Hello Everyone,
I just wanted to say thank you to all who came to attend the OSA Mid-Year Conference or presented an article. We had several outstanding scholars who presented novel and interesting studies and an amazing enthusiasm created by it. This year’s OSA Mid-year has its own legacies, creating opportunities for the Oromo people and elites to learn Oromo history from the heroes and heroines of Dhombir war era, helping Oromo communities of mid-west USA to forge unity by establishing a network of Oromo community organizations; live streaming some of the panel discussions for the Oromo people to follow the deliberations on these important topics as the events unfold. The participation in OSA mid year conference by the Oromo community of Chicago is unparalleled given the small size of the community. The discussions were civil, lunch was served free sponsored by Gilead chicago and the Oromo community of Chicago. There was an overwhelming feeling of “what a wonderful conference! what a wonderful round table by heroes and heroines of the dhombir war, what an amazing story told by Akko Makkaa, what an amazig story telling by Hajji Umar Malka..etc. The keynote speakers created great enthusiasm as anticipated and helped to increase our conference attendance. Drs. Beyene Petros and Marara Gudina’s presence at our conference was also a good opportunity for the attendees to ask questions and voice their concern during and after the conference.
Special thank you for OSA Board members Bonnie, Dr. Guluma and Arfasse; and Dr. Ezekiel, Dr, Mesfin, Yeshi Tolesa and Kadiro for coming and participating. I would like to extend my heartfelt thank you to the Oromo community of Chicago and youth for the participation, for the Sunday lunch and dinner and the volunteers who organized the conference with us. Special thank you to Weiss Memorial Hospital for allowing us to use the Leo Wallach auditorium and a second conference room, and parking service free of charge. It is my home campus and I am proud of Weiss Hospital for its service for our community. Weiss is the best! No question about that. I believe, OMN had a good opportunity to use the second conference room to interview some of the conference participants and keynote speakers. OMN’s coverage of the event would provide another opportunity to disseminate knowledge and information. Thank you gadaa.com, oromowiki and other websites for providing coverage. Thank you Ferhan Abdulselam for being a resource person.
Finally, preparation is underway for our annual conference to be held in Washington DC Metro area! We will promote the Oromo Gada system and Oromo democracy, celebrate 40 years of research by esteemed scholars and Oromo renaissance. I look forward to robust partnership with Oromo community organizations and individuals as we work to make this forthcoming annual conference one of the most memorable in the history of our organization. We are planning to bring Oromo Gada councilors to USA. Your help is needed! Thank you. Galatooma.
