THIS IS A THREE DAY
STORY THAT UNFOLDS IN KEMISE.
Script writer –
Mezemir Girma
Primary Learning
Objective – The primary learning objective of this episode is to teach children
learn and apply some safety rules around the house.
Secondary Objective:
The secondary objective is to develop in children an awareness of some of the
cultural features of their societies.
Synopsis: Olyad
falls down from a big Shola tree while he was trying to take some fruits down.
He injured his leg and he was given a massage by a local physiotherapist. His
friend, Fuad, tells his classmates that Olyad was sick, and the whole class
visited the sick boy. Olyad’s parents, the teacher, and the students raise some
safety issues, and they stress the need for the application of the safety rules
in children’s lives. The following day, Olyad recovers and walks to school.
[Olyad is asleep in
bed.]
Dad: Olyad, haven’t
you woken up?
Olyad: Dad I am sick.
Dad: Oh my son! Is last
night’s accident still affecting you?
Olyad: Dadi, I
cannot move my leg.
[Dad goes to Olyad’s
room, looks at Olyad’s left leg and tries to see the swelling, which was big.]
Dad: Oli let me call
Etye Zenebech, and I will be back. My
love, please take care of our son until I call her.
[Dad rides his horse
to Etye Zenebech’s home to call her.]
Dad: Morning Etye.
Etye Zenebech:
Morning.
Dad: Etye Zenebech,
you are hard working. I see you working in this garden every time I come here.
Etye Zenebech: I was
at the church in the early morning, and I have just started weeding.
What brought you
here this morning? Is everything safe?
Dad: Olyad fell from
the Shola tree yesterday.
Etye Zenebech: Oh my
son, why did he climb that big Shola tree?
Dad: We did not see
him. He used the ladder and the ladder fell. He wanted to eat the Shola fruits.
[Dad took Etye Zenebech on horseback to his
home.]
Etye Zenebech: Oli,
my lion, the good boy, I never forget the water you fetched me from the stream.
Where is he sleeping? [She goes to his room.]
[Mom carries Olyad and
takes him to the mattress on the floor.]
Olyad: Oh my leg! Eh!
Eh! Eh!
Dad: Oli, you will
recover soon! Etye Zenebech will treat you well.
Etye Zenebech: Bring
some hot water and butter.
Olyad: Don’t touch my
leg please Mama Zenebech. It is painful! Mama Zenebech, please leave me alone,
go to your home. I will go to school with my friends.
Fuad: [calling from
outside] Olyad, the sun has risen, let us go to school. Hurry up please!
Dad: Fuad, he will
not go to school today. He is sick. You will visit him when you come back.
Fuad: Oh my friend!
Let me visit him now.
Dad: Fuad he will
say he has to go with you. Please go with Shambel and Addis.
Fuad: Ok Olyad’s
father. We will visit him in the afternoon.
Dad: Yes, when you
go please watch out the dogs at Worke’s house.
Fuad: Ok I will not
get closer to where the dog sleeps.
[Etye Zenebech
washes Olyad’s leg with hot water and starts to smear it with the butter. Olyad
weeps.]
Dad: Olyad please don’t cry. You will recover
soon.
Olyad: Don’t touch
that part Mama Zenebech. Uuuuu!!
Mom: Oli, once you
finish this, I will make you a good breakfast.
Dad: You will make
him a good chechebsa.
[Etye Zenebech wraps
the knee with a bandage and finishes the treatment.]
Etye Zenebech: Olyad
you will walk safe just tomorrow. Let me go home. I will bring you milk after I
milk the cows.
Dad: You will go
after you drink coffee Etye Zenebech.
Etye Zenebech: You
know I have to look after the cows till the kids come from school. Let me go
just now please.
Mom: Okay Etye Zenebech.
Please come in the afternoon when the kids come back and replace you look after
the cows.
Mother Zenebech:
Bye! Olyad! Nagaatti olii!
Mom: Dad I am making
the coffee. Please take Oli to the main room.
[Dad takes Oli to
the main room.]
[Mom brings coffee
and all the coffee gears.]
Dad: Olyad, drink
this cup of tea. I and your mother will drink coffee.
Mom: Oli, didn’t I
tell you not to climb that tree? Didn’t I say that you should ask us to bring
you fruits down? What if the ladder fell on the girl?
Dad: [to Mom] My
love, last time you remember that he spilt the boiling water from the stove on
his sister’s leg when he was walking fast.
[Olyad cries.]
Dad: Why are you
crying? It is your mistake, isn’t it? Drink the cup of tea now.
[Olyad drinks the
cup of tea.]
Mom: Have you
forgotten what the nurse told you when she treated your sister?
Olyad: She said,
“Keep everything clean including pets and play carefully.”
Mom: She also told
you, above all, to respect family orders.
Dad: Don’t sit on
things tilted. Do you remember this?
Olyad: She also told
me not to put into my mouth a dirty material or anything that is not food.
Dad: You just know
everything it is only when it comes to applying these that you fail. How would
you forget her advice?
Olyad: Dad, I wanted
Shola when you were away. I wanted to give it to my sister because she asked me
to give her.
Mom: Whoever says
whatever they want to say, will you expose yourself to danger? She is a small
kid. Why didn’t you tell her to wait till father comes?
