Tips on blood donating in Ethiopia

1. You must be at least 18 years of age, a minimum of 45 kgs, and in basic good health.
2.   Get a good night's sleep. 
3.  Drink an extra 16 oz. of water and fluids before the donation
4.  Donating blood don’t hurt, You may feel a slight sting in the beginning lasting only a couple of seconds, but there will be no discomfort during the donation. 
5. Blood donation is a free humanitarian act. Therefore   No blood donor is paid for his blood donation. The blood bank is against such measures as studies have repeatedly confirmed that blood collected from such individuals is known to be high risk compared to that of Voluntary regular blood donors.
6.  There is Blood shortage in Ethiopia, The number of blood units demanded every year increases as health institutions increase and specialized medical services are emerging in the country. Therefore unless we increase the number of voluntary  non-remunerated regular blood donors. Besides the shelf life time of a collected blood is only 35 days in the  Ethiopian context
7.  There is no risk of contracting AIDS or any other disease through the donation process in Ethiopia Red Cross .  Each collection kit is sterile, pre-packaged and used only once.
8.   The body contains 10 to 12 pints (approximately 5 to 6 liters) of blood. Your whole blood donation is approximately one pint (less than half a liter).
9.  The amount of  blood is taken for a whole blood donation is  depending on the weight of the blood donor between 350 to 450 ml is collected at a time.
10.   Not much time required to replace the blood that you donated. The volume of fluids will adjust within a few hours of your donation.  The red blood cells will be replaced within a few weeks.
12. The distribution of blood types among blood donors in Ethiopia is as follows:

O Rh-positive	39 percent
O Rh-negative	3 percent
A Rh-positive	28 percent
A Rh-negative	2 percent
B Rh-positive	21 percent
B Rh-negative	1 percent
AB Rh-positive	5 percent
AB Rh-negative	1 percent

The Tomb of Gebre Meskel

Atsie Gebre Meskel was the son of Kaleb. He succeeded his father, and reigned from 534 to 554 AD. Atsie Gebre Meskel was a friend of Abune Aregawi (Zemichael) of Debre Damo and, as a result, constructed the Church of St.Mary at this monastery. During the dedication of this church, the great musician St.Yared sang with his sistra and drum. Meanwhile, a legend says Atsie Gebre Meskel was so absorbed by the sweet chanting of the saint that he did not notice that his spear had pierced the saint’s foot.

    Nineteen steps down from west to east, beside his father’s tomb, Atsie Gebre Meskel prepared five rooms for his own tomb. One stone is engraved with a cross. The tomb was unknown until 1906, when the German expedition group recorded its details.

Both the tombs of Kaleb and Gebre Meskel are located in front of Biete Giorgis and Debre Makda. Its boundaries are the hills of Adwa and Agame to the east, the Eritrean hills to the north, and Lasta to the south near the ancient city of Aksum.

The Tomb of Kaleb

One of the celebrated Christian kings of Aksum is Atsie Kaleb, who reigned from about 500 to 534 AD. Amongst his deeds is the revenge he had taken during his campaign to Yemen, across the Red Sea, when he destroyed the 70,000 – strong army that had ruthlessly killed Christians.

    Before his death, he prepared his tomb and then retired to a monastic life with the monk Abune Pentelewon, at a place five kilometers away in the hills of Aksum. He shaved his hair, and lived in a cave.

    Atsie Kaleb’s tomb is found some 2 kilometers east of the main standing stelae of Aksum. Some 15 steps lead down through the porch on the west to a large antechamber and the three compartments that constitute the tomb. It is amongst the latest of the royal Aksumite tombs. All are composed of the same granite stone constructed without mortar.

    A local legend describes that Atsie Kaleb prepared and underground road that stretched to Eritrea, a length of some 180 kilometers. It is also said that, during the Regnant Camp aign, Atsie Kaleb ordered his army that each soldier take a handful of the earth through which they went along the underground road. Few respected the order, and others simply ran through it. When they emerged, the soldiers discovered it was pure gold. All of them thus cried (both those with the gold and those empty handed). It has become a local proverb.

                       continue Reading.... The Tomb of Gebre Meskel

The Tomb of Bazen

East of the city is a hilly mountain, on top of which is a television receiver. West of the northern part of Aksum Hotel is a rocky hill. Long identified as the cemetery of Aksumite kings in use for a long period of time before and after Christ. An example was found during archaeological excavations in 1965, locally identified as the tomb of Atsie Bazen. He reigned from about 8 BC to 9 AD.

    Atsie Bazen’s tomb differes from all other tombs in Aksum. One unique feature is its artistry. All surrounding tombs are found in the rocky hillside behind. Seventeen steps lead down to a long anteroom, with three chambers adjoining opposite, to the south. Subsidiary or later are the four rock cut burial chambers either side of the staircase and the further chamber on the north side of the antechamber.

