History
The Swedish Philadelphia Church Mission opened a mission in this town in 1961, which included a medical clinic.
The Wondo Genet hotel was established in 1964, on land used as recreation site for the royal family until 1975. Emperor Haile Selassie bequeathed its name, meaning "Wondo Paradise", in reference to the beautiful panorama with a rich endowment of forests, wildlife and abundant water. Title to the hotel was transferred to the then Hotels Corporation, and currently it is a subsidiary of the Wabe Shebelle Hotels Enterprise. The hotel facilities include 54.4 ha area of land and possesses 40 bed rooms, restaurant and a bar, as well as swimming pools and access to the hot springs.
The Wendo Genet earthquake of 1983 was among the most significant in Ethiopia in the 20th century. Its magnitude has not been determined, but was severe enough that the frightened inhabitants gathered at the Ethiopian Orthodox church below the hotel to sing and pray the whole day and the whole night. A later disaster was a complex of forest fires which erupted in 17 places in southern Ethiopia on 10 February 2000 including the vicinity of the College.
On 3 April 2008, 18 people were killed in clashes near Wondo Genet between the Guji Oromo and Sidama people over ownership to grazing and farm land.
Read more about this topic: Wondo Genet
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Properly speaking, history is nothing but the crimes and misfortunes of the human race.”
—Pierre Bayle (1647–1706)
“It may be well to remember that the highest level of moral aspiration recorded in history was reached by a few ancient Jews—Micah, Isaiah, and the rest—who took no count whatever of what might not happen to them after death. It is not obvious to me why the same point should not by and by be reached by the Gentiles.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)
“Let it suffice that in the light of these two facts, namely, that the mind is One, and that nature is its correlative, history is to be read and written.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)