Geography lesson

In our efforts to become more culturally aware, we've been studying the demographics, geography and landscape of Ethiopia.  Since it's a pretty big country, we're focusing primarily on things that relate to Tommy.  Of course it's all a guess of sorts.  It's very difficult to get real details from the orphanage, and Tommy doesn't talk, so we've pieced together what we can based on some Sherlock Holmes-ian conjecture.

http://www.ethiodemographyandhealth.org/SNNPR.html

Tommy comes from the Semien Omo Zone in the Ethiopian Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR). Named after the Omo River, it was established in 1987, by The Derg, Communist rulers who came to power by ousting Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974.  A 2005 census indicated a population of 3.8 million, 50/50 men and women.  The largest ethnic group in this zone is Welayta (44%), who have their own language, and most of whom are Christian (39% Ethiopian Orthodox, 36% Protestant, 3% Catholic), and 18% of whom practice "traditional" African religions.

The political and administrative subdivisions of each zone are called woredas (or weredas).  Woredas are composed of a number of Kebele, or neighborhood associations, the smallest unit of local government in Ethiopia. Part of the Semien Omo Zone, Boloso Sore is one of the 77 woredas in the SNNPR.

Based on the 2005 census, there are 359,000 people in Beloso Sore; just over half are men.  Less than 10% are considered urban dwellers.  Its population density is more than 4 times the average for the zone.  The largest ethnic group reported in Boloso Sore was the Welayta (98%), and Welayta was the dominant first language. 60% practice Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, while 33.2% were Protestants, and 4.91% were Roman Catholic.  It has about 36 miles of all-weather road and 46 miles of dry-weather roads.

It's administrative center is at Areka.  We believe this is where Tommy's family is from.  It's about 4 hours drive from Addis, where he is now.  It is our deep hope that we'll have the opportunity to meet members of his family when we go to Ethiopia.  We would love to visit Areka, experience and take pictures of the area, and perhaps even take photos of his Ethiopian family members, so later we can share them with him.  We're sure he'll have questions about where he came from, and it'll be great to show him.  We're sooooo looking forward to our visit, not just to be able to share it with Tommy, but to experience it ourselves, so that we'll be able to understand him, and his world, just a little bit better.