The People, products, ideas, places and stuff we like.

Shambel Belayneh "Hager [Ya-le-Hager]"

OK. Maybe we are a little too new to the Amharic music scene. (Yes, yes, we hear your collective "Enezi demo, yemechay-achewin!" Fair enough.) But we haven't been this smitten by all, as in every song on an album since, well, "Mother Goose Sings Nursery Rhymes", and that was because our third grade music teacher was a throw back to the Nazi era.

From the melodious "Amoraw", to the profound "Ya-le Hager Ayamrim" , to the unrepentantly, devastatingly romantic "Ney-enna Kashigne", we have worn out our first CD and are happily on the second. Even our non-Ethiopian acquaintances, who are on zero-tolerence policy for anything non-Grateful Dead, have started to rally behind Shambel, despite our reluctance to direct translate "Amognale deretaign tutish yewogagne/ yeshalegn ende hon, zarem digemingne."

From AIT Records, about $16.00, available at most Ethiopian markets or on-line.

The Getachew Bolodia Foundation

There is a quiet revolution out there, where more and more Ethiopians are forming grass roots self-help outfits to assist other Ethiopians. "Mehabers" have out-grown their strictly social functions, and have branched out to book drives for higher education in Ethiopia, as well as to funding churches, schools and hospitals.

At the helm of educational philanthropy, is the Getachew Bolodia Foundation, a scholarship fund in memory of the late Ethiopian biochemist. Established in 1994 to promote science studies in Ethiopia, the foundation has provided grants to deserving university students from Addis Ababa University, Gondar and Jimma Medical Colleges. It also sponsors a series of lectures by prominent Ethiopian scientist.

For membership information: http://www.safemail.com/users/getacd/GBF/gbf.html

Fatuma Roba

And she smiled that smile! Shy, yet strong and dignified. She broke Boston's Heartbreak Hill's heart as she sailed through the city's streets to win the Marathon for the third concecutive year. She bought herself a place in history; she brought Ethiopia honor.
For a moment, on April 19, 1999, everyone in Boston was Ethiopian.  

Dinnerware by Afroart International

Your potential in-laws are coming over for dinner; you've pretended to cook doro wat and dulet the whole day, all the while smuggling in goods from the local Merkato; your place has been waxed, cloroxed, and windexed to near oblivion. You sit down to eat, what do you serve the meal on? Your mother's Villeroy and Boch?…noooooooooooo! (You see, that's why you're still single!) You whip out your fine porcelain dinnerware from Afroart International, and you watch the in-laws' jaws drop.

From dinner plates to soup tureens, from espresso sets to coffee pots, Afroart brings you all the accouterments of fine dining, Ethiopian style. Serving your guests on plates decorated with folk art rendition of the legend of King Solomon and Queen Sheba will definitely set you apart from all the other losers your future in-laws have been fending off.

Available by mail order (1-888-997-8444) $56.99 to $249.99. http://www.afroartint.com

Nominations for SELEDA SALUTES may be sent to Seleda@yahoo.com.