Abenet is one of our writers in “Lions Roaring Far From Home: An Anthology by Ethiopian Adoptees.” In his new book, he explores in detail his life as a little boy in Addis, a time filled with violence and danger. His life growing up in the Netherlands had many challenges as well. His book is described as memoir, biography, and self-discovery: a powerful combination.
It is a survival story, and an immigrant memoir, through the lens of an adoptee. Again according to the description, the book proves “the human spirit can rebuild itself from nothing…(this is) an inspirational book that refuses to look away from the truth.”
Congratulations to Abenet for putting his voice and truth out into the world. We wish him all the best.
Roots Renewed is a new podcast, hosted by Tami Garcia, that talks about reconnecting to heritage, especially for folks who are part of a diaspora or have otherwise lost their connection to their original culture, language, roots.
Tami’s latest guest was Aselefech Evans, MSW, LSWAIC; co-editor of Lions Roaring Far From Home; international, transracial adoptee; and part of the Ethiopian diaspora. Adopted at six years old along with her twin sister, she was raised in Prince George’s County, Maryland, and now lives in Seattle.
Aselefech Evans and Roots Renewed host Tami Garcia
In this episode of Roots Renewed, Aselefech talks with Tami about losing her Ethiopian culture as a result of being adopted, and how she has reclaimed that culture, along with her Oromo heritage. She’s dealt with an eating disorder, raised a daughter who’s now in college, and reconnected with her Ethiopian family in Ethiopia and in the U.S. She discusses the challenges of reunion, and how different cultures intersect, not always easily, especially without a common language. She mentions the joys of Ethiopian food, and ways to reconnect with one’s original culture even when it seems daunting to do so.
And she talks about the groundbreaking book Lions Roaring Far From Home: An Anthology by Ethiopian Adoptees. Lemn Sissay (OBE, British-Ethiopian adoptee, award-winning poet and playwright) and Nicole Chung (editor, author, U.S.-born Korean adoptee, award-winning memoirist) are among those who praised the book.
All revenue from the sales of Lions Roaring goes to Ethiopian adoptees, for travel back to Ethiopia, or for school costs, or for rent, or for many other reasons.
It’s a great interview, well worth watching.
Full disclosure: Aselefech is my daughter, as well as my co-editor, along with Kassaye Berhanu- MacDonald, of Lions Roaring. Aselefech mentions in the podcast that there will soon be a fundraiser to translate the book into Afaan Oromo, Amharic, and Tigrinya, as well as an audio version of the book.
You can watch the podcast on YouTube, and you can listen to it on Spotify and elsewhere. Enjoy.
A federal judge is Boston on January 30 temporarily blocked the February 13 deadline under which Ethiopians with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) would be required to return to Ethiopia.
According to Reuters, “U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston said he would issue an order delaying the February 13 effective date of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s termination of the Temporary Protected Status granted to over 5,000 Ethiopians in order to provide more time for a legal challenge to be heard.”
“The case before Murphy was filed last week by three Ethiopian nationals and the group African Communities Together after DHS said on December 12 it was ending the TPS designation for Ethiopia, citing improved conditions in the African nation.”
“The lawsuit by Ethiopians argues that ‘DHS unlawfully terminated the TPS designation first granted to Ethiopia in 2022 by the Biden administration with just 60-days notice, even though armed conflicts there continue.'”
The U.S. State Department has issued a Level 3 advisory (“Reconsider travel”) for travel to Ethiopia, due to unrest, violent crime, kidnapping or hostage taking, and terrorism. These conditions are occurring primarily in parts of the country outside of Addis Ababa.
My understanding, and I am not an immigration attorney, is that there has not yet been a new deadline ending the TPS for Ethiopians. Litigation is ongoing..
International adoptees could, though, get caught up in sweeps by ICE or Border Patrol agents looking for Ethiopians with TPS, when and if a deadline for the status is reinstated.
Huge congratulations to Leyla Angelidis, one of our Lions Roaringwriters! As part of her amazing work with Open Hearts Big Dreams (OHBD), Leyla has written several books for early readers in Ethiopia.
Beautiful Dreams, in Amharic and English, was nominated for “Best Illustration,” and features artists from Ethiopia and elsewhere. It was illustrated by the wonderful Nahosenay Negussie, an incredibly talented Ethiopian artist whose work is on the cover of Lions Roaring Far From Home.
“The book’s message is that little girls can dream about becoming anything they want to be—a dream that Leyla holds for children everywhere.”
Open Hearts Big Dreams is a Seattle-based, not-for-profit organization that is dedicated to increasing literacy, inclusion, innovation readiness, and leadership skills in Ethiopia and beyond. Ethiopia is Africa’s second-most populous country, but tens of millions of people there are without literacy skills, and there is a lack of sufficient quality, culturally relevant children’s bilingual books in the local languages, including Amharic, Tigrinya, Afaan Oromo, Somali, Anuak, and more, as well as English, French, Kiswahili, and more. Follow them on Facebook.
