Miss Africa USA: Liya Endale

School/Institution: (currently applying to 3 different graduate schools)

Major/minor: Psychology, Sociology

Giving back:

Tutor with Greensboro Dreamers
Teacher/Mentor with Empowered Youth Program at UGA
Guest speaker at scholarship fundraisers, talent shows, and high schools through the Moore's Ford Memorial Committee
Just Go Vote Foundation volunteer for 2004 elections
2004 Mock African Council Conference in Washington D.C.
Five-Year Aspirational Plan: In five-years I plan to be working on my PhD in School Counseling/Education or a related field so as to work with international students in America, helping them to manouver successfully in a new culture. Working in a public school system will also allow me to continue publishing my writing and playing my violin in the summers.

Country you are representing: Ethiopia.

Platform: I will help provide Ethiopian schools with easily accessible resources to make their students competitive on a global scale.

UGPulse: Tiger Woods... Same old story?

The media plays such a large role in forming our opinions on people, current events, places and ourselves based on insubstantial evidence. The story of Tiger Woods does not surprise me; not because he was an athlete, not because he was a black man, not because it is the same old story but because he was human and there was no evidence that he was handling success in a manner which honored his wife or followed the guidelines of what we as a society deem a 'respectable citizen'.

Realistically speaking, Tiger Woods was presented with tens of millions of dollars a year, beautiful women at the turn of every corner, a profession which keeps him away from home and any semblance of normalcy, and a posse of enablers more interested in reaping the rewards of befriending a superstar than giving sound advice to a friend. It takes a rare individual to handle this combination of circumstances in an honorable way. The only thing rare about Tiger Woods is likely his ability to play golf. Any other glorious characters of his personality were only fed to us by a media that would portray him in any way that brings in the fattest checks. Any other expectations we had about Tiger Woods were, frankly, unrealistic.

I often think of my disappointment when I learned that Martin Luther King Jr. cheated on his wife. It took some time for me to realize that the reason he was so influential had nothing to do with his habits in the bedroom and that it was not my place to judge him. In the same manner, I have to ask myself, "If MLK Jr. couldn't do it, why did I ever think Tiger Woods would? He does not even preach a value laden message. All he does is hit the heck out of a ball with a stick."


Contestant Liya Endale from Ethiopia.

UGPulse: Identity Theft... Are you concerned? How do you protect yourself?

Identity theft is a very real and very underestimated threat in our society. Our identity in this system has nothing to do with how much we love, smile or laugh. It has to do with a systemic method of rating our monetary credibility based on a specific series of actions we take which are monitored closely. Your credit rating will ultimately affect where and how you live, who you will marry and whether or not you will be able to afford going to school or buying a house. Subprime mortgages will likely, and hopefully, be an antiquated method of loaning money to people in troubled situations. Today, in order to buy a home, you have to have a down payment, 3-6 months of the mortgage payments in your bank account, have had the same job for at least two consecutive years, and a debt to income ratio of less than 45%. This means you have to have to have excellent credit for a creditor to take you seriously. Imagine if you do, in fact, manage to follow the rules and raise your credit score to a 740. Then, someone gets their hands on your 'identity' in the system. A crime committed against a faceless number in a system is a lot easier to commit, especially if you are in the growing situation where you have to feed your family and you are out of a job.

The chances of identity theft increase each time you pay your bills online, apply for another credit card, and use your debit card to pay for gas. The risks are like landmines scattered across our daily routines. If a we step on an active mine, the consequences can easily affect us for the rest of our lives. Recently, I accidentally opened up a skymiles MasterCard in my friend's name because I gave the representative his name and birthday. That is all it took for me to have a credit card with a 3-5 thousand dollar limit in someone else's name.

These warnings are not meant to terrify anyone into a paranoid panic, but to scare us into making smart decisions. First, take your birth year off of your facebook status. Next, be aware of how you are being monitored in this system. Did you know that there are three different credit bureaus which monitor different aspects of your monetary credibility? This means that depending on which credit bureau a lender checks with, one credit score can range by 100 points of another. Here is the good news, you can get a free copy of your credit report twice a year from each bureau so you can monitor your scores by reporting errors or being aware of any suspicious activity quick enough to prevent it from affecting your life. All you have to do is call and ask for it; Equifax 1-800-525-6285, Experian 1-888-397-3742, and TransUnion 1-800-680-7289.


