Tribute to Elias Beyene
On July 05, 2007 life time teacher, co-founder of ELDAN, true son of Jimma and Ethiopia, Elias Beyene unexpectedly passed away. He was 45. This is a very sad time for his kids, wife, mother, siblings and for all of us who know Elias. Family and friends all over the world, residents of Jimma and the ELDAN community mourn the loss of one of their best. Nearly four months since this tragic incident and all of us are still in disbelief that Elias has really gone.
Elias was visionary, a dedicated teacher, and a community organizer, with superb leadership qualities. Under his leadership ELDAN Schools made tremendous progress, student enrollment increased from 28 to over 1200 in five years time. Two beautiful campuses were built in Jimma and Agaro and the number of standard classrooms reached over 50. Over 100 administrative and teaching staff were employed. ELDAN Schools participated in town wide development efforts and introduced a popular news bulletin called “Yichalal”. This bulletin, widely read by parents of ELDAN students and others alike, served as a channel in communicating the latest ideas on how to actively participate in children’s learning. Elias was also instrumental in bringing volunteers to ELDAN Schools from various corners of the globe to share their experiences and teach foreign languages. Almost all of these volunteers remain friends of our school.
We admire Elias for his hard work and lifetime dedication to teaching. A day before he passed away he was in his office editing ELDAN’s Yearbook and leading final preparations for the celebration of ELDAN’s Day, which is an annual open school day always attended by many. In his life time Elias also loved literature. Besides several poems of his own Elias co-translated, some 15 years ago, a well known book in African literature entitled “The Beautyful Ones are not yet Born” by Ayi Kwei Armah into Amharic (we promise to publish his work of translation sometime in the future). Elias was also a believer in the spirit of voluntarism. He served as a board member for the regional offices of Family Guidance Association of Ethiopia, Ethiopian Red Cross Society, Jimma branch and Jimma Cheshire Home. He ably served as a steering committee member established to commemorate the 50th year anniversary of his high school Jimma High School formerly known as Miazia 27 High School. Recently Elias was working hard to establish “Rotary International-Jimma Branch” in collaboration with fellow Rotarians and friends from Western Europe and North America.
Elias will be missed by his wife, friend, and co-worker Kidist, his two boys Henok, & Nahom, his mother Hargewoin, sister Hirut and brothers Tsegaye, Fiseha, Million, Tibebu, and Muluaddis. He was predeceased by his father Beyene Alben and brother Debebe Beyene. His wife Kidist made a brief appearance at the annual ELDAN’s Day in Jimma campus on Sunday July 8th to renew her late husband’s promise to the thousands of children, parents and the larger ELDAN community. This year’s ELDAN Day in both campuses celebrated the life of Elias.
Elias’s funeral was conducted on July 6th, 2007 at Jimma St. Medhanialem church in the presence of family members, thousands of city residents, his school mates, childhood friends, and thousands of his students and their parents. The presiding priest at the funeral ceremony said to the mourners that “I can only imagine where we all could have been, if Jimma and all other places are blessed with a couple more of soft-hearted persons as Elias”, a testimony shared by many.
Personally, I met Elias, for the first time, thirty years ago in the basketball field of Jimma high school. That day we played soccer using the basketball field. After that we were called the “inseparable” trio, together with Mebrahtu Beraki, another friend of ours. We joined Addis Ababa University at the same time and graduated at the same time. We celebrated so many happy memories, we mourned together the loss of brothers in our respective families and we each worked together in lots of projects of “first” kind. Above all, we married two weeks apart and each of us had the honor of being the best man to each other. For the past six years we have worked tirelessly to launch “ELDAN Schools” and serve the community. When I arrived in Addis Ababa this past 5th of July, the “to-do list” for the two of us was long. He already bought me a ticket to Jimma and I was scheduled to fly the next morning. As a back up plan he also arranged land transport. Less than three hours after my arrival, I received the shock of my life when I received a phone call from Jimma that my childhood friend has gone once and forever. After another 6-8 hours, I was a pole bearer, together with other childhood friends, relatives and Elias’s brothers.
My life has been enriched by over three decades of friendship and brotherhood with Eli. A few weeks after his departure, I stood alone somewhere at the center of the vast and beautiful field at ELDAN-Jimma campus. The campus is filled with the footprints of Elias. My mind was full of wonderful memories. Once again tears poured down my cheeks. I miss him. I prayed to God to give us the strength so that we all continue Elias’s legacy and keep his dreams alive. Personally, like his wife and family, I am determined to honor and appreciate Elias by continuing what he started in life. Farewell friend. We will miss you forever.
