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We cordially invite you to the Second Annual “Enkutatash” (Ethiopian New Year) celebration

The event will be held in partnership with Providence Day School and on their campus. Additional details are included in the flyer below, including contact information.

The event program will include the following:

Topic	Time
Children’s entertainment  (face painting, balloons, magic show)	12:30pm – 2:00pm
Ethiopian lunch  (in addition to traditional Ethiopian dishes, kids also have option to enjoy some pizza)	<p1:00pm – 2:00pm
Formal open (welcome and event details)	2:00pm – 2:15pm
Youth presentation (from our Ethiopian Youth Group, including cultural singing)	2:15pm – 2:45pm
Presentation of visitors	2:45pm – 3:00pm
Traditional coffee ceremony	3:00pm – 3:15pm
Traditional music and dance; social time	3:15pm – 4:30pm
Event close	4:30pm

 

This event is open to
all – Ethiopians and non-Ethiopians alike, where we will all usher in the New
Year, 2008!!

Help us spread the word
to the community at large, and we look forward to seeing you there!

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የሰማዕታት መታሰቢያ
REMEMBERING ETHIOPIANS MURDERED BY ISIS TERRORISTS

ራሱን “እስላማዊ መንግሥት” ብሎ የሚጠራ የግብረ ሽበራ ኃይል ወደ አውሮፓ ለመሻገር ሊቢያ ውስጥ ይገኙ የነበሩ ስደተኛ ኢትዮጵያውያንን እጅግ ዘግናኝ በሆነ መንገድ በመግደሉ ድርጊቱ መላው የኢትዮጵያን ሕዝብ ክፉኛ አሳዝኖአል፤ አንገብግቦአል፤ አስቆጥቶአልም። ሰላም ወዳዱ የዓለም ህዝብም በድርጊቱ እጅግ ከማዘኑ በላይ ከኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ ጎን መቆሙን እየገለጸ ይገኛል።

በሻርለትና አካባቢው የምንገኝ ኢትዮጵያውያን በዚሁ በወገኖቻችን በተፈጸመው አረመናዊና ኢሰብአዊ ድርጊት ጥልቅ ሐዘን የተሰማን ሲሆን ድርጊቱንም በጽኑ እናወግዛለን!! ለሰማዕታቱ ቤተሰቦችም ሃዘናችንን እየገለጽን “አምላክ መፅናናቱን ይስጣችሁ!” እንላለን።

ከዚህ በመቀጠልም ምንም እንኳን ባሁኑ ጊዜ ሁላችንም በጽኑ ሃዘን ላይ የምንገኝ ቢሆንም እግርጌ በተዘረዝሩት ሁለት የጋራ የሃዘን መግለጫ ፕሮግራሞች ላይ በአካባቢው የምንኖር ኢትዮጵያውያን እና ኤርትራውያን ባንድነት የተሰማንን ሃዘን በጋራ ለመካፈል፣ እንዲሁም የተሰዉትን ሰማዕታት ለማሰብና ፀሎት ለማድረስ እንድንሳተፍ በትህትና አናሳሰባለን።

This week, citizens of the world were horrified with news reports that over 30 Ethiopian Christians were brutally and inhumanely executed by the terror group known as “Islamic State”. These innocent victims were merely in the country of Libya at the time seeking the opportunity to emigrate to Europe to find a better life for themselves and their families.

The Ethiopian Community of Charlotte & Surrounding Areas stands in solidarity with peaceful peoples everywhere in condemning this barbaric treatment of our fellow Ethiopians. We commemorate the lives of these martyrs and send our sincere condolences to their families everywhere.0020

In connection with the above, we commend to your attention two events that will take place in Charlotte on Sunday, April 26th. Please participate to pay your respects as well as to show your support of their families:

THE 119^th COMMEMORATION OF THE VICTORY AT THE BATTLE OF ADWA

 In 1896, Ethiopia was the last free African nation, never having been colonized by any other nation. After the Battle of Adwa, Ethiopia became the first African nation to ever win a major battle over a powerful European aggressor, Italy, who wanted to colonize it. The Battle of Adwa, known as “The Greatest Colonial Battle in Modern Times,” took place at dawn on Sunday, March 1, 1896 near the 3,000-year old city of Axum. It was 119 years ago that the great Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II, his queen Empress Taitu and thousands of patriotic Ethiopian warriors scored an unprecedented victory and maintained thousands of years of Ethiopian freedom.

