Awra Amba, a current experiment of utopian socialism Robert Joumard To cite this version: Robert Joumard. Awra Amba, a current experiment of utopian socialism. [Research Report] Attac. 2012. ￿hal-00916551￿ HAL Id: hal-00916551 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00916551 Submitted on 10 Dec 2013 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Robert JOUMARD Awra Amba, a current experiment of utopian socialism June 2012 Robert Joumard is emeritus senior scientist (Ifsttar), in Bron, France. Contact: [email protected] Summary This is a review of the available literature on the Ethiopian utopian community of Awra Amba, i.e. mainly of four master reports and secondly of news reports and accounts. It allows us to show the troubled historic evolution of this community founded in 1972 by a small group of illiterate peasants around one of them. Then, we present the values – honesty, equality, solidarity, rationalism – which are founding the community and are at the heart of its pattern of living. Next we present the social organization of this village of 400 inhabitants, through its institutions, economic activities, gender equality, especially at work, marriage, solidarity between members and especially with the elders, children activities, funeral and management of internal conflicts. Finally, we look in depth at education, which is a priority for the community, and at the relationships with neighbouring communities, authorities and generally Ethiopians, as well as foreigners. In conclusion, we focus on some dangers for the future development of this experiment full of lessons. አጭር  መግለጫ   አውራ  አምባ፡  ወቅታዊው  ኅብረተ  ሰብአዊ  አንዋንዋር፡፡   ይህ  ጥናት  ኢትዮጵያ  ውስጥ  የሚገኘው  ምኞታዊው  አውራ  አምባ  ኅብርተ  ሰብን  በሚመለከት  ተጽፈው  የሚገኙትን  ልዩ  ልዩ  ጽሁፎች  ፥   ማለትም  በተለይ  አራት  የማስተሬት  ምርምሮችንና  በተጨማሪም  የተለያዩ  ዘገባዎችንና  ምስክሮችን  ያቀነባበረ  ነው  ።  ይህም  በ1972  ዓ/ም   በጥቂት  አርሶ  አደሮች  የተጠነሰሰውን  የአውራ  አምባ  ኅብርተ  ሰብን  ታሪካዊ  ሂደት  ለማብራራት  ይረዳል  ።  በመቀጠል  የአውራ  አምባን   ባህልና  ዋና  መሠረት  የሆኑትን  ፡  ማለትም  ሀቀኝነት  እኩልነት  ትብብርና  አስተዋይነትን  እናቀርባለን  ።  ከዚያም  በኋላ  ይህ  400  ነዋሪ  ያለው   መንደር  ኅብርተ  ሰቡን  በምን  አይነት  መልኩ  እንዳቀናጀ  የምናሳየው  ፥  ተቋማቱን፡  የኢኮኖሚ  እንቅስቃሴውን፡  ሴቶችና  ወንዶች  በተለይ   በሥራ  መስክ  ላይ  የሚያሳዩትን  እኩልነት፡  የጋብቻ  ስርአቱን፡  የኅብርተ  ሰቡን  ትብብርና  ለአዛውንቶች  የሚሰጠውን  ልዩ  እንክብካቤ፡   የልጆችን  ሥራና  ግዴታ፡  የቀብር  ሥርአቱንና  በኅብረ  ሰቡ  ውስጥ  የሚከሰተውን  ችግር  አፈታት  እየገለጽን  ይሆናል  ።  በመጨረሻም  ለኅብርተ   ሰቡ  አንጋፋ  ለሆነው  ለትምህርትና  ፡  እንዲሁም  አካባቢያቸው  ከሚገኙት  ብኄረ  ሰቦች  ከባለሥልጣናትም  ሆነ  ባጠቃላይ  ከኢትዮጵያን  ጋርና   ከውጭ  ሀገር  ዜጎች  ጋር  ላላቸው  ግንኙነት  ልዩ  የሆነ  ትኩረት  እንሰጠዋለን  ።  በመደምደሚያም  ይህ  ከፍተኛ  ትምህርት  የሚሰጥ  አኗኗር  ፡   በሂደቱ  ላይ  ሊደርስበት  የሚችለውን  አንድ  አንድ  ችግር  እንጠቁማለን  ።   Résumé Awra Amba, une expérience actuelle de socialisme utopique. Cette étude est une synthèse de la littérature disponible sur la communauté idéale éthiopienne d'Awra Amba, c'est-à-dire essentiellement de quatre rapports de master et secondairement de reportages et témoignages. Cela permet de rapporter l'évolution historique tourmentée de cette communauté créée en 1972 par un petit groupe de paysans analphabètes autour de l'un des leurs. Nous présentons ensuite les valeurs – honnêteté, égalité, solidarité, rationalisme – qui fondent la communauté et sont au cœur de son mode de vie. Puis nous présentons l'organisation sociale de ce village de 400 habitants, à travers ses institutions, ses activités économiques, l'égalité des sexes notamment dans le travail, le mariage, la solidarité entre membres et notamment envers les plus vieux, les activités