Hawecha: The Dreamer (Oromo community)

Two hundred years ago, a girl was born into the Oromo community. At a time when men ruled the world and young women had no authority over anything, Hawecha became a powerful leader and the greatest prophetess of the Oromo people.

A beauty by any standards, Hawecha had supple chocolate skin, high cheekbones, long nose, wavy soft silken hair and a scarf rustling in the wind. A typical Oromo woman looking after goats in the vast semi-arid expanse of what would later be the Ethiopian-Kenyan border in East Africa.

Hawecha was born into a small Oromo family. She was raised by her mother. Her father died early in her childhood. She had a baby sister, Dhaki who died while young, robbing her mother and her of happiness.

Her nickname was ‘the dreamer’. She would dream of the future and her dreams would come true, a prophetess, living up to her very name. At the age of eighteen as was customary, her uncle found her a suitor to marry named Juldess. Her marriage did not last long because her husband was unfaithful.

Through dreams, Hawecha would see war, disease, drought and famine before it happened. She would warn her people, saving them from devastation and death. Hawecha is remembered by the Oromo folk through their oral history passed down generations. Her great inspirational stories are told at the hearth of the fireplace to children and youth. In her memory, the first school in Marsabit, Northern Kenya, was named after her.

Bonus Information:
Hawecha was able to predict a famine. Today, climate scientists warn us that climate change will mean more droughts and more floods. When food crops can’t grow, there might be famine. We need to prepare for climate change by growing a variety of different crops, including traditional food crops. We must allow forests to grow on hills and steep slopes, and we must protect the banks of rivers and lakes.