Azemeraw Zeleke puts war munitions to good - and profitable - use. Photo / Reuters
In the shadows of his dingy workshop in a northern Ethiopian town, Azemeraw Zeleke stoops over a baffling array of cylinders, tubes and handles.
The 54-year-old inventor and repairman supplies Mekele, and the whole of the hilly Tigray region, with coffee machines. But it is his choice of
materials that makes his trade unique.
"The farmers bring me mortar shells from the old battlefield," he said, gesturing north where Ethiopia borders Eritrea and the two nations fought a war from 1998-2000.
"The empty tubes are perfect for the coffee machines. Look, the bronze does not rust. And the shape is ideal."
"We take these objects of war and turn them into objects of pleasure," said his son Mehany, 22, who works proudly beside his father. "Maybe, this is a message for the world."
They pay about 350 Ethiopian birr ($58) for each mortar. Locals collect them from the barren border zone where a mass of munitions remain strewn from a conflict that killed 70,000 people in a territorial spat between the two Horn of Africa neighbours.
The finished coffee maker sells for 9000-11,000 birr and Azemeraw moves about six a year. Most of the mortar shells are Russian-made, remnants of the Cold War arms trade.
Before the war, the father-of-six lived in the Eritrean capital Asmara, repairing coffee machines and fridges.
But when conflict broke out between Ethiopia and its former province, he and other Ethiopians in Eritrea rushed home.
Given the similarities in ethnicity and culture - including a shared love of fine coffee - it is hard for outsiders to understand the enmity between Ethiopia and Eritrea. It is puzzling for some locals too.
"Before, we lived hand-in-glove together. We are the same people. We worked together, we ate together," said Mehany. "One day, we will again live in peace."
- REUTERS
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