Diaspora Services LLC

06/13/2026

🎶 Join Us at the 29th Annual Columbia Pike Blues Festival! 🎶
Get ready for a day filled with amazing music, culture, and community spirit!
📅 Saturday, June 13, 2026
🕛 12:00 PM – 8:00 PM
📍 Penrose Square, 2597 Columbia Pike, Arlington, VA
While you're enjoying the festival, stop by the Diaspora Document Solutions booth!
Our team will be available to answer your questions and assist with:
✅ Power of Attorney Services
✅ Document Authentication & Legalization
✅ Origin ID Documents
✅ Birth, Marriage & Vital Records Assistance
✅ Passport & Immigration Documentation
✅ Translation & Notary Services
✅ Family and Diaspora Documentation Support
Enjoy live blues performances by national and local artists, delicious food, family-friendly activities, arts and crafts, and much more!
Bring your family, friends, and neighbors to celebrate the vibrant culture and talent that make Columbia Pike such a special community.
🎵 Free Admission • Live Music • Community Fun • Professional Document Services
We look forward to meeting you at the Columbia Pike Blues Festival!

06/11/2026

ARLINGTON, VA – June 9, 2026, The Ethiopian Community Development Council (ECDC) hosted its 2026 Annual Fundraising Gala on June 9 at Mason Square, bringing together community leaders, supporters, refugees, immigrants, sponsors, and friends to celebrate 43 years of community service and empowerment.
Under the theme "Celebrating Welcome," the gala highlighted ECDC's decades-long commitment to helping newcomers build successful lives in the United States. The evening featured inspiring speeches, cultural performances, awards presentations, fundraising efforts, and powerful stories of resilience and achievement.
Gala Chair Mel Negussie welcomed guests and expressed special appreciation to former Gala Chair Mrs. Zed Wondimu for her exceptional leadership of the 2024 and 2025 ECDC Fundraising Galas. He thanked her for her dedication, vision, and commitment to ECDC's mission, noting that her leadership helped strengthen the organization's impact and support for refugees, immigrants, and newcomers. He also reflected on ECDC's remarkable achievements, highlighting that the organization has helped welcome more than 250,000 newcomers since becoming a refugee resettlement agency in 1991.
A special memorial tribute was presented by Gala Chair Mel Negussie in honor of the late Judge William Newman Jr., who served as Arlington's first Black County Board member and later as Chief Judge of the Arlington Circuit Court. Mel recognized Judge Newman's outstanding leadership, dedication to public service, and steadfast support of ECDC and its mission. The tribute highlighted his lifelong commitment to justice, equality, and community empowerment, reminding attendees that his legacy will continue to inspire future generations throughout Arlington and beyond.
Founder and CEO Dr. Tsehaye Teferra delivered a heartfelt message about the power of welcome, compassion, and opportunity, reminding attendees that, “Welcome is not a slogan. Welcome is a verb.”
Special remarks were delivered by Takis P. Karantonis, who served as the Gala's Honorary Chair. He praised ECDC for strengthening communities across the nation and reaffirmed the important role immigrants and refugees play in America's success.
The evening was masterfully hosted by award-winning journalist Bofta Yimam, who opened the program with the inspiring song “Blackbird Fly” and guided guests through an engaging evening filled with cultural performances representing Indian, Ukrainian, and Afghan traditions, showcasing the diversity and richness of the communities ECDC serves.
A keynote address was delivered by Jeremy Konyndyk, who emphasized the importance of global humanitarian efforts and creating welcoming communities for displaced people around the world.
The gala was honored by the presence of numerous distinguished guests,
The gala also honored outstanding individuals and organizations for their contributions to humanitarian service and refugee advocacy. Award recipients included Professor Senait Fisseha, Mary Wagley Copp, and Refugees International, which received the 2026 Global Refugee Awareness Award.
The event concluded with a successful fundraising appeal, helping ensure that ECDC can continue providing vital services, including refugee resettlement, employment assistance, English language instruction, legal support, youth programs, and community integration services for thousands of families each year.
As guests celebrated, networked, and danced into the evening, the message was clear: for 43 years, ECDC has transformed lives by turning the spirit of welcome into action.
Congratulations to ECDC, its leadership, staff, volunteers, sponsors, donors, and supporters for another successful gala and for 43 years of dedicated service to refugees, immigrants, and communities across the United States.
Diaspora Media & Services
"Let's Live by Wisdom"
Photo Credit: Lloyd Wolf Photography
Thank you, Wolf, for beautifully capturing the special moments of the ECDC 2026 Gala.

