I’ve known Aselefech Evans since 1994, when she arrived for adoption in the United States from Ethiopia. She and her twin sister are my beloved daughters. Through the years, I have seen Aselefech grow and work hard, always staying true to herself, her family (around the globe), her heritage, her empathy, and her compassion.
She is now available as a therapist, and I have no doubts she will bring insights, understanding, and resources to those with whom she works.
She “leans on somatics (body-based therapy), meditation, and ancestral exploration while drawing from Cognitive Behavioral therapy and Mindfulness…tools which have transformed her own healing and sense of belonging.”
She is in the process of setting up her private practice, which is exciting. Meanwhile, she is currently available to see clients through Alluvial Counseling, taking major insurances.
Aselefech works with youth 16+ and adults. She has a particular interest and expertise supporting people impacted by family separation, adoption, immigration, eating disorders, racial trauma, grief, workplace burnout, anxiety, and depression, and those impacted by oppression such as racism, ableism, sexism, classism, queerphobia, and fatphobia.
Aselefech received her Bachelor’s in Sociology with a focus in Black Studies from Bowie State, a Historically Black College in Bowie, MD. In 2022, she completed her MSW with an emphasis in Integrative Health and Mental Health from the University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
I am, of course, very proud of Aselefech. Beyond my personal perspective, having an empathetic, Black, immigrant, adoptee, woman, insightful, knowledgable therapist in the community is wonderful beyond words.
Ethiopian adoptee Hana Williams (named Hana Alemu by her Ethiopian family) is buried in Union Cemetery in Sedro-Woolley, Washington. Her adoptive parents were sentenced in 2015 to decades in jail for Hana’s death and for the abuse of another Ethiopian adoptee.
Both had joined the Williams’ family in 2008, and Hana died in May 2011.
I attended almost every day of the trial back in 2015, and have blogged many times about Hana’s death.
Yesterday, on my way back from Anacortes to Seattle, I stopped to visit Hana’s gravesite, as I have done frequently over the years.
Hana’s adoptive family home in Sedro-Woolley, about 70 miles north of Seattle, was in a remote area not easily accessible by anyone other than those who live in the gated community.
She lived in so much isolation during her three short years in the United States: separated from Ethiopia, from the Ethiopian community in Washington, from the Ethiopian adoptee community here. The Williamses’ home was on acres of land, so the WIlliamses’ severn biological children plus the two Ethiopian adoptees had room to roam, though only with siblings.
Hana lived in a place surrounded by beautiful trees and blue skies, but soon after she was adopted, she was locked in a barn, locked in a shower room, locked ultimately in a closet, for hours and hours. She died from malnutrition and hypothermia in family’s back yard, having been sent outside as yet another punishment.
Now, in death, Hana has peace, or so some of us pray.
Her burial spot is isolated as well, which I find poignant at each visit. It took a long time for the family to get a marker for the grave, The site itself is distant even from any other graves.
Reshid Huth is a young adult Ethiopian adoptee from Afar, adopted to the U.S.. Reshid has returned to Ethiopia several times since his adoption, including a recent solo trip, where he met a 4-year-old cousin, Hassen.
Hassen has a serious heart condition called Tetralogy of Fallot. He needs an urgent, complex surgery.
Reshid has made it his goal to help his little cousin get the life-saving surgery he needs. A hospital in Addis Ababa can perform the surgery
Now, Reshid is working to raise funds for Hassen’s life-saving heart surgery, and for the follow- up cleft palate surgery.
Every donation brings hope to Hassen and his family.
And, it helps Reshid meet his goal to help. I am absolutely inspired by Reshid and his efforts to help his little cousin and family.
Please donate to Reshid’s GoFundMe. Please share the GoFundMe link with others. Many thanks.
Personal note: I am the grandmother of a 4-year-old, and I can only imagine what Hassen’s family is going through. I am also friends with Meghan Walsh, Reshid’s adoptive mom. Meghan is the founder of Roots Ethiopia, and a strong proponent of family and of Ethiopia. I’ve “borrowed” some of the language here from a post by Meghan, and want to acknowledge that. Please help Hassen; he is surrounded by love and compassion, and needs this life-saving surgery.
