An Ethiopian’s Path to From Refugee Camp to College Campus

How a refugee survived genocide and rebuilt a life in the United States.

Omot retelling his journey coming to the U.S. during our interview. Image courtesy of Ojullu Omit.

This semester, I had the privilege of connecting with Ojullu Omot, whose life was forever altered by tragedy. On December 13, 2003, when he was just 14 years old, Omot experienced a massacre at his hometown in south-west Ethiopia. As part of a Wake Forest University project to raise awareness about the challenges faced by refugees, a team made up of me and my classmates produced a 10-minute advocacy film that aims to shed light on the often-overlooked struggles refugees encounter while adapting to life in the United States. Omot’s story is a testament to the blend of heartbreak and perseverance that characterizes the ongoing global refugee crisis, capturing the resilience and fortitude of those seeking haven away from home.

Omot’s story began with displacement, as he fled the 2003 massacre in the remote Gambella region of southwestern Ethiopia. From December 13-15, in a reprisal against a small ambush against Ethiopian federal government officials, ethnically Amhara, Oromo, and Tigrayan soldiers and rioters murdered hundreds of minority Anuak civilians. Human Rights Watch’s report suggests that these atrocities should be considered crimes against humanity. . The Ethiopian government claimed that only 57 were killed and that the violence resulted from ethnic tensions between rival Anuak and Nuer groups, in contrast to the claims of international human rights groups and the Anuak themselves.  Human rights NGOs have called for a thorough investigation into the incident, with concerns that others like it could occur. Despite facing deadly tragedy along with the immense challenges of settling into a new society as a refugee, Omot has found a new home in the United States, where he serves as a living witness to the egregious human rights abuses of his homeland. He remains committed to starting a new chapter in life.

By now Omot has gotten used to retelling the story of how he left his home in Ethiopia in the midst of genocidal violence, and his journey  from there to become an international politics student in the United States. The three-day-long massacre in Gambella town of southwestern Ethiopia was an outburst of ethnic conflict between the indigenous Anuak group and members of the Ethiopian military. As the situation in Ethiopia deteriorated, Omot moved to Sudan when he was a teenager, with the hope that things would get better in a year or two.

But they didn’t. The military confrontation neither started, nor ended with the massacre.  More than 10,000 Anuak people were forced to leave Ethiopia in 2004, the year after the massacre took place.

Omot left Sudan for Kenya after two years of waiting. The unrest had separated him from his family, and he lacked many colorful memories about his childhood in Ethiopia, Sudan and Kenya. What he remembered is playing football with his friends in refugee camps everyday; many of those eventually being sent to Canada, Australia and other developed nations. Omot remembers planes from the United Nation hovered above their heads in refugee camps, dropping food and supplies and people hurrying to grab them. “We were dependent on the refugee program,” Omot said, “Resettlement in the United States was not a typical solution for refugees living in the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees(UNHCR) camp.”

Omot never dreamed about coming to the United States then. He was invested in the idea that everything will go back to normal in Ethiopia, and that he could then return home. Yet Omot’s life took a major turn in the year 2016. He was called for an interview, which he later found out was part of the application process by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services employees concerning whether he is eligible for resettlement in the United States as a refugee. The approval rate for a refugee status in the United States is 27%, according to World Data.  

Omot waited for roughly six months until he was called for a series of security checks, examinations and orientation. In February 2016, International Organization for Migration contacted Omot, telling him that his case is ready. He then boarded a plane to the United States on April 4th, 2016, his first ever flight. When he landed in Miami, Florida, it was like landing on a new planet- the shock of the novel language and lifestyle almost dazzled the then 28 year old. 

“There was something change, [such as] the day became longer, I was not even comfortable, and I cannot see where I come from, ” Omot recalled his initial exposure to the United States, “The first question I asked myself [was], is this the U.S. [as] I expected it?”

And the first few months continued to affirm to him that starting anew wasn’t easy. Omot often found himself alone in his house assigned by the government, since his roommates busied themselves working in the daytime, and went straight to sleep not long after walking in the door at night. Comparing the situation to the community life in Ethiopia, where everyone would sit down and share stories after a day’s work, filled Omot with homesickness at night. 

