[Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] I see [Music] [Music] go my name is wetto Gab I have lived in har for the last 10 years ever since I was a little girl my dream was to become a famous movie actress I never miss any film being premiered in the city I look at the actresses on the Billboards and think that it could be me but what I really do is sell chat in the makon square in har fore speech for speech fore I go to the market every morning and I sell about 10 kilos of chat daily I usually finish selling my merchandise before noon and then I head home once a month I travel by train to jouti to sell large quantities there for WTO lives with her husband and several nieces and nephews she doesn't have any children of her own her husband is a police officer and earns about $100 a month WTO brings home twice as much money as her husband by selling chhat here and in jibou one could say that they are a middle class h [Music] [Music] family Ethiopia is a Christian Island surrounded by a sea of Muslim countries harad is an island within this island a Muslim City buried deep in the heart of Ethiopian Christianity but first and foremost harad is a difficult City to classify it is the fourth holy city of Islam and houses almost 100 Muses within its walls the largest concentration per square kilometer in the world [Music] alongside the numerous mosques however there is also an abundance of bars and at the bars as well as on the street during the day and at night the women are those who control what goes on in the city they control the production and sale of chat a plant that is a stimulant that marks the Rhythm of Life in har according to local Journal ists the first women's Association in Ethiopia was established in Hadad today there are more than 50 professional women's associations in harad which have created a mutual Heth Network around which economic political and social activities revolve [Music] for centuries Hadad was the key point for trade between Ethiopia and the Somali Coast to safeguard its sanctity and Commercial Supremacy Hadad was closed to the Unfaithful until 1854 when Richard Burton succeeded in entering the wall city of Hadad where he remained for 10 years as a guest of the sulta there existed a curse which said that the power of the city would begin to decline upon the arrival of the first Westerner coincidence or not from that moment on a slow decline began a decline which has kept the city dozing drugged by the effects of chat at the same time harad is a devoted ancient and sensuous [Music] City this is the Ambiance that arimo searched for the French poet took Refuge here in harad when he decided to abandon literature to become a Trader and Explorer it was the perfect place to immerse himself completely in the myths of the [Music] East prbo was a genius who said everything he had to say before the age of 20 then he abandoned poetry and the literary life of Paris to Embark upon an African Adventure he was disillusioned with the world and with himself with the vulgarity that surrounded him in Europe at that time his rejection became an escape a contradiction he was a rebel who wanted to battle despair with the search for the [Music] extreme in November of 1880 rimbo left and crossed the Red Sea to zaa traveled the road through the Somali desert for 20 days and entered harad in order to take over the trade office of Aden he arrived with the hope of striking it rich in a very short time he lived in this house that is today a bar located in the heart of the [Music] city I have come to know the Skies splitting with lightning and the water spouts and the breakers and current I know the evening and Dawn rising up like a flock of doves and sometimes I have seen what men have imagined they saw I have seen the lwh hanging Sun speckled with Mystic Horrors lighting up long Violet coagulations like the performers in very antique dramas waves rolling back into the distances there shivering of Venetian blinds I have dreamed of the green night of the dazzled snows the kiss Rising slowly to the eyes of the Seas the circulation of undreamed of saps and the yellow blue Awakenings of singing phosphorus [Music] [Music] chat is a cultural stimulant it's very unusual for someone to take it alone since it is essentially a social drug it gives one energy and improves one's memory but it also produces depression insomnia and sexual impotence it's taken with the family at weddings and at religious events and at Town Council meetings some people take it to work better and others take it to study and there are also people who take it on weekends when going out with their girlfriends or while having a few drinks to stay awake while cultivating chat it must be well cared for during the first 6 months the weeds growing around it should be cut and the plant must be watered often it is also good to fumigate them with smoke which helps the plant grow good leaves the tree normally grows only between 1 and 2,000 m above sea level only where there is no Frost and a sufficient supply of water the mountains of harad and its surroundings offer the best chat in the world it's consumed in Somalia jibuti and Yemen and it is even exported to the United States and England where it is legal to consume it several tons of chat leave these lands every day and are distributed throughout the world it must get to its destination quickly however because in barely 3 days the plant loses its narcotic properties and becomes useless chat does not have a specific growing period it grows throughout the year and these Mountain highways to the airport or the local highways form part of the landscape of the Horn of Africa chat has a long history it has been consumed here for centuries when there is a Muslim wedding for example everyone comes together to enjoy chat and then they carry out all the other traditional rights the checks the religious leaders also consume chat and then read the Quran there are some who consume chat since they have nothing else to do they just spend the day high on this plant women also like to enjoy chat my friends and I get together at one of our homes once a week and we talk