Recently she interviewed two adoptees who are very special to me: Aselefech Evans and Kassaye Berhanu-MacDonald, my co-editors of the first anthology by Ethiopian adoptees, Lions Roaring Far From Home.
Kassaye is a dear friend, and Aselefech is one of my beloved daughters. One is in Canada, one in the U.S. Both are strong, smart, talented, wonderful people.
Both also are powerful writers and speakers on the subject of adoption. Their two-part interview discusses the anthology, as well as their perspectives on adoption, past, present, and future. They don’t hold back, and that is among the reasons I love them so. In keeping with the ethos of the podcast, they are unapologetically unfiltered..
There are some 15,000 Ethiopian adoptees in the U.S., and many thousands more in Canada, Australia, and Western Europe. I am proud of the Lions Roaring anthology for sharing some 32 voices of Ethiopian adoptees, in all the depth and breadth of their experiences. Lidet’s podcast shares adoptee voices in another genre, and the rest of us are better for it. May we continue to listen and learn.
Heran Tadesse, another Lions Roaring writer, is also a poet. Heran was raised in The Netherlands, and returned from that diasporic life decades ago to Ethiopia, where she is teaching yoga and raising a family.
Recently, Heran attended events at the British Council in Addis with the luminary writer-poet-playwright Lemn Sissay, OBE, another adoptee in the Ethiopian global diaspora, raised in England, who frequently returns to Ethiopia.
Lemn Sissay and Heran Tadesse, Addis Ababa, May 2024.
Lemn did not write in Lions Roaring. He did write a lovely comment about it: “This book is all about connection, connection to story, connections to homes, to the many homes that one person can have, and connection between writers. Bravo for getting this book together and for getting these authors together. It’s important testimony.”
How compelling that these three have “converged” in Lions Roaring as well as in the diaspora.
Here is an excerpt from Lions Roaring by Kassaye. Her essay is titled “Hunger.”
“…For me, finding my family is more about my right to truth than about fulfilling my desire to be biologically connected to someone. I’m well aware that blood relations don’t guarantee harmonious, trusting, safe, or loving relationships. However, I believe we all have an inalienable right to know who we came from, whether or not we decide to pursue a relationship…I am part of a lost generation returning to Ethiopia with only bits of information about our families. Our Ethiopian parents, on the other hand, do not have the resources or information to track down or locate their lost children in the diaspora.”
Here is an excerpt from Lions Roaring by Heran. Her essay is titled “The Search for Home Within.”
“Layers of conditioning still to unravel have taught me to love my hair naturally, my dark chocolate skin, and embrace my past unconditionally. As Meshell Ndegeocello so aptly wrote, ‘My beauty cannot be measured by the standards of a colonized mind.’
…Living in Ethiopia and re-learning the language and culture were the next steps toward making me feel that I belong. Being in Ethiopia gives me the biggest challenge and the biggest gain. Neo-colonialism is also prevalent in Ethiopia, but the history, tradition, culture, spirituality, and pride are deeply rooted in the society, and heal me on a daily basis…”
Lemn Sissay haș written many books and poems on an astonishing range of subjects. In his powerful, poignant memoir, “My Name is Why,” he wrote
“Look what was sown by the stars/ At night across the fields /
I am not defined by scars / But by the incredible ability to heal.”
“I am not defined by darkness/ Confided the night.
Each dawn I am reminded/ I am defined by light.”
Cover art of Lions Roaring; Original art by Nahosenay Negussie
I am especially proud to share that Kassaye Berhanu-MacDonald, an Ethiopian-Canadian adoptee, has an essay included in the book. Too often, adoptees’ voices are not part of diasporic research and literature. Kassaye is also a co-editor of “Lions Roaring Far From Home: An Anthology by Ethiopian Adoptees.”
Gratitude to the wonderful Hewan Girma, Ph.D., and the other co-editors of The Global Ethiopian Diaspora, Shimelis B. Gulema, Ph.D., and Mulugeta Dinbabo, Ph.D.