Language is also a major challenge to Omot. Going to a university was at the top of his wish list when he came to the United States, but he couldn’t even understand people’s accents when he asked for directions on his way to school. He had no idea how to open emails during his first semester at a community college. When one of his classmates finally taught him how to view the inbox, he found emails from professors flooded in there. In winter, the temperature dropped so low that Omot, who used to live near the equator, had to drop his English as Second language (ESL) classes to avoid traveling in freezing weather.

But Omot is determined to realize his dream. Instead of “wasting time” in ESL classes, he decided to push himself, taking the General Educational Development (GED) tests directly.  He works as a hospital janitor in the daytime for living; in the evening and before dawn, he dives into his study. Whenever he had free time, Omot would peruse his textbooks, went up to the library of the community college he attended everyday, asking every librarian what GED looks like, and tips and tricks to score higher. 

The global refugee population has reached crisis proportions, with more than 30 million refugees displaced in 2022, signaling a significant surge from the previous year's level. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has reported a staggering total of 103 million people forcibly displaced as of mid-2022. In response, President Joe Biden has committed to revamping America’s current “inhumane” immigration policy. However, the administration's effort to admit refugees has fallen significantly short of its goal, with only 25,465 individuals granted admission by the end of the previous fiscal year on September 30, 2022, a mere 20% of the objective. The number of refugees received by the United States still remains one of the lowest among all nations, and the number continues to decrease.

Refugees face a plethora of challenges when they resettle in a foreign country, with attaining secure housing among the most pressing. Asylum seekers in particular struggle to obtain temporary housing due to a lack of government support and unfamiliarity with the US housing system. Non-profit organizations and shelters provide vital assistance to these individuals. Despite this aid, refugee and asylum seekers are disproportionately at risk for health problems, both physical and mental. They are more susceptible to severe mental health conditions like PTSD and depression, while chronic illnesses like diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease exacerbate their already challenging circumstances.

In 2017, Omot took the GED for the first time. And hard work pays off — he passed the test.

“It [passing the test] gives me hope that I could continue to do all of them,” said Omot, breaking into a smile. And he did. After he finished with GED, Omot is currently pursuing a bachelor degree in international politics at University of North Carolina Greensboro. When asked why he could recall his story in astonishingly clear detail, Omot answered, “I think my story is important because if other people, other refugees heard about it, they would think, oh, this guy did that and starting his new life. Maybe I could do the same.”

To Get Involved:

While Omot is navigating through his new life in the United States, it is not without support from various refugee organizations, such as Every Campus a Refugee (ECAR), an organization aiming to mobilize colleges and universities to host refugees on campus grounds and support them in their resettlement. ECAR provided nearly 4 years free housing and accessories to Omot, and provides several other services to refugees in the North Carolina region. Learn more about ECAR here.

Hope Zhu

Hope is a Chinese international student at Wake Forest University in North Carolina studying sociology, statistics, and journalism. She dreams of traveling around the globe as a freelance reporter while touching on a wide range of social issues from education inequality to cultural diversity. Passionate about environmental issues and learning about other cultures, she is eager to explore the globe. In her free time, she enjoys cooking Asian cuisine, reading, and theater.

Mass Detention of Civilians In Ethiopia

The Ethiopian government declared a state of emergency, resulting in the detention of civilians on suspicion of cooperating with rebel terrorists.

Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia. DFID - UK Department for International Development  CC BY 2.0

Ethiopia has been in the throes of a civil war. The federal government, headed by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, has been fighting against Tigrayan rebels in the northwest region of the country. Recently, it appears Tigray fighters are at an advantage as they push south towards the nation’s capital. In response, the government declared a state of emergency Nov. 2 and began to roundup civilians of Tigrayian descent. Civilians with no connection to the rebels are being detained, forced from their homes, plucked off the street or at work. The United Nations stated that more than 1,000 people have been detained since the government declared the state of emergency. Additionally, they reported that 70 drivers contracted by the United Nations and agencies to deliver aid to the country have been detained by officials as well. Along with the detained drivers, 16 employees of the United Nations were detained following the state of emergency. These employees were present because the Tigray region is in desperate need of aid after airstrikes fell on the region in mid-October. The dire situation in Tigray has been labeled an ongoing humanitarian crisis. 