[Dad goes out,
climbs up the tree using the ladder and brings as much Shola fruits as
possible. As he comes back the main room, he saw twenty five of Olyad’s
classmates coming to his home with their teacher.]
Dad: [calling out to
Olyad] Olyad your teacher and classmates are here to visit you.
Olyad: [looking to
the door] Oh! Where are they?
Dad: Oh have you
come? Please go in.
Wasiya: Ok sir! How
is Oliyad?
Dad: He is good. Let
us go in and you will see him.
Teacher: Good
morning Oliyad’s father. Is your dog tied?
Dad: Good morning
miss Etsegenet. Yes! It is in its cage. Don’t worry. Come in, please.
Teacher: Is Oliyad
doing well? It is Fuad who told me this morning, and I decided to bring the
students here during their break time.
Dad: Yeah! He is
recovering. Please go in.
[All of them go into
the house.]
Teacher: Olyad how
are you doing?
Olyad: I am good.
Teacher: Can you
show me your sick leg?
Olyad: Yes.
Teacher: Oh it is a
minor injury. It will come to normal soon.
Dad: We hope so.
Teacher: I want
students who are the members of the Red Cross to remind us something. What did
the nurse teach you last time? What are the preventable problems you may face?
Shewa: Don’t play on
dirty places.
Beeminet: What about
fire?
Teacher: Yes it is
the most destructive thing if used improperly.
Kahsay: Teacher, in
addition to this, we should void slippery places that result from spilling
water on surfaces.
Abdu: Children must
use electric materials carefully. Don’t touch switches with wet hand if they
are vulnerable.
Sakote: Bathing and
swimming should only be with the guidance of with parents or grownups.
Hadas: Children
should avoid using chemicals and drugs except with the help of grownups.
Teacher: Can you
tell us what you mean by chemicals and drugs?
Hadas: Teacher,
chemicals are things like detergents and acid. Drugs are that doctors give us
when we are sick. The nurse told us last time that we should not take tablets
or any medicine prescribed for other people.
Hundesa: Avoid
touching and using sharp materials and keeping away from kitchens.
Zinash: Don’t touch
your eyes with dirty hands. I want to add to what Hadas just said. Even if a
certain medicine is prescribed to us, we should take the amount we are ordered
to take.
Kelkay: Use the dust
bin properly. As to drugs, they should be paced where children cannot reach.
Teacher: Cool. Children
I really appreciate you for your advice.
It gives a good lesson for children who don’t know anything about
safety.
Mom: Children, even
if some kids knew, they may not apply what they know. Our son climbed up that
huge tree and fell down. This happened not because he didn’t know that he would
fall, but because he is careless.
Teacher: Olyad why
did you do that?
Olyad: I wanted Shola
fruits.
Teacher: Would you,
for example, rush to a running cow because you wanted to drink milk?
Olyad: No.
Teacher: The same is
true here. You shouldn’t have climbed up that tree.
Olyad: Sorry
teacher.
Teacher: Children,
you have seen what happened to him, yes? Please be careful when you play, walk
or do anything.
[Dad gives them all Shola
fruits and they start eating. They drink the milk Etye Zenebech brought.]
Mom: Olyad!
Olyad: Yes Mom!
Mom: Why don’t you
sing them the song that I sang for you last time?
Olyad: Which song
mom?
Mom: Since they are
eating Shola fruits, sing them ‘Yeshola Fire.*’
Olyad: Before that I
have some advice to children. They should also take care of their younger
siblings.
[They start to
sing.]
Olyad: Yeshola fire
nesh
Yeshola fire nesh
Yeshola fire nesh
Lafuachilish
Mom: Yeshola fire
nesh
Yeshola fire nesh
Yeshola fire nesh
lafuachilish
Olyad: Meseretish
girum
Mom: sholaye
Olyad: Keyet new
minchish?
Mom and all the
other people: Solaye!
Olyad: Gomzhiche metahugn
Mom and all the
other people: Sholaye
Olyad: Abet mamarish!
Mom and all the
other people: Solaye!
Olyad: Abet mamarish!
Mom and all the
other people: Solaye!
Olyad: Eyew yanchi
wubet
Mom and all the
other people: Sholaye
Olyad: Melken akelaw
Mom and all the
other people: Sholaye
Olyad: Min ale
endanchi
Mom and all the
other people: Sholaye
Olyad: Hulum bidelaw
Mom and all the
other people: Sholaye
Olyad: Hulum bidelaw
Olyad: Hulum bidelaw
Olyad: Yeshola fire
nesh
Yeshola fire nesh
Yeshola fire nesh
Lafuachilish
Mom and all the
other people: Yeshola fire nesh
Yeshola fire nesh
Yeshola fire nesh
Lafuachilish
[Mom gives the
children a big ambasha in a gebete, and they eat chatting. They leave the room
saying good bye and wishing Olyad a swift recovery.]
ON THE NEXT DAY
[Fuad comes to
Olyad’s house and the two go to school singing the song they sang the previous
day.]
Etye- a title given
to old women as a form of respect
·
‘Yeshola
Fire’ is an Amharic song by the late legendary singer Tamirat Molla.