des enfants, les funérailles et la gestion des conflits internes. Enfin nous portons une attention particulière à l'éducation qui est une priorité pour la communauté, ainsi qu'aux relations avec les communautés voisines, les autorités et les Éthiopiens en général, ainsi qu'avec les étrangers. Nous pointons en conclusion quelques risques pour le développement futur de cette expérience riche d'enseignements. Acknowledgements We thank Senait Degife for her help in Ethiopia, Ayalew Gebre, from Addis Ababa University, for his help in the literature research, Hayat Omar for the translation into Amharic, and Menouèr Boughedaoui and Claudine Crespo for their specific help. 2 /85 Content Executive summary.............................................................................................................. 5   መግለጫ................................................................................................................................... 8   Synthèse............................................................................................................................ 10   Introduction........................................................................................................................ 13   1.  Method........................................................................................................................... 15   1.1.   Sources...............................................................................................................................15   1.2.   Source criticism...................................................................................................................16   1.3.   Work method.......................................................................................................................17   2.  Background history and geographical situation............................................................. 19   2.1.   A visionary and difficult start...............................................................................................19   2.2.   Community population ........................................................................................................23   2.3.   Geographical situation ........................................................................................................25   3.  Values and principles..................................................................................................... 33   3.1.   Honesty...............................................................................................................................35   3.2.   Equality ...............................................................................................................................35   3.2.1.  Gender equality...........................................................................................................................35   3.2.2.  Equality between children and adults.........................................................................................36   3.2.3.  Equality of humans.....................................................................................................................37   3.3.   Solidarity .............................................................................................................................37   3.4.   Rationalism .........................................................................................................................38   3.4.1.  