The civil war broke out after tensions between the Tigray’s People Liberation Front political party and the federal government came to a point. The party previously held control of the Ethiopian government for decades, until Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took office in 2018. In 2020, the T.P.L.F attacked a military base in the Tigray region, prompting the Prime Minister to order a military offensive in response. In June, the Ethiopian military was forced to withdraw from the Tigray region, marking a major defeat and subsequent turning point of the conflict. 

In July 2021, the United Nations requested access to the region because an estimated 400,000 people were experiencing famine, with another 1.8 million at risk. Additionally, 1.7 million people have been internally displaced while thousands of others have fled the country.

The state of emergency declared on Nov. 2 allows officials to search anyone’s home and arrest without a warrant solely based on suspicion of association with rebel groups. The recent arrests have included other ethnicities, but the majority of detentions have been people of Tigrayan descent. Along with the large-scale detentions, public figures allied with the government have taken to social media inciting hate speech against ethnic Tigrayans. The head of the Ethiopian government communication office stated that the detentions were not ethnically motivated, but the United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights expressed concern at the broad terms of the recent state of emergency.

Dana Flynn

Dana is a recent graduate from Tufts University with a degree in English. While at Tufts she enjoyed working on a campus literary magazine and reading as much as possible. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, she loves to explore and learn new things.

A Glimpse at Ethiopia’s Medieval Rock-Hewn Churches 

A group of 11 churches in Lalibela, Ethiopia, has been known for centuries as the “New Jerusalem.” The churches were carved from the natural rock of the landscape during medieval times and are a popular pilgrimage site for Ethiopian Orthodox Christians. 

Lalibela, located in the northern highlands of Ethiopia, is home to 11 monolithic churches, each carved from the rocky landscape. The square and rectangular churches burrow more than 150 feet into the ground. Tall walls of rock rise around the churches on all sides, with their roofs sitting at the height of the natural rock. Worshippers and visitors at the churches access them through narrow, sloping staircases, and series of tunnels and passageways connect the churches to each other and to other religious areas like catacombs. Everything in each church is carved from the same rocky mass, including windows, doors, pillars, stairways and all decorative elements. Ethiopia is home to over 200 rock-hewn churches, but these 11, which make up a UNESCO World Heritage Site, are some of the best maintained and most impressive examples of this type of architecture.

Lalibela’s churches are intricate, awe-inspiring structures. Situated at the base of Mount Abuna Yosef is a rocky massif, a large, rigid section of the Earth’s crust. Ancient workers carved the 11 churches out of the rock from the top down, first isolating the outline of each structure and then sculpting the inside and the fine, ornamental details of the outer walls. The Lalibela church complex is divided into two sections of five churches separated by the River Jordan, one group on the north side and one on the south, and a lone church farther to the west. The churches date to the medieval era, and scholars agree that they were likely constructed in four or five phases between the seventh and 13th centuries. 

Ethiopian tradition credits King Lalibela, who ruled during the 12th century, with the creation of the churches. In the king's laudatory biography, it is written that angels helped him carve the churches over a period of 24 years. According to tradition, King Lalibela ordered the construction of the churches as a “New Jerusalem.” He is said to have visited Jerusalem just before the city was overtaken by Muslim forces, halting Christian pilgrimages to the Holy Land. Ethiopia has been officially Christian since 330 A.D. and claims to be the oldest Christian country in the world, so the story of King Lalibela and the rock-hewn churches fits into the country’s history. 

In reality, the earlier structures in the Lalibela complex were most likely constructed for civic rather than religious purposes, serving as royal palaces or fortresses before later being converted into churches. Though not all of the Lalibela churches initially served as churches, the complex became known as a “New Jerusalem” and has been a popular pilgrimage site since the late 12th century. The churches remain a pilgrimage site today, and host daily religious services. 

 Aside from the large numbers of worshippers that gather each day, Lalibela’s phenomenal churches draw curious visitors. Guided tours of the complex are available, and travelers can also explore on their own. The most popular church among visitors to Lalibela is Bete Giyorgis, the Church of St. George, which forms the shape of a cross when viewed from above. Bete Giyorgis is the church that stands alone, not part of the northern or southern groups, but it can be accessed from the other churches through the system of carved passages. The wonders of Lalibela’s 11 churches contain centuries of Ethiopian history and remain magnificent examples of a very unique architectural feat. 

Rachel Lynch

Rachel is a student at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY currently taking a semester off. She plans to study Writing and Child Development. Rachel loves to travel and is inspired by the places she’s been and everywhere she wants to go. She hopes to educate people on social justice issues and the history and culture of travel destinations through her writing.

