Sometime in
2015, for a moment before class I availed myself in the English Language
Improvement Center (ELIC) of Debre Birhan University, Ethiopia. I think the
center was founded by Katryn, an African-American Volunteer Service Officer
(VSO). As you enter the ELIC you see a small bookshelf. To the right, there are
computers which are connected to the internet. Students who were at the center
at that time were absorbed in the internet. There was no one who wanted the
books. As a result, they looked deserted, disorganized, and unattractive.
This
initiated me to arrange the books and I started the task right away. In the
arrangement, I arranged the fiction in one row, the academic in the other and
the periodicals below them. There was one book I didn’t know where to put. It
was entitled, “Left to Tell, Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust.” After
I finished arranging the books, I borrowed the book and left. For teachers, borrowing
was done by writing one’s name in a register.
I read the book.
It was a saddening read. I knew that the issue of managing one country’s
diverse ethnic groups was a challenge everywhere in Africa. Ethiopia is one of
these countries. As a result, I started to translate the book into Amharic, the
language of Ethiopia. The translation project was finalized in my summer break.
Then I headed to editors and people who could give me their comments. Many lent
me a hand including Dr Yacob Hailemariam, who was a prosecutor for Rwandese
genocide victims of 1994. He wrote me the foreword of my book in translation. I’m
really indebted to all of them. Self-publishing the book in 2016 costed me
around 2500 USD. The book got a wider acceptance and it opened my eyes to the
world outside of teaching.
For three years in row since then, I kept
trying to find out who brought the book on Rwanda to the ELIC. Katryn, who I
asked via email responded after a long silence and she said she was not the
one. Anyhow, whosoever brought the book to our place was a very thoughtful
person. Ethiopia needs more of such books to prevent the genocide pandemic.
A great
idea came to me after my friends and family members told me that mine was the
first book they read in their entire lives. I opened a library in Debre Birhan
City Administration. Alongside my teaching job, I managed this library. There
were four librarians at one time when the library had two branches. We are
really changing the situation in this city where there are only two public
libraries that do not have library programs other than giving a reading space
and access to books.
Ras Abebe
Aregay Library has been giving various services to the public over the last
three and a half years. For the future, we have projects that are awaiting
donors’ attention. Once they get donors, we can keep making history in central
Ethiopia.
ምንም አስተያየቶች የሉም:
አስተያየት ይለጥፉ