalence of female circumcision in the urban areas  and its  prevalence  goes on higher in the rest locations of the rural areas where the cultural forces  has gone deep to their blood that it is considered a triumph of culture of honor. This act of crime is still prevailing in the urban areas. Still its penetration is too deep that it hasn’t been wiped out fully as families or young mothers think its better to join the majority than be exceptional. I strongly believe a well put up mother might reject and refuse the practice of harmful cultures and norms being done over to her children. There is a need of a  young mother to revise what she knows and what she does to her children. I believe young girls are vulnerable and live under constant threat because women who made it clear long ago through their won words are not willing to fight in response to even the slightest challenge to the crime done to them long ago despite their knowledge about it. I know it doesn’t apply to all the women out there but still it prevails and I feel sad that the participating bodies were young mothers of my age.

A curious student

 Suddenly my courage is gone. I am terrified and panic stricken. There was a time when I wouldn’t admit that I was terrified but this time it was obvious. My heart beating so fast and my hands shaking, I asked my self, how can I let my emotions overwhelm me? I have steadily done my duties as a student. I gathered my courage and finally admitted all to keep my self in line. After all it is what it is. As I came nearer and nearer, the board was full with grades of students. I was surprised how focused I was and my eyes started searching for my id. Walla …. my sorrow turned in to joy. Surely there is a reward for those who relentlessly and faithfully do their job. To those who are near and far, there is a reward cheer up and take the courage after all its summer, time to relax.

Being a living witness to a horrible car accident which ultimately claimed a life of a street seller single mom carrying  two years old baby on her back, I was preocupied  with the ideas how these incidents could end as it happen to be a day to day scenario in my community and its  complex reality of vendor’s lives in developing countries is out of control.   What do you think is the best way to control this tragic incident?