Hawecha: A Woman for All Time

Two hundred years ago, a girl was born into the Oromo tribe, which occupies land in southern Ethiopia as well as in the far north of Kenya. At a time when men ruled the world and young women had no authority whatsoever, Hawecha gradually rose to a position of unprecedented leadership and power. She became the most famous Prophetess of the Oromo people, saving them from famine, pestilence, war and death. Eventually, she became a part of their oral history. In 1986, a Catholic Mission near the Kenya/Ethiopia border founded the first school for Oromo girls in Kenya, using the story of Hawecha as their inspiration. Rhodia Mann was born in Kenya and studied Oromo culture under a highly-respected oral historian and mystic. She attended major Oromo ceremonies in northern Kenya, and also visited the Oromo in southern Ethiopia. Presented as a historical novel, the legend of Hawecha is used as a means to bring a fascinating and little-known culture to the wider world.