CURRENT DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILES AND SOCIAL AMENITIES .1 Demographic Profiles and Ethnographic Remarks

According to Mecha Woreda Information Office Report (MWIF 2004), the woreda has a total population of 326478 (154278 male and 162200 female). Of which 304173 (154724 male and 149449 female) are rural dwellers, whereas only 22305 (9554 male and 12751 female) are urban dwellers. This statistical evidence entails that the majority (93.17%) of the woreda’s population are rural dwellers. In other words, only 6.83% of the total population are urban dwellers. Besides the low rate of urbanization in the study area, my ethnographic fieldwork research further revealed the fact that ‘rural’ and ‘urban’ populations in Mecha Woreda do not yet form sociologically separate groups.

75 Oral Informants: Alämu Terunäh, Grazmač Alämayähu and Fenté Dénsaw (in Ayele Tamene 2000:24)

76 Oral Informants: Qumlačäw Gälaw, Seménäh Tälakä, and Mälaku Gualie (in Ayele Tamene 2000:24).

77 Oral Informants: Seménäh Tälakä and Mälaku Gualie (in Ayele Tamene 2000:24).

78 Oral Informants: Mulunäh Fenté, Qumlačäw Gälaw and Fétawrari Admasu (in Ayele Tamene 2000:24).

79 Oral Informants: Qumlačäw Gälaw and Fétawrari Admasu (in Ayele Tamene 2000:24).

80 Oral Informants: Adamu Dämeläw, Azalä Bälätä and Seménäh Tälak (in Ayele Tamene 2000:25).

81 Oral Informants: Qumlačäw Gälaw and Mälaku Gualie (in Ayele Tamene 2000:25).

Rather they are still strongly linked together in multiple ways, through family bonds and constant contacts and communication. In other words, attitudes of people living in ‘pure’ urban conditions differ only to a slight extent from the attitudes of those in the countryside with whom they share the same cultural background and common problems and aspirations.

According to (MWIF 2004), 93% of the Woreda’s people are Ethiopian Orthodox Christians and the remaining (7%) are Muslims, Protestants and followers of traditional belief systems. Here, it should be noted that a slight diversity in religious denominations is observed mainly in the urban settings of the woreda, whereas in its rural settings, almost all people are followers of Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity which is somewhat mixed with some form of traditional belief systems.

Concerning the ethnic composition of the woreda’s population, according to the 1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia, almost all (99.9%) of the total population are Amharas and the remaining are from other ethnic groups such as Kambata, Tigray, Agew, Oromo, and Gurage. MWIF (2004) further notes that 100% of the people who reside in the woreda are Amharic language speakers. According to my ethnographic data, all the rural dwellers are predominantly Amhara⁸² and they speak only the Amharic language.⁸³

When we come to the literacy status of the woreda’s population, among all persons aged ten years and over (160,454), only 13.11% (21,038) are literate, of which females’ literacy rate is only 5.59%. In the rural areas of the woreda, the focus of my ethnographic research, females’ literacy rate is only 2.69% (CSA 1995). My household survey (350 households) among Bachema and Rim peasant communities of Mecha Woreda reveals the fact that 339 wives (96.86%) are illiterate (mähayyəm), whereas 208 husbands (59.43%) are illiterate. In other words, only very insignificant percentage of wives (3.14%) can read and write through the literacy-campaign (mäsärätä təmərt) under the därg regime or through formal education which was interrupted due to early marriage and pregnancy; whereas a relatively greater percentage of husbands (40.57%) can read and write through the literacy campaign, church education, and formal education which was interrupted due to arranged marriage and family work. The following table depicts spouses’ literacy status or level of education among the surveyed households.

Table 4.1: Spouses’ Level of Education Among the Surveyed Households (cf. Appendix 7)

Husband Wife S.No Level of Education Numbers Percentage Numbers Percentage

1. Illiterate (cannot read and write) 208 59.43 339 96.86

2. Read and Write 122 34.86 8 2.29

3. Basic Education (grades 1-4) 7 2.00 0 0.00

4. Church Education (Deacons/Märigetas/ Priests and others) 11 3.14 0 0.00

5. Primary School Dropouts (grades 1-8) 2 0.57 2 0.57

6. Secondary School Dropouts (grades 9-12) 0 0.00 1 0.28

Total 350 100 350 100

4.3.2 Social Amenities: Health and Education Services

The health service coverage of Mecha Woreda’s population is only 23.4%. In other words, the majority (76.6 %) of the woreda’s population does not have access to health services (MWIF 2004).

More specifically, the woreda has only one health center (Merawi Health Center) in the woreda’s

82 “Amhara” refers to people of the Ethiopian central highlands. The Amhara are one of the two largest ethno-linguistic groups in Ethiopia (the other group being Oromo). They constitute almost one-third of the country’s populating (Encyclopedia Britannica 2005).

83 The Amharic Language is an Afro-Asiatic language belonging to the Southwest Semitic group. It is related to Ge’ez, the

capital town. In the rural areas of the woreda, there are only 24 health posts or emergency health services. In other words, among 37 peasant communities of the woreda, 13 peasant communities do not have a health post. Accordingly, among my ethnographic fieldwork sites, Bachema PA does not have a health post because it is only 5 km away from the capital town, Merawi, whereas Rim PA has a small and poorly equipped health post with two untrained female personnel, who are giving only emergency services and referral letters to the woreda’s health center at Merawi for the local patients.

During my ethnographic fieldwork among Rim peasant communities, I have closely observed that the health post was not in a position to serve the health demands of the local people, especially early pregnant young mother’s have suffered a lot due to lack of easy and quick access to both the woreda’s health center at Merawi (about 40 km away from their locality) and Feleghiwot Hospital at Bahir Dar (about 74 km away from there) (see Appendix 10, map 4).

When we come to educational services, there are forty primary schools and only one secondary school (Merawi Secondary School) in the woreda (MWIF 2004). My examination of documents from the woreda’s Education Office reveals the fact that among the 37 peasant communities of the woreda, three peasant communities (Goshi-Meda, Tatek-Geberie and Addis-Lidet PAs from Webbo, Däga Abole and Guta qätänna, respectively) do not have any primary school. Furthermore, most rural primary schools are at the first cycle level (grades 1-4 or 1-6 in some cases). For instance, Bachema Peasant Association has a first cycle primary school from grades 1-4 (Bachema Primary School). It has also another primary school from grades 1-6 (Yechali Primary School), but it was not my ethnographic focus due to its inaccessibility. Of course, this is the only peasant community with two first cycle primary schools among the 37 peasant communities in Mecha Woreda, thanks to its location across the main road from Merawi (capital of the woreda) to Bahir Dar (capital of the Amhara Regional State) (see Appendix 10, map 4). The nature of formal schooling and the process of gender socialization among the peasant communities of Mecha Woreda are examined in Chapter six of this thesis.