The Calgary Ethiopian Community Association is a non-profit organization established in 1982, to provide assistance and support to Ethiopian immigrants. The Association was officially registered in February 1983 in accordance with the Societies Act of Alberta. Throughout the past several years, the association has grown in steps, flourishing from its humble beginnings, to today’s vibrant organization, providing a full spectrum of wrap-around social services, ranging from newcomer integration, language studies, and chances of sponsorship, to employment assistance, skills and training, youth development and a myriad of other support services.

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In recent years, the association’s activities have widened, involving both old and new, male and female, and young and the most senior members of the community. Currently, there are many programs and activities, mainly social and cultural.

 

The Association is also very much connected with the youth and tries to provide students of Ethiopian descent, born or grew up in Canada, an opportunity to get connected with community members and develop their social networks. In addition, the association has continued its participation in the traditional outdoor annual festivals such as the Calgary Stampede. It has also established discussion forums, created a new Facebook account.    

 

The Association envisions the presence of a vibrant and active Ethiopian Community in the City of Calgary and its surroundings. The aim is to ensure that community members are visible, productive and supportive of the missions and visions of the city, and their participation is widely recognized and appreciated by the people of Calgary.

 

CECA membership has been steady, as more and more people recognize the importance of having a strong community addressing their needs and concerns. We now have a registered member of over 1600 as of January 2019.

 

In line with the Societies Act of Alberta, the Association has its own Bylaws and Internal Rules. The Association Board has three officers and four director. The Board officers include the president, secretary and treasurer of the association.

 

የካልጋሪ የኢትዮጵያ ማኅበረሰብ ማህበር የተመሰረተዉ በ1982 G.C ሲሆን፣ በFebruary 1983 በአልበርታ ህግ መሰረት ተመዝግቦ በመንቀሳቀስ ላይ ያለ ለትርፍ ያልቆመ ድርጅት ነው። በአለፉት ጥቂት አመታት፣ ማህበሩ ከ2000 አ/ም በፊት ከነበረዉ ቀለል ካለ ስብስብ፣ ወደዛሬዉ በመለስተኛ ደረጃም ቢሆን የተጠናከረ ተቋም፣ በሂደት በመቀየር፤ በርከት ያሉ ከአንድ መሰል ድርጅት የሚጠበቁ የማህበራዊ ስራዎችን አከናዉኗል።

 

ከነዚህም ዉስጥ ጥቂቶቹን ለመግለጽ ያክል፣ ማህበራዊ ዉይይቶችን ማዘጋጀትና ማኪያሄድ፣ የኢትዮጵያን ገጽታ በካልጋሪ ብሎም በአልበርታ በጥሩ መልኩ ለማሳየት የሚደረገዉ ሙከራ፣ ወደ ካልጋሪ አዲስ የሚመጡ ግለሰቦች እና ቤተሰቦች ኑሮ ለመመስራት በሚያደርጉት ጥረት በኢንፎርሜሽን ደረጃ የሚሰጠዉ እርዳታ፣ በልጆች የዕድገት ዙሪያና የቋንቋ ማስተማር የሚሰራዉ ስራ፣ በካልጋሪ ስታምፒድና በመሳሰሉት ማህበራዊ ዝግጅቶች የሚደረገዉ ተሳትፎ፣ የኢትዮጵያን ባህልና ወግ በተለያዩ መድረክ ለካልጋሪ ህዝብ ለማስተዋወቅ የሚደረገዉ ጥረት፣ ከሌሎች ድርጅቶች ጋር የሚደረገዉ ትብብርና ከመንግስታዊ ተቋማት ጋር ያለዉ ግንኙነት፣ እንዲሁም ከቅርብ ግዜ ወዲህ እየተሰራባቸዉ ያሉ ወጣቶችን ያማከሉ ፕሮግራሞች አንዳንዶቹ ናቸዉ። ከሁሉም በላይ፣ ከ2002 ገደማ ጀምሮ፣ በየዓመቱ ለፖለቲካ ጥገኞች (Refugees) የሚሰጠዉ የስፖንሰርሽፕ አድል፣ የማህበሩ ዋነኛ ፕሮግራም ሆኖ ቀጥሏል።

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የአባላት ቁጥር ከጊዜ ወደጊዜ እየጨመረ በመምጣት፣ በJanuary 2019፣ ከ1600 በላይ የተመዘገቡ ሰዎች እንዳሉ፣ መረጃዎች ያመላክታሉ። ከነዚህ ዉስጥ የሴቶችና ወጣቶች ቁጥር፣ ጥሩ በሚባል ደረጃ ላይ ይገኛል። 

 

ማህበሩ የራሱ የሆነ ህገ ማህበርና የመተዳደሪያ ደንብ አለዉ። የማህበሩ ቦርድ በየሶስት አመቱ በሚደረግ ምርጫ የሚመሰረት ሲሆን፣ ሶስት ኦፊሰሮች እና አራት ዳይሬክተሮች አሉት። የቦርድ ኦፊሰሮች፣ የማህበሩን ፕሬዝዳንት፣ ጸሃፊና ገንዘብ ያዥ ያካትታል።