ONE MAN’S CHALLENGES
My name is IbsaGuta. I came from the state of Oromia in the country of Ethiopia, which is on the continent of Africa. I was born in a small village called Lalo Igu, where I grew up. Before I reached school age, I took care of my family’s cattle.
When I was thirteen, in 1991, I started school. After seven years at school, I had my first challenge. In 2005, Ethiopia had an election, but the election wasn’t fair. Through a peaceful demonstration, we students asked the government to have a fair election. But the government arrested a lot of us and put us in prison, where we were beaten and threatened many times. I was in a dark room, and hardly ever got water or food. I was twenty years old when that happened. After one month, some of us were released, and I returned to school.
Two years later, I faced my second challenge. I was taken from class and arrested again! I remember everyone in class cried that day because they were so sad when that happened. I hope those of you reading this know how sad we all were.
I was taken to a prison called Maekelawi, which is the Federal Police Crime Investigation Sector located in the Ethiopian capital city of Addis Ababa. That place was horrible! I was beaten so many times that I became unconscious. The officers kept asking me questions I couldn’t answer. For example, they kept accusing me trying to overthrow the government, and supporting guerrilla fighters who were fighting for our freedom. Finally I was released on the condition that it was my responsibility to report to them anything that happened in or around my school. So I returned to school. I never lost hope that someday I could become a doctor, which had always been my future plan.
The third challenge in my life happened after I finished high school. I had information that the government was looking for me again. I was so scared! I knew that if they got me again, they would kill me. (When I was in prison before, they had killed WakjieraOlika, my best friend. Because of this threat, I decided to escape from my lovely country and go to Kenya, our neighbor country.