Rising Tensions in Ethiopia’s Tigray Region Pose Dangers for Millions

The East African country has recently been overrun by natural disasters, COVID-19 and internal violence.

A refugee camp in Ethiopia. Oberhaus. CC2.0

Rising tensions in northern Ethiopia’s Tigray region pose a severe threat for the East African country and for stability across the Horn of Africa. Most urgently, the fighting places millions of people in danger and in dire need of humanitarian assistance.  

Map of Ethiopia’s regions, with Tigray in the far north. Jfblanc. CC4.0

An Overview of the Conflict in Tigray

Ethiopia, the largest and most populous country in the Horn of Africa region, is home to many different religions, languages and ethnic groups. The recent fighting is taking place in Tigray, Ethiopia’s northernmost region along the border with Eritrea. The conflict is between Ethiopia’s central government led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). The TPLF came to power in 1991 and established a coalition where Ethiopia was divided into 10 distinct regions that each had political autonomy, allowing the TPLF to become a key player in Ethiopian politics. The TPLF remained in power for 27 years until rising concerns of political corruption and human rights abuses resulted in nationwide protests. As a result, Abiy Ahmed was elected the prime minister of Ethiopia in 2018 and began to reduce the TPLF’s power. While Ahmed advocates for a strong federal government that unites all Ethiopians regardless of ethnicity, the TPLF wants more political autonomy and sees Ahmed’s central government as a hindrance to the TPLF’s political agenda. 

The current dispute began when the TPLF wanted to hold a regional election in September. Prime Minister Ahmed denied the request, since all national elections in Ethiopia were canceled due to COVID-19. Fighting began on Nov. 4 when Tigrayan forces were accused of attacking a military base belonging to Ahmed’s government. The violence in the region continues to escalate. 

Abiy Ahmed is widely recognized for brokering peace and ending a military conflict with neighboring Eritrea, an effort that resulted in Ahmed receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019. However the current escalating violence is causing the international community to raise its eyebrows. According to Kjetil Tronvoll, a scholar of Ethiopian politics at Bjorknes University College in Norway, “The Nobel Peace Prize has until recently shielded Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed from international scrutiny and criticism. However, the warfare on Tigray has opened the eyes of many diplomats to the way political power is wielded in Ethiopia.”

Rwandan President Paul Kagame (left) and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (right). Kagame. CC2.0

What is Happening Now? 

On Nov. 28, the Ethiopian army gained control of the Tigrayan regional capital of Mekelle, with Prime Minister Ahmed declaring victory shortly thereafter. However, Tigrayan forces have yet to surrender. Since the conflict began, telephone, internet and road access to the Tigray region has been suspended, making it difficult to know what is happening on the ground. Shortly after Ahmed declared victory, rockets were fired at the Eritrean capital of Asmara, where according to the U.S. embassy, “Six explosions occurred in the city at about 10:13 p.m.” The Ethiopian government has declared a six-month-long state of emergency in the Tigray region. There is concern that the conflict could exacerbate ethnic division in other parts of Ethiopia, or even spread to neighboring countries such as Eritrea, Sudan and Somalia. With the conflict having no end in sight, it is unclear to predict whether current military efforts are enough to end the fighting.

Refugee children in Ethiopia. United Nations Photo. CC2.0

Impact on Internally Displaced People and Refugees

Before the recent fighting broke out in Tigray, the region was already home to over 200,000 refugees, the majority coming from Eritrea. The current fighting is estimated to affect over 2 million people, with larger estimates of up to 9 million. As many as 43,000 have already fled to neighboring countries, with Sudan preparing to accept as many as 200,000 refugees. Thousands of people are internally displaced in Shire, near the border with Eritrea. Aid groups are urging the Ethiopian government to allow access to roads crucial to the Tigray region. This year has been especially difficult in Ethiopia, as a devastating locust outbreak, floods and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic have ravaged the country. According to the International Rescue Committee, the most important thing that can be done by forces is to adhere to international law, ensure that schools, hospitals and homes are not targets, and allow humanitarian aid to get to where it is needed. 

To Get Involved:

Check out the International Rescue Committee, a global aid and development organization providing crucial humanitarian assistance to communities in Tigray, here. 