God is everywhere... and nowhere.............................................................................................38   3.4.2.  Work............................................................................................................................................39   3.4.3.  Rigorism?....................................................................................................................................40   4.  Social organisation ........................................................................................................ 41   4.1.   Institutions...........................................................................................................................41   4.2.   Economic activities..............................................................................................................44   4.3.   Equality between men and women at work.........................................................................49   4.4.   Family..................................................................................................................................52   4.4.1.  Marriage......................................................................................................................................52   4.4.2.  Divorce........................................................................................................................................55   4.4.3.  Homestead..................................................................................................................................55   4.5.   Mutual respect and solidarity..............................................................................................57   4.5.1.  Children in Awra Amba...............................................................................................................57   4.5.2.  Fortnightly family meeting...........................................................................................................58   4.5.3.  Solidarity between generations...................................................................................................58   4.6.   Funeral ceremonies ............................................................................................................59   4.7.   Management of conflicts internal to the community............................................................60   5.  Education....................................................................................................................... 63   5.1.   Self-help education .............................................................................................................63   5.2.   Public school.......................................................................................................................65   5.3.   Educational level.................................................................................................................67   6.  External relations........................................................................................................... 71   6.1.   Relations with neighbouring communities...........................................................................71   6.2.   Relations with authorities and Ethiopians...........................................................................72   6.3.   