Ziway and Jimma trainees graduated

Trainees who attended courses at Ziway Hamere Noah Monastery and Jimma have graduated on the 27 th of Nehassie 1999 E.C. The trainees who were drawn from different higher learning institutions have attended courses on eleven topics for five weeks. Among the courses offered were bible study, Dogma, orders, apostolic mission and church history.

According to Ato Amare Befekadu, Head of the Education and Apostolic services, Mahbere Kidusan, the training focuses on three areas. The first focus area is, as to him, training the clergy. In the outgoing year, 150 clergymen have been trained from five dioceses. As Amare said training of new faithful is the second focus. In different woredas of Oromia, Afar, Gambella and the South, recruits were trained in their mother tongues. in the third focus area, recruits from higher learning institutions are trained as preachers. In the outgoing year, training has been given 114 trainees 78 from Ziway and 36 from Jimma. Training in Jimma was offered in Oromipha.

Meahwhile, prayer was held in Jimma for the trainees who lost their lives accidentally. In Ziway, seedlings have been plants in the premise of the monastery for their commemoration of the deceased.

Geez is said to be a cause of pride for Africa

The Geez language is Africa`s cause of pride through which it's the continent`s wisdom and spiritual wealth is transcended via letters rich in visual imagery and other in depth mysteries, scholars have indicated. In a discussion forum organized by the institute of Ethiopian studies Addis Ababa University, on 23 Nehasie 1999 E.C. It was indicated that Ethiopia, being a country with her own characters (letters), it has a rich stock of literature the pioneer of which is the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

As the discussants have underscored, thanks to mothers and fathers of previous millennia, who have contributed their shares in forging rich culture, a spiritual wealth with which Africa shall be proud has been passed to generations of this day. The basic media to do this job has been the Geez language, it has been indicated.

In this forum which was called “Remembering the living Geez”, one of the presenters who also chairs the association called Friends of the Geez language, Memhir Dessie keleb, has underscored that we need to seriously thinks as Ethiopians on how to transcend the untapped wealth of Geez to the third millennium. Plus, Memhir Dessie said, we need to ponder over rising the generation's awareness of Geez. Geez, if exploited well, could inculcate a spirit of Africans and, hence, help boost the morale of the generation to stand united and study his own history and culture with the utmost sense of belongingness, Memhir Dessie has underlined.

As he said, it is high time for the church to work on how to introduce its children with the Geez and attain a unified spirit of Ethiopians/ Africans.

It was indicated in the discussion forum that, Amharic characters being taken from Geez, any talk of reducing the number of the characters will only blur the visual imagery and mysteries that two languages have been sharing from each other. Currently, memhir Dessie is working for his MA in Philology at the same university.

Meanwhile, Ato sirgiw Gelaw, an instructor of Geez Language and literature and moderator of the discussion forum, has said that he regrets his involvement of publishing the Kibre-Negest by reducing the number of the characters.

“I would not here after make myself part of a similar venture,” sirgiw emphasized. Present in the forum were the university's scholars, students and invited guests.

Praise be to God. Amen