Contestant Liya Endale from Ethiopia.

UGPulse: Tell us about the country you represent? Are all its women as beautiful as yourself?

Geographically, Ethiopia lies along the path of the Great Rift Valley which extends in Syria. Further, Ethiopia served as the hub of international trade for hundreds of years. For these reasons, the people of my country come in all shades. Our common features share those of the people from Ethiopia, into Egypt and Syria. Our noses are more narrow and our hair finer than our brothers and sisters from countries which do not lie along this geographic path resulting in a mixed population. Unfortunately, this world values these physical features and I often hear that women of Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan and so forth have a reputation of being very 'beautiful'. I, however, do not define beauty by how fine one's hair is or how narrow one's features are. These transient labels only serve to create animosity between regions based on nothing more than what we are forced to believe is 'beautiful'.

Further, I do not believe that these characteristics are what make me beautiful. My strength is not what lies on the outside, but in the way I perceive this world, the way my mind calculates all of the different stimuli I have been presented with from the time I was born in Addis Ababa. My beauty is in my warrior-spirit, my inability to love half-way, and my ability to show others how to think beyond the surface. So, are the women of Ethiopia as beautiful as me? Yes, and most even more so. Not because of the reasons others may call them beautiful but because of their courage which surpasses mine and strengthens me, because of their intellect and their resilience. This is what makes all women beautiful.

UGPulse: If you watched the new incredible movie, Avatar, what moved you most in the movie and what positive or negative message did you take home from watching this movie?

Today, we are bombarded with more stimuli on a daily basis than ever before. It takes more energy than ever to filter the intake of images, music, and media and not to get caught up with what 'looks pretty'. Remember. Everything can be broken down into basic messages. It is then our responsibility to actively choose what messages to internalize.

I was too excited to watch the movie Avatar after friends of mine from Georgia to South Korea raved about how awesome it was. With 3-D glasses on, I watched the most expensive movie made to date and took in all of the sophisticated technology which allowed computerized images to seamlessly blend in with a physical world. I was floored, moved by the raw and unbridled emotion of the main character, Neytiri . Outside of the obvious allusions to historical attacks on civilizations for their resources, there was something about this movie which lingered with me. I could not put my finger on it but I took it home with me and toiled with it for days.

In congruence with other films which have recently been released, certain themes began to stick out to me. Blind Side, Invictus, and Avatar all centered on the plight of a colored people. But when it came time to find the solution to each of their conflicts, the challenge was always met by a person or persons of Caucasian descent. First, I was angry at myself for coming up with such a negative synopsis of movies which were perhaps intended to funnel more positive messages of hope, resilience, and the power of a giving heart. These messages are vital and obvious. However, I believe subtle messages are more powerful and therefore dangerous because they seep into our subconscious, bypassing that level of thinking which allows us to choose what values and beliefs we take from these messages.

When people see that heroes always look a certain way, some will begin to believe that they can not be heroes because they do not share these characteristics of the ones on the big screens. I would love to see an Avatar where the hero is a Na'vi, a Blind Side that focuses on tackling the true and systemic problems that resulted in the condition of the victim instead of presenting the symptoms as the main problem. And I would love to see a movie about Nelson Mandela that uses the people who bled, fought, sacrificed and lost the most for a new South Africa to pass along the same message of forgiveness.


Contestant Liya Endale from Ethiopia

Redefining "impossible" when it comes to maternal mortality

Someone recently told me that saving mothers' lives in the developing world is impossible. They argued that the maternal mortality problem is too complex, too challenging, too expensive.

But, that is exactly the wrong attitude.

We've overcome health challenges today that once seemed impossible. We've eradicated disease, created cures and discovered innovative new methods to save lives that would have been unimaginable only a few decades ago. We've done it before and we can do it again.

Just look at smallpox. Sixty years ago, more than 50 million cases of smallpox emerged annually and a quarter of the victims died. To get a sense for the magnitude of 50 million people per year, consider that today there are five million new cases of HIV/AIDS each year. There were ten times more people with smallpox, plus the global population was smaller.

In 1967, the world health community launched a global effort to eradicate smallpox. It took a coordinated, worldwide effort, required the commitment of every government and cost $130 million dollars. By 1977, smallpox had disappeared. The smallpox eradication saved $17 billion dollars and millions of lives. In just 10 years, we had done the impossible -- turned one of the world's deadliest diseases from a terror into a memory.

