It was 1993 in the Ethiopian Calendar when the rest of the world saw the fireworks for a new Millennium. But the majority of Ethiopians did not even take notice. January 1st 2000 was just another day for them. Now the Ethiopian Millennium has come after seven years, and was celebrated with grandeur parties and festivities on Wednesday, September 12, 2007.
The Sandford International School community also celebrated the Ethiopian Millennium with colorful ceremonies, concert, educational activities and long-term reminders of the Millennium. The concert, which was held on Monday September 10th, 2007, included folk dances, musical performances from different regions of Ethiopia, coffee ceremony, display of arts and crafts  from around Ethiopia and a play entitled “ Back to Glory Ethiopia”. The play was the highlight of the concert and celebrated the wealth of history of the past 2000 years of Ethiopia.
The main elements of the Educational activities contained traditional Ethiopian stories, poems, essay competition, which depict Ethiopian history ( in Amharic and English) as well as a display of photographs and art work under the title “ What Ethiopia means to me” . This broad topic inspired photographs of any aspect of the country such as geography, history, cultural and other topics, which were personal to the students that represented their thoughts and feelings about Ethiopia. This was accompanied by a frieze of Ethiopia’s 2000 years history and other in-class activities associated with the Ethiopian Millennium.
The other big event of the Sandford Millennium celebration was planting the ‘Millennium Tree’. This special indigenous tree together with the Millennium commemorative book is the long term reminder of the Ethiopian Millennium celebrations at Sandford School.
The Millennium celebrations at Sandfrod International School were truly entertaining and educative. Emphasizing on the beauty of our country as well as the cultural and historical wealth, all the Millennium celebrations, the concert, the ceremonies and the educational activities helped the Sandford students understand the journeys Ethiopia took for Millennia. This understanding of the past can certainly help them comprehend Ethiopia’s present situations as well as gives them an idea of what must be done to build a better future.

The Ethiopian Calendar

The Ethiopian Calendar has its origins in the Ethiopian Orthodox church’s interpretation of the Bible. It is argued that creation took place in the fall, which starts in September and ends in December. According to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, the great flood at the time of Noah started in the month of May ( Ginbot in Amharic, meaning the ninth month of the year) and subsided in September ( Meskerem). Then, it is believed, the earth dried up heralding new life on earth. These are the two reasons for the New Year being in September right after the Ethiopian rainy season. And most Ethiopians celebrate the New Year in the spirit of both creation and new life. It is strongly believed in the Ethiopian Orthodox church that the Calendar is unique and accurate because the church has had continuous possession of the original Jewish Covenant or Old Testament writings, which were lost to other nations and churches.

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