Relations with foreigners.....................................................................................................74   3 /85 Awra Amba, a current experiment of utopian socialism   Conclusion......................................................................................................................... 75   Annex: Small uncertainties ................................................................................................ 81   Literature............................................................................................................................ 83   4 / 85 Executive summary In line with the long list of experiments of utopian socialism, Awra Amba is a community in the Amhara Region (Ethiopia) built on humanist values, which are implemented through its life style. This study is a review of the available literature on this community, i.e. mainly of four Ethiopian master reports (Atnafu, 2005; Yirga, 2007; Yassin, 2008; Mekonnen, 2009) and secondly of Ethiopian and foreign news reports and accounts between 2006 and 2012. In a first step, we present our own methodology, i.e. the sources we used from a critical methodological point of view, then the numerous data collected, allowing us to draw a quite accurate picture of this original experiment. We try then to compare it quite systematically to the Amhara society. The community was founded by Zumra Nuru in 1972. From his first years, this visionary from poor peasant origin rebelled against injustice, ill-treatment and dishonesty he was observing in his own family and around him in the traditional Amhara society, patriarchal and believing in God. He travelled in the region in order to find people sharing its ideas. Finally, he gathered around twenty people who established the peasant community of Awra Amba on around fifty hectares. But the neighbours were outraged by the fact that the men, women and children of Awra Amba had the same rights, and by the absence of religion in the community. A disturbed period followed with jail for the leader and exile at several hundred kilometres for several years. The community started again in 1993 on its present location and began to expand. The data given by the various authors allow us to reconstruct the evolution of its population, going through a minimum of less than twenty people during exile to more than 400 now. We compare its composition per sex and age bracket with the neighbouring rural population of South Gondar. We describe the different administrative structures to which belongs Awra Amba, in terms of main geographical, demographical and economic characteristics. In Awra Amba people share a strong culture and ideals, which differentiate them from the Amhara society and the neighbouring villages, and above all they shared common values: To live in Awra Amba means to share and to defend these values. The main values cited by the various authors are honesty, equality and especially gender equality, solidarity between human beings, work and absence of religion or rationalism. We examine each of these values as concept, in the way they are supported by the Awra Amba community according to the literature. Then we present the various aspects of the social organisation of the community, which is especially developed: the community structures, the economic activities, then the social relationships, through the gender equality at work, marriage, divorce and family household design, the specific and original situation of children, solidarity with