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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1978)
international opinion loneliness, cold weather contribute to culture shock hby mary fastenau e came as a poor man without friends, without family, without any con cept of Nebraska, except that he liked the sound of the name. He will leave a richer man with a wife, with many friends, with an idea of what it is like to be surrounded by an atmosphere which differs from anything he had exper ienced before. Godfrey Edoziem, president of the UNL African Student Association, said he intends to stay in Nebraska until he runs out of money. Edoziem will receive his undergraduate degree in English this May. He will then begin graduate studies in educational administration at UNL. He said finances are one of the chief concerns of most foreign students. Many students have left Nebraska and gone to Texas or other states because their fees and tuition are much lower, according to Edoziem. He said last semester he paid over $1,000 for tuition. The greatest help the university could give foreign students would be to lower or stabilize fees and tuition, he added. Edoziem 's financial problems are doubl ed because he is married, and his wife Chika, also goes to school. Edoziem explained that he knew Chika in Nigeria, but said they were just friends and would have never been considered "boyfriend and girlfriend." They continued to keep in touch he said, and they decided to get married while Chika was still in Nigeria. Fortunately, she was granted a visa and she came to Nebra ska in January 1976, he said. They were married the following December. He admitted it was a strange feeling to be married in a foreign country without any family present. 1 1 is difficult to keep in touch with a family or even with current conditions in Nigeria, Edoziem said. "We are kind of blocked out and don't really know much of what is going on." He said Nigeria is changing from a military to a civilian regime, and it would be a great help if there were some way stu dents could keep in touch with current events. He does not keep up with American policies a great deal, Edoziem admitted, be cause he is a foreign student and the decisions which are made have little effect on him. The attitude Americans could take which would help foreign students would be to consider what it would be like to move into a totally different environment where more people are a different race, Edoziem advised. He admitted the weather was one of the most difficult things he had to adjust to in Nebraska. The first time it snowed, Edoziem said, he came out of class and stared at the snowflakes for 30 minutes. "To me, it was really amazing the way it happened and veiy enjoyable," he said. When it becomes cold, Edoziem said he even began to ask himself why he was willing to come to the United States. He said he had problems with culture shock when he arrived in Nebraska, partly because he attended Nebraska Wesleyan University. He was one of two Nigerian students, and the only one who lived on campus. Initially Edoziem was depressed by both the weather and the feeling of being alone. He said he soon learned the necessity of overcoming such depression and began to enjoy his new experiences. America is "very popular" in Nigeria, Edoziem said. People will do everything possible to be able to come to the United States, but once you get here you begin to see things which you did not expect, he said. People come with very high expecta tions and Americans should try to live up to those expectations, he said. W So ' Photo by Ted Kirk Godfrey Edoziem said he does not keep up with American policies because as a foreign student the decisions made have little effect on him. ethiopian protests murder, torture by fascist leader by tam lee Ctmong the liberties most Americans take for granted are political freedom, the right to free speech and fair trial. But at least one UNL student, who fled his native Ethiopia's fascist regime, does not take freedom for granted. The student, who asked that he not be identified, said he does not know if his parents are alive, and cannot return to his homeland for fear of being murdered. He said the recent war against Somalia and the current Ethiopian civil war are not the most serious problems in the country to day. The most violent acts taking place in Ethiopia are those taken by the military government against the Ethiopian people, he said. The military government, headed by Lt. Col. Mengistu Haile Mariam, took power in 1974, dethroning Emperor Haile Selassie, who kept feudalism the main economic system in Ethiopia for half a century, the student said. "The military government announced a revolution without blood. But that was the biggest joke of his government, and they proved to the rest of the world it was a joke. The things that identify this govern ment have been the murders and massacres they have been doing since they came to power," he said. It was about this time that he fled his country. "At first they (military government) were supported by the United States, but now, their main supporter is the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union provides all the arms to kill all kinds of people. They kill anybody they don't like, for all practical purposes, because all of the people are against this government. "The people want a people's govern ment, not a military dictatorship. So any one who has sentiment for democracy, for a people's government, is massacred. People have been killed like dogs ever since this government has taken power," he said. In addition to the financial backing the Soviet Union is giving to Ethiopia, the U.S.S.R. also sent in between 11,000 and 15,000 Cuban troops to help fight Somalians and the Ethiopian people, in cluding those of Eritrea, the northern province of Ethiopia, the student said. Eritrea was annexed in 1962 by Haile Selassie in order to gain access to the Red Sea. Eritreans have been trying to secede from Ethiopia since then. Despite the recent conclusion of the war with Somalia, the Soviet Union and Cuba are not going to leave Africa, he said. 'This is just a fantasy of some people. The war is not over in my opinion. There are thousands of groups fighting against the government and the Somali Liberation Front was only one group. The Eritrean people have a legitimate demand. The Haile Selassie government oppressed them, and now the military government is oppress ing them. If Eritrea goes, then both (Ethiopian) ports on the Red Sea go, which will make Ethiopia useless for the Soviet Union. So they (Soviets) are going to fight to keep Eritrea," he said. The Ethiopian people have always been good fighters, and have never been coloniz ed, the Ethiopian said. But the government needed more than $1 billion in Soviet aid and the Cuban troops to help win the war with Somalia, even though Ethiopia has 30 million people and Somalia has 3 million, he said. "The people are so against this govern ment that the government had to bring in foreign troops to stay in power. Their (government) bodyguards are Cuban soldiers now, and they know that without the help and support of Cuba and the Soviets, they would not stay in power," he said. The student described an example of terrorism reported by Amnesty Inter national: "One student who was killed was put first into a barrel of heated oil, then laid out on a mattress to receive electric shock torture. When he fainted, he was lowered into a vat of icy water which re stored him to consciousness. The process was repeated until he died," he said. "We want people to know these things, what actually is going on. Ethiopia is not just a map. Ethiopia is not just a very strategic country which is on the. Red Sea, and if you block the Red Sea the oil will stop, so therefore you should be concern ed. "The American people should be more concerned about the people who live there. Bloodshed is going on now. We want people to find out the exact nature of the (Ethiopian) government, which is a fascist government," the student said. He said he left Ethiopia three or four years ago, but his family is still there. "They can't talk. I don't know where they are, how they are. It's very dangerous to communicate with the family, so I have no idea what they are doing. I don't know what would happen if I tried to communi cate with them. They probably would be detained. In fact I don't even know whether they live or not. Many families are killed." He said a fellow Ethiopian student found out his brother was killed recently. "He was a 19-year-boy and they killed him as a notorious anti-government person. So I wouldn't be surprised. My family is not special." Despite all this, the student said the long-range outlook for the Ethiopian people is hopeful. "The situation in the long run is not a discouraging situation because history has shown that when the people are determin ed, they will fight. And the Ethiopian people have shown that. No foreign enemy has been able to conquer Ethiopia. And the Soviet Union will be the same. They are foreigners. So in the long run, the Ethiopian people will win. I have not the slightest doubt that that will happen." page 6 fathom monday, may 1, 1978