Awra Amba () is an Ethiopian

intentional community An intentional community is a voluntary residential community designed to foster a high degree of group cohesiveness, social cohesion and teamwork. Such communities typically promote shared values or beliefs, or pursue a common vision, wh ...

of about 463 people, located 73 kilometres east of

Bahir Dar Bahir Dar () is the capital city of Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Bahir Dar is one of the leading tourist destinations in Ethiopia, with a variety of attractions in the nearby Lake Tana and Blue Nile river. The city is known for its wide avenues li ...

in the

Fogera Fogera (Amharic: ፎገራ) is a woreda in Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Fogera is part of the Debub Gondar Zone. The district is bordered on the south by Dera, on the west by Lake Tana on the north by the Reb which separates it from Kemekem, on the ...

woreda Districts of Ethiopia, also called woredas (; ''woreda''), are the third level of the administrative divisions of Ethiopia – after ''List of zones of Ethiopia, zones'' and the ''Regions of Ethiopia, regional states''. These districts are f ...

Debub Gondar Zone South Gondar or Debub Gondar (Amharic: ደቡብ ጎንደር), is one of Zones in Amhara Region, Ethiopia. This zone is named for the city of Gondar, which was the capital of Ethiopia until the mid-19th century, and has often been used as a na ...

. It was founded in 1980 with the goal of solving socio-economic problems through helping one another in an environment of egalitarianism — in marked contrast to the traditional norms of Amhara society. The name means "Top of the Hill" in

Amharic Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...

. Founded by Zumra Nuru, who currently serves as co-chairman of the community, with 19 other people who shared his vision, as of 2016 Awra Amba has some 450 members, and is lauded as a model to alleviate poverty and promote gender equality in a country where women are generally subservient to men.Mohammed Mussa, "Case 5: Amhara Region: Community Self-Help in Awra Amba", i
''Annex 1: Annex to Study on Effective Empowerment of Citizens in Ethiopia: Case Studies''
, International NGO Training and Research Centre website (accessed 23 April 2009)

History

Awra Amba was founded in 1980 by Zumra Nuru. In 1989 the community was forced out of its settlement for 4 years due to other villages viewing them as

communists Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, d ...

. After the

fall of the Derg The fall of the Derg was a military campaign that resulted in the defeat of the ruling Marxist–Leninist military junta, the Derg, by the rebel coalition Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) on 28 May 1991 in Addis Ababa, ...

and the transition from the

People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia The People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (PDRE; ) was a socialist state that existed in Ethiopia and present-day Eritrea from 1987 to 1991. The PDRE was established in February 1987 as a Marxism-Leninism, Marxist-Leninist one-party state upo ...

, the community returned to their settlement in 1993.

Description

The fact that its members work together, are diligent, disciplined and self-confident makes the Awra Amba community distinct from other Amhara communities. Women have equal rights as men and there is no distinction in divisions of labor between men and women. All people in the community have no religion as distinct from most communities in Ethiopia. They believe in hard work and being good to people. They keep their houses and their surrounding clean. Theft is seen as very obscene. The community is ostracized, as it does not belong to either of the two primary religious groupings —

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. Members of the Awra Amba community therefore were not given agricultural land to cultivate, but instead were pushed into the most infertile and malaria infested corner of the district. As they cannot live on farm activities, they have diversified into the weaving business, using both traditional and modern weaving machines. In addition, using three grinding mills provided by the Regional Micro and Small Scale Enterprise Development Agency, they offer milling service to neighbouring farmers. The village hopes to earn more money in order to build potable water and sewage systems, pave the road, and create an education fund for the children."Ten Success Stories on Business Development Services"
(Ethiopian Business Development Services Network) The village is unique not only for its attitudes toward gender, religion, and education, but for the social security it provides its members in need. There are formal committees to provide services which include: education, to receive guests, to take care of patients, the elderly and children, and community health. They have established a literacy campaign for adults, a library, and a preschool. Despite living in a culture which practices early marriage, the people of Awra Amba have decided girls should marry only after reaching the age of 18, and boys at or above 22. The village's success has made it a subject of numerous studies. "So many Christian and Muslim leaders from all over thiopia's regionsand some from outside have visited the village because it is very famous in its endeavor to eliminate poverty," says Mulgeta Wuletaw, a regional government administrator and member of

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. Another supporter is Mohammed Mussa, a rural development consultant who prepared a case study on the village for the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

. "This is an extraordinary initiative within a traditional and conservative community," he says. "It's a good example for other Ethiopian communities — and even beyond Ethiopia — because of its gender equality, its work ethic, and its social security system.""In Ethiopia, one man's model for a just society"
''

The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles both in Electronic publishing, electronic format and a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 ...

'' (accessed 23 Apr 2009)

References

External links

Rare Earth Episode ''One Good Cult''
about Awra Amba, by Evan Hadfield, 2019 *
Short Documentary on OneWorldTV about the village
*Joumard Robert, 2021
Awra Amba, a utopia between myth and reality
162 p. {{coord, 11.9199, 37.7871, region:ET-AM_type:city(500), display=title Populated places in the Amhara Region Egalitarian communities Awra

History

Description

See also

References

External links