Yes They Know it’s Christmas Time, for Sure!

Bole Madhani Alem turns pink when the first beams of morning sun hits the mighty Orthodox cathedral. We are in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa and the date is 29/4 2007 – according to the Ethiopian calendar. According to most other calendars it’s January 7th, 2015, and all over Ethiopia Christmas is celebrated.

It’s Christmas day, and no service today, but the square in front of the cathedral is full of people in traditional white scarves and dresses who have come to worship. For some reason my mind wanders 30 years back, to the time when Band Aid was singing “Do they know it’s Christmas time at all”. Judging from the religious activity in front of the closed church this early morning, I think “Yes They Know it’s Christmas Time, for Sure” would be more accurate. Ethiopia was christened in 300 AD, decades before Europe, which means Christmas has been celebrated here for more than 1700 years.

Sisay (24) pulls the white scarf closer around him to keep warm. The young man is on his way home after paying his respect to the Lord.

−This is a big day for all Orthodox Christian Ethiopians he explains. Normally we party on Christmas eve. Christmas day we are spending with our loved ones. My family will gather and then we’ll slaughter a goat or a sheep and prepare a fantastic meal for everyone. According to Orthodox tradition we must fast for 25 days before Christmas and eat only vegetables. So you can imagine how well the meat will taste now that the day finally has come. Sisay hurries on home and leaves us in the middle of the square.

It’s striking how silent and calm everything is. The busy everyday life in Addis seems to be miles away. A priest is sitting in the shade reading his bible. But he puts the holy book down every time someone comes to kiss the wooden cross he is holding. A beggar comes towards us on a pair of worn out crutches. To our surprise he asks us for money – in English.

−After all it’s Jesus’ birthday today, and Jesus always stood up for the poor, he reminds us. The man gets every coin we can find in our pockets. Normally a handful of change is quite sufficient to get peoples consent to have their picture taken. But the man with the crutches is not like other beggars.

−It will take more money if you want to snap me, he says with a smile. We show him our empty pockets, and asks again, but the answer is still no.

−You have to look for other victims, he says as he picks up his crutches.

−And as you are broke you might want to look for beggars who accepts major credit cards.
We will never know who the beggar was, where he learned his English or how he ended up in the street. But still he taught us an important lesson. A lesson we, Bob Geldof and all other people engaged in Africa should bear in mind: Never ever underestimate people!