Hana Williams died outside her adoptive family home May 12, 2011, from malnutrition and hypothermia. So many people keep her in their hearts, and always will.
This year the anniversary of her death falls with a special poignancy on Mother’s Day in the U.S.
In 2013, Hana’a adoptive mother was sentenced to 37 years in prison for manslaughter; Hana’s adoptive father was sentenced to 28 years.
Hana in Ethiopia, prior to adoption. May she Rest in Peace.
I often think of Hana. I am the adoptive parent of Ethiopian twin daughters, each of whom is now a mother herself. Hana’s brief time in the United States was full of sadness, horror, and cruelty. There was no oversight of her adoptive parents, who essentially isolated themselves and their 7 biological children here in Washington state, along with another Ethiopian adoptee (Immanuel, who is still alive). All of the children suffered, whether at the hands of their parents or as a result of the trauma they all went through. I hope they have found peace and solace in the world.
I often think of what we in the adoption community have learned as a result of Hana’s death. I don’t have any quick or comforting answer.
Today, I hold Hana in my heart. As a mother and a grandmother, I think of Hana’s Ethiopian mother as well, on this Mother’ Day, and on the anniversary of Hana’s death at 13 years old.
Marcus Samuelsson, adopted from Ethiopia, raised in Sweden, has opened yet another restaurant: Marcus Addis, located on the 47th floor of the tallest building in east Africa.
His other restaurants are in the U.S., Canada, the Bahamas, Sweden, and Norway. And now, Ethiopia.
Congratulations, Chef Samuelsson! The restaurant business is an unbelievably competitive one, and you have clearly risen to the top.
Marcus Addis, promoted as “Marcus’s first restaurant in Africa,” had its grand opening less than a month ago. The menu reflects “a fusion of Marcus’ world renowned international cuisine with an unforgettable Ethiopian twist.” There’s a Mercato Bread Basket, Fish and Teff, Addis York (fried chicken, doro wat, cured egg, stuffed injera), Mac and Cheese (with injera-cheddar crumble), Berbere Fries, and many other options.
This is an exciting, if complicated, new venture. Ethiopia continues to struggle with war, poverty, and famine; Tigray is especially riddled with all of that, and the rest of the country is certainly affected as well. The U.S. State Department warns about civil unrest, violence, armed conflict, and crime.
Ethiopia is also a beautiful, historic country with farmers, scholars, artists, business people, builders, entrepreneurs, manufacturers, and tourism experts. Ethiopia’s top exports are gold and coffee. It has so much potential, and is burdened by its erratic weather, bureaucracy, politics, inflation, and ethnic/tribal conflicts. Tuberculosis—a preventable and curable disease—kills 19,000 people every year in Ethiopia.
Marcus Addis will not solve those problems, of course. That said, according to this Semafor article, few investors have been interested in opening restaurants in Ethiopia recently, so Samuelsson’s new place may bring renewed economic investment. Samuelsson says, “I am proud of my Ethiopian roots..I want my new restaurant in Addis Ababa to be a vehicle for job creation, capacity building, a training hub that works for — not against — traditional local Ethiopian restaurants.”
Further, according to Semafor, “Marcus Addis will be used as a ‘vehicle to teach’ and improve local hospitality standards, Ethiopia’s National Bank Governor Mamo Mihertu told Semafor Africa. He said he hopes it will ‘secure world class training and create employment opportunities here at home and abroad while complementing the local hospitality sector.’ “
I hope so too.
An upscale restaurant in a fancy Addis skyscraper will no doubt create some raised eyebrows, political concerns, and negative remarks. Ethiopia has many real and heartbreaking challenges, and a new restaurant is not a solution in itself.
I’d like to think, though, that Samuelsson’s persona, accomplishments, and confidence about opening a new restaurant in Ethiopia will perhaps create some hope for Ethiopia’s future. Marcus Samuelsson was born In Ethiopia, one of 9 children, in 1971. Due to his mother’s death and the turmoil of the civil war at that time, he and an older sister were adopted to Sweden when Marcus was about three years old. His Swedish grandmother influenced his decision to go into cooking and culinary arts.
