ABSTRACT
Mama Tsahay was upset with the way in which a group of Ethiopian Israeli teenagers described Ethiopia after returning from an organised trip there. She berated: ‘They spoke only of poverty and about the large trees which grow over their ancestors’ grave. Ethiopia is not like that! Maybe there is poverty in Ethiopia now, but there was none while we were there. The children [who made those disparaging comments] were brought up here in wealth and so they saw only poverty there. They know nothing of the richness of Ethiopia: the rain which comes on time, the flowers, the seeds … just the smell of the leaves is enough to move your heart.’
