metro >> On The Cover
Passover Of Freedom from page 1
At home with
Ellene and
Sophia Tesfaye
and their
parents,
Tesfaye Kebede
and Briekty
Araia
'Looking For Freedom'
When the government of Ethiopian Emperor
Haile Selassie was overthrown in 1974, 2,500
Jews were killed and 7,000 became homeless.
Just three years earlier, Kebede immigrated
to America from his home in Ethiopia's capi-
tal city of Addis Ababa.
"I came alone in 1971, with only $200," he
said. I had a friend in Saginaw, and I hoped
to go to college in Midland. But I wasn't com-
ing here so much for opportunity. I was look-
ing for freedom!'
In a country that was poor, Kebede lived a
life of privilege.
"We had property and servants, but my
father died when I was 4 and I lived with my
uncle who demanded he have control over
me," he said. "My life there was to work for
him. From grades 8-12, I worked in the store
from 5 to 11 at night, then I was sleeping
four hours and I would get up early and go to
school. I would clean the house on Sundays.
"My uncle paid me, but he still was the one
who decided what I should do. He had power
and there was no place I could go and work
in Ethiopia where he could not get me or stop
me. One day I wrote him a letter; I took the
money I saved and I left.
"I also knew from the military people what
was going to happen there': he said. "There
would be a coup, a civil war. I had friends in
the government who told me, `Get out while
you can. Not too long after, the military took
over and there was a revolution."
A New Life
Kebede's first trip back to Ethiopia was after
his uncle died in 1974. He went to see him
— and make amends — when he was hos-
pitalized in England, and then accompanied
his body back to Ethiopia.
While there, he arranged to sell property
left to him by his uncle.
"I had his factory and his business': he
said. "It was difficult to make sales, but I
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April14 2011
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