 The Ethiopian Victory at Adwa remains a great source of national pride in the hearts of Ethiopians and indeed many others to this day. This victory also served to inspire dreams of liberation for all oppressed and colonized peoples across the world, including African-Americans who were still suffering the terrible effects of over two hundred years of slavery and subjugation.

The Ethiopian Community Association of Charlotte & Surrounding Areas wishes each of you Happy Adwa Victory Day!

 We also encourage you to share with others, and especially the youth of our community knowledge about this most proud and significant day in our long and proud history. Here are some websites that can serve as reference:

• •  “When Ethiopia Stunned the World”: http://origins.osu.edu/review/when-ethiopia-stunned-world

• • “The Significance of the 1896 Battle of Adwa”: http://www.tadias.com/03/01/2013/today-in-history-117th-years-ago-colonial-ambition-was-put-in-check/

• “Adwa: ‘A Milestone in the Creation of Modern Ethiopia’”: http://www.crasc-dz.org/IMG/File/0_Adwa_Ethiopia_Zewde.pdf

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OTC Give Away Day

If you have not yet enrolled or re-enrolled for health insurance through Obamacare, please take advantage of the following FREE sessions offered by our partners, Novant Health.

Charlotte: 
Thursday, Jan. 15; 2 to 6 p.m.
St. John’s Baptist Church, Broach Hall
300 Hawthorne Lane, Charlotte
Register by calling 704-384-CARE (2273)

Huntersville:
Tuesday, Jan. 20; 2 to 6 p.m.
Novant Health Huntersville Medical Center Cafe
10030 Gilead Road, Huntersville
Register by calling 704-384-CARE (2273)

Matthews:
Thursday, Feb. 5; 1 to 5 p.m.
Novant Health Matthews Medical Center
Conference Rooms A-D
1500 Matthews Township Pkwy., Matthews

Register by calling 704-384-CARE (2273)
http://www.novanthealth.org/home/patients–visitors/health-exchange-information.aspx

Please spread the word to others who will benefit from this service to obtain health insurance.

Thank you, and a happy 2015 to you and your families from the Ethiopian Community Association of Charlotte & Surrounding Areas!

Our recent event on the Affordable Care Act held the evening of Saturday, December 13, 2014 was a very successful one. Many who previously were without health insurance are now enrolled in affordable insurance coverage through the Act, where they will be able to obtain care for themselves and their families at an affordable cost, including on-going preventive care, which many previously were not able to afford.

Additionally, attendees learned through Financial Counselors from Novant Health about financial assistance programs that are in place at Novant as well as valuable information on other low-cost or free healthcare providers in the area.

We are grateful to our many partners who helped make this event a success:

• Novant Presbyterian Hospital: Dr. Amsalu Bizuneh; Ms. Arlene Ferebee; Ms. LaDonia Scott and Ms. Tomika Turner
• Insurance Brokers:
  • Insurance Options of the Carolinas: Connie Grant; Ms.Bonnie Krempa
  • Carolina Healthcare Insurance: Ms. Cynthia Harris; Ms. Daisy Aguillar
  • The Health Insurance Shoppe: Larry Henderson; Ms. Lee Farley
  • Health Insurance Plans Plus: Nicole McKenzie

For those who have not yet been able to enroll or evaluate their options in re-enrolling for 2015, we recommend you contact the brokers who attended our event. Their business cards are below for your use.

Photos from the event can be viewed here.