    Slightly north and beside Atsie Bazen’s tomb are a group of seven tombs facing south, and a further four having a covered entrance. They are certainly royal tombs as a 6meter tall stelae stands beside them and behind Bazen’s tomb.

    In sum, rock-cut tombs are characteristic features of the period before the birth of Christ. But, following the introduction of Christianity, many ecclesiastical buildings were constructed. There are now more than 36 carved churches adorned with vine-scrolls in Tigray.

Atsie Ezana Recreational Center (‘Ezana Gardens’

    Ezana was an illustrious Aksumite king who reigned during the 4th century AD. He had military campaigns in all directions which were consistently victorious. He captured and enslaved the areas of Himyer, Reydan, Saba, Sarahien, Habeshyem, and Kassubege and its environs. This is known from the trilingual inscriptions engraved in Greek, Saba and Ge’ez.

    His campaign against the Beja is particularly wellknown, as there are three near-identical engraved inscriptions describing his military expeditin there. Atsie Ezana Recreation Center is one of the modern centers in the city, now furnished with a variety of historical monuments collected from various areas of the town. These include engraved limestone inscriptions, a drainage channel, a throne base, pillary and capitals, and stelae fragments.

    Ezana, called the ‘king of kings’, worshipped the old testament and believed in the New. In his day, he was the strongest and wisest of the Aksumite kings. Most engraved inscriptions tell of his powerful deeds. The following inscription written in Ethiopic script is an instance.

By the omnipotent king, God of heaven and earth in the name of the Lord. Son of Alamida, Besie Halen, King of Aksum, Yehim iyar, saba, Salhie, Reydan, Yebeja, Kassu king of kings, never defeated by any enemy, son of Alamida, God, who gave me power and grace, who is king of Heaven forever, no one shall wait on my way, for God stretches his hands on my back and front on my behalf.

This expresses Ezana’s strong belief in Christianity.

Continue Reading ....The Tomb of Kaleb

Hawlti (the ‘standing stelae’)

The most famous monuments of Aksum are its marvelous stelae. How these stelae were made and erected is still open to question. People come from all over the world to visit these astonishing monuments. 

Past and present research suggest there are 1314 standing sculp tured stelae in Aksum and its surrounding areas.

Five of the famous are:

The Covenant Stelae. It weighs 150 tones and is almost 21 meters in height. It was erected at the end of 400 BC according to Kibrenegest but Dr.phillipson argues that it was dated not before the end of 3rd century A.D

The ‘Giant Fallen Stelae’. It has a total length of 33 meters and is estimated to have been 520 tones in weight. It lies broken on the ground in five major parts.

The underground chamber in the ‘Royal Cemetery’, now called the Nefas mawcha (Temple of Winds). Its capstone is some 11x6.5 by 1 to 1.5 meters, and weighs about 360 tones.

The cemetery of Romhay (‘Tomb of the False door’), is discovered during the excavations of 1974 and its door is a single sculptured stone portal.

East of the Romhay Cemetery is an underground road leading to the four compass directions, North, South, East and West.

A legend told for many years around Aksum describes there are rooms and a place beneath the fallen stela. During the 1993 excavations, a tomb having 10 rooms and a central corridor was uncovered, the latter with a length of 16m, a width of 2m and a height of 2m. It is located west of the ‘Giant Fallen Stelae’ and a similar entrance found east of the stelae suggests a parallel building might be there.

          The entrance to the right of the standing stelae is called yeshekla Kested emena (‘rainbow like arched door of bricks’). A descent of 22 steps leads to a royal tomb just east of the ‘Covenant Stele’, called the ‘Tomb of the Brick Arches’. Many relics were found in this tomb, amongst which the most impressive are two large ivory plaques decorated with wine leaves. The ivory found east of the ‘Covenant stelae’ is called Berik Ark of the Royal Grave. The stelae Field is assumed to be the central mystery of Aksum.

          North of the Stelae Field, near the Enda Yesus (Jesus) Church, there are four main types of stelae decorated with unique architecture. This area is the second Stelae Field, and stretches from the Church of Enda Yesus as far as Geza Agumay.

The distribution of the stela at Aksum and its surrounding areas can be summed up as follows:

Name of Historical Site                    No of stelae

Queeen of Sheba (Dengur)               580

Nefas Mewcha                                   106

Enda Yesus                                       38

Gele Emni                                         13

Geza Agumay                                    10

Abuna Gurum                                   15

Enda Tsion                                        31

Kebele 04                                          31

Kebele 07                                          20

Ezana Menafesha                              11

Hawlti Moles                                     60

Yeha                                                  5

Hinzat                                               65

Biete Giorgis                                     316

Gediba Maryam                                 6

Chama Emni                                     7

Total                                                  1,314
continue Reading..The Tomb of Bazen