Taken from OHBD Facebook site
They have won many other awards as well. Take a look here at the impressive awards. You can buy some books, from small booksellers as well as the big names. Spread the word about these books. Literacy changes lives—there is no doubt about that. Books are vitally important for all children, and I’d say especially those who rarely have them. This is a beautiful and effective way to support vulnerable children in Ethiopia and elsewhere.
Mike is an Ethiopian adoptee, raise by his U.S. Army adoptive dad on military bases. Mike settled in Georgia. He got married, had children, and ran various businesses.
Over 30 years ago, he got into trouble with the law. He served his time, and has had no trouble with the law since then.
As is true for too many adoptees today, Mike was unable to prove his citizenship, despite his dad’s efforts: documents had been lost, government agencies failed to respond, and his lawyers were unreliable and uniformed about adoption and immigration laws. Mike was deported back to Ethiopia in 2005, and been separated from his friends and family since then. He has yet to meet his grandchildren in person.
We started a GoFund Me for Mike in June 2023. Mike is deeply grateful to all who have donated.
Mike in Addis in 2023
A total of $5250 has been raised over the last two and half years. Mike has used about $5000 of it, so roughly $2500 each year, to cover rent, food, access to water, legal fees, and medical care. His other sources of income are minimal at this point.
While that $210 a month goes fairly far in Ethiopia, it’s not much. He lives a hard life. His efforts to attain citizenship have involved document fees, lawyer fees, and more, at U.S. prices. It’s been an uphill climb in many ways.
Many folks in the adoption community want to let Mike know he has not been forgotten. Mike has had a rough time in Ethiopia, though he does not complain. He had no friends, no money, and no work when he arrived 20 years ago. He’s done his best to survive alone. Safe housing, food, and medical care haven’t always been easy to find. He’s dealing with health issues now in his early 60’s.
Please help. Donations have slowed significantly, and inflation/expenses are rising these days in Ethiopia.
Please join me in wishing Mike a Happy Birthday, and donate to our GoFund Me. Please share the GoFundMe with others.
So many people support international adoption. Please support international adoptees as well, in this case a now-63 year old man who made a mistake over 30 years ago, and who believed (as many adoptees do) that he had citizenship (he paid taxes, he paid into Social Security). His wife, his sons, and his grandkids would love to have him back.
Mike is a good person. Adoptive families and adoptees have met up with him in Addis, which has brought him great joy.
As a community, I invite everyone to wish Mike a good birthday, and to send your prayers, blessings, and hopes that he might return to the U.S., which was supposed to be his forever home.
Many thanks. Amasegenallo (thank you in Amharic).
Please also support the valuable work of Adoptees for Justice, who have helped Mike and many other adoptees in positive, productive ways. They are a hard-working, amazing organization.
“#Ethiopia Launches “Journey to Root” Initiative to Reconnect Adoptees Abroad with Ancestral Heritage Addis Abeba –The Ethiopian government has unveiled a new initiative titled “Journey to Root” to help Ethiopian-born adoptees living abroad reconnect with their ancestral homeland and strengthen their cultural identity, the Ministry of Tourism announced. In a press briefing held on 24 October 2025, the ministry said the program is designed to enable adoptees to “learn, appreciate, and experience the country’s diverse culture, natural beauty, and historical heritage,” while fostering deeper emotional and cultural ties with Ethiopia.
Endegena Abebe (PhD), State Minister of Tourism, said during the briefing that the initiative draws inspiration from Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s earlier call for people of Ethiopian descent around the world to visit their homeland. That call led to the “Back to Your Origins” campaign, which sought to encourage greater diaspora engagement. According to the ministry, Journey to Root will organize guided visits for adoptees from various countries across #Europe and #North_America, providing opportunities to explore Ethiopia’s languages, traditions, and national identity.
The program is described as “a bridge of understanding and belonging” for those separated from their roots at a young age. Ambassador Fitsum Arega, Executive Director of the Ethiopian Diaspora Service at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the government remains committed to supporting all Ethiopians abroad, including adoptees, who wish to take part in the country’s cultural and development efforts. The Journey to Root initiative was jointly developed by the Ministry of Tourism, the Ethiopian Diaspora Service, the Addis Ababa Tourism Commission, Hareg Audio-Visual Production, and members of the adoptee community in Sweden, according to the ministry.”
Screen Shot from Addis Standard on X.
I hope this is a positive development for Ethiopian adoptees. It will be interesting to see how the program rolls out. Will adoptees’ travel be funded? Will there be access to their records? Will programs go to all regions? Will there be social work support for the emotional journey of visiting their motherland?
