Wolde Tewolde alias Obo Arada Shawl, 07.07.07
What does Debteraw mean? A couple of months ago, someone bitterly but respectfully emailed me. Another individual who knows me personally and who believes in himself as a real Marxist came and attacked me verbally “why in the name of Debteraw- a Marxist like myself- portray him as a reactionary who has faith-love-hope. What is wrong with you?” I knew then he read my article call me by my name, XII.
Wow! I thought everybody knew what it means. I was wrong. Having conducted numerous inquires and interviews, it is clear to me that Debteraw means different things to different people. When I asked what it means, the answer ranges from the extreme concept of evil to the other extreme of the highest literary scholar. As an Eritrean, I used to be scared by Debteras. In my childhood, my sister told me that a certain Debtera had lived in our village specifically he was living with my family. I believe I never met him, though. However, as an Ethiopian, Debteraw has liberated me in all aspects of the concept.
Debtara according to Thomas Leiper Kane in his Amharic-English Dictionary defines as follows”: unordained member of the clergy who is well-versed in traditional church learning and who performs the hymns and sacred dance during Mass.” In Geez dabtara means the tent in which the Ark of the Covenant was kept in Moses’ time. There you have it.
According to my own understanding, here is how I explained to the Marxist and the layman who wants to know what debteraw means.
I explained to the Marxist politely but sternly that there were typographical errors in my last article especially in the past and in the future tables and terms displayed. But in Debteraw’s relationship to FLH i.e. Faith-Love-Hope, the middle letter is the most important for Debteraw. That is the balancing term and that is why Debteraw is known. He has a deep love for the people of Ethiopia including Eritrea. Faith and hope may be a good and important virtue for people but it is a matter of priority. I said to this individual Marxist, “ may be you are full of faith in Marx but dead in love and hope. What I was explaining in the article was that Faith of the churches, Love of the Palace and Hope of the University have decayed and so Debteraw who was versed and well experienced in the operations of the Synods, the Palace and University believed in being revolutionized. Accordingly EPRP’s priority was to the change the palace or the subsequent governments until the desired institutions of the church, the government and the university are relevant institutions to be loved and respected by all Ethiopians and Eritreans.
So what is the purpose of our Debteraw Tsegeye G. Medhin to have a website in his memory another person asked me? I told this him to forward this question to the Web site owner(s). As far as I am concerned, I told him that my Debteraw is a Revolutionary, an Educator, an Artist and a Democrat (READ). That is the Debteraw I know for fact and that is what I have been writing to expound. As to his fifth dimension, I think I have an access to reach him. Debteraw’s color is cipher, secret writing; very pure language (B) we still can communicate. I do receive his message occasionally and that is what I tried to disseminate to the public at large. Call me by my name. I am a messenger.
And so I searched in the Internet to find out what it means in the modern Tech world. The tech word dictionary deciphers the word Debteraw as Debt Era. How true! Our world is full of debts. The real Ethiopians did not like to be debtors in the financial sense, but in the sociological sense, Ethiopians were fond of “ Balewuleta” (I owe you). What a wonderful philosophical history.
What about now? What are the Ethiopians are proud of? What are the Eritreans are afraid of? Thanks to Shaebia, Eritreans are afraid to be in debt and Woyane that made them a debt nation. Frankly for me it took almost 4 decades to differentiate between Borrowers vs. Lenders, Owe vs. Own, Debt vs. Credit. If you are like me, we need a new idea, a new conversation and a new type of leadership in financial and in business. Is there a relationship between Money, Finance and Business?
In my next issue, I will continue on the faith-love-hope along with the organizational set up for each of the Synods, the Government and the University. For today, the day of 07-07-07 let me do my numerical posting. Please, figure it out. Decipher it out for you and for your folks.
Let us decipher the following amalgams of revolutionary history TODAY!!!
MAKK ETHIOPIA ZAK ERITREA
SQUARE Plus TRIANGLE E =7
MAKK Personalities ZAK
Social Revolution Revolutionaries Struggle
Do the right thing AAWA The Rebel Way
Money has its own rules WE’ISA The Long March
Money is a dream SHIGEGE The Discussion Way
Money is a nightmare BTET The Clandestine Way
Money is not a gift WAZEG The Democracia Way
Money is a present MAKON The Sacrificial Way
There is world without money WOGOFA The Path of Light
For comments and critics: woldetewolde@yahoo.com
