Tesfaye's Story: A Journey of Hope

This is the story of Tesfaye Negussie Anagaw. Tesfaye,which means "my hope" in Amaharic,at the age of 8 was struck with TB causing his spine to collapse. In 2003, around 13 years old,Tesfaye left his village in Gojaam Ethiopia on a journey of hope to cure his back. Through getting to know Dr. Rick Hodes I learned of Tesfaye's story one night in Addis Ababa in March 2008,and after a long process Tesfaye arrived in Vancouver on May 20,2009 for surgery to straighten his spine on June 12th.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

They say that in life timing is everything - it's not easy, but almost there!

Monday February 22nd and Tuesday February 23rd, 2010: If it's Tuesday it must be?

A couple of days before Nanci and I left for Montreal I had bad news of an impending 4 day Lufthansa pilot strike that had caused my connecting flight from Frankfurt to Addis Ababa to be cancelled. Then just before leaving Monday I heard the strike had been postponed, giving me hope that my flight would be reinstated; unfortunately, it was not soon enough to reinstate that flight.So after spending Monday night and most of Tuesday in Montreal before catching my overnight flight to Frankfurt, here I am dealing with a 12 hour layover as I wait to catch my late night flight getting me into Addis at 7:30 am. I did enjoy the benefit of some good timing on the way: I was happy to bump into Debbie and Michael Smith at the airport lounge in Montreal, even though I only had time for a quick five minute hello. Also, here at the Frankfurt lounge I saw Saba Batra, who is on her way back from India to Vancouver after a month in India visiting family. She is getting married in June in Vancouver.

As I flew here from Montreal I thought back to the short but sweet one day visit I had in Montrea, and I found a certain symmetry in the fact that there I was with Nanci as she was visiting her mother for the first time since Rhoda had her heart surgery last summer, and I am about to accompany Tesfaye to his mother Yeshi's village where they will see each other for the first time since his back surgery last summer in Vancouver (more details are in my post of February 5th below).

In any event, I am anxious to finally get to Addis and see Tesfaye, as well as Dr. Rick Hodes and Azmera and the other young people living with Rick, and my young friend Workie in Gondar, and mabye also get to one of the Spread The Love Project schools in the Gondar area. It will be nice to reconnect with Ethiopia and all of those people. I even had a chance here in the Frankfurt airport lounge to practice some of my limited Amharic language vocabulary on one of the staff, as I knew when I looked at her that she had that classic female Ethiopian face that you see in the centuries old paintings.

I truly am excited as I get closer and closer to sharing that reunion that is about to happen between Tesfaye and his mother and siblings; funny, That Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics glow and buzz that I felt so strongly and enjoyed from the Opening Ceremonies until I left on Monday, seems to be fading quickly. Although Ethiopia is far removed from the Olympic scene (though they did have one athlete representing Ethiopia in Vancouver), I will try to stay current on results as best I can and will be rooting from a distance.

Now I am going to try to sleep a bit before tonight's flight.

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Tesfaye's Life History

Tesfaye's path through life and mine have been very different, but fate has caused them to intersect. I met Tesfaye and learned of his plight while in Addis Ababa in March 2008 as a result of getting to know Dr. Rick Hodes and seeing first-hand the extraordinary humanitarian work he has been performing in Ethiopia since the mid 1980's.

Here is Tesfaye's story:

Tesfaye was born in the Gojjam region of Ethiopia to farmer parents.He grew up in a one-room, thatched roof, mud hut, which he shared with parents, four brothers and one sister. His mother and father farmed grains, mostly teff and barley. About nine years ago Tesfaye's father died, leaving his mother to farm and care for the five children herself.

Several years after his father's death Tesfaye decided to come to Addis Ababa with his oldest brother to seek medical care for his misshapen spine. His back problem began when he was eight years old, a result of untreated spinal tuberculosis. Growing up, his family took him to the local healer who blessed him with curative Holy Water, but the pain and deformity did not improve. By the time he was a teenager the pain was so acute that he decided to leave his village and travel to Addis Ababa in hope of treatment. Tesfaye traveled three days by bus with his brother, neither of whom spoke any Amharic, the national language and dominant language in the capital city. Tesfaye and his family are from the Agaw tribe, a small population in the north of the country that speaks their own language, known as Agaw.

They arrived at the bus station in the large market area, the Mercato, and went immediately to Black Lion Hospital, where the hospital staff told him they could not treat him, promptly sending him and his brother away. Talking to some street children Tesfaye and his brother heard that the Alert Leprosy Hospital may be able to help him. They went eagerly, but were turned away for a second time. The brothers rented a small room for 1 birr per day, about 0.10 USD and stayed in the capital hoping for a miracle.

