Anger more than hunger

Inasmuch as we desire the positive transformation of the lives of our folk, it is imperative we understand the transformation could not occur in a vacuum. There are indispensable ingredients for us to act on. We know and understand, for example, hunger cannot transform a society, anger, however, does. A hungry society must be angry to make changes for progress. For us to make any changes, we have to become angry at the desperate situation our people are everywhere. Anger must be our useful vehicle to eliminate the causes of poverty and underdevelopment.

For us to be genuinely angry, the situations that evoke our anger must be spelled out. Is it the lack of basic education? Is it the lack of a decent water and electricity system? Is it a lack of basic hygiene and health education for children, the youth, mothers and fathers? Would it be fair to see children become blinded by prevalent infectious and other diseases to the detriment of their lives and therefore the entire social economy? Is it acceptable to live in a situation where there is no potable water which is an important element to the solutions of most health problems? Should we accept the status quo where our sisters and mothers must fight off hyenas when fetching water from river streams? Is it reasonable to expect excellence from schools that do not have requisite learning materials and educational facilities that can promote learning science, engineering and mathematics? Is it acceptable for us to let adults waste their evenings by abusing alcohol as a choice camaraderie moment when we can easily change that behavior by providing lighting and educational programming? Can we see how much change we can bring if we can get angry at these situations and address the issues collectively?

Folks, we must begin the conversations right this moment! Gurda is here not only to become part of these conversations but also to moderate, encourage, push and lead the charge for action to bring positive and substantive transformation. We must weave our own threads of self-reliance to form a strong and unbreakable bond and alliance to cover the entire Guraghe world with valuable resources. We cannot expect it from outside forces. A society expecting salvation from outside forces becomes a slave to those forces.
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How do we do it? By taking ourselves seriously and personally responsible for what we must do. When we become angry, we become relentlessly active and effective. Setting a goal is not sufficient, we must hit the goal. We reach our goals with integrity and honesty. If, in the course of our journey, we cannot succeed, we can only blame ourselves for failing. If we want to avoid failure, we must be disciplined. We must focus on our vision. We must believe in ourselves. We, as we must continuously verify, also must believe in our team and teamwork. Above all, we must exhibit a sense of urgency to do it right and do it with pride.

We must succeed!
Ato Berhanu
Gurda President