Zumra Nuru had a dream.
“I wanted to live in a place, where men and women are equal and where religion does not dictate the way we live. I wanted to live in a society free of conflict, and full of peace and love".
In 1972 he founded the Awra Amba community. This is the story of utopia in Ethiopia.
The Amhara Region in Northern Ethiopia is one of the poorest areas in the world. Every day is a fight for survival. The cultural and social life is dictated by ancient religious norms from biblical times. On top of this, the area is regularly plagued by environmental problems and long-lasting famine.
This is the area where Zumra Nuru grew up. As a young man, he started to question the needless conflicts and inequalities around him. Growing up, he worked on a farm and never had the opportunity to go to school.
Zumra had a dream - that one day he would live in a place where men and women are equal, where religion doesn’t dictate the way of life and where people would love each other and live in peace.
Zumra’s revolutionary ideas were strongly opposed. He was thought to be mad. So, as a young man, Zumra decided to leave his family and community in search of like minded people. For several decades his village was violently attacked, he received death threats and was even imprisoned for a while.
Despite all the opposition, Zumra remained determined to achieve his dream.
Zumra Nuru is now 66 years old and after 40 years of struggle, his efforts have finally been recognised. Awra Amba, the village he created with a handful of people, now houses over 400 happy inhabitants, from different tribal and religious backgrounds. They live peacefully side by side and devote their time to weaving beautiful textiles and helping each other.
They follow a humanist philosophy including gender equality, democratic decision-making and equal labour division. All children are educated and the elderly and sick are cared for.
Here, you will not find any churches, mosques or places of worship. Instead, the community believes in one creator that made everyone equal. The community holds high spiritual, ethical and moral standards, stressing that their faith is manifested through their actions. People from all religions and ethnic backgrounds are welcome here and treated as their brothers and sisters.
Ever since their first exposure to media 10 years ago, Awra Amba now receives over 10,000 visitors a year, including Ethiopian and foreign tourists, academics, NGOs and political leaders. There is even a waiting list of people who wish to live with them.
In summer 2010, Zumra was awarded an honorary PhD for his commitment to social change. Recently, new communities based on his principles have started to emerge in many parts of the country.
The main livelihood of the community is weaving, due to lack of farming land. Both men and women work together in the weaving workshop and spinning cotton by hand. They work every day of the year, except on the 11th of September, the Ethiopian New Year. Earnings are split equally between all members and distributed every six months. Once every week the villagers come together to weave for charity. All the money from this day goes to help the weak and the poor.
The community also runs a grain mill, which serves the neighbouring communities as well. People prefer to come and mill their grains in Awra Amba, because they know they won’t get cheated on money. In Awra Amba lying, stealing and any kind of dishonesty is forbidden.
There are thirteen democratically elected committees, all reporting to the Executive Committee. The community holds regular meetings to discuss matters that affect them all.
Awra Amba has three schools; a nearly completed high school, an elementary school for grades 1 - 8 as well as a kindergarten for children aged 3 – 5. In the high school and the elementary school, the majority of students come from neighbouring communities.
Awra Amba also has a health centre, a laboratory, an elderly care home, a library, a computer room, a restaurant and a guesthouse for visitors to stay in. They are currently building a museum.
The inside of the huts in Awra Amba are different from other huts in rural Ethiopia. Here, all kitchens have a chimney and a proper stove, ensuring the fumes do not stay inside the home and pose a health risk. Many huts have in-built shelving units, surfaces and beds that are raised above ground. The huts are built in a rectangular shape, some with a tin roof.
The community members do not consume alcohol or drugs, due to the dependency that they create. They also do not celebrate weddings or funerals, for economic and time reasons. Burials are usually attended by close family, but they don't go on for weeks like in other parts of Ethiopia. Similarly, there are no other ceremonies or celebrations during the year, apart from September 11th - the Ethiopian New Year - when the community gets together to eat, sing and enjoy themselves.