One day a woman stopped them on the street and asked Tesfaye what was wrong with his back. He told her that he had no idea but that he was in a lot of pain and was trying to find treatment but no one was helping. She told him that the Mother Theresa Mission may be able to help him and described directions to the mission. Tesfaye went to the mission early the next morning and the nuns admitted him swiftly and without hesitation. For two months Tesfaye lived at the mission where he received tuberculosis treatment. After two months he was discharged from the mission but returned each day for the next six months to complete his eight-month TB treatment.

After leaving the mission Tesfaye shared a room with his brother who had begun work as a day laborer in order to stay in Addis with Tesfaye. To contribute to his brother's earnings Tesfaye began pushing around a wheel-barrow filled with various novelty items, such as BIC pens, Kleenex travel packs, sunglasses and chewing gum. He peddled-almost literally-his wares around the large market place earning between 5-10 birr per day, about 0.50-1.00 USD.

Several months later Tesfaye contracted scabies, likely a result of squalid living conditions, and went to the mission to ask the nuns for treatment. He was given the proper medication and was on his way out of the compound when another nun stopped him and asked him if he knew a Dr. Rick. Tesfaye replied that he did not know any doctors, especially not a faranje-or white-one. The sister told him to return the following Saturday to meet Dr. Rick, who, she explained, helped Ethiopians with bad spines. Tesfaye came early Saturday morning and waited patiently for his turn to meet with Dr. Rick, during his usual Saturday morning clinic. Dr. Rick not only accepted Tesfaye as a spine patient but later invited him to live in his home and send him to school.

In late 2006, Tesfaye traveled to Ghana with a group of eight other spine patients to be examined by renowned Ghanian surgeon Dr. Oheneba Boachie. Dr.

Boachie felt that Tesfaye was operable, and asked him to return in 6 months. On return, he was not operated due to lack of a ventilator. On a third trip, the Ghanian anesthesiologists would not anesthetize Tesfaye, and surgery was not performed. Dr. Boachie's FOCOS staff was highly impressed with Tesfaye's attitude, and the help he constantly gave to the other Ethiopian spine patients. Disheartened, he gave up and resigned himself to the fate of living his life with a back shaped like a Brontosaurus or Quasimodo.

In the world of Rick's house, Tesfaye is everyone's favorite person, if he were to run for office, it most certainly be a landslide victory. Tesfaye is kind, patient and helpful. He is always doing his homework or helping the younger children with theirs. In anticipation of his trip to Canada Tesfaye has been diligently attending English class four days a week to supplement his 5th grade curriculum. I asked Tesfaye what he is most excited and nervous about for his trip. He answered that he is most nervous about people making fun of his back and that he is most excited about being with people who show him love.

Last fall I took a social history of each of the children living in Rick's house, Tesfaye politely told me, "I do not want to talk about my history until I know what the ending will be, I still hope thanks to God, and Dr. Rick, that my back may be healed." Now, we pray, that time has come, and so, Tesfaye has shared his story with me. We all look forward to discovering the end of the story. I know he will live happily ever after.

by Chloe Malle

Note: Over the period 2008/2009 Chloe spent a year living in Ethiopia helping Dr. Rick Hodes carry out his work. Chloe was recently featured in the January 2010 issue of Vanity Fair:Chloe Malle, Bright Young Thing Entertainment & Culture: vanityfair.com

Donations in support of Dr. Rick Hode's humanitarian work in Ethiopia

Donations to support Dr. Rick Hodes’ humanitarian work in Ethiopia (which are eligible for a Canadian donation tax receipt) can be directed to:

Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver
200-950 West 41st Avenue
Vancouver, BC V5Z 2N7
Tel.604-257-5100

Instructions should be provided with payment to direct the donation to support the JDC/Dr.Rick Hodes humanitarian relief efforts in Ethiopia. 100% of the funds so directed go to Ethiopia to support those efforts.

JDC (American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee) is an international relief agency which provides non-sectarian relief to Jews and non-Jews in more than 60 countries around the world, and which has been active in Ethiopia for several decades. http://www.jdc.org

Tesfaye's Story: A Journey of Hope

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

They say that in life timing is everything - it's not easy, but almost there!

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Tesfaye in Vancouver pre-surgery

Tesfaye,Gary and Stephi on Granville Island

PRE-SURGERY DAYS IN VANCOUVER

Tesfaye with Haley eating Japanese sushi and using chopsticks for first time