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The potential of dagu communication in north-eastern Ethiopia
Menbere, Gulilat S. Skjerdal, Terje
Menbere, Gulilat
S. Skjerdal, Terje
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"The Afar people of north-eastern Ethiopia possesses a traditional communication system that in several ways resembles modern news media. Properly used dagu could be a vital instrument in for instance health education. Dagu resembles modern news communication in several ways. Even if the information doesn’t reach a large mass simultaneously, it is meant to reach a considerable portion of the population within a short period of time. The swiftness of dagu is indeed remarkable. It can spread to a high number of people within few days. One informant claimed a piece of information can reach from the desert town of Semera to the port cities of Djibouti and Massawa (Eritrea) within two or three days – a road distance of 300 to 700 km. When four Britons and a Frenchwoman were taken hostage by separatists in the Afar region in March 2007, it was dagu which brought the news of their fate to the international public. They were deported to Eritrea by the kidnappers, but were unharmed and safe according to the report which eventually reached Addis Ababa. The report turned out to be trustworthy (Naughton, 2007)."
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2008-01
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With permission of the license/copyright holder