Beyond the many questions of logistics and funding, there could be concerns about the current security levels in the country, pressure for adoptees to bring more dollars (and other currencies) to Ethiopia as other members of the diaspora often do, and a rekindling of unregulated cottage industries that faded when adoptions were ended from Ethiopia in 2018. Adoptions of Ethiopian children brought in huge amounts of money to the country, via drivers, bed and breakfasts, translators, tourist spots, and more. Not all of them, including the adoption agencies, were as scrupulous and transparent as would have been hoped. The role of capitalism, the imbalance of wealth, and the impact of privilege all played a complex part.
I don’t mean that to sound cynical on my part. Perhaps cautious. And I am happy to be proven wrong.
I am heartened by the fact that members of the Swedish adoptee community were involved–they are an older (many in their 40’s and 50’s) group–and so they have an important perspective on this.
I am hopeful that this will be a positive, viable, feasible program for adoptees from around the world. Ethiopia is a complex country with astonishingly beautiful nature, mountains, waterfalls, and wildlife. Many adoptees have been unable to return because of the costs, though many (at least via GoFundMe and similar) very much want to go. May the adoptees who are able to travel there be welcomed back to their homeland.
I get it: Where people are starving, children are suffering, medical care and clean water are minimal, animal cruelty is low on the list of things to alleviate.
Balance that with the utterly ludicrous amount of money spent on pets in many nations. The amount American spent THIS YEAR is about $157 billion, for veterinary care, food, boarding, treats. It’s absurd, how devoted we are to our pets here. I say that as a person who has a beloved dog and cat in my life.
I believe animals should be treated decently, whether they are beloved companions, sources of food, part of nature, or used in farming or tourism. Decent non-cruel treatment should be the norm.
Anyone who has visited Ethiopia has seen the complexity of life there: It is a beautiful, historic, warm culture; also there are mentally and physically ill people languishing in the streets, often treated with ridicule or worse. Mothers and children begging. People without shelter, without water, without basic standards of life we take for granted here.
You will also see horrible things happening to donkeys staggering under heavy loads and beaten mercilessly, dogs being whipped, cats being poisoned, dehydrated horses being hit repeatedly and left to die.
Yes, the needs of humans should come first. I’d like to think we could help the animals in some way too.
I’ve advocated for many organizations in Ethiopia doing remarkable valuable and needed work for impoverished families, for vulnerable children. That work must be a priority.
Still, I am going to invite you today to support the work of two tiny organizations in Ethiopia that are making minuscule but important steps to changing attitudes toward and conditions of animals in Ethiopia.
A photo I took of a little street cat in Addis
One is EARS, Ethiopian Animal Rescue and Sanctuary. They are community-based, focusing on dogs, donkeys, and horses. They are working to provide a safe haven for suffering, injured, and abandoned animals, giving them medical care, food, and clean water. In Ethiopia, a relatively small amount of money can go a long way, so any and all donations will be deeply appreciated. They are constructing shelters for dogs and for the equine crowd (horses and donkeys), hiring staff and guards, and providing food to the animals: support is needed.
The other is Addis Animal Project-AAP, which is geared toward protecting animals and finding homes for cats and dogs.
Many people are fighting animal abuse in Ethiopia, from well-established veterinarians to folks who just believe animals shouldn’t be tortured.
EARS and AAP can use our help. Please donate. Please share their Facebook info. Keep the animals and their caregivers in your prayers. Cruelty is all too common these days, and this is one way to bring kindness to our world.
Mike is, of course, much more than a deported Ethiopian adoptee. He’s a very good person, husband, father, grandfather, an entrepreneur who ran a pizza place, a gas station, a convenience store, and more. He and his adoptive father, a U.S. Army Master Sergeant, both thought Mike had citizenship. Bureaucratic errors apparently won out. When Mike got in trouble with the law in 1991, he served his time, and has had no legal trouble since. Nonetheless, he was deported, alone and without money, employment, or knowledge of the language, to Ethiopia in 2005.
Mike does not complain about his life there, but it is very hard. He has learned Amharic, and he has found ways to provide food and basic shelter.
In June 2023, we started a GoFundMe for Mike. We’ve raised about $5000 since then, and that money has made an enormous difference for Mike. He’s been able to get medicines, and to see doctors for his gout and dentists for his teeth pain. The funds have helped with legal costs, including filing fees for documents and other attorney charges. He’s used the funds to get shoes and socks, as well as a water tank and water for his home.
If you have helped in any way, many thanks!
Thank you also to all the folks who have visited with him. Recently, a group of Ethiopian adoptees spent a bit of time with Mike in Addis. The young people are part of the Ethiopian Adoptees Foundation, and Mike loved visiting with them. Thank you to Mari and each of the wonderful visitors.