the most fragile, funeral, and finally the management of internal conflicts. In terms of institutions, Awra Amba is organized in two structures: the community which gathers all the inhabitants who share same values and life style, and the work cooperative involving three quarters of the community members. The main decisions of the cooperative are discussed and decided in general assembly of members, which elects the members of about fifteen committees; these committees are implementing the general assembly decisions and managing collectively the various types of activities of the village. Women account for 44 % of the committee members, who can be dismissed at any time. The economy of Awra Amba is partially agricultural, but the available lands are much smaller than those in the region: between 0.2 and 0.4 ha/household at Awra Amba according to the author, but 2.1 ha/household in the region. The main agricultural productions are tef, maize (or sorghum) and beans, as well as products from a small livestock. The yields are higher than regional ones by around 5 /85 Awra Amba, a current experiment of utopian socialism   25 %. As they cannot live only from agriculture due to soil poverty and scarcity, they diversified their activities with weaving, milling and trade. These activities are conducted mainly within the cooperative, except weaving, of which an important part is made by each family at home and is privately managed. These activities provide an average income per inhabitant, which seems slightly higher than the regional one, but data provided are not very clear, sometimes contradictory. The food needs of the inhabitants seem nevertheless fully covered all over the year, while two thirds of Amhara peasants cover their food need for nine month a year only. Then we examine the participation to the different agricultural, artisan and household tasks of women and men, as well as girls and kids. These tasks are mainly distributed according to capacities of each one and not according to the sex. The survey data provided show that there is equality between couple members as producers, as consumers, and in terms of task and work responsibility and of family responsibility. Marriage is managed by the future spouses, their parents having no role, unlike the traditional Amhara rule. The studies give us quite accurate statistics on marriage age, we compare to regional ones. It appears that there is no early marriage in Awra Amba, the young women getting married usually between 19 and 22, the young men between 20 and 25, while in the regional rural population, 5 % of boys and 8 % of girls between 10 and 14 are already married. The couples have an average of one child less than the neighbouring ones of the region. A couple may divorce without formality by mutual consent, their property being shared equally. The solidarity and the mutual respect between Awra Amba members are especially implemented for children. They have three tasks well differentiated: go to school, play, and contribute to community work. Their participation to household and firstly agriculture tasks is nevertheless very low, but all are going to school as long as possible according to their capacities and are encouraged to study after school. The solidarity is also implemented through a system of support of women near delivery, ill and elderly. Contrary to the rural Amhara society where funeral ceremonies are attended by a lot of people with spectacular