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Shaing Ethiopian Celebrations with our class at school
List of holidays
Note: throughout Australia each year many Ethiopian events are held.
New Years Day
(Julian Calendar) 1January
Genna
Ethiopian Christmas: birth of Christ) 7 January
Timkat
Ethiopian Epiphany: baptism of Christ) 19 January
Adwa Day
(commemorates the victory by Menelik II over Italy in 1896) 2 March
Patriots' Day
(celebrates end of Italian occupation in 1941) 6 April
International Labour Day
1 May
Ethiopian Good Friday
May (variable)
Fasika
(Ethiopian Easter Sunday) May (variable)
Idd al Fitr
(end of month of fasting for Ramadan) May (variable)
Idd al Adha
August (variable)
Buhe
21 August
Enkutatash
(Ethiopian New Year) 11 September
Umbrellas
| Use in festivals in Ethiopia | priests carry on holy days with the bright colours and tassells/fringes around the edges umbrellas are carried on special occasions like the Epiphany and at Genna (Ethiopian Christmas). |
| Religious significance | in church services the umbrellas are carried by the priests in processions |
| Suggestion | little ceremonial umbrellas out of tissue paper, foil etc |
| Ages | A bit fiddly for lower primary aged kids to make, mum/dad could make for younger children. |
Christenings
| Tradition | The baby is completely undressed and washed with holy water and then redressed in very formal Ethiopian clothes that are a baby sized version of older outfits |
| Significance | ? |
When a baby is born
| Tradition | all people visiting the baby are asked to write their wishes for the child on coloured pieces of paper. |
| Reason | These are then collected (not supposed to be read by anyone) and saved for the baby. They are given to the baby when they grow up |
| Where in Ethiopia | This traditions was a remembered by an Australian-Ethiopian girl who was born in Addis, she isn't sure if this was a practice used in many other parts of Ethiopia |
| Tradition | Laying a new baby on Injera. The baby lays naked on many layers of round injera and everyone prays and says thankyou that the baby is alive and growing, and that the family is blessed and has food to eat |
| Significance | it is about gratitude to God that the baby has lived (some people wait to do this when the baby reaches 6 months old). Injera is used because "this is the food that keeps us alive". |
| Age | This can happen at anytime but often after several months |
Candles
| Christmas Tradition | when everyone goes to church for Christmas they carry lit candles and circle the church three times |
| Easter Tradition | candles which are made of thin threads of cotton bound together by a small amount of wax |
| Religious significance | These represent the light of Jesus Christ and during the Easter service everybody lights one from an already burning candle |
Crosses and Crowns
| Easter Tradition | on Fassika which is Ethiopian Easter and one idea shown there is crosses, crowns & rings made of palm leaves |
| Religious significance | These are worn on Palm Sunday as a reminder of the palm leaves that were laid in Jesus path |
| Suggestion | perhaps a simple cross out of some sort of palm leaves which could then be stuck on a card. For the crown maybe you could just use simple cardboard crowns and decorate them with palm leaves and even flowers as for the cards. |
| Meskel | also called Maskel and Mesquel |
| Make | make a Meskel Cross |
| Making a cross | an illustrative example of how to make an Ethiopian cross is found on this website |
Games
| Christmas tradition | Game called Ganna - somewhat like hockey |
| Significance | the shepards are believed to have played this when Jesus was born |
Beading
| Beading | Beading in Ethiopian colours (black with green, yellow and red) - necklaces, bracelets, anklets, hair |
Food
| Coloured food | Make injera and colour the dough green, yellow and red then made layers. You could do this as individual bread rolls with the 3 colours layered in each one. |
| Layered fruit | Make layered fruit drinks (see recipes) |
| Layered jelly | Make jelly, layering with different colours |
Flowers
| Enkutatash Tradition (Ethiopian New Year) |
make a card depicting flowers, to give to a loved one |
| significance | This gift would sybolise the wishes given for renewal and starting the year fresh, the flowers remind us of the yellow Ethiopian daisy, peace and life |
| ages | an activity for children of any age |