Like many Ethiopians in the diaspora, Samuelsson is among the adoptees traveling to and investing in the homeland. How his adoptee status will impact his work there, if at all, remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, here’s hoping for peace and healing in Ethiopia, for stability, clean water, and health care for everyone, and for literacy, economic equity, and safety. Ethiopian food is delicious: may this synthesis with Swedish cuisine be successful.
Hewan Girma, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the African American and African Disaporic Studies Department at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro. She is also a brilliant, thoughtful, kind person, whom I have had the pleasure of knowing for several years.
I am delighted to share two recent articles by Dr. Girma.
From the Abstract: “…this paper examines how the personal names of transnational adoptees can be used to displace from and alternatively reconnect with home cultures. More specifically, transnational adoptees discuss the loss, retention, and reclamation of original ethnic names through the lens of ethno-racial respect and culture keeping. Moreover, studying Ethiopian adoptees, who typically differ from their adoptive parents in ethnicity, birth nationality and/or racialized identity, will elucidate how an immigrant background and a Black racial identity plays a factor in adoptee naming experiences.”
There are so many intersections here for Ethiopian adoptees, and names play so many roles. This is an important article for Ethiopian adoptees, adoptive parents, researchers, other adoptee communities, the Ethiopian community, and more.
From the Abstract: “Based on 20 in-depth interviews with adult Ethiopian adoptees residing in the US, this paper discusses the points of dis/connection between Ethiopian adoptees and the larger Ethiopian diaspora. We focus on how Ethiopian adoptees navigate their inclusion/exclusion as peripheral actors across social groups, as well as the active work they engage in to negotiate their diasporic identities, belongings and personal politic.”
You may recognize the allusion in the article’s title to Outsiders Within: Writing on Transracial Adoption, the seminal, valuable book edited by Jane Jeong Trenka, Julia Chinyere Oparah, and Sun Yung Shin. The book is discussed in the article, as is Marcus Samuelsson, the global history of Ethiopian adoptions, and the lived experiences of adoptees.
One phrase from the article was particularly powerful to me, that the narratives of the adoptees reflect “a journey of sensemaking.”
For information on how to obtain a PDF of the articles, please leave a comment here or email me, Maureen@LightOfDayStories.com.
Thank you, Drs. Girma and Abebe, for this significant and much-needed research.
Frew Tibebu, who arrived in the US from Ethiopia as a refugee from the Derg via Djibouti in 1980, is now a successful realtor and social entrepreneur in California. Here’s what Frew had to say about our book:
“As someone who was a frequent attendee of Ethiopian Adoption Camp at Scotts Valley. California, in the mid 2000’s, I thought I knew enough about Ethiopian adoptive families and Ethiopian adoptees.
After reading Lions Roaring Far From Home, I realized how little I knew about the diverse experiences of the Ethiopian adoptees.
I consider this anthology by Ethiopian adoptees to be an enlightening, ambitious undertaking, a missing voice to the Ethiopian transnational adoption and to the Ethiopian diaspora experience in general.”
In addition to getting the book to Ethiopian adoptees and the greater Ethiopian community, we also want to get Lions Roaring to other adoptees. Our writers were raised in six different countries: Ethiopian adoption is global. There are some unique differences for Ethiopian adoptees, and some overlap with the experiences of other adopted people.
Cover art by Nahosenay Negussie
We also want adoptive parents to read the book. For those folks who live in isolation from Ethiopian adoptees, the book is an opportunity to hear from 32 Ethiopian adoptee writers, with a variety of perspectives.
We have heard about adoptive parents reading the essays along with their children, then talking about them together. There are some great conversation-starters in the book.
We love to see the book being read by folks with no connection to Ethiopia or adoption: everyone can learn a lot from the amazing writers, who range in age from young children to adults in their 50’s and older.
In less than two weeks, we will be presenting at two Ethiopian heritage camps, one in Oregon and one in the Washington, DC, area. We are working on additional outreach in a variety of places and groups. Thank you for purchasing and reading the book, and for sharing info about the book.
