I once read that being literate is more about being able to learn, relearn, and unlearn things than it is about being able to read and write.
What good will it do for someone to be educated and civilized if they can’t learn from the past and from other people, review what they’ve already learned because lessons are easy to forget, undo what they’ve already learned, and be ready for a new lesson to replace the old one?
Though it may seem straightforward, learning, relearning, and unlearning are not simple processes. Which is the hardest, though?
Unlearning, in my opinion, can be the most difficult task since it asks us to let go of our egos, comfort zones, and the tiny little thinking boxes that have shaped our way of thinking. Opening up to new lessons and, worse yet, letting go of our old ones are prerequisites for unlearning.
Given our traditional and conservative culture, unlearning will likely be the hardest thing for us Ethiopians to do. There will soon be peace, as we have probably all heard in the news. I’m happy about it, and I’m sure everyone else is too.
I’m glad to see the two sides to the conflict reconciling and filling our TV screens with their loving embraces, firm handshakes, and radiant grins. It’s as if the terrible events that occurred never took place.
You quickly forget about all the terrible things we have been hearing about over the past two years after seeing these scenes. It’s as though the conflict never took place!
However, those of us who are just now learning about the war have the luxury of pretending that it ever took place and that all of those atrocities never took place. That luxury is not available to those who were the true victims of the war and lost their loved ones, their possessions, and their lives.
However, the conflict is finally over, and we should all be happy about that. Above all, we should all have faith and hope that the war won’t restart.
I can still clearly recall the Ethiopian crowd roaring in favor of the war two or so years ago. There were a lot of people who believed that war was the only way to win and were in favor of it. But is it? Does fighting really lead to victory? If that could have happened, we would have seen it.
There is no other way to achieve peace than by signing a peace treaty. I was certain from the start that this day would arrive and all of the pain would be in vain. Who has benefited from all of the killings? Which party has benefited from all the pain?
I think it is past time for us to give up the outmoded and mainly false notion that conflict can bring about peace. Neither the revenged party nor the revenger will gain anything from their actions.
People who depend on peace and harmony between the two often suffer the most and get the least out of it.
I hope that history will finally teach us that war, especially war between brothers, only brings about destruction. I sincerely hope that this is the last conflict between brothers in this country.
