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Ethiopia - Tune In
Story lines from Yeken Kignit
Yeken Kignit addressed the issues of family planning and reproductive health, HIV/AIDS and women’s empowerment through Fikirte, the main female character. Fikirte grew up in poor rural conditions with a single mother until she is taken to live in another town with her grandfather, Debebe, who sends her to school. Life becomes enjoyable for Fikirte, who works hard in school to please Debebe. When her grandfather gets sick and dies, a man named Damte steps in to take over his house to use as a bar and brothel. Fikirte objects to the idea and Damte begins to work to ruin her life, as she is the only thing standing in the way of his plans.
He weaves his way into the lives of her family and friends, ruining relationships and spreading rumors about Fikirte, to turn people against her. Damte tells stories about Fikirte to her boyfriend, Ermias, and his family about her having an illegitimate child. Ermias doesn’t know what to believe, and Fikirte will not marry him yet because she wants to be economically stable before getting married and having children. For this reason, she will also not sleep with him until they are married. Damte had also been feeding Lamrot, Fikirte’s half-sister, lies about Fikirte to get Fikirte kicked out of her family’s house. He turns Lamrot onto drugs and alcohol and gets her pregnant with his child. When she attempts to have an abortion, she almost bleeds to death and lands herself in the hospital. There, she discovers that she is HIV positive. Fikirte supports her throughout the ordeal, and, eventually, Fikirte’s honesty and integrity win out, and everyone realizes that Damte is evil and his stories about Fikirte were all lies. When she finally decides she is ready to marry Ermias, they wed, and Ermias discovers that she is, in fact, still a virgin, despite what Damte had said. Damte is now seen by everyone to be a liar and a fake.
In complete desperation, he sends someone to stab Fikirte to death. When she lives through it and is lying in the hospital sleeping, Damte comes and aims to shoot her. He is spotted by a policeman, who shoots Damte. As the storyline evolves, Fikirte helps many family members and friends and educates them about family planning, reproductive health, the importance of education and economic stability, protecting oneself from rape, commercial sex and other forms of gender violence, and issues of HIV/AIDS. Through her education, Fikirte is empowered to stand up for herself and help others around her.
Character Profiles from Menta Menged
Menta Menged (“Crossroads”) is centered on the life of a 17 year old male named Abinet. Abinet is the positive character in the drama. He is a 10th grade student, who lost his father when he was a young boy. Abinet comes from a financially troubled, farming family. Despite the challenges and financial hardship that Abinet faced as a child, he is a very hardworking young man that is devoted to his studies. He hopes that his dedication to his school work will one day pay off and he will have a better life. Since he was a child, Abinet listened to the advice of his mother and other adult role-models. Abinet has a very positive outlook on life. He is even mannered and doesn’t try to avenge people who oppose him. He always looks for ways to settle disputes peacefully.
Livvil is the negative character in Menta Menged. He is the same age as Abinet. They are in the same class, too. Unlike Abinet, Livvil comes from a wealthy family. Despite their financial stability, Livvil has a very rough family life. His mother left him as a young child, and his father treats Livvil terribly. He calls Livvel worthless when he misbehaves. Livvil’s father spoils him with material things, but he doesn’t take the time to be a loving and supportive father. Livvil is a very poor student, and he spends very little time on his studies. He skips classes and spends most of his time chewing ‘chat’ and indulging in other bad things.
Abinet and Livvil’s different personalities and outlooks on life create conflict, and the two young men become enemies. Livvil has a huge grudge against Abinet, because of all of the praise Abinet receives from everyone, including Livvil’s father. Livvil’s jealousy drives him to try to distract Abinet from his studies. Livvil does anything he can to try to ruin Abinet’s future. Despite Livvil’s attempts to upset and distract Abinet, Abinet remains even tempered and focused on his studies. Abinet overcomes the many challenges and obstacles in his way. As a result of his hard work, he achieves many of his goals, such as passing his final exam with distinction. Meanwhile, Livvil pays the consequences for his evil ways and drops out of school. Livvil also becomes HIV positive, as a result of involving himself in excessive drinking and casual sex.
