Travel Guide Awra Amba

The Awra Amba community. We recommend a visit to this apolitical, non-religious community, whose founding principle is equality between men and women. Amazingly modern, it was founded in 1972. The initiative came from Zumra Nuru Mohammad, an illiterate peasant's son who was sent to work in the fields rather than go to school, and who rebelled against social injustice and inequality in his country. He succeeded in convincing nineteen families, none of whom could read or write, to settle together in Awra Amba. If the 1980s were a troubled period - with families fleeing for fear of being killed before returning to the land and resettling the community in 1993 - Awra Amba is now home to a growing number of inhabitants, currently numbering around 500. They come from different cultural, religious and ethnic backgrounds, although the majority are of Muslim origin. What they have in common, however, is a desire for equality between men and women, and for all children to be able to go to school, without religion, tradition, ethnic difference or poverty interfering in social relations. Early and arranged marriages are also forbidden, and honesty is one of the essential values of the community, as is love of one's neighbor. In fact, this is their only religion. They don't observe any religious holidays, and their only day off is September 11, the first of the Ethiopian year.Today, the community is open to the world, welcoming visitors curious about such a modern society in the heart of a traditional Ethiopia segmented by ethnicity and religion. Visitors can tour the community's handicraft workshops, where objects and clothing are sold. It also welcomes volunteer teachers and students who would like to teach there, as well as any NGOs that could set up a project.For further information : +251 58 220 2673 (symbolic admission US$1, guide US$2).