My name is Kebede Awgechew Weldetsadik. I was born and raised in the beautiful rural kebele of Dode districts of Lode Hetosa Wedreda in the Arsi Zone of Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia.
Just like the above child … i was happy and enjoying the childhood play together with my friends …. One of the days of my childhood, we were looking after cattle
It was in 1995 E.C, I discovered something like an old-fashioned barber-cutter that I had never seen. However, it was dangerous … The thing we found was a hand grenade. I think the bomb was dropped by soldiers… we had no idea what it was
After finding the unusual metal material, we started trying to open it…. Suddenly it exploded…. soon as the bullet blew it away, it suddenly exploded into my hand. Then I dont remember what happened …. I remember little from the blast ……
However, when I woke up the second day … I was in the hospital room … at the Asella General Hospital … and I realized unusual pain … I saw hands were gone ……..
Then I cried and cried a lot ……..
By then, I was eleven years old and passed from fourth grade to fifth grade. My family’s sadness was so intense,
I remember the sadness my mother went through … she was sitting by the hospital bed and crying ….
my mother spent a whole month there with me in the hospital,
When my only brother, who has been studying in Addis Ababa University for over a month, arrived home for a vacation, he missed me and my mother at home.
Initially he didnt hear the truth ….After lying to him, they explain what happened to me …. then he couldn’t believe it,
but I will never forget the feeling I saw in tears as tears streamed down when he has seen us in hospital.
Everything was heavy.
I was bleeding so much that the bomb exploded in my hand, so it was important to keep my other blood. I needed four liters of blood. I got two liters of blood for purchase, one liter from a relative and one liter of blood from my older pregnant sister generously. Then, after much hard work, in 1996 E.C, Addis Ababa, Paulus Artificial Rehabilitation Center, an American John worked for me an artificial hand.
For the first time, I wrote my name in an artificial hand that I had been eager to return to school. Then I wrote to John, saying thank you. He was thrilled, and then I returned to the countryside after a month of Addis Ababa.
And the people in my countryside were amazed and welcomed my father with a hero. I got caught up in writing to everyone who came home. That experience was very important to me. I could write quickly with an artificial hand. Thanks go to the creator and I now own cool handwriting. In 1997 E.C, I resumed my favorite class, which I dropped out of a year.
Not all was easy, as I tell you. There were some who said that if he learned and acted like there was someone who told me, you would work better. After convincing myself that I must learn enough, when I first came out of that all-star class, I shook their head with the least amount of respect. I convinced myself that I would never get away from others.
Without fail, I passed the eighth, tenth and twelfth regional and national exams. I attended my secondary, and preparatory school in a city called Huruta.
Learning to stay away from family was challenging for a student with a disability like me for four years. It exhausted me most of the time but that was when I pulled the bitter sun of my life. I ate a lot of spicy food, three days of leftovers, but thankfully to God there was no pain.
In 2005 E.C, I joined Hawassa University to study my undergraduate degree. Hawassa University was good for most. I completed my three-year university courses in 2007 E.C with a CGPA of 3.81 in Human Nutrition. I moved in with my chosen family from a rural part of near Huruta city. I was misinformed, and people pointed at me and said they were nowhere to be found. I was so emotionally traumatized that time, that I would close the house and cry many times.
Then, some of my teachers who were teaching me at a university, called me Fikadu Reta, Addisalem Mesfin, and Menen Zegeye. I was so happy that the creator gave me these good people and I thanked my God. What seemed like an endless year passed away.
In 2009 E. C, I received a scholarship award from Hawassa University. Passing the entrance exam was mandatory, and the creator helped me pass the exam with great results. When the university offered me a scholastic scholarship, it was only my tuition fee. When started my education, became overwhelmed with everything but I had no choice but to convince myself that I should use this golden opportunity. Many problems happen, I have never eaten the whole one or two days repeatedly. But all my hard tests kept me strong. Thanks to the Almighty God, I was finished my second degree in “Applied Human Nutrition” with a CGPA of 3.53 and a thesis score with “Excellent”.
But finishing is not enough; I was not taught to stigmatize people who do not feel civilized. I can do any work. I knock many offices but all are cruel.
Uh, what is it for all mankind? Say no, disability is not my inability to give me an opportunity. Please do not limit it by work experience. I’m having a hard time right now. I am also suffering psychologically.
I wrote this today with artificial hands. You can find me on this phone for the people of the world by helping me with employment.
I am confident that I can work without difficulty … Please show me ways to go… Then I will travel…. just put me on a career …
I am sure someone will help me
My Current address is at Hawassa University, College of Agriculture, Human Nutrition Program
Phone number: +251913855996 or +25124649640
Email: kebedeawgechew05@gmail.com
“Helping someone while alive is a sign of guidance”
YessEthiopia 