Community

Distinguishing Features of a Community

There are several characteristics that defines a community. Debre Zeit demonstrates all the characteristics of a community.

In Debre Zeit Friendship starts young and lasts a life time

Source and the story behind: The picture of the two friends was taken by Addesse Haile during a trip to Debre Zeit in 2014.  The children were standing Infront of Taddesse Haile’s old house. Where they were standing is the spot where Taddesse Haile grew up playing Birr, marble and button on the dirty and muddy street which is now paved with coble stone. This is also the street that sparked a lifetime friendship between Taddesse and Dr. Tebabu Tessema Wubetu. Taddesse saw Dr. Tebabu Tessema Wubetu returning with his mother from a visit to a friend’s place. Taddesse was impressed how clean and disciplined Dr. Tebabu Tessema Wubetu was in that short encounter. Then next day they met in grade 4 and the friendship blossomed from that time on.

 Important Characteristics or Elements that defines a community:

1) A group of people: Coming together of a group of people is the most fundamental or essential element that identifies a community. Debre Zeit is built around diverse, inclusive and cohesive groups of people. It can be summed up as the banding together of diverse people to form the Debre Zeit community.

2) A definite locality: A group of people forms a community only when they reside in a geographically defined area/territory. Hence geographically the town of Debre Zeit is demarked starting from center and the surrounding areas including areas east of Dukem and west of Mojo and demarked by lakes Bishoftu and lake Babogaya on the north and south side is considered Debre Zeit proper. This is the focal point for people who grew up there.

3) Community Sentiment: Community sentiment refers to a strong sense of admiration among the members or a feeling of belonging together. There is a strong feeling of belonging among people in Debre Zeit. There is a shared sentiment that “someone who drunk the salty waters of lake Hora cannot stay away from Debre Zeit. He/she roves around and return back.”. The sentiment is pronounced or expressed when Debre Zeit community moves out like going to university or work out of Debre Zeit. They often look for each other wherever they are due to their strong community sentiment.

Mother and son: Strong Bondage and Leading and Protecting

4) Naturality:  Debre Zeit community grew naturally. There were contributing factors such as the establishment of the Air Force, Air Born, and other establishments like Agricultural Research Institute and Veterinary School that helped the community to grow.

Individuals either became the group member by birth and/or voluntary moved into the community, especially from the surrounding countryside. It is not established by a planned and organized development directive. Started with few dwellings and grew over time.

5) Permanence: Debre Zeit as Community is always a permanent group. Its locality is well established. Individual members of the community may move out, but the community itself is permanent.

6) Similarity: Members of the Debre Zeit community share many similarities. The similarities  include language, culture, customs, and traditions. Among the many cultural similarities is celebration of different holidays together, like Ethiopian new year, Gena, Fasika, Muslim holidays and Irrecha which is unique to Debre Zeit.

7) Wider Ends: Members of Debre Zeit community associate not for the fulfillment of a particular end but for a variety of ends. when growing up, we observed that the community pursued social ends like Idir; economic association like Iqub; recreational such as singing and dancing during festivals as well as spiritual and cultural ends. The wider interests have served to strengthen the bond of the community and stay together even after they leave the community. There is a Debre Zeit community abroad or in exile!

8) Total organized social life: In Debre Zeit, social life is organized around school, government service work, participating in religious institutions like church and mosque and working in petty trade and provision of other services. The basic guiding principle for the organization of social life in Debre Zeit is respect for law and order, teachers, and elders. The elders irrespective of rank and authority are entrusted with overseeing all aspects of community life including raising young community members.  The motto is “A weed in the community can suffocate the growth of good seeds if not weeded by responsible community members, especially elders”

9) A Particular Name:  According to history, in the 1930 the place is referred as Adda. However, later it became to be known as Bishoftu until the emperor changed the name into Debre Zeit in 1955. Starting in 1990, the name has resorted back to Bishoftu. For the community members who grew up in Debre Zeit between 1955 and 1990, Debre Zeit is still the particular community  name they identify with.

10) No Legal Status: There is no indication that Debre Zeit is established by decree. Although the name changed in 1955 and 1990, this is done only to change the name, and was not to change the character and composition of the place and the community.  (Source: important elements of a community which served as the basis of discussion on the characteristics of a community was accessed from a website on March 4, 2022, 13 Most Important Characteristics or Elements of Community (yourarticlelibrary.com)

In the next sub section of the community pages, a discussion of nine features of Debre Zeit community is presented. Using the 2007 Ethiopian Census data, a discussion of the family status of orphaned children, disability condition, economic activity of the members of the community, the type of residence, duration of those migrants who made Debre Zeit home and the Ethnic and religious composition of the community will be discussed.