while we eat chat the origin of chat is unknown although it has been confirmed that there are plantations that have produced this plant for more than 500 years as for the rest of the stories they are only legends about its origin the stories say that it is found in Yemen and even in Somalia but chhat has always come from hard less chat was eaten in the past than today its use was exclusively intellectual or social and idle people dedicated to the consumption of drugs didn't exist women have been responsible for maintaining the consumption of chat within traditional practices it's very odd to see women affected by overc consumption [Music] but now I a boat lost under the hair of Coes hurled by the hurricane Into The birdless Ether I whose wreck dead drunk and Soden with water neither monitor nor hand ships would have fished up who ran speckled with lunula of electricity a crazy Plank with black seahorses for escort when jli were crushing with cudu blows Skies of ultramarine into burning funnels I who trembled to feel at 50 leagues distance the groans of boheman rutting and of the dense maelstroms Eternal spinner of Blues immobilities I longed for Europe with its aged old parapets [Music] spee [Music] what Christians have always considered chhat to be a Muslim Vice one of the oldest references to chhat in Ethiopia forms part of the threat by a 14th century Muslim King who wanted to plant chhat in the capital of the Christian King this is how the traveler Richard Burton described the sensations of silent contemplation that he enjoyed during these evenings of Eastern ecstasy it is the satisfying delivery to the existence of animals the passive pleasure of the mere senses the pleasurable weakness the dreamy Tranquility the building of castles in the air in the East man is satisfied with resting in the shade happy alongside the bank of a sparkling River or the freshness of the protection of a perfumed tree smoking a pipe or sipping a cup of coffee but Above All by disturbing the mind and body the least amount possible the problem being conversation the dissatisfactions that memory can cause and the vanity of thought the most unpleasant interruptions [Music] in this ancient Palace in harad h salasi the last Ethiopian Emperor was born and lived H Salas was governor of harar from a very young age he grew from his privileged position as Governor to become a contender to the throne after the death of menelik II after the assassination of the emperor in 1975 and the seizing of Power by mistu Communists the family of Hil salasi was driven out of this home at present it's occupied by several families that have divided the space in a very non-aristocratic way [Music] a naturous doctor sik ji has his clinic on the bottom floor and claims that he cures cancer and diabetes as well as other less serious illnesses like diarrhea or the evil eye God brings on these illnesses and takes them away when he wants many people have been cured with with these medicines for example those who have swollen feet or a swollen neck and women with chest problems even the ministry of Public Health has tried my medicines and accepts them I have cured many people it does not cost s anything to rent this building his consultations are free and the local government has seated the house to him in exchange for the services that he offers the community to cure people he uses medicinal plants that he himself collects in the mountains near har he is one of the last heirs to a tradition of natural medicine that goes far beyond what historians are able to remember [Music] I have seen archipelagos of stars and Islands whose Delirious skies are open to Sailors do you sleep are you exiled in those bottomless nights million golden Birds oh life for of the future but truly I have wept too much the dawns are heartbreaking every moon is atrocious and every Sun bitter sharp love has swollen me up with he langor oh let my Keel split oh let me sink to the bottom [Music] in [Music] the women's associations are one of the most singular movements in the social life of harad the kar population has been associated with different organizations little girls are taught the Quran starting at a very early age then when they're old enough they form associations that are called Low associations which are second level groups from there they move on to the highest level called a fortune from this age on they take care of themselves and are even responsible for their families although men have their own associations in reality women carry out most jobs of responsibility in fact if women are mistreated or discriminated against it is resolved through the associations there is a book that was written 500 years ago which talks about how the women of har lived together they were members of a group and it can be said that this was the first women's Association in the world they have a president secretary and their own rules according to the book if one of them is mistreated or a member of the family dies they all help each other for what I want to say is the struggle of kar women began a long time ago and there were even some women that rained on the throne [Music] most of the har population is Muslim but here Islam is conceived as the prophet really wanted including equality between men and women the book more or less talks about these things among many others well explaining it briefly it more or less talks about the things that the women here in harad have been doing for a long time [Music] [Music] [Music] Sophie immigrated to jibuti a few years ago to work as a prostitute she fell in love with a French soldier and bore his child shortly after the birth of the baby the soldier abandoned her and she had to return home [Music] in order to survive I established a small kiosk in my home which is how I take care of my baby I go to the market I buy from the wholesalers and then I resell the things here I make a 5 to 10cent profit with this money I can make a living for my child and myself well I live this way and have never returned to jibuti he has not returned either he told me that he was going to take me with him but I never heard from him again