Thank you to the EAF visitors!
Visitors like this, plus the adoptees who visit Addis with their families, mean the world to Mike.
His efforts to return home have not yet been successful, especially in the current US political climate. You’d think a 63-year-old man who was adopted to the US as a little boy, who committed a crime over 30 years ago, who took responsibility for his transgression and served his time, and who was deported over 20 years ago: you’d think he’d be allowed to return to his wife, children, and grandchildren. That hasn’t yet happened. We keep Mike and his family in our hearts. We are deeply grateful to his lawyers. We remain hopeful and optimistic. We appreciate all the prayers and good wishes.
Over the last two years, Mike has been frugal and thoughtful about his expenses, spending small amounts on life necessities: rent and food mostly. He is always gracious and appreciative when visitors bring him socks, tee shirts, and the occasional bag of Snickers bars.
Please help us keep Mike’s spirits up. His health is fair, but being elderly and alone in Ethiopia is not easy. His legal costs have added up, and we are hopeful that there will be good news.
We have had no donations for 6 months.
If you can donate, that would be wonderful, Even small amounts make a big difference. Please share the GoFundMe with others as well, and please send good wishes that Mike can return home.
You can read Mike’s essay, “An Ethiopian Adoptee Deported to Ethiopia,” in our anthology Lions Roaring Far From Home.All revenue from sales goes to help Ethiopian adoptees.
We are proud of our book, Lionss Roaring Far From Home: An Anthology by Ethiopian Adoptees” for many reasons. Its sales have greatly surpassed the majority of independently published books. On Amazon, it has a 4.8 Star rating. Revenue from sales goes to Ethiopian adoptees; we’ve contributed close to $2000 to GoFundMe and similar to help cover school costs, pay rent, pay medical bills, contribute to homeland travel, and more.
We also have a 4.8 Star rating on Goodreads, which is wonderful. We have 15 ratings and 3 reviews there.
Many thanks to everyone who has bought, read, shared, left stars, and supported our groundbreaking book.
Thank you as always also to Ethiopian artist Nahosenay Negussie for the brilliant cover art. We are so grateful to our Ethiopian community.
It’s an amazing book. Please share it with others!
They should be held accountable for this little boy’s death.
Ethiopian adoptee Begidu Morris died in 2022 at 10 years old. He weighed 44 pounds: the average 10 year old weighs around 65 pounds. He was covered with scars and burn marks. He had multiple physical traumas, and certainly unimaginable emotional injuries as well–conditions that no child should ever have to endure.
Consuela and Jack Morris, his adoptive parents, have never been charged, though Florida Child Protective Services found that “the parents either participated in the abuse that led to the child’s injuries and subsequent death, or they participated in concealing the horrific abuse and neglect that he suffered.”
In other words, no one has ever been held officially accountable for this little child’s horrific death. Whoever is guilty is living without punishment, free, without justice for their crimes.
From “A Life Discounted: the tragic story of Begidu Morris, “According to the DCF child fatality summary, Begidu Morris collapsed at home in Lee County, Florida, on March 17, 2022 and was transported to Golisano Children’s Hospital. He was diagnosed with subdural hematoma, hypothermia, cardiac arrest, acute respiratory failure, retinal hemorrhages, and metabolic acidosis.”
“The CPS investigation concluded that “[a]lthough it was not able to be determined with certainty who inflicted the injury/injuries that led to this child’s death, it can be concluded that the parents either participated in the abuse that led to the child’s injuries and subsequent death, or they participated in concealing the horrific abuse and neglect that he suffered.” It found the parents Jack and Consuelo Morris responsible for Begidu’s death and for “bizarre punishments,” internal injuries, physical injuries, medical neglect, ‘failure to thrive/malnutrition/dehydration,’ failure to protect, and inadequate supervision.”
“Three years after Begidu’s death, the police have made no arrests in the case. The DCF Investigation Summary states that CPS was involved in multiple meetings, including with the State Attorney’s Office (SAO) and that
“[u]ltimately no action was taken by the SAO as the perpetrator of abuse could not be determined based on the information that was available at the time of their staffing. There were two individuals (the mother and [the brother]) in the home capable of causing the head trauma to the child; the individual responsible for the abuse could not be determined.
As the Child Welfare Monitor article states, “The lack of charges is almost incredible. If they could not have charged anyone with the actual homicide, it is hard not to understand how the parents could not have been charged with multiple counts of child abuse, charges that surely exist in Florida as they do in other states. It is hard not to ask the question, as one child advocate (Dawn Post) put it, could this happen if Begidu were White? The State’s Attorney denied my request for the investigation records on the grounds that ‘there is still an active investigation.’ But it is hard to believe that the police are still seriously working on this case.”
Share his story: do not let Begidu be forgotten. #JusticeForBegidu