Click here to access the website of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which is working to establish a new shelter site for Tigrayan refugees in Sudan.

Megan Gürer

Megan is a Turkish-American student at Wellesley College in Massachusetts studying Biological Sciences. Passionate about environmental issues and learning about other cultures, she dreams of exploring the globe. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, singing, and composing music.

No Peace for the People: Ethiopia’s Ethnic Groups Targeted

While citizens and officials alike fear a potential civil war in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, the country’s ethnic groups have become targets of violence. Many fear that the current struggles deepen existing ethnic divides. 

Women of the Tigray region in Ethiopia. Rod Waddington. CC BY-SA 2.0. 

Over the past several weeks, the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia has exploded into violence. The current conflict comes after years of mounting tensions between the elected government of the Tigray region and the federal government. The postponement of the September election sparked the most recent series of violent acts; existing ethnic tensions have now transformed into the slaughtering of local ethnic groups, forcing many to flee for safety in Sudan. 

A Rising Civil War 

The tensions in Ethiopia trace back along a labyrinthine history of political unrest, with the primary combatants being the proponents of the federal government and the officials in the Tigray region. Fighting escalated when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed accused the Tigray region of attacking a federal military base and responded by sending an attack on the region. However, underlying issues began back in 2018 when Ahmed was first elected. 

For decades, Ethiopia’s main political party was the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, which began around 1991 when the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) aided the overthrow of the previously Marxist government. Up until 2018, the party had controlled both the political and economic components of the country. With Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s election, the TPLF’s power within the party it founded began to quickly disappear. Ahmed removed and attempted to convict many officials through potentially corrupt means, many of whom escaped to the Tigray region. He also attempted to combine parties that followed ethnic lines, which deepened divides among the groups. 

In response to the prime minister’s recent postponement of the election, the unofficial leaders of the Tigray region made a decision no one in the country had done before: they held their own election. Tigray threatened secession, which is upheld in the nation’s constitution. The federal government, though, responded by withdrawing aid from Tigray and sending in troops. 

Ethnic Targeting

Now that the violence has furthered into increasing physical confrontation, many ethnic groups in Ethiopia feel under attack. Recent killings have left ethnic Tigrayans and ethnic Amharas slaughtered in the streets. Calls for peace talks between the two groups have been rejected, and now nearly 15,000 people have fled for safety. 

There are major criticisms on both sides, with calls for the TPLF’s unconditional surrender coming from the federal government. Meanwhile, the regional government of Tigray has been accused of igniting fear that is believed to have fed into the violent slaughtering of ethnic Amharas. 

Officials fear that these killings could turn into an ethnic cleansing and genocide. Tigrayan locals are dealing with the bulk of the chaos; many are being taken in for questioning and are too fearful to contact family members outside of the region. 

Experts warn that Ethiopia’s history of ethnic conflict will likely repeat itself as the nation spirals into political disarray. Only the potential for peace now holds the nation together as its ethnic groups continue to clash. 

Ella Nguyen

Ella is an undergraduate student at Vassar College pursuing a degree in Hispanic Studies. She wants to assist in the field of immigration law and hopes to utilize Spanish in her future projects. In her free time she enjoys cooking, writing poetry, and learning about cosmetics.

Less than Two Gallons a Day in Ethiopia

In rural Ethiopia, water is so scarce that many families survive on less than two gallons per day and walk up to four hours to find it.

Their water sources, often nearly-dry river beds or muddy holes that communities have dug together, offer water that sometimes needs to be poured through cloth to filter out leeches and debris.

Since 2007 charity: water has been working in the Tigray region of Ethiopia with the government and local water partners working towards a vision of 100% clean water coverage.

With the help of hundreds of thousands of supporters from around the world — like Noah, who taught his classmates how to weave and sold enough hand-made art to fund hand-dug wells — we’ve now funded more than 3,000 water projects in Tigray that will serve over 1.1 million people with clean and safe water near their homes. Not only that, but the community has also been trained by our local partners on safe hygiene practices and basic maintenance of their water project.

Take yourself on the charity: water journey into the heart of Ethiopia in this video series following our Content Strategist, Tyler, as he experiences life without water and meets the incredible people of Ethiopia.

THIS ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MAPTIA.

