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Inside the ECC |
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Eekok By: G. Tefera Act I The Committee Friday 6:00 pm SHARP !!! Prez: Ladies and gentlemen, shall we start our meeting ? Officer 1: Yes, let’s start with the review of last week’s presentation. Officer 2: What is there to say … we just keep on getting better and better. Have you heard the phrase on the auto-commercial "the best just got better !". I used to think, "now how can something that is already claimed to be "the best" get better ?" Officer 3: Well sister, that refers to us ! Our Club’s successive monthly presentations outdo the previous performance almost every time ! Officer 1: Prez, last weeks Ethiopian mechanic presentation addressed some important issues on maintaining ones Mekina. And think about it … who will tell you the tricks of trade the way he did ? Officer 2: I’m telling you friends, I promised to myself that I’ll never pass the 3,000 mile oil change ever again. I don’t want to see my 81’ Qenubish in an Amerikan Sumale Tera. Officer 1: Let’s see, so far we’ve learned about the techniques of auto buying and what a credit history is, floods & drainage pattern of Houston, and status of AIDS epidemic in ager bet. Prez: How about how to record music digitally on your home PC ? Officer 2: And the Geologist who addressed ever intriguing question, "Why in the name of "ye Qulubiw Mike" the Oil in flows to the Arabs and not towards us ?" Officer 3: How about the presentation by the Ethiopian Computer scholar on the state of Computer technology back home, the Dr. who presented about diabetics, how to choose stock broker, the art of buying house and what it takes to be a million dollar generating realtor not to mention how to cook a tasty spaghetti for us bachelors and how to do your taxes … Officer 2: … and to think that all is done by our own people. Prez: beqa beqa … we can go on and on … but right now lets get back to business. Who’s going to be the MC (Master of Ceremony) on the next monthly meeting ? How about you ? Officer 3: I wish I could but my girlfriend & her friend will be coming to town. All: ;So ?
Act II His Residence Sunday 2:15 pm Officer Ladies c’mon let’s go. Girlfriend (GF): Excuse you ! Let’s finish the coffee. Ye’min Tidfiya new ?. Girlfriend’s Friend (GF-F): Where are we going ? Officer: Eekok. GF & GFF: Who is that ? Officer 3: That’s the name of our computer club. Eekok !!! GF-F: Excuse me, but is that some kind of computer jargon ? Officer 4: Well, it actually stands for the initials of ECC, Ethiopian Computer Club in Amarigna. Plus it could also stand for "E" for electronic "kok" the fruit. So technically speaking we do represent/produce electronically inclined fruitful people. GF-F: Indich nech filsifina ! Officer: I think it’s one of the few organizations that educates Ethiopians by Ethiopians in a ferenj land. Well let’s go now. GF-F: Let me tell you something boy … don’t cross my highly protected, God granted, Ethiopian almost constitutionally approved tardiness right. I have to finish the Tona & Bereka. Besides we’ll lose face with the buna adbar.. As qoRaT typical Abesha I reserve my right to be at least 1 hour late. Officer: I don’t think so. Besides I’m the MC today so get your butt movin’.