he once sent me a letter but I burned it my son always asks about his father every time he sees a white man he asks me where is my father and he asks me if I gave birth without a father it bothers me but his father is in his country where am I going to find him I tell him that he is in France and that someday he will come to get him but since he does not understand he's always crying and when I see him cry I also start to think of him and I feel very bad when he is older I want him to know about his family I want him to meet his father my son is not easy he has a strong character he is not like a normal child here in Ethiopia I have no family here I'm alone in other words I have no one to help me I'm trying to move on by myself a fatherless child is very difficult he's always thinking about him and when he sees an airplane he says his father something [Music] Deddy work sets up her small stall near the main gate of the old [Music] city she has dedicated herself to writing love letters and poems for over 10 years she writes them to order and charges 5 cents for [Music] [Music] them when I have time I read a lot at home as well as here I do not copy the poem from the books that I read but I invent them myself they are about love about loving someone I know what love is there are three kinds of love love of another person love of a family and the love of God I love God and people as well I can write in different ways with different styles I have experience and I can do it this is my gift to write and to compose [Music] calligraphy is one of the oldest arts in the city of harar a Dying activity that has been kept Alive by half a dozen old calligraphers Arabic script was considered poor before the arrival of Islam it was a handwriting that did not possess aesthetic value with the appearance of the Quran Muslims made an effort to beautify the writing until reaching a grade of Excellence their aim was not only evocative but symbolic through beauty comes inspiration and inspiration is the first step on the path towards God har as the fourth holy city of Islam was one of the places that consecrated the study of calligraphy its calligraphers were put to use in philosophy medicine and poetry Dear Mother I count on not staying here much longer you will hear about my departure very soon I have not found what I was searching for and I am living in the most boring way and don't take advantage of my time as soon as I have saved 500 or 2,000 Franks I will leave and I will do so with the least regret [Music] I [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] when Richard Burton crossed this territory and entered Hadad the area was already depressed upon arrival the Englishman described a desolate Panorama he stated that the men were insensitive and stubborn he said the women were attractive but never stopped screaming and that the men as well as theen women were famous for their moral [Music] Decay the Englishman broke the Victorian taboos about sexuality and spiked his travel stories with detailed descriptions about the erotic pleasures of Eastern men and women about sensuality and the techniques of ecstasy at that time as today desire walked around the harar market with discretion swathed in exchanged glances or protected by powerful steps which Mark the territory the women of harad are the owners of space and willpower [Music] [Music] [Music] FAA sadiva and Kia are three odoma women who earn their living selling wood at the market every day Laden with wood they walk the 10 kilm that separate Hadad from their town 350 people make up the village 80 of them are women over the age of these 80 women carry on their backs the weight of the community's economy my name is fatya hum My Life Begins very early in the morning I make lunch and then I go to the river for water I make some tea I breastfeed my baby and I leave for the fields to work I collect wood or work on the farm depending on the time of the year when I finish I go to Har it takes me about two hours to get there if I sell the wood I buy food if I don't I carry the wood back home when I get home I make dinner and I go to sleep the next day I do the same thing I do the same thing every day for the men spend the day consuming chat and preparing the lands for sewing or harvesting the division of work is very strict both men and women take care of the land while only women take care of the rest both take care of the farm and the Harvest but the women are the ones who carry the Surplus to the market to sell it yes yese for foree [Music] sadiva is building a new home she is recently married and finally is going to have a home for her and her family building a home is customarily a community event all the people come to help with any task however insignificant it may be when someone builds a home everyone helps some cut wood others go for water and others do the cooking it's like a great celebration when the job is done and if the food is ready we eat the rest of my life is the same as FAS we do the same things the exact same things foree spee the community is governed by a board made up of two men and two women who meet periodically at the same time the women have their own debate institution in which the 80 adult women participate the Democratic decisions and agreements made are taken to the board by the two women Representatives if you say that you cannot attend you can send a member of the family however if one of you is presented with a problem do you think you could resolve it alone I don't think so that is why I tell you that it is very important to join together because if each of us were to do things on our own we would never resolve the problems that we have I want to say something what has made the problem worse is the lack of rain during these last four or five years some of us have to travel very far to find water and others to find wood and above all if we have to attend the meeting we do not have enough time to take care of our homes and the children want to eat at night and our husbands are off doing whatever it is they do we have to prepare their food too it is difficult for most of us to attend because of these reasons