Today, on the 5th of October 2014 about a million Oromo family came together for a thanksgiving day in Bushoftu’s Lake Hora.

…a thanksgiving moment at Lake Hora…

Irrecha brought Oromo together in Bushoftu

Young people singing and dancing

Thanksgiving moment near Lake Hora – Bushoftu

Hundereds of thousands if not a million of colourfully-dressed fellow Oromo brothers and sisters came together around Lake Hora to celebrate irrecha today – 5th of October 2014. Irrecha is a traditional Oromo thanks-giving festival when we Oromo people praise our God (Waqa) for blessing our lives. It was colorful and traditional Oromo songs were playing from each corner of the town. Young people play traditional songs with beautful dances. I like everything as it was my first time to be in Irrecha – however, I was not happy to see the governemnt using this event to disseminate its political messages and turning the celebration into a tenseful siatuation as this often incites emotional reaction from the young attendants. Over 100 people were arrested last year in similar situation.