ACT III At the Club Sunday (1st Sunday of the month) MC: Ladies & Gents, welcome to monthly meeting. It’s our Ethiopian tradition to greet our guests and welcome them. Guests please introduce yourselves. MC: Next, as usual we share computer and technology related news. Does anybody have information to share ? Club member: For those of you who are tired of paying telephone bill, (GF-F: Talk to me about it!) there is a website (www.dialpad.com) that lets you talk for free if you visit the ads posted on their page. MC Any other information to share ? Club Member: It’s the objective of our club for all the members to be connected to the Internet. Now you can get free Internet access by Subscribing to Netzero.com MC: Thank you all. Now let’s hear the monthly updates from the different task groups. Shall we start with the famous Networking group ? Network: Well after a dedicated 4 months of hard work, we’ve finished building these 4 computers and networked 3 of them … the server being this one. We are honored to donate these computers that we’ve built to ECC, so future students can make use of them. (Loud applause). Club member: Is it true that you guys had to stay here past midnight on some nights ? Network: You better believe it ! Even though we are wage earning wezader’s,our accomplishment couldn’t have been possible without the understanding of our tolerant wives. MC: Next, let’s hear from the Web page design task group ? Web: We’ve completed HTML and designed the preliminary ECC web page using the skills. We’re now ready to plunge into the science of JavaScripting. MC: Finance group ? Finance: Still following the market closely. But our own Houston based Compaq is failing us. MC: Multimedia task group ? Multimedia Member: You’ll see the material we taped on x-mas party in the second half of today’s program. MC: Children’s Amharic group ? Amharic: We’d like to thank ya’ll for the moral & material support. We just carried out our 3nd class. The kids are excited. Bbut we still need you Abesha men to be more involved in this challenging endeavor. For example, you can teach them the Geography and History of Ethiopia.. Any volunteers ? GF-F: Girl, the men are different here. Look, I can see 3 volunteers so far. I think I’m going to move here. MC: Very well. How about Class 13 ? Class 13 Well we’ve completed Word, Excel, PowerPoint and we’re cruising thru Access. MC: Last but not least the Book Club ? Book Club: Our leader has gone to Ethiopia to get the book and he is not back yet !!! MC: Well if ya’ll need any kind of help just let us know. Moving on we have some good news:
MC We’ve an exciting programs for you today. During the first session we will review the challenges & success of our club in 1999. Then we’ll take a 15-minute break. In the 2nd half, the Multimedia task group will entertain us with "Eekok News" & events that they taped within our community. Act IV Back to his Residence Time 8:00 pm GF: Fiqir, I learned so much today. You built up my confidence that we Ethiopians can really advance if we put our minds and heart together. GF-F: Do you get paid to do this ? How did all these groups get formed ? Officer 4 Well it’s simple. We have some simple principles that we adhere. First, we "Keep it simple". Monthly meetings are more like friends gathering rather than a typical sibseba. As you saw it today, jokes, comments and questions are thrown informally to give the program some flavor. Second: We strongly believe in ourselves. It’s Ethiopians for and by Ethiopians. You’ll be amazed to see how much hidden talent, skills and experience we all possess. The club gives us a venue to share your knowledge and experience. Third: The committee only oversees and facilitates avenues for interested parties to carry out a project. They never tell you how to do things. They don’t try to control you which I believe is where the secret for the success of this club lies. GF: Fiqir, how do you finance all these projects ? Officer 4: From membership and monthly fee and contributions. We receive checks from Ethiopians that hardly know us. I think they like to see an Ethiopian club that actually functions and makes change in peoples lives. A couple of years ago our office was vandalized and we lost everything. All our computers, sound system, 32 inch TV, you name it, they took it. Word was out about the incident and within 1 week we fundraised more than $4,000. We were back in business in a better shape. Talk to me about Ethiopian commitment !!! GF: Fiqir, you just moved to Houston recently. How did you become a balse’silTan ? Officer 4: First time I came here, I was so impressed at what these guys were trying to do. I noticed that it was a place free from the plagues that cripple us Ethiopians everywhere from achieving something collectively. GF-F: You mean the race and ideological differences … Officer 4: Exactly !!! People come here for one purpose. To learn and change their life. Plus the club looks for resource from within ourselves. GF: So why don’t you tell others. I mean this should happen all over where Ethiopians reside ? Officer 4: Last year, the Dallas Ethiopian Community invited us to do a presentation. Ask the Ethiopians in Dallas what they think of us. GF-F: So do they have a club now ? Officer 4: I believe they in the process of setting up one. GF: Has anybody really personally benefited from taking class ? Officer 4: Our students have reported to us that they are progressing in their companies, some have changed jobs and some have even changed careers. GF-F: Do you guys carry other activities outside the club ? Officer 4: Once or twice a year we hold our meetings in a park where we barbeque and have fun. At the end of the year we usually throw a party. GF: I like the children program and scholarship. Officer 4: We have decided to give more emphasis to the children. We had a very interesting talent show a few months ago. A 9 year old girl read us a poem that she wrote and a 7 year old showed us his physics experiment. It was awesome. I believe the scholarship program is going to take off successfully. GF-F: To tell you the truth, I was very skeptical when you took us to Eekok. But thank you for opening my eyes and building our confidence as Ethiopians. Officer 4: You’re welcome and now you know what to do right ? GF & GF-F: Yep !!! Ye’Jebenawa adbar tiketelen !!! Officer 4: Amen Amen !!! Note: The above drama is a typical monthly meeting at the Ethiopian Computer Club in Houston.
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