Languages spoken, read and written: Amharic and English
What was your family life like? I was born in Addis Ababa and I grew up there, around Shegole. I have two sisters and five brothers. Our father is not a Christian and he is not living with us. Three of my brothers and one sister are not living with us, but they are all Christians. Our income is from my elder brother and sister. We pay monthly rental for our house.
Describe your childhood community environment: I have very good friends who are very dedicated to God. And I think I have a good school, too. My main challenge is in time management; because of many different activities, I can't even have time to spend with friends.
What are some of your personal interests and passions? I have many interests, but let me list what I have experienced: maintaining electrical and mechanical things, listening to logical speeches, and being asked by others those logical questions.
What is your vision for your time in the Leadership Development Program? I want to build myself very carefully for my future. I want to study leadership because every Christian is a leader. As a Christian, I want to develop my leadership skills.
Tell us about your spiritual, physical and academic goals for the next few years: My spiritual goal is by any means to preach the gospel and to learn theology as much as I can. My physical goal is to have good physical fitness. My academic goal is to have the best and useful knowledge to serve my country.
Is there anything else you want to share? I want to lead not only by talking, but also by being the first in fulfilling duties.
How did you come to accept Christ as your personal Savior? My family are evangelical Christians, except my father. Since I was a little kid my mother has taught me scriptures from the Bible and how to pray. When I was 11 years old my Sunday school teacher kept telling us that it was the right time to decide to follow Jesus and, at that time, I accepted Jesus as my personal Savior.
What is God teaching you right now? God is teaching me His greatest love every day. Because of His love, I love others. Most of the time I serve others in a good manner and perform my duties passionately.
Describe the impact Compassion has had on your personal and spiritual development: I think God has used Compassion to shape me as who I am today through many ways, but the most significant one is through training in different life skills.
How are you currently serving in your local church? Currently I'm serving at our local church in a youth fellowship called Bezalel, as a choir member, and by participating in the literature club. We are trying to help street kids by collecting money from our church members.
Who has had the most influence on your life and why? My teacher named Solomo Teka, who taught me for five years in elementary school, has a great role in my life because he really does a great job in building his students' character.
What challenges do you think you will face during your university experience? The challenges that I may face can be peer pressure and sexual temptation.
What are some of the problems in your community? The very common problems of our community are economic insufficiency, lack of education, and lack of understanding children and youth.
How do you plan to use your degree and leadership skills to address the problems in your community and advance the kingdom of God? It is my dream to be a well-educated servant of God and society. I will do all my best to solve the problems of the community, and my concern will be for the satisfaction of my people who are not collecting a lot of money.