When I first met ato Kidane Alemayehu, I thought we were auditioning for a rendition of the movie, Odd Couple.
He was an Ethiopian and an Amara with a propensity of repeating the
all-too-familiar “sameness mantra” I’ve heard all my life; but one that
was unequivocally rejected by my own father and over twenty immediate
family members who have proudly paid the ultimate price for Eritrea.
I too was a product of
my upbringing who did not feign any qualms of expressing hatred towards
the Amara. Like my generation, I hated everything Amara, and took pride
in not being able to speak their language. I still don’t speak Amharic,
but as I got older and hopefully wiser, I am neither proud nor ashamed
of it— just neutral.
The first thing that struck me about ato
Kidane Alemayehu was that he is a gentleman through and through. His
nobility of character, decency, and integrity was evident; but, most of
all, he was very open and honest on all issues. I liked him immediately;
and knew instinctively I could work with him. As the founder of the
Horn of Africa Peace and Development Center, he was looking for a few
good men and women from Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia. READMOREV
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