And smallpox is not the only global health success story. Polio has been reduced by 99 percent since 1988. Twenty-six countries reduced their malaria cases by more than 50 percent between 2000 and 2006. Creative new health strategies like micro-insurance for poor people or Kangaroo care for pre-term babies are transforming health outcomes in even the most low-resource settings. Dedication and innovation are transforming health care worldwide.

One hundred years ago, dying in childbirth was an accepted norm in the United States and Europe -- tragic but inevitable. Today it's almost unheard of. Some might think that the overall increase in wealth is what saved mothers' lives and that, without it, real progress is impossible. But they are wrong. For proof, we need only look to Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka isn't a wealthy nation. A third of its population lives in poverty and it has been devastated by natural disaster and civil conflict. However, the tiny island nation has done something remarkable -- it reduced its maternal mortality rate by almost 50 percent every decade since independence. In 1960, 340 Sri Lankan women died for every 100,000 live births. Today, the rate is only 13 deaths for every 100,000 births, a rate nearly comparable to developed nations.

Sri Lanka achieved this dramatic drop in maternal deaths by investing in health infrastructure. It built a network of health centers which provide free health care to the population. It invested in training skilled midwives and providing all women with access to family planning while educating communities and empowering them to secure their own health care. Sri Lanka proves that being a developing nation doesn't mean a country is condemned to a high maternal death rate. For example, Sri Lanka has a lower GDP than the Ivory Coast, but the Ivory Coast has more than ten times the maternal death rate.

There is reason to hope, even in most affected countries. In August, I traveled to my home country of Ethiopia with a team from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to shed light on the state of maternal health. Ethiopia continues to have one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world and much of what we saw was heartbreaking and frustrating. However, we also saw progress. The Ethiopian government has trained 30,000 young women to serve as health extension workers and provide essential health care like immunizations and antenatal check-ups to rural communities. We met women who survived difficult pregnancies because of the new hospitals and clinics the government is building and I met the dedicated health workers working around the clock to save lives.

The same elements that wiped out smallpox -- national commitment, coordinated, focused efforts and sufficient funding -- can save mothers' lives in the developing world. I'm asking all nations to take up this challenge: commit to ending maternal mortality now. Make maternal health a national priority. Recognize that mothers' health is at the heart of achieving development, not a by-product or an afterthought. Dare to create a world where giving birth doesn't mean gambling with your life.

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Liya Kebede is supermodel, actress, designer, maternal health advocate, mother. Source: The HuffingtonPost

Celebrities visit refugee camp in Ethiopia after scaling Kilimanjaro

KEBRIBEYAH REFUGEE CAMP, Ethiopia, January 18 (UNHCR) – Fresh from climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, actress Jessica Biel and musicians Kenna and Santi White, have visited a refugee camp in Ethiopia to see how water shortages affect the lives of millions of forcibly displaced people across Africa.


The American entertainers, together with Elizabeth Gore, executive director of global partnerships at the United Nations Foundation, toured Kebribeyah Refugee Camp last Friday, three days after scaling Africa's highest peak. The camp in eastern Ethiopia hosts some 16,500 Somali refugees who have fled persecution and conflict in their country.

The "Summit on the Summit," was organized by Kenna to highlight global water shortages, which affect more than 1 billion people, and to raise funds for UNHCR and other organizations helping to meet the water needs of the vulnerable. Others in the climb included actors Emile Hirsch and Isabel Lucas, rapper Lupe Fiasco, conservationist and explorer Alexandra Cousteau, environmentalist Kick Kennedy and award-winning photographers Michael Muller and Jimmy Chin.

In Kebribeyah, Biel and her VIP colleagues saw and heard how shortages of clean water affect all aspects of life in the camp while also gaining insight into how water shortages are tackled by organizations like the UN refugee agency.

"When I became a refugee in 1991, we hardly had two litres of water per person per day; we now get up to 15 litres a day, but that is still far from being sufficient." Habiba Ali Oumer, a refugee representative, told the visitors. She urged them to help. UNHCR is constantly looking at ways to boost water supply. The daily recommended consumption is 15-20 litres per person per day.