የጤና ኢንሹራንስን በተመለከተ ያዘጋጀነው ፕሮግራም በርካታ የተካፈሉ ወገኖችን ሊጠቅም ችሏል።

ከአሁን በፊት ኢንሹራንስ ባለመግባታችን ብዙዎቻችን በተለያየ መንገድ መጎዳታችን ግልጽ ሲሆን ካለፈው ዓመት ጀምሮ የተላለፈው “ኦባማኬር” ተብሎ የተሰየመው ሕግ ግን ለሁሉም ነዋሪ በተመጣጣኝ ዋጋ ይህንኑ ኢንሽራንስ የመግዛትና የመገልገልን እድልን ስጥቷል። ሆኖም አሁንም ባለማወቅም ሆነ በሌሎች ምክንያቶች በርካታ የማህበረሰባችን አባላት ያለ ኢንሹራንስ በመኖራቸው ለተለያየ አደጋ ተዳርገው ይገኛሉ።

የተላለፈው ሕግ በተለያየ የጤና-ነክ ጉዳዮችን ያለ ሃሳብ እና ጭንቀት ለመወጣት እንደሚያችለን ያውቁ ኖሯል?

• የድንገተኛ ህክምና
• የሆስፒታል ቆይታ
• የወሊድ እንክብካቤ
• የአእምሮ ህክምና
• በሃኪም የታዘዘ መድሃነት ግዢ
• የላብራቶሪ ምርመራዎች
• የሕጻናት የጤና እንክብካቤ (pediatric care)
• የዓይን እና የጥርስ ምርመራ
• በተለይም፦ ቀዋሚ የሆነ የጤና “ቼካፕ” ምርመራ (Preventive care) – በሽታዎችን ከመከሰታቸው በፊት ለመከላከል የሚያስችል

በተጨማሪም ባለፈው ዓመት ለኢንሹራንስ የተመዘገብን ምንም እንኳን በ “Automatic Renewal” አማካይነት ኢንሹራንሳችን ሊቀጥልንን ቢችልም ሆን ብለን የመጪው ዓመት አማራጮቻችንን ካልመረመርን በምንከፍለው ዋጋ በኩል ልንጎዳ ስለምንችል ያለምንም ወጪ ያሉንን አማራጮች ሊያብራሩልን እና ሊረዱን የሚችሉን የኢንሹራንስ ባለሞያዎችን እንድናማክርም በቦታው ስለሕጉ ማብራሪያ የሰጡት የኛው ዶ/ር አምሳሉ ብዙነህ መክረውናል። ለዚህም እንዲረዳ በምሽቱ ጋብዘናቸው ያገለገሉንን ድርጅቶችና ተወካዮቻቸውን ኢንፎርሜሽን ከዚህ ግርጌ አዲስ ያቋቋምነው ዌብ ሳይት (www.ethiopiancommunityofcharlotte.com) በመሄድ አየተው እንዲገለገሉ እንጋብዛለን።

በመጨረሻም በ January 1 2015 ምሮ ኢንሹራንስ ለምትፈልጉ በ December 15, 2014 መመዝገብ እንደሚኖርባችሁ እያሳሰብን፣ በሕጉ መሰረት የመጨረሻው የጊዜ ገደብ (deadline) February 15, 2015 እንደሆነም እንገልጻለን።

ከዚህ በተረፈ እርስ በርሳችን መተባበር እና መተሳሰብ ብዙ የጋራ ጥቅም እንደሚያተርፍልን በማሰብ እንደተለመደው ላልሰሙ በማሰማትና በማስረዳት እንድትተባበሩን በትህትና እንጠይቃለን። (የቀረበውን ፕሮግራም የቀረጽነውን ገለጻና የጥያቄዎች መልስ በዌብ ሳይቱ አማካይነት ለተጨማሪ አግልግሎት በቅርብም ጊዜ እንደምናቀርብ በዚሁ አጋጣሚ እንገልጻለን።)

Affordable Care Act Session December 2014

2013 Affordable Care Act Event

2014 New Year Celebration

Recent Private Education Seminar