Editorial | Sep 24,2022
Apr 4 , 2020
By Kidist Yidnekachew
An old friend of mine recently came from Denmark for a vacation with her family. Within days of her arrival, she came to my house to pay me a visit with her half-Danish, half-Ethiopian three-year-old daughter.
As two new parents, we talked about motherhood and children. We both had experiences the other could relate to. But then she asked if I have been keeping my son inside the house at all times wrapped with blankets.
“Do not be scared of the wind. Let him get used to it; the fresh air is good for him,” she insisted. “Besides, if he doesn’t get used to it now; he would probably grow up being very sensitive to the wind and wearing layers of clothing just to go outside.”
When she was in Denmark and the weather dropped to two degrees Celsius, she would take her toddler outside without clothes as a way of acclimating her to the cold weather.
She believes that our parents raised us to become fearful of new environments, and we are not daring enough as a result. We do not take risks, but live in a box and are closed to new experiences, she claims.
She has a point, at least when it came to how terrified we remain of cold weather or a draft. Oftentimes, I have been warned against taking my son outside without wrapping him almost entirely with blankets. It is also believed that all the doors and windows should remain closed in the house as well as in vehicles. Such a rule is basically in every Ethiopian’s baby-rearing collective memory.
I follow these rules in my house too but not to the extent of leaving my child gasping for air. I do it out of fear of what may happen if I defy the rule. Superstition is a powerful weapon cultural norms use against us.
Usually, if I have a window open at the back of the house, I will close the opposite front window. My husband will then open all the windows and I will tell him to close them because I do not want air to come from two directions.
“It is the same temperature air on either side of the house; the building is in the same dimension,” he says.
Whenever family and friends come to visit me, they warn against taking my son outside the house; adding that if there ever comes the need to take him outside, to do so cautiously and almost entirely wrapped in blankets.
My husband, of course, is immune to this belief because he was not treated this way as a child. He often takes our son outside with nothing but his diaper and shirt on.
“The cold,” I shout. “Bring him back!”
"There is no such thing!” he shouts over his shoulder.
His argument with me on this topic has always been that Ethiopians are the only ones that have this unhealthy relationship with the wind. It is not unlike him to point to someone walking on the side of the road with a black leather jacket at noontime when the sun is blistering hot and observe how abnormal it is.
He was once sharing a minibus with a friend and 23 other passengers from Hawassa to the capital when the air became pungent. The person sitting behind my husband and his friend was wearing boots, a suit, a towel and a gabi, a handmade cotton cloth worn over the shoulders and the upper body.
The friend, understandably, cracked a window. The gentleman, wearing all the clothes he could find in his wardrobe, leaned forward to close the window and scolded, “cold.”
The gentleman, according to my husband, had beads of sweat dripping from every pore on his face. In a few minutes, they cracked the window open a bit, and the gentleman closed it once more.
“Do you see that water on your face? That comes out of you when you are hot,” said the friend.
PUBLISHED ON
Apr 04,2020 [ VOL
21 , NO
1040]
Editorial | Sep 24,2022
Fortune News | Mar 04,2023
Sunday with Eden | Dec 11,2020
Radar | Jan 05,2020
Viewpoints | Jul 31,2021
Fortune News | Dec 05,2018
Fortune News | Mar 11,2023
View From Arada | Dec 23,2023
Fortune News | Jan 01,2022
Sunday with Eden | Feb 24,2024
Photo Gallery | 96486 Views | May 06,2019
Photo Gallery | 88767 Views | Apr 26,2019
My Opinion | 67111 Views | Aug 14,2021
Commentaries | 65744 Views | Oct 02,2021
Feb 24 , 2024 . By MUNIR SHEMSU
Abel Yeshitila, a real estate developer with a 12-year track record, finds himself unable to sell homes in his latest venture. Despite slash...
Feb 10 , 2024 . By MUNIR SHEMSU
In his last week's address to Parliament, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) painted a picture of an economy...
Jan 7 , 2024
In the realm of international finance and diplomacy, few cities hold the distinction that Addis Abeba doe...
Sep 30 , 2023 . By AKSAH ITALO
On a chilly morning outside Ke'Geberew Market, Yeshi Chane, a 35-year-old mother cradling her seven-month-old baby, stands amidst the throng...
Apr 20 , 2024
In a departure from its traditionally opaque practices, the National Bank of Ethiopia...
Apr 13 , 2024
In the hushed corridors of the legislative house on Lorenzo Te'azaz Road (Arat Kilo)...
Apr 6 , 2024
In a rather unsettling turn of events, the state-owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (C...
Mar 30 , 2024
Ethiopian authorities find themselves at a crossroads in the shadow of a global econo...
Apr 20 , 2024
Ethiopia's economic reform negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are in their fourth round, taking place in Washington, D...
Apr 20 , 2024 . By BERSABEH GEBRE
An undercurrent of controversy surrounds the appointment of founding members of Amhara Bank after regulat...
An ambitious cooperative housing initiative designed to provide thousands with affordable homes is mired...
Apr 20 , 2024 . By AKSAH ITALO
Ethiopia's juice manufacturers confront formidable economic challenges following the reclassification of...
Loading your updates...