weeping, they are attended in Awra Amba only by some people for a very short period (a few hours). These funeral rites correspond to the social and cultural system of Awra Amba, whose members do not believe in a life after the death and privilege the life on Earth. Finally, to manage the conflicts within the couples and between members of the community, several permanent bodies have been implemented. They seem very efficient to facilitate dialogue and manage conflicts in a wise manner. Then, we study in detail the education within the community, because it is especially important for them. The learning processes are always directed to the promotion of the group's interest, as well as of their own. Awra Amba implemented a self-help or mutual education system, for adults and mainly for the young children who do not go to school and for school children when not at school. This education is provided by older students and adults from the village, especially through a kindergarten and a library with many technical books. All the children who are old enough are going to school. They are very active in social and ethic activities at school, very good in group discussions, very studious, but not very open to the students from other villages. The teachers find them more hardworking, more ethical and more cooperative than the children from neighbouring villages. Therefore, the education level of Awra Amba members, all from peasant origin, is far higher than the one of the rural communities of the region, with relatively few differences between men and women. We look finally at the relationships of the community with the neighbouring communities, characterized by suspicion: Awra Amba people are perceived by their neighbours as a suspicious, 6 / 85 Executive summary secretive, cruel, lazy, pagan deviant cast group, while the Awra Amba members do not meet often their neighbours. This suspicion is due to the large cultural differences and to the past, seriously antagonistic between both groups. It would be very lightened today. On the other hand, the relationships with regional and Ethiopian authorities are excellent, Awra Amba welcoming a lot of visitors and being cited as an example very often. But the community is not very interested in external experiments. In conclusion, we try to show how this experiment actually contributes to the struggles for empowerment, in line with the communities of utopian socialism, who aim at creating ideal communities here and now. It takes part in the present movement of revival of the countries and citizens called " underdeveloped " in the past. Therefore, Awra Amba is by many aspects a living example for the neighbouring communities, for Ethiopia, and further for the empowerment of citizens and peoples, whichever their development level, including in Europe. This utopian community could nevertheless be exposed to some risks dangerous for its stability. It is especially endogamy, non opening to the world, heterogeneity and sclerosis through myth. Finally, we suggest some research topics able to improve the understanding of this experiment, and maybe to support it. The original version of this report is published in French. 7 / 85 Awra Amba, a current experiment of utopian socialism   መግለጫ   አውራ  አምባ፡  ወቅታዊው  ኅብረተ  ሰብአዊ  አንዋንዋር፡፡   በበኅብረትና  በእኩልነት  ለመኖር  ሲደረጉ  ከቆዩት  ሙከራዎች  ሁሉ፡  ኢትዮጽያ  የሚገኘው  አውራ  አምባ  ተብሎ  የሚሰየመውና  በአማራው   ክፍለ  ሀገር  ውስጥ  የሚገኘው  ህብረተ  ሰብ  በእኩልነትና  በኅብረተሰብአዊነት  ላይ  የተመሰረተ  ነው  ።     