if not we would love [Music] to yes but I did not say that you don't come because you don't want to I understand that if you don't come it is because you have problems what I say is that when we call you to come to the meeting if we all come and we talk about our problems we can solve them together [Music] [Music] the main source of income for these women is the sale of wood they go to the mountains every day they cut it and pile it up and they carry it to the market according to their needs it takes them about two hours to walk the distance between their town and harad if sales go well they can earn up to 50 cents a day if they go poorly they have to return home with the load on their heads the money is used to buy salt and other basic foods that they acquire at the market [Music] [Music] foree spee harad is not only a Muslim island in the center of a Christian ocean but it is a kind of City a cultural State a universe of particular customs and [Music] ways hadadi is spoken in harad a language that is only used in this region the old suspicion of foreigners and the dark desire to remain isolated from the world have relaxed over time it does not aspire to political Independence anymore today in harad nationalism is expressed like a discreet Pride for conserving what makes them different and identifies them but nothing else weddings have always been one of the opportune moments to express this culture in his stories Burton wrote about how rich hoty men like to marry very fat women and that sometimes they had problems on their wedding night since they weren't able to locate the right spot that's why there are so many cushions in the hot home because the cushion is used to raise the wife's buttocks to facilitate the husband's job [Music] [Music] spee foree both Burton and rimbo described the hyenas of harad in their writings for centuries the hyenas would come close to the walls of the city to eat the garbage at night it was the custom of certain men to feed the hyenas yusu num is the only one left every day he collects the remains of the unusable meat and bones from The Slaughterhouse on rare occasions he kills a cow or lamb when nightfalls he calls the hyenas to [Laughter] eat he knows them by name and they come like trained dogs when they hear him call before it was a custom today it is a show that yusu repeats every night for the tourists who visit the city of har [Laughter] with the daily sale of chat WTO earns $15 a week her real business is the trip that she takes to jibuti to sell large amounts to do so she has to travel by truck to did dawa the new Financial capital of the region there she must wait until the gates of the station are opened in order to take the train that travels only 3 days a week between Adis ABA and jibuti like out [Music] [Music] the train is the economic engine of Eastern Ethiopia and the train was also the cause of the definitive decline of harad it's an Inauguration in 1917 marked the beginning of the end for the city the train replaced the Caravans and the merchandise that would come and go from the Gulf of Adin stopped passing through harad [Music] [Music] the cars are mainly filled with people traveling to Djibouti for the same reasons as WTO from Ethiopia and following different paths 8 tons of chat are exported to Djibouti daily the small Traders travel by train those traders who do this sporadically and sell a poor quality of chat most of the 8 tons of chat which is primarily of high quality Travels by plane each one of these people needs to have a special license two out of every three of them do not have one and sells smuggled merchandise s Mohamed Travels by train three times every 15 days and has been making the same Journey for 5 years he takes 9 kilos of chat to Djibouti on his way back he smuggles clothes and electronic devices half of his earnings are used to bribe the Customs officers sometimes they confiscate his merchandise anyway and he loses everything Asha ADI sells cabbage onions chili potatoes and chat she has a license to sell everything except for the chat which she hides among the vegetables [Music] when the train makes a stop the Traders take advantage of the opportunity to sell part of their merchandise each kilometer that the train travels away from di dawa the price of chhat is raised in the same proportion in harad a kilo costs $1 in jouti it costs $25 [Music] [Music] the construction of the railroad from Djibouti to Adis ABA was marked by disaster since its Beginnings in 1897 menelik II wanted to modernize Ethiopia and this train line was the symbol of M the route to the Red Sea required the tracks to cross one of the most inhospitable territories on Earth each kilometer of the line required at least 70 tons of rails and enormous amounts of cement and water which had to be brought in from considerably far distances if the workers survived the heat it would was quite probable that they would die shot to death by armed band members of the ISA tribe who were fiercely against the project the court of neus kings and ambassadors artists Architects and adventurers have traveled on this train hoping to reach the Imperial City the capital of The Last African Empire but today it Bears Smugglers and Tra like WTO it lacks aristocratic glamour nothing remains of its ancient Splendor except the scorching Heat Of The Rails and the slow beat of the rhythm of the crickets [Music] [Music] limbo never saw the train he only made two trips to harad both on Camelback his last trip was made on a litter when he was sick with syphilis he abandoned Africa without fulfilling his desires the dreams he had when he had left Europe behind years before [Music] perhaps the day will arrive when I can peacefully drink in some old city where I will die much happier I am patient and know how to wait if my evil resigns itself if one day I have gold will I go north or to the country of Vineyards ah dreaming is shameful it's pure loss if I become the traveler who I want once was let no inviting in open its doors to [Music] me now I am a cursed the motherland appalls me while the best thing is to sleep drunk on the sand [Music] I yeah yeah [Music]