ETHIOPIA: Suspended in Time

The moon shines brightly, as white robe and candle mark the lines of pilgrims winding their way up the hillside, to reach the ancient rock-hewn churches of Lalibela — a sacred place for those of the Christian faith since the 12th century.

According to the legends, men and angels worked together to construct the remarkable rock-hewn churches of Lalibela — the men working through the day and the angels taking over during the night.

Many historians believe that these great monolithic churches were commissioned during the reign of Saint Gebre Mesqel Lalibela, who ruled Ethiopia in the late 12th century and early 13th century, when the town was known as Roha. When Lalibela, whose name means “the bees recognise his sovereignty” in Old Agaw, was born, it is said that a swarm of bees surrounded him, which his mother took as a sign of his future reign as Emperor of Ethiopia. So the mythos tells us, Lalibela later visited Jerusalem, and after its capture by the Muslim caliphate in 1187 he swore to build another such sacred place of pilgrimage in his own country.

Each of Lalibela’s eleven churches was carved from a single piece of solid rock to symbolize spirituality and humility. The churches seem timeless, painstakingly excavated from the ground itself. It is believed that they were constructed first by digging out a kind of moat and were then hewn from the square rock that remained. The degree of craftsmanship and countless hours of heavy manual labour that it must have taken to carve out these wonders with hand tools alone is astounding. The churches are connected through a labyrinth of tunnels and sit beside a small river, called Jordan, and many other features also have Biblical names.

Just as astounding as the architecture, is that the churches have been in continuous use throughout the centuries since they were built.

Today, Lalibela is a town of no more than ten thousand people, but over a tenth of those are priests. Ritual and religion are the twin fulcrums upon which life in this place spins. Many times a year, there are processions, fasting, dancing, and the sound of many voices lifted up in song.

I feel privileged to have been in the holy city of Lalibela on many occasions and it continues to be one of the most fascinating photography trips I take anywhere in the world. It is a jump back in time, a photographic journey beyond compare. With the churches dimly lit by flickering candles, surrounded by faith and roughhewn rock — it is an entire world suspended in the 12th century.

Easter week in Lalibela is the most extraordinary in the year, when many thousands of devotees dressed in white will gather from all over the country, and father afield, to profess their love and Christian faith.

We land, and I arrive at the tiny, ancient airport terminal. To the left is an unmoving, rusted out conveyor belt with no hope of resurrection. Dragging my bags along behind me I reach the famous ‘Shuttle’. We are told to put the bags around back in the trunk. It is jammed, of course.

A few people toss their bags on the roof and the rest keep them on their laps once seated. I find a seat wedged between my bags and the stairwell, ending up intimately, uncomfortably close to my seat-mate. After a flat and long slow climb we reach the town on three and a half wheels.

“Ferengui... Ferengui...” (Foreigner... Foreigner...), I hear them murmuring amongst themselves. The time is 5:30 in the morning, and it is still dark. The inside of the church is small, austere, and it is difficult to move around discreetly by oneself let alone with a camera, and no cloak to help me meld with the darkness so thick that the eyes can hardly adjust. There is a candle here and there, occasional light through a tiny upper window, and the sudden glare of an opening door. Precious little else to see by.

The moon shines brightly over the hillsides and the lines of ascending faithful are seen thanks to the candles they carry up towards the church. In the morning half-light, the first chants begin. Voices lift.

Suspended in a parenthesis of time, I am witness to the rising dawn over the year 1100, as the first light breaks free of the horizon.

Swathed in long white robes, men and women come up the hill in silence. The lines of the path are drawn in the darkness by cloth and candle.

I have found a spot to wait in, where the faithful will have to pass by me. The more timid among them hid their faces in their cloaks, but the less so look at me squarely in the eyes. No aggression. Simply curious, trying to discern what on earth I am doing up here before dawn, if I am not here to pray, and what I am so patiently photographing.

The hours seem like moments, and I am alone, though among many. The fervor of the devotees as I move through the shadowed churches touches me deeply. These scenes, even for a skeptic who tries to stay propped behind his camera and maintaining distance, are magical. Moving.

HARRY FISCH

@NomadXpedition 

Harry Fisch is a travel photographer and leader of photo tours to exotic destinations with my company Nomad Photo Expeditions. He is also a winner and loser of the 2012 World National Geographic Photo Contest.

