Online Humor

Making coffee out of shells

MEKELE, Ethiopia

A 54-year-old inventor and repairman supplies the city of Mekele, and surrounding areas, with coffee machines. But it is his choice of materials that makes Azemeraw's trade truly unique.

"The farmers bring me mortar shells from the old battlefield," he says, gesturing north where Ethiopia borders Eritrea and the two nations fought a 1998-2000 war.

"The empty tubes are perfect for the coffee machines. Look, the bronze does not rust. And the shape is ideal."

Using the burnt-out mortar shells as the inner barrel of his coffee makers, Azemeraw and his half dozen workers need about a week to make a machine capable of creating beautifully tasting caffeinated goodness.

Locals collect the mostly Russian-made shells from the barren border zone where a mass of weapons remain from a conflict that killed 70,000 people in a territorial spat between the two Horn of African neighbors.

Given the similarities in ethnicity and culture -- including a shared love of fine coffee -- it is hard for outsiders to understand the hostility between Ethiopia and Eritrea, which has continued beyond the war.

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 back home.

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," says his son Mehany, 22,. "One day, we will again live in peace."

"We take these objects of war and turn them into objects of pleasure," says his son Mehany, 22, who works proudly beside his father. "Maybe, this is a message for the world."