Hello Everyone,
Some of you knew the person I wrote about below and if you received my updates while we were in Ethiopia, you heard about this wonderful man. Some of you are in Ethiopia now and continue to be my good friends. You either know him or you know about him.
A few of you are "post Ethiopia" friends of mine, but you are special people, and I wanted to share this with you too.
I am writing to tell you about someone very special...AND to ask for your help to continue the amazing work he did. As I write this tears trickle down my face. I just sent his wife, Kidist, a birthday card last week. Though you are all my family and good friends, I would normally not share something that is so painful for me (and for Eliot) in this way, but I want what this great man stood for to live on. I know it will. Eliot and I are still in shock at the news about the loss of a dear friend of ours in Jimma, Ethiopia...the town we lived in from September 2005 - June 2006. Elias Beyene was one of the first people we met in Jimma. He was married to a beautiful, kind woman named Kidist and they have two young sons.
Tina Malone from the US Embassy in Addis introduced us to him. He exuded enthusiasm about his community and specifically about his school, ELDAN. This school is well known in Jimma and there is a second ELDAN school in Agaro, a nearby town. It's a private elementary school that is very different from other public and private schools in Jimma...and probably in Ethiopia. Elias had a different view about education. He truly valued children, their development, the role of their parents in their development and partnership with the community. This may seem normal in the US or other western countries, but it's unusual for Ethiopia. Elias' philosophy was very progressive. He saw school as so much more than a place to memorize information and restate this information on tests.
Like he had done with many others since starting this school in 2002, Elias immediately recruited Eliot to volunteer at his school. Elias was very eager to have Eliot's input about developing the English classes at ELDAN. Though I was working at the university, Elias was politely persistent in his efforts to invite me to work with his staff on developing their teaching skills. I organized a workshop for his English teachers and invited some of his teachers to conference I organized for high school teachers. He was extremely appreciative of the small contribution I made. Eliot was immediately embraced by the ELDAN staff and students. They were very excited and appreciative to have him there and missed him greatly the few times he was absent. Many people understood Eliot's name as Elias, so he became known as Mr. Elias. Elias and Eliot shared a name while we were there and a very special friendship.
I was blessed to share this friendship too. Elias, Kidist, their two boys, their parents and other relatives became our family in Ethiopia. We were invited to Elias' wife, Kidist's, family's home for the first holiday we spent in Ethiopia in September. This was the first of many special and everyday times spent with them. I remember Kidist and Elias introducing us to special Ethiopian food, drinks, dancing and other cultural beliefs and practices. We spent much time at the restaurant their family owned and in their home talking about life in Ethiopia and the US and sharing our excitement and hopes for doing great things in the world. Elias helped me adapt and adjust to work and life in Ethiopia. He gave his advice and encouragement freely.
I remember a conversation with Elias in the last weeks before we left for the US about working together in the future on a project to develop literacy and build community interest in reading for pleasure, which is not so common in Ethiopia. We planned to coordinate to get books to Jimma for the Jimma Town library and for the children at ELDAN school. We talked about problems facing Ethiopia and how a small group of concerned, dedicated citizens could make changes. With Elias' dedication to his family, his students, staff, friends, community and country, it's not surprising that the motto of ELDAN is "Yes, it is possible."
Recently Eliot and I were in contact with Elias' friend and partner in the ELDAN school, Dr. Daniel Sahleyesus, who lives in Canada and is visiting Jimma now. We coordinated with him to give money for a scholarship. This was a promise we made ourselves and Elias and Kidist before leaving Ethiopia. Our situation was fairly unstable until recently, and I'm glad we were able to make these arrangements and follow through on our commitment to Elias, ELDAN and Jimma. It has not been easy for me to write this. I want to do something to help. I guess here in the US we send flowers and a sympathy card when someone we know loses someone. We might stop by with some food for the grieving family members. None of those things are possible right now and they couldn't even come close to conveying how we feel about Elias. I think he would want us to take action. Do something for the children.
I pray that Daniel, Kidist and others will find the strength to continue Elias' mission. I am promising myself that I will do the same. I will start my efforts by asking you for your help. I want to help ELDAN continue the work Elias has done. I will coordinate with Daniel, Elias' partner, to get these funds to Jimma. In Ethiopia, and in many other parts of the world, people deal with suffering and loss every day. They also experience joy. One of those joys is learning. Lots can be taken from people, but their education remains. With so many worthy causes, sometimes I find it hard to make a decision about who to help. It's not easy to decide which causes to support. You can trust that this is a very worthy cause. Please visit this website to learn about this amazing educational opportunity for children in Jimma. I hope that you choose to help us celebrate and memorialize one of the greatest people whom I've been blessed to meet in my life.
Jessie Hawthorn
1321 Detroit St., #102
Denver, CO 80206. |
