As life is not a bed of roses, passing through many twists and turns is mandatory. More often than not, people worry about tomorrow despite they do not know what the future holds for them in-store. The Holy Bible even says, “do not be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself,” Matthew 6:34.
The intended target of this writer is not to talk about the bible verse but to familiarize Dr. Gezehagne Hordofa who had passed through many ups and downs to reach where he is in the present day.
To begin with, he was born and raised in Welenchiti. His parents have got fifteen children. He is the fourteenth born child. Aside from herding cattle, he was putting up for sale eggs and gas time and again.
By the same token, he was helping the elderly in their homes by fetching water, collecting firewood, making a fence, giving some money and other related aspects. When he was a child, he used to play a rag ball and go for a wild swimming, went swimming over and over again. At that specific juncture, He loved with all his heart playing a part in voluntary works and making people happy in the whole thing he could.
He was obedient to each and every one irrespective of age and sexual category, most of the inhabitants used to love him with all their hearts. In many instances, he was dreaming of becoming a medical doctor for the reason that there were no doctors in the area where he was born and raised.
Most patients used to suffer a lot. As the medical centers were found in a place far away from his place of birth, quite a lot of people were closing their eyes never to open them again.
Though he worked hard day in, and day out for achieving a better result in the Ethiopian School Leaving Certificate Examination (ESLCE), he could not make his dream come true. All his efforts went for nothing. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry was expecting that he would pass the exam with flying colors.
However, he did not give up hope. He kept on studying round the clock to materialize his dream. As luck would have it, as he was able to score a good grade when he took the ESLCE in the second chance exam, he left for Russia. Life was not that easy. It was not as easy as falling off a log.
At that point, he was paid the Russian twenty
rubles. As his parents’ did not have anybody who could help them, he kept on sending money to them by converting the rubbles to dollars. For him, life was not that simple for the reason that his brothers and sisters could not stand on their feet. Having passed through many ups and downs, he was able to earn his Ph.D.
When he was in Russia, he had played a part in a certain organization in voluntary work for fifteen years. Then, he moved to Libya and embarked on serving in Ekiluber, a nonprofit organization. Unfortunately, he could not stay there long due to the war which broke out all over the country.
Subsequently, he left for Canada and managed to figure out as refugees were facing quite a lot of challenges. Subsequently, he made an effort to do the same in Canada. Before anything else, he opened a bar and embarked on discussing over a cup of tea concerning their problems and coming up with solutions.
As time progressed, he opened an organization named Multicultural Association and went on partaking in voluntary works and set in motion reaping the fruit of success time and time again.
Aside from creating a better working environment, the government of Canada was able to give him accreditation due to his success stories.
The Royal Bank of Canada is known for awarding refugees year on year. Among the 3000 refugees found in Canada, 25 of them are well-recognized through their contributions. Among them, Dr. Gezehagne Wordofa is one of the awardees. More to the point, he was able to earn Canada Governor Award.
The Ethiopian Herald Friday 14 February 2020
BY ADDISALEM MULAT