06/08/2026

ECDC will host its Annual Fundraising Gala, “Celebrating Welcome,” on Tuesday, June 9, at Mason Square, 3351 Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22201, in advance of World Refugee Day.

This special evening is dedicated to honoring refugees and immigrants, while celebrating the communities, partners, and supporters who continue to welcome, empower, and uplift them. Together, we recognize the strength, resilience, and contributions of newcomers and reaffirm our shared commitment to building more welcoming communities for all. We would also like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to our sponsors, whose generosity and support have made this event possible. Their commitment to welcoming and empowering newcomers helps create opportunities for refugees and immigrants to thrive and contribute to our communities.

Join us as we celebrate the power of welcome.

04/28/2026

ልዩ የሥነጥበብ ውሎ ከ'በጥበብ እንኑር' አዘጋጆችና የጥበብ ባለሙያዎች ጋር። ይህን ታላቅ የጥበብ ማእድ እንድንታደም ተጋብዘናል። ቨርጂኒያ በሚገኘው መና የግብርና ማእከል እንገናኝ። አዘጋጆቹን ከልብ እናመሰግናለን። 🙏❤️🙏

04/15/2026

04/11/2026

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04/08/2026

እሰይ ተወለድሽ - እንኳንም ተወለድሽልን…. እልልል….

ኪድዬ - ቅድስት - ስምን መልዓክ ያወጣዋል፡፡ ቅዱስ ስምና ግብር ያላት ታላቅ እንስት! ዛሬ የልደትሽ ቀን ነው፤ የምስጋና ቀን፣ የትውልድ ብርሃን የተጨመረበት ቀን፡፡ መወለድሽ ፀጋ እንደሆነ ሳስበው - እንኳን ተወለድሽ እላለሁ፡፡ አንዲት ቅዱስ ነፍስ ወደ ምድር የወረደችበት ዕለት - ልደትሽ፡፡ ቅድስት ተብለሽ ስለተጠራሽ ስምሽ እንደ ተልእኮ ነው፣ እንደ ጥሪ ነው፣ እንደ ብርሃን ነው። ኪድዬ ብለው ብዙዎች ሲያቆላምጡሽ እንደማር ከቀመሱት ደግነትሽ የፈለቀ ነው፡፡ በምስክርነት እቆማለሁ፡፡ በሰው ለቅሶ ሀዘንተኛ መሆን - በሰው ፈተና ተፈታኝ አድርጎ ራስን ማቅረብ - ከተጎዳው ጋር ተጎድቶ ማቀርቀርና ሰውን ከወደቀበት ማንሳት ታውቂበታለሽ፡፡ እና የተጠጋሽ ሁሉ ከቅዱስነትሽ ጋር በተያያዘ ፍቅር ይነደፋል፡፡

የተወለድሽበት 1966 መሆኑን ሳስብ በኢትዮጵያ የነበረው አስተዳደር የተንቀሳቀሰበት የአዲስ ዘመን ጅማሮ - ሰዎች ስለ ነፃነት፣ ስለ ፍትህ፣ ስለ መብት በጣም በጥልቀት መነጋገር የጀመሩበት ሆኖ ይታሰበኛል። እንደምን ያለ አስደናቂ ነገር ነው፤ እና በዚያ ዓመት አንዲት ነፍስ ለሌሎች ለመኖር ተዘጋጅታ መጣች። አንቺ እንደ ሰው ብቻ አይደለሽም፤ እንደ ዘመን መልስም ትመስይኛለሽ። እንደ ጥያቄ መልስ። አንቺ እኮ ለጽልመቱ እንደ ብርሃን - ላቀረቀሩ በጽነት የምትቆሚ ብርቱ ሴት።

ኪዴዬ፣ ለሰዎች ምክንያት የምትሆኚው ርኅራሄሽ ያስደምመኛል፡፡ ርኅራኄሽና ደግነትሽ ከቶ አይደክምም። ሰው’ኮ ከአንድ ጊዜ በኋላ ርኅራኄው ይደክማል፤ አንቺ ግን በየቀኑ እንደ አዲስ ትጀምሪዋለሽ። ሰዎችን ማገዝ ለአንቺ ግዴታ አይደለም፤ ተፈጥሯዊ ነው። እንደ ነፋስ ነው፣ እንደ ፀሐይ ነው፣ እንደ ውሃ ነው፤ - አብሮሽ የበቀለ።