"I am really taken by the resilience of the Somali refugees," a visibly touched Biel said after listening to Oumer. "I want to ensure that all those kids I met in the camp school continue to get clean water," she added.

The celebrities spent the whole day visiting the camp infrastructure installed by UNHCR, including the school. "When I grow up, I would like to do something worthwhile for myself, my family and my country," one young student told Biel.

Money raised by the "Summit on the Summit" campaign will be distributed through the UN Foundation to UNHCR and several other groups, including the Children's Safe Drinking Water Programme (CSDW) and Water For People and Playpumps International. The Foundation's Gore said people could continue donating until Word Water Day on March 22, "by which time we expect to raise enough resources to cover the needs we saw in the camp, and perhaps more needs in other camps in Ethiopia."

Ethiopian-born Kenna, whose uncle died of a water-borne disease, was impressed by what he saw in Kebribeyah. "I'm particularly happy to learn that UNHCR runs the water system for the refugees in partnership with the local Ethiopian authorities," he said, pledging to raise enough to upgrade and maintain the system.

UNHCR Deputy Representative in Ethiopia Cosmas Chanda said provision of water was a critical element of UNHCR's protection work and his office welcomed the keen interest shown in the plight of refugees by such high-profile personalities. "We welcome their effort in fund-raising on behalf of refugees."

The eastern region of Ethiopia, where UNHCR helps some 60,000 Somali refugees in four camps, is dominated by semi-arid lowlands with an annual average rainfall of 300mm-500mm. There are no permanent rivers running through the sites where the refugees are staying. Providing adequate amounts of safe drinking water is a daily struggle for UNHCR and its partners.

The inhabitants of Kebribeyah depend on the Jarrar Valley Water Supply System, which pipes water to the camp from a distance of some 20 kilometres. Two of the system's six boreholes have been connected to the national electricity grid in recent months, making supply of water to the camp more reliable. When the project is complete, the daily supply per person should rise to 20 litres. Increasing the number of water points in the camp is another challenge.

By Kisut Gebre Egziabher in Kebribeyah Refugee Camp, Ethiopia

TEDDY AFRO Rocks Addis

Tewodros Kassahun, aka Teddy Afro, entertained his fans on Thursday, January 7, the Ethiopian Orthodox Christmas Day, in his second performance in Addis Ababa since being released from prison in August 2009.


Fans, estimated to number over 10,000 by organisers, danced and sang along to the tunes that preach freedom and equality at the Ghion Hotel show.
Teddy also performed songs by other performers, including those of the late Tilahun Gessesse.
During the concert, pubs, bars and clubs around the city were quiet due to the show, while taxi drivers made a small fortune, tripling their fares for fans making their way home.
The singer performed in his first public concert since his release from Kality Prison at Addis Ababa Stadium on October 11, 2009.
Teddy gave away all the profit from that show to a project that works to eliminate begging and street living from the country undertaken by Elshaday Relief and Development Association, a local NGO. From left, members of Teddy’s Abugida band, Abera Alemu Tewodros Kassahun and Ermias Kebede, during the show.

Ethiopian Grammy-nominated musician Kenna starts Kilimanjaro challenge with Jessica Biel

Jessica Biel starts Kilimanjaro challenge

Jessica Biel and a host of other actors, musicians and activists have started their attempt to climb 19,340-foot Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa's tallest peak, in 2010.

'Into the Wild' star Emile Hirsh also takes part in the effort to raise awareness and funds for the global water crisis.

According to entertainment website people.com, the climbers gained a firsthand look at the water crisis by spending several days before their climb visiting a village near Arusha, Tanzania.
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"Meeting the people and community in Tanzania . has been an invaluable and eye-opening experience for me," Biel said after landing there Tuesday.

"My hope is that others will be inspired to find ways that they can help; starting simply in their homes and continuing to other parts of the world. We are all in this together."

Joining the actors on the climb are: Alexandra Cousteau, granddaughter of iconic ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau; Elizabeth Gore, an executive with the United Nations Foundation; rapper Lupe Fiasco; Kick Kennedy, an environmentalist and granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, and Grammy-nominated musician Kenna, the Ethiopian-born founder of the initiative, who is leading the climb.

Fans and supporters can follow every step the climbers Here.

So far, more than 2.8 million litres of water have been donated through the site.