Mount G?šän is a cross-shaped mountain in Ambassäl Wäräda, South Wällo Zone, Am-hara Regional State. Scholarly literature of the area generally addresses the history of the landscape as a medieval royal prison, present-day religious values and market ability for tourism. A comprehensive study of the shifting values of the site are not informed by a manuscript of primary importance to which scholars had limited access, the Mä??afä ?efut (???? ???lit. ‘The Book of ?eff Grains’), which is a 15th-century collection of manuscripts written in G?’?z, presents the history of the Holy Cross. The present study is an investigation of the dynamics of the values of Mount G?šän in light of the recently published version of this manuscript. Two field surveys have been conducted in 2013 and 2018, to corroborate or contest the storylines in the manuscript, hagiographies, roy-al chronicles and traveller accounts as well as to collect additional information on the changing values of the site, while retaining an uninterrupted religious significance of be-ing a Christian parish. According to the Mä??afä ?efut, Mount G?šän had served as home to earliest Christian communities in Amhara, a medieval royal prison and currently a well-known Pilgrimage site, bearing different appellations such as Däbrä Nägwädgwad, Däbrä Nägäst and G?šän Däbrä Kärbe, since the 6th century . Its religious value, how-ever, remained uninterrupted for centuries, only to be reinforced by the coming of the fragment of the Holy Cross, relics, sacred earth and paintings in the 15th century. As such, the religious reforms within the Ethiopian Orthodox church by A?e Zär?aYa??qob monumentalized Mount G?šän to an elaborated status of Dag?mawit ?yärusalem (“the Second Jerusalem”) and Wällo a sacred landscape.

The direct measures of women’s empowerment are recently emerged as a key factor influencing utiliza-tion of family planning services in developing countries. Women’s education and employment used as proxy measures of women’s empowerment, however, not sufficient to capture gender power relations and the way in which reproductive behaviours are governed. The purpose of the study was to examine the potential importance of women’s empowerment, socioeconomic status, and demographic factors in contraceptive utilization in Amhara National Regional State, Ethiopia. The study employed communi-ty-based cross-sectional study design and used the total of 2,214 currently married women of repro-ductive age selected by a four-stage cluster selection. Data management and analysis was carried out using STATA 12. A sequential of Binary Logistic Regression model was used to analyze the data. The findings illustrated all women’s empowerment indices that remain significant after controlling for socio-economic status and demographic indicators. The odds of modern contraception was higher for mobility freedom (OR = 1.30, 95% CI = 1.09-1.55); financial autonomy (OR = 1.99, 95% CI = 1.85-2.33); access to resources (OR = 1.74, 95% CI = 1.58-1.94); and free from spousal violence (OR = 1.45, 95% CI = 1.16-1.73). In addition, the odds of modern contraception was higher for secondary and above education (OR = 3.15, 95% CI = 2.38-3.89) and employed for cash (OR = 3.26, 95% CI = 2.65-3.99). In conclusion, women’s empowerment influences modern contraception independent of socioeconomic and demo-graphic factors. Therefore, initiatives to improve women’s position, both to attain gender equality and to promote empowerment in contraceptive use is required. In addition, improving women’s education and employment play a dual role in enhancing empowerment in utilization of family planning services

The major purpose of the present study was to investigate perception, purpose and amount of L1 use in EFL classrooms. In the study, Atse Fasil General Elementary School was selected using simple random sampling technique out of 44 elementary schools in the city of Gondar, and only grade five was chosen using purposive sampling technique. In this grade level, there were 412 students as a total population. Out of these, 82 students (20%) were selected with systematic simple random sampling technique for participation. The study employed descriptive survey research design with mixed approach (qualita-tive and quantitative). To collect data, audio recording, questionnaire and interviews were used. The recorded data and the questionnaire data were analyzed quantitatively. The interview data were an-alyzed qualitatively. The findings of the study regarding the perception of the students indicated that Amharic should be used with limited amount in English language classrooms. It was also found that Amharic was used for clarifying difficult concept, providing instructions, maintaining discipline, check-ing comprehension, eliciting ideas, explaining rules and defining vocabularies. Also, the finding shows that EFL students employed 57% of Amharic in English contexts; Amharic was implemented in English classrooms before attempts were made within the target language (English). Based on the findings above, it was recommended EFL students should be given on how, what for and how much to utilize Amharic in English language learning situations

This paper focuses on the binary of man and nature in Zakes Mda’s The Whale Caller. Mda is not a deep ecologist, but a novelist who from a typical African perspective, is con-cerned about human benefits by properly conserving nature. The novel mediates between human and nonhuman elements. Mda significantly contributes to the understanding of the unfolding environmental crisis. The Whale Caller, among other themes, aesthetically reflects how tourism economy and poverty among the rural South African population pose a threat to environmental protection and conservation. The discourse adopts a model of African literary environmentalism for the study of ecological concern as raised in the nov-el. Mda places a renewed pressure on human and animal binaries that form the basis of environmental discourse in contemporary South African fiction. The narrative emphasizes on the neglected non-human elements by drawing attention to how tourism and uneven distribution of resources expose both animals and people to disenfranchisement.