ይህ  ጽሁፍ፡  ስለ  ኅብር  ሰቡ  የተጻፉትን  ልዩ  ልዩ  ጥናቶችን  ፡  ማለትም  አራት  የማስተሬት  የምርምርም  ዘገባዎችን  (አጥናፉ  2005  ፥  ይርጋ   2007  ፥  ያሲን  2008  ፥  መኮንን  2009)  ያቀነባበረ  ሲሆን  ፥  በተጨማሪም  የሀገር  ውስጥና  የውጭ  ሀገር  የጋዜጣ  ዘገባዎችንና   ምስክሮችን  ያካትታል  ።  በመጀመሪያ  የራሳችንን  አቀራረብና  አመለካከት  ፡  ማለትም  የተመሮከዝንባቸውን  የተለያዩ  ምንጮችን  የግል   አስተያየትና  ትችታችንን  እያከልን  እናቀርባለን  ፥  አዚያም  ከተለያየ  አቅጣጫ  የሰበሰብናቸውና  የንደዚህ  አይነቱን  የአንዋንዋር  ዘዴ   በትክክል  እንድናቀርብ  ያገዙንን  መረጃዎች  እነዘረዝራለን  ።  ይህም  ሲሆን  አመቺ  በሆነ  ጊዜ  ሁሉ  አካባቢው  ካለው  የአማራ  ኅብረተሰብ  ጋር   ለማስተያየት  እንሞክራለን  ።   ኅብር  ሰቡ  የተጠነሰሰው  በዙማ  ኑሩ  በ1972  ዓ/ም  ነው።  ገና  በጨግላነቱ፡  ይህ  ደሀ  የባላገር  ልጅ  አርቆ  አሰተዋይ  በመሆኑ  ፥  አካባቢውም   ሆነ  እቤተሰቡ  ውስጥ  የተመለከታቸው  ጎጂና  ከሀቅ  የራቁ  ድርጊቶችን  በመቃወም  ለእኩልነት  ይታገል  ጀመረ  ።  በክፍለ  ሀገሩም  እየዞረ   ሀሳቡን  የሚደግፉ  ሰዎችን  መፈለግ  ጀመረ  ።  በመጨረሻም፡  ወደ  ሃያ  የሚጠጉ  ሰዎችን  ሰብስቦ  ፥  የአውራ  አምባ  ህብረ  ሰብን  በህምሳ   ኤክታር  ላይ  ያቅዋቁማሉ  ።  ይሁን  ብንጂ፥  ከአካባቢው  ነዋሪዎች  ከፍ  ያለ  ቅዋሜ  ይደርስባቸዋል  ።  ምክንያቱም  የአውራ  አምባ  ህብረ  ሰብ   ከሀይማኖት  ነፃ  ከመሆኑም  በላይ  ፥  የሴትና  ወንድ  እኩልነትንም  ሆነ  የልጆችን  መብት  የሚያስከብር  በመሆኑ  ።  ከዚያም  በኢተዮጰያ  ውስጥ   የተከሰተው  ለውጥ  ህብረ  ሰቡን  ከመበታተኑም  በላይ  ፥  ዋና  መሪውን  እስር  ቤት  በማስገባትና  ለብዙ  ዓመታት  ርቀው  በስደተኝነት  እንዲኖሩ   ያስገድዳቸዋል  ።  በ1993  ዓ/ም  ህብረ  ሰቡ  ተመልሶ  አሁን  የሚገኝበት  ቦታ  ላይ  ከንደገና  ይደራጃል  ።   በተለያዩ  ደራሲያን  የመዘገቡትን  ቁጥር  ስንመለከት  የአውራ  አምባ  ህብረ  ሰብ  ሲጀመርና  በስደት  ጊዜ  ከሃያ  በታች  የነበረው  በአሁኑ  ወቅት   ከአራት   መቶ   በላይ   መሆኑን   ያስገነዝባል   ።   አቀነባበራቸውን   በፆታና   በእድሜ   አካባቢው   ከሚገኘው   ከደቡብ   ጎንደር   ህዝብ   ጋር   እናስተያያለን  ።  ከዚያም  በኢትዮጵያ  ውስጥ  የአውራ  አምባ  ኅብረ  ሰብ  ምን  አይነት  ቦታ  እንደያዘ  እናሳይና  ፥  በቦት  አቀማመጥ  በህዝብ   ቁጥርና  በኢኮኖሚ  ረገድ  ያለውን  ልዩነት  እናመለክታለን  ።   የአውራ  አምባ  በባህልና  በአስተሳሰብ  አንድነት  የሰፈነበት  መንደር  ሲሆን  ፥  አካባቢው  ከሚገኘው  የአማራ  ብኄረ  ሰብ  በጣም  የተለየ  ነው  ።   በመጀመሪያ  ኅብረ  ሰቡ  ብዙ  ዕሴቶች  አሉት  ፥  በአውራ  አምባ  መኖር  ማለት  ዕሴቶቹን  ማክበርና  ማስከበር  ነው  ።  የተለያዩ  ደራሲያን   የጠቀሱአቸው  ዕሴቶች  በርካታ  ቢሆኑም  ፡  ዋንኞቹን  በተደጋጋሚ  የሚጠቀሱት  ሀቀኛነት፡  እኩልነት  በተለይም  የሴትና  ወንድ  እኩልነት፡   ኅብረተሰብአዊነት፡  ሥራና  የሀይማኖት  አለመኖር  ናቸው  ።  ይህንኑ  የአውራ  አምባ  ኅብረተሰብ  እንዴት  እንደሚያከብርና  እንደሚያስከብር   በቅድመ  ተከተል  ደራሲያን  የመዘገቡት  ጽሁፍ  ላይ  በመመርኮዝ  እናብራራለን  ።   በመቀጠልም  የኅብረ  ሰቡን  የረቀቀ  አቀነባበር  እናሳያለን  ።  በቅድሚያ  የኅብረ  ሰቡን  ግንባታና  የኢኮኖሚ  እንቅስቃሴ  እንመዘግብና  ከዚያ   የኅብረ  ሰቡን  የአንዋንዋር  ስልት  በሚመለከት  የሚከተሉትን  እንዘረዝራለን  ፡፡  ይኸውም  በሥራ  መስክ  ላይ  ያለውን  የሴቶችና  ወንዶችን   እኩልነት  ፥  ጋብቻና  ፍችን  በሚመለከት  ፥  ለልጆች  የሚሰጠው  የተወሰነና  ልዩ  ቦታ  ፥  ከአቅም  ደካሞች  ጋር  ያለው  ትብብር  ፥  የቀብር   ሥርአትና  በመጨረሻም  በኅብረ  ሰቡ  ውስጥ  የሚከሰተውን  ችግር  አፈታት  ይሆናል።   የአውራ  አምባን  አደረጃጀት  በሚመለከት፥  ኅብረ  ሰቡ  በሁለት  ይዋቀራል  ።  አንደኛው  አጠቃላዩ  ተከባብሮና  ተደጋግፎ  የሚኖረው  ኅብረ   ሰብ  ሲሆን  ፥  ሁለተኛው  በሥራ  መስክ  ተሳትፎ  የሚያደርገው  የኅብረ  ሰቡ  ሦስት  አራተኝ  ነዋሪ  ይሆናል  ።  የኅብረ  ሥራ  ማህበሩ  ዋና  ዋና   ውሳኔዎች  በአጠቃላይ  ጉባዔው  ይወሰናሉ  ።  ይህ  ጉባዔ  የሚመርጣቸው  ኮሚቴዎች  በየመስካቸው  የተለያየውን  ሥራ  ጉባዔው  በወሰነው   መሰረት  በህብረት  ያካሂዳሉም  ይቆጣጠራሉም  ።  44 % የኮሚቴው  አባላት  ሴቶች  ናቸው  ፡  አሰፈላጊ  በሆነ  ጊዜም  ይቫራሉ  ።   የአውራ  አምባ  ማህበር  ኤኮኖሚ  በከፊል  ግብርና  ነው  ።  ይሁን  እንጂ  ያላቸው  የእርሻ  መሬት  ከአካባቢው  መሬት  ጋር  ሲነጻጸር  በጣም   አነስተኛ  ነው  ፡  ከተለያዩ  ጽሁፎች  እንደምንረዳው  ፡  የአውራ  አምባ  ነዋሪዎች  በቤተሰብ  ከ0,2 እስክ  0,4 ሄክታር  ሲኖራቸው  ፥  የአካባቢው   በቤተሰብ  2,1 ሄክታር  ይኖረዋል  ።  ዋናው  የእርሻ  ምርት  ጤፍ  ቦቆሎ  ማሽላና  ቦሎቄ  ሲሆን  በተጨማሪም  አነስተኛ  የከብት  እርባታም   ይገኝበታል  ።  ውጤታቸው  ከአካባቢው  በአንድ  አራተኛ  ከፍ  ይላል  ።  ይሁን  እንጂ  ምርታቸው  ለፍጆታቸው  ሰለማይበቃ  ወደ  ተለያዩ  እንድ   ሸማኔ  የወፍጮና  ንግድ  መስክ  ተሰማርተዋል  ።  ባብዛኛው  ሥራው  የሚካሆደው  በኅብር  ሥራ  ማህበሩ  ውስጥ  ነው  ፥  ነገር  ግን  ዋናውን   የሽመና  ሥራ  እያንዳንዱ  በቤቱ  ስለሚሠራ  የግል  ሥራ  ሆኖ  ይገኛል  ።   እኒህ  የተለያዩ  የገቢ  ምንጮች  ለኅብረ  ሰቡ  ካካባቢው  የተሻለ  ገቢ  የሚያስገኝ  ቢመስልም  ፥  የተመዘገበው  ቁጥር  አስተማማኝ  ካለመሆኑም   በላይ  አንዳንድ  ቦታ  ላይ  ተቃራኒ  ሆኖ  ይታያል  ።  ሆኖም  የነዋሪው  የእለት  ምግብ  አመቱን  ሙሉ  የተማላ  ይመስላል  ።  