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MAPTIA

The World's 10 Hungriest Countries

There are over 870 million people in the world who are hungry right now. I'm not talking about could use a snack before lunch hungry, not even didn’t have time for breakfast hungry, but truly, continually, hungry.

Of these 870 million people, it's been estimated by the World Food Programme that 98% live in developing countries, countries that perversely produce most of the world’s food stocks. So why is this the case?

Here we look at the top 10 worst affected countries and see what obstacles are making them hungry and why:

1. Burundi

Image: Imgur


73.4% of the population is believed to be undernourished.
Sitting between Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania, Burundi is a landlocked country, which means that on average it will experience 6% less economic growth than non landlocked countries, mainly due to the cost of transport for import and export transactions.

Over half of Burundi’s 9.85 million citizens live below the poverty line, with an estimated 35% of the population being out of work.

The main problem with Burundi is not that it can’t produce food, but that due to overpopulation, soil erosion, climate change, high food prices and an ongoing civil war, the country has to import more than they are exporting. In the last few years alone due to these factors, and the increase of internally displaced citizens who can’t produce their own food, the subsistence economy of Burundi has contracted by 25%.

Looking at the current economic and political climate of Burundi it is clear to see that poverty alone isn’t the cause of hunger, but that many external factors contribute to the hardship being endured.

2. Eritrea

Image: Imgur


65.4% of population have been classified as undernourished.

Eritrea, which is located in the Horn of Africa, has experienced considerable growth to its economy in recent years, but unfortunately the effect of this hasn’t trickled down to its citizens or the food chain.

In 2004, agriculture employed nearly 80 percent of the population but accounted for only 12.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). The agricultural sector has improved with the use of modern farming equipment and techniques; however, it is still compromised by a lack of financial services and investment.

Another big problem facing Eritrea is that, as a result of the war between Eritrea and Ethiopia, almost a quarter of the country’s most productive land remains unused. This can be attributed to a number of issues, but it’s largely because of the displacement of nearly 1 million Eritreans during the 1998-2000 Eritrean Ethiopian war, which left the country with a lack of skilled agricultural workers, and because of the widespread presence of land mines on the ground meaning that the plots are ruined.

3. Comoros

Image: Imgur


70% of the population are estimated to be undernourished.
Comoros, which is made up of 3 tiny islands of the coast of Mozambique, has a population of just 800,000 people. Around half of the population live below the poverty line.

The reason for such high numbers of poverty and undernourishment are varied. One of the biggest problems is that although there is a rapidly increasing young population entering into the agricultural workforce, their low educational levels mean that innovation and economic growth aren’t in correlation. 

Because of these factors it is essential that Comoros continues to receive foreign support in order to develop the right educational and economic infrastructures to be able to drive levels of poverty and undernourishment down. 

4. Timor Leste

Image: Imgur


38% of the population in Timor-Leste are undernourished.
Sitting between Indonesia and Australia Timor-Leste is a small island with a population of just over 1 million people. 

It continues to suffer the after-effects of a decades-long struggle for independence against Indonesian occupation, which severely damaged the country's infrastructure.

Private sector development has lagged due to human capital shortages, infrastructure weakness, an incomplete legal system, and an inefficient regulatory environment. 

Because of this nearly half of the population suffer from undernourishment, with Timor famously suffering through ‘hunger season’ between November and March when old stores have run out and new crops haven’t been harvested.

5. Sudan

Image: Imgur


Around 25% of Sudan’s population is undernourished and hunger is on the rise.
Hunger is rife because Sudan suffers from several challenges, for much of Sudan's history the nation has suffered from rampant ethnic strife and has been plagued by internal conflicts including two civil wars and the War in the Darfur region.

Another reason that Sudan is suffering is because of the extreme climate conditions that the country suffers from, which is something that is unfortunately out of their control. 

6. Chad

Image: Imgur


33.4% of population of the population in Chad are undernourished.

Poverty in Chad has been aggravated by numerous conflicts during its 50 years of independence. Tensions between the country’s northern and southern ethnic groups have further contributed to political and economic instability, and Chad’s landlocked location and desert climate in the north inhibit economic development. The Sahelian zone (central and eastern Chad) is particularly affected by chronic food deficits. Moreover, Chad is subject to spill-over effects from crises in neighboring Sudan and the Central African Republic. It is estimated that there are 330,000 refugees in Chad, which puts additional pressure on the limited resources of the already highly vulnerable local population.