This study was conducted at South Wollo Zone correctional center (Dessie City) aiming at examining the effects of mothers’ incarceration on children to assess the possible ways of interventions by gov-ernment and nongovernment bodies. The study used cross sectional design using qualitative inquiry. To this end, samples were taken from women prisoners, relatively young children and office workers at the correctional center. The data were collected via interview and focus group discussions. Then, the collected data were analyzed in thematic techniques involving data categorization, organization and summarization. The finding shows that children, who are left at home are exposed to loneliness due to social exclusion, fear of vengeance, school termination, economic difficulties, family disorga-nization and dislocations. On the other hand, children who accompanied their incarcerated mothers were exposed to crime driven socialization, maladaptation, unclean and crowded living room, poor toilet and sanitation, little access to recreation center and absence of medical follow ups. However, there is no institutional intervention to mitigate problems of children left at home, This study conclud-ed that children are directly vulnerable to women’s criminality and thus policies and strategies must be designed to reduce women criminality. Correctional centers should plan regarding the needs of children accompanying their mothers at prison cells. Government and nongovernment sectors ought to work to support susceptible children

????? ???:??? ??? ??? ??? ???? ???? ?????? ??? ???-?? ????? ????? ???? ??? ??????? ???? ???? ??? ????? ????? ?????? ???? ???? ??? ??? ?????? ????? ??? ?????? ???? ??? ????? ?? ???? ??? ??????? ??? ????? ?? ?2010 ?.?. ?????? ????? ??? ???????? ?????? ????? ???? ??? ??? ???????? ????? ????? ??? ???? ????? ?????? ?????? ??????? ????????? ??????? ????? ??????????? ?????? ?????? ?????? ???? ????????? ????? ????? ???? ????? ???? ????? ??? ????? ??????? ??????? (??? ????? ????) ????? ????????? ???? ????? ????? ???-?? ???? ??? ??????? ??? ???? ????? ??? ???? ??? ????? ???? ??? ??????? ????? ??? ???? ??? ??? ??? ???? (P=0.000) ??????? ????? ???-?? ????? ?????? ????? ??? ????? ???? ??? ????? ???? ???? ??????? ???? ????? ???????? ???? ??? ??????? ???? ???? ??? ?????? ??? ????? ???? ???? ????? ???? ??? ?????? ??? ????? ????? ??????? ???? ????? ??? ??? ??? ?????? ???? ??? ??????? ?????? ????? ???-?? ???? ?? ????? ???? ??? ???? ?????? ??? ????? ???? ????? ???? ??? ???????? ????? ????? ???? ??? ????? ??? ???? ???? ??? ?????? ???? ???? ??? ??????? ???? ???????

Land use / land cover changes derived from the natural process and anthropogenic inter-ference in ecosystem. Appropriate management of natural resources requires quick and up-to-date information for effective decision-making. The main objective of this research is to in-vestigate the effects of land use /land cover (LULC) change on the socio-economic conditions of Machakel woreda. Remote sensing and geographic information system approaches are employed and socioeconomic survey was also conducted to see the impacts of land use / land cover change on socioeconomic condition of farmers. Results of the analysis indicated that farmland and settlements increased consistently every year with the rate of 7.59 km2 (1.02%) per year. The main driving forces of these changes are the population pressure and associated higher demand of land for farm and housing purpose. Shortage of clean water, higher rate of soil erosion, lower crop productivity, and land share related conflicts in the study area are also considered as main causes. Increasing number of animal population in contrast to the decreasing amount of grazing lands created the overgrazing of the area, which results loss of top soil through erosion. This fact calls for the need of taking measures like income diversification for agricultural families and a different way of rearing cattle than keeping them on the already over grazed lands.

The livelihood of most people in Ethiopia depend on subsistence agriculture whose carrying capacity has decreased due to rapid population growth rate and farm size reduction. The smallholder farmers are engaged in off-farm and non-farm diversified livelihood strategies to improve their food security. However, these farmers could not easily participate in diversi-fied activities. Hence, this study identified the livelihood strategies adopted by smallholder farmers and assessed the determinants of their decisions to choose diversified livelihood strategies in Wogera district. Multistage sampling technique was adopted to systematically select the 118 households from which to collect data through household survey, field ob-servation and FGDs. Besides, descriptive statistics, the multivariate logistic regression was applied for the identification of determinants that helped to choose diversified livelihood strategies. The data analyzed through STATA revealed that most households have diver-sified their livelihood strategies into off and/or non-farm activities to improve their liveli-hood. Access to irrigation and credit were positively affected choices of diversified livelihood strategies. While, being aged, having more farm size and far from the main road hinder the households to diversify the livelihood strategies. The study argues that most of smallholder farmers tend to diversify their livelihood strategies although various factors influence the di-versification of livelihood strategies. Thus, researchers, governmental and non-governmen-tal institutions should pay attention beyond the farm’s activities to strengthen the off-farm and non-farm activities to improve the livelihood of smallholder farmers.