I wrote awhile back about the Ethiopia distance runner Meseret Defar. She won medal at the Olympics in 2004, and continues to have much success in her athletic career.

This year she set a world record for two miles at the Adidas Track Classic in Carson, California. Days later in Oslo, Norway, she broke the 5,000 meter world record that she herself set in the U.S. in 2006. She is now training for the World Athletics Championships in Osaka, Japan at the end of August.

Meseret recently moved into a mansion... more

As a part of my ongoing effort to help provide Ethiopian adoptees with a fuller picture of the positive aspects of Ethiopia, here is another installment in my series about notable Ethiopians.

Addisu Gessese is the manager for the music giant Ziggy Marley and has held concerts all over the world. He was in charge of the Africa United music concert at Meskal Square in Addis in 2005, and took the concert all over Africa.

Addisu left Ethiopia in 1972 when he was 18, and has lived in the U.S. for 30 years. Along with his work in the music industry, Addisu has a long history of investing in Ethiopia. He built over 20 schools in Oromia region with money he had raised. He plans... more

Rebecca Haile’s Held at a Distance: My Rediscovery of Ethiopia is the first hand account of a woman’s journey back to Ethiopia as an adult after leaving at the age of eleven. Haile’s father, a leading academic in Addis Ababa, was shot while “resisting arrest” after a military coup in 1974, and escaped with his family to America where he settled in central Minnesota. Once grown and married, Rebecca felt compelled to visit Ethiopia again, and was able to visit relatives who still live there. One particularly memorable... more

When I was in Ethiopia in 2005, I found my daughters some cute little knitted hats at one of the little shops I visited. The hats were knitted in the colors of Ethiopia. After I bought them, someone told me they were Rastafarian hats. That got me wondering who on earth the Rastafarians were. Basically all I knew was that they usually wore their hair in some really amazing-looking dreadlocks.

Research uncovered some interesting facts about this group. The Rastafarians are actually a religious group that worships Haile Selassie I, the former Emperor of Ethiopia, as God incarnate. The name Rastafari comes from Ras (Prince) Tafari Makonnen, the pre-coronation name of Haile Selassie... more

Ever since I've been involved in the Ethiopian-adoptive community, I've been hearing families recommend the movie Endurance as a great way to get some insight into Ethiopian culture. Finally a couple weeks ago I was able to get my hands on a copy and watch it.

The movie was produced in 1999 and tells the story of Ethiopian distance runner Haile Gebrsellasie, who won gold at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and is considered to be one of the greatest runners of all time. Haile began his running career by running 6 miles back and forth to... more

As a part of my ongoing effort to help provide Ethiopian adoptees with a fuller picture of the positive aspects of Ethiopia, here is another installment in my series about notable Ethiopians. In preparing for my older daughters to come home from Ethiopia, I've been interested in the experience of older immigrants from Africa. I blogged awhile back about John Bul Dau, who wrote the book God Grew Tired of Us. Today I am featuring an Ethiopian author... more

If you look at most of the news coming out of Ethiopia, it seems that bad news about Ethiopia is a lot easier to find than good. Ethiopian adoptees growing up in America may get a wrong picture of Ethiopia if all they ever hear about Ethiopia is people dying of AIDS and families who cannot care for their children any longer. That's why I think it is important to also tell our children about Ethiopian people who are doing great things.

Meseret Defar is one such person. She was born November 19, 1983 in Addis Ababa, and is an Olympic runner. She won gold in the women's 5000 metres at the 2004... more