Chad relies heavily on external assistance for its food security, especially in the Sahelian zone. Cereal production is heavily affected by erratic rains, cyclical droughts, locust infestations and poor farming practices. The 2011 drought, which resulted in a 30 percent deficit in the population’s cereal needs, was then followed by a severe food and nutrition crisis in 2012.

7. Yemen Republic

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Undernourished: 32.4% of population
Yemen has had an extreme change in it’s food security over the last 10 years. Because of large-scale displacement, civil conflict, political instability, high food prices, endemic poverty and influxes of refugee and migrants. In 2013, the World Food Programme is aiming to provide almost 5 million people in 16 governorates with food assistance and is working to build communities’ resilience. In 2013, WFP conducted an Updated Food Security Monitoring Survey which found that 43 percent (10.5 million people) of the population is food insecure. Some 4.5 million of those people were found to be severely food insecure, unable to buy or produce the food they need, and 6 million are moderately food insecure.

Child malnutrition rates are among the highest in the world with close to half of Yemen’s children under 5 years, that is two million children, stunted and one million acutely malnourished.

8. Ethiopia

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In Ethiopia an alarming 40.2% of population are undernourished.
The 2011 Horn of Africa drought left 4.5 million people in Ethiopia in need of emergency food assistance.  Pastoralist areas in southern and south-eastern Ethiopia were most severely affected by the drought.  At the same time, cereal markets experienced a supply shock, and food prices rose substantially, resulting in high food insecurity among poor people.  By the beginning of 2012, the overall food security situation had stabilized thanks to the start of the Meher harvest after the June-to-September rains -- resulting in improved market supply -- and to sustained humanitarian assistance. While the number of new arrivals in refugee camps has decreased significantly since the height of the Horn of Africa crisis, Ethiopia still continues to receive refugees from Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan.

The Humanitarian Requirements Document issued by the government and humanitarian partners in September 2012 estimates that 3.76 million people require relief food assistance from August to December 2012. The total net emergency food and non-food requirement amounts to US$189,433,303.

Ethiopia remains one of the world’s least developed countries, ranked 174 out of 187 in the 2011 UNDP Human Development Index.

9. Madagascar

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33.4% of the population of Madagascar are undernourished.
The country is prone to natural disasters such as cyclones, flooding and drought. In 2013, the island faced its worst ever locust plague, which hampered agricultural production and threatened food security.

The increasing fragility of the ecosystem, due to deforestation and poor land management, is a major cause of the increased vulnerability to shocks and related food insecurity. Deforestation has become a major concern: 85 percent of its rainforests have been lost due to the use of wood and charcoal for cooking, and slash and burn agricultural practices.

Approximately 28 percent of rural households suffer from food insecurity - of which 2.7 percent are severely food insecure and nearly 25 percent moderately food insecure. In total, about four million people are facing hunger  in 2013. The food security of a further 9.6 million people could deteriorate as food prices increase during the lean season,when crops are planted but not yet harvested. Also of concern is the cyclone season, which runs from November to March.

10. Zambia

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47.4% of the population are under nourished
Numerous challenges burden the country, including high rates of malnutrition, poverty, food insecurity, HIV and AIDS and malaria. While Zambia has reduced the rate of extreme poverty from 58 percent (1991) to 42.7 percent (2010), extreme poverty continues to be much higher in rural areas (57 percent) compared to urban areas (13 percent ). Zambia's food security challenges are worsened by a high dependence on rain-fed agriculture and the absence of market incentives to encourage a fundamental shift from subsistence farming.

Consequently, access to food is a challenge for many. According to the Zambia Vulnerability Assessment Committee, the number of people at risk of food insecurity is up from about 63,000 in 2012 to about 209,000 in 2013. This is attributed to localized poor crop production due to poor weather conditions in some parts of the country.

It calculated a ‘global hunger’ score for countries by looking at the percentage of the population that is undernourished, children younger than five who are underweight, and the percentage of children dying before the age of five.

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON GLOBAL CITIZEN

Clea Guy-Allen

@PerfectlyClea

Clea hails from Brighton, United Kingdom and was the UK Global Citizen Editor. Now she works as the digital coordinator for ONE, a campaigning and advocacy organization to end extreme poverty and preventable disease.