One of my tasks at work involves reviewing literature, be it scientific or otherwise.

Many of us have been touched by the speech made by our newly appointed prime minister, Abiy Ahmed (PhD) in his address to the members of the parliament and to the millions of Ethiopians these represent.

New beginnings are always exciting. Anything new in fact promises a lot of exciting things. I remember back in day as a child, I used to eagerly long for the day my parents would buy me and my sister new clothes and shoes for school.

Back in the days (and maybe they still do it today) we use to have a year book in which we get to express our wishes and aspirations for the future.

Two weeks ago, we celebrated girls and women on March 8. Being a woman myself, I usually think about the changing role of women in today’s society and about the not-so-much changing perception that the society has about this changing role.

I once read a book called ‘The lords of poverty’ written by Graham Hancock on the lucrativeness of the aid industry. The book, which was written in 1989, provides a quite detailed picture of how aid money can be used to enrich the rich in the name of the poor.

The issue of foreign adoption of orphans and vulnerable children in Ethiopia was brought up in a discussion I had with friends and family this week and made me think about the issue a little further.

As we grow older and wiser, we tend to realize what matters most in life. And one of the things we tend to take for granted and suffer most as a result of its loss is our health.

It’s amazing how much our brain gets used to the miseries, unfairness, sufferings and inequalities that we witness as we go by each day of our short lives.

Which do you think is easier to do for a person? Asking for forgiveness or forgiving a wrongdoer? I would tend to think that asking for forgiveness is easier than forgiving somebody.