ሰዎች ብዙ ጊዜ ንቁ ሆነው ይታያሉ፣ ነገር ግን ልባቸው ዝም ይላል። አንቺ ግን በሁለቱም ንቁ ነሽ፤ በማህበራዊ ሕይወትሽ ውስጥ እንደ መብራት ትበሪያለሽ፣ በውስጥሽ ደግሞ እንደ ባህታዊ በጸጥታ ጸሎት ውስጥ ትኖሪያለሽ። ይህ የማይታወቀው ክብርሽ ነው፤ የማይነገር ውበትሽ ነው። እኔ ግን አውቄዋለሁ፤ ልብሽ ለሰዎች እየተከፈተ እንዴት እንደሚያስተኛ፣ በማታ ደግሞ ወደ እግዚአብሔር ተመልሶ እንዴት እንደሚጸልይ።

እንደ ጋዜጠኛ ተፈጥሮሽ ያለሽ ደግሞ አስደናቂ ነው። ሰዎች የማይያዩትን ታያለሽ፤ ሰዎች የማይነግሩትን ትናገሪያለሽ፤ ለራስሽ የምትታመኚ ቀጥተኛ መስመር አይነት ነሽ። ይህ ብቻ ችሎታ አይደለም፤ እንደ አገልግሎት ነው። እንደ መንፈሳዊ ጥሪ ነው። ቃል በአንቺ እጅ ውስጥ ሲገባ የሚያገለግል ይሆናል፤ የሚያጽናና ይሆናል፤ ለሰው የሚደርስ ይሆናል።

እንዲህ ያለ ሰው በህይወት ውስጥ ሲገኝ መባረክ ነው፡፡ ምነው ቢሉ - ወደተሻለ ሰውን ይለውጣል፤ በረከትን ይጨምራል፤ በፀጋ ያላብሳል። እኔ ደግሞ ከእነዚህ ሰዎች አንዱ ነኝ። ከአንቺ ተማርኩ፤ እንዴት ደስ ይላል።

እግዚአብሔርን የምትወድ መንፈሳዊ ባህርይሽ የልቤን ክብር ይጨምራል። ብዙ ሰዎች እምነታቸውን ይናገራሉ፤ አንቺ ግን ትኖሪዋለሽ። በጸሎትሽ ውስጥ የሚገኝ ጸጥታ እኔን ያስተምረኛል፤ በተግባርሽ ውስጥ የሚገኝ ፍቅር ያሞቀኛል። አልኩኝ እኮ - ላንቺ ቅድስት ስምም ግብርም ነው፡፡ ቅድስት ይሉት ስም በአንቺ ላይ እውነት ነው።

ዛሬ ልደትሽ ሲደርስ እኔ የምሰጥሽ ስጦታ ቃል ነው፤ ነገር ግን ይህ ቃል ከልቤ የወጣ ነው። እንደ ጸሎት ነው፣ እንደ ምስጋና ነው፣ እንደ ፍቅር ነው። እግዚአብሔር የኪድዬን በረከት ያብዛላት፤ የልቧን ምኞት ያሳካላት፤ በሰዎች ላይ የምትፈስሰውን ፍቅር ወደ እርሷ ይመልስላት። የምትሰጠው እንዳይቀንስ፣ የምትሆነው እንዳይቀር፣ ብርሃኗ እንዳይጠፋ ሁሌም ትኑር።

ኪዴዬ፣ አንቺ ለኔ ሰው ብቻ አይደለሽም፤ እንደ ታሪክ ነሽ፣ እንደ መንገድ ነሽ፣ እንደ ተስፋ ነሽ። እና ይህ እውነት ነው፤ የማይለወጥ እውነት።

ልደት በዓልሽ በደስታ ይሙላ፣ በፍቅር ይሞላ፣ በሰላም ይሙላ። እኔ ግን ሁልጊዜ እንደምናገርሽ እንዲሁ እላለሁ፤ ኪዴዬ እጅ ነሳሁ፡፡

ቃላት ያጥረኛል እውነት ከሆነበት ከኢሳይያስ ልሳኑ የተጻፈ ጦማር ነው፡፡ 2017፡፡