አካባቢው  ያለው   አማራው  አርሶ  አደር  ግን  የሚሸፍነው  ባመት  የዘጠኝ  ወር  ቀለቡን  ብቻ  ነው  ።   ከዚህ  በመቀጠል  እያንዳንዱ  የኅብረ  ሰብ  አባል  በተለያየው  የሥራ  መድረክ  ላይ  የሚያደርገውን  አስተዋጽዎ  እናብራራለን  ።  ባብዛኛው   8 /85 አጭር  መግለጫ   የሥራው  ክፍፍያ  የሚደረገው  በፆታ  ሳይሆን  በችሎታ  ብቻ  ነው።  እስካሁን  የተካሄደው  ጥናት  እንደሚያመለክተው  ፥  ባልና  ሚስት   በምርትም  ሆነ  በማንኛውም  ሀላፊነት  ላይ  እኩል  ናቸው።   ጋብቻ  የሠርገኞቹ  ጉዳይ  ነው  ።  ቤተሰቦቻቸውን  የሚመለከት  ነገር  ምንም  የለም  ።  የተመዘገበው  እስታቲስቲክስ  ግልጽ  አድርጎ  የአውራ   አምባ  ወጣቶች  በልጅነት  እድሜአቸው  ለጋብቻ  እንድማይዳረጉ  ያሳያል  ።  ባብዛኛው  ሴቶቹ  ከ  19  እስከ  20  ዓመታቸው  ሲያገቡ  ፥   ወንድቹ  ደግሞ  ከ20  እስከ  25  ባለው  እድሜአቸው  ያገባሉ  ።  በክፍለ  ሀገር  የሚገኘው  አርሶ  አደር  ህዝብ  ግን  ፥  ከ10  እስከ  14  ዓመት   ካላቸው  ልጅች  መሀል  ከወንድቹ  5 % ፡  ከሴቶቹ  8 % የሚሆነው  በጋብቻ  ኑሮ  ተረማርተው  ይገኛሉ  ።  በወሊድም  ቢሆን  የአውራ  አምባ   ቤተሰብ  ውስጥ  የልጅ  ብዛት  ከሌላው  በቁጥር  አንድ  ይቀንሳል  ።  መፋታትም  ቢኖር  ፥  በስምምነት  ከመካሄዱም  በላይ  ባልና  ሚስት   ንብረታቸውን  በእኩል  ይካፈላሉ  ።   መተባበርና  መከባበርን  ልጆች  በተለይ  እንዲገነዘቡት  ግዴታቸው  በሶስት  ይከፈላል  ፥  ይኸውም  ትምህርት  ቤት  መሄድ  ፡  መጫወትና   የኅብረት  ሥራ  ማህበሩን  በሥራ  ማገዝ  ።  ይሁን  ብንጂ  በቤት  ሥራም  ሆነ  በእርሻ  ሥራ  ተሳትፎአቸው  በጣም  አነስተኛ  ነው  ።  ሁሉም   ለረዥም  ዓመታት  ትምህርት  ቤት  ይሄዳሉ  ፡  ከትምህርት  ቤትም  ውጪ  ጥናታቸውን  እንዲከታተሉ  ይጋበዛሉ  ።  የኅብረ  ሰቡ  ትብብር  በወሊድ   ላይ  ያሉ  ሴቶችንም  ሆነ  በሽተኞችንና  አዛውንቶችን  ይንከባከባል  ።   የቀብር  ሥነስርአትን  በሚመለከትም  ፡  የአውራ  አምባ  ኅብረ  ሰብ  እንደአማራው  በለቅሶና  ሀዘን  ብዙ  ሀይልና  ጊዜ  አያጠፋም  ፥  የነወሰኑ   ሰውች  ተመድበው  በተወሰነ  ጊዜ  ሥርአቱን  ያካሂዳሉ  ።  የአውራ  አምባ  ኅብረ  ሰብ  ባህል  ፡  ከሞቱ  በኃላ  ህይወት  አለ  ብሎ  ስለማያምን   የምድርን  ኑሮ  ያበልጣል  ።   በባልና  ሚስትም  ሆነ  በኅብረተሰቡ  መሀል  የሚከሰተውን  ችግር  ለማቃለል  የተወከሉት  የተለያዩ  የፍርድ  ኮሚቴዎች  ስኬታማ  ውጤት   ያስገኛሉ  ።   በመቀጠል  ፡  የአውራ  አምባ  ኅብረተ  ሰብ  ልዩ  የሆነ  አመለካከት  የሚሰጠውን  የትምህርት  ስነ  ሥርአት  በዝርዝር  እናብራሪለን  ።  ትምህርት   ኅብረተ  ሰቡን  ወደ  ፊት  ሰማስኬድ  ብቻ  ሳይሆን  እያንዳዱን  ግለሰብ  ከፍ  የሚያደርግ  ነው  ።  በመጀመሪያ  አውራ  አምባ  ራስን  በራስ   ማስተማር  የሚቻልበትን  ሁናቴ  ለአዋቂዎች  ብቻ  ሳይሆን  በተለይ  ትምህርት  ላልጀመሩ  ለታዳጊ  ልጆችና  ለሌሎቹም  ከትምህርት  ቤት  ውጪ   አመቻችቶአል  ።  ይህ  ትምህርት  የሚካህደው  በእድሜ  ጠና  ባሉ  ወጣቶችና  በሰፈሩ  አዋቂዎች  ሲህን  ፥  የህፃናት  መዋያና  የተመላ   መጽሐፍት  ቤትን  ያካተተ  ነው።   ለትምህርት  የደረሱ  ልጆች  ሁሉ  ይማራሉ  ።  ንቁና  አጥኚ  ከመሆናቸውም  በላይ  ፡  የስብሰባ  መድረክ  ላይ  ሀሳባቸውን  ለመስጠት  አያፍሩም  ፥   ነገር  ግን  ከሌላ  መንደር  ልጆትች  ጋር  እምብዛም  አይገናኙም  ።  አስተማሪዎቹም  የአውራ  አምባ  ተማሪዎች  ከሌሎቹ  በጣም  የላቁ  ተጣጣሪና   ተባባሪ  መሆናቸውን  ይመሰክሩላቸዋል  ።  በዚህም  ምክንያት  የንምህርት  ደረጃቸው  ከሌሎቹ  በጣም  ከፍ  ያለ  ከመሆኑም  በላይ  ፡  በሴቶችና   ወንዶች  መሀልም  ብዙ  ልዩነት  አይታይም  ።   ከዚህ  በመቀጠል  የምናተኩረው  የአውራ  አምባ  አባላት  ከአካባቢአቸው  ነዋሪዎች  ጋር  ያላቸውን  ጥርጣሬ  የተመላበት  ግኑኝነት  ላይ  ይሆናል   ።  የአውራ  አምባ  ነዋሪ  በአካባቢው  ህዝብ  አቅጣጫውን  እንድሳተ  ሚስጥረኛ  ጨካኝ  ሰነፍና  ሀይማኖተ  ቢስ  ሆኖ  ይታያል  ፥  የአውራ  አምባ   ኅብረሰብም  ከጎረቤቶቹ  ጋር  ቅርበት  የለውም።  ይህ  ጥርጣሬ  የተከሰተው  በሁለቱ  መሀል  ከፍተኛ  የባህል  ልዩነት  በመኖሩና  ፡  ቀደም  ሲል   መፍትሄ  ያላገኘው  አሰከፊ  ያለመግባባት  ነው  ።  በዛሬው  ወቅት  ችግሩ  ቀዝቀዝ  ያለ  ይመስላል  ።  በሌላ  በኩል  ደግሞ  አውራ  አምባ  ከክፍለ   ሀገሩና  ከኢትዮጵያ  ባለሥልጣናት  ጋር  ያለው  ግንኙነት  በጣም  የላቀ  ነው  ።  አውራ  አምባ  ብዙ  እንግዶችን  ያስተናግዳል  ፥  በብዙ  ቦታም   እንደ  ምሳሌ  ይጠራል  ።     በመደምደሚያ  ማሳየት  የምንሞክረው  ፡  በአለም  ላይ  የሕልም  እንጀራ  መስሎ  የሚታየው  የሰዎች  በእኩልነትና  በክብር  ተዋዶ  የመኖርን   ስሜት  በመከተል  ፡  ይህ  አመለካከት  የሰው  ልጅ  ለነፃነቱ  ለሚያደርገው  ትግል  አስተዋጽዎ  እንዳለው  ነው  ።  እየተገነቡ  ያሉ  ፡  ኃላ  ቀር   የሚባሉት  ሀገሮች  ላይ  ለሚደረገው  ግንባታ  ጭማሪ  ያመጣል  ።  ሰለሆነም  አውራ  አምባ  በብዙ  መልኩ  ፡  ለአካባቢውም  ሆነ  ለኢትዮጵያ፡   ከዚያም  አልፎ  ለአውሮፓና  ለመላው  ዓለም  ለሚደረገው  የነጻነት  እንቅስቃሴ  ምሳሌ  ሆኖ  ሊጠቀስ  ይችላል  ።  ይሁን  እንጂ  ፡  ይህ  አስደናቂ   ኅብረተሰብ   ዘለቄታማ   ለመሆን   ብዙ   ችግሮችን   መወጣት   ይኖርበት   ይሆናል።   በተለይም   ከኅብረተሰቡ   ውጪ   ጋብቻ   ስለማይፈጸምና   ከክስሳቸው  ውጪ  ካለው  ብኄረሰብ  ጋር  ግንኙነት  ስለሌላቸው  ።  በመጨረሻ  ይህንን  የኑሮ  ስልት  የበለጠ  ለመረዳትና  ብሎም  ለማስፋፋት   ይረዳ  ዘንድ  አንዳንድ  ለጥናት  የሚሆኑ  ነጥቦችን  ለማሳየት  እንሞክራለን  ። የዚህ ዘገባ ዋና ኅትመት በፈረንሳይኛ ነው ።   9 / 85