A journey of commitment between two sides of the world, Belay Tura travelled from the very cold Saskatchewan Canada, to the hottest spot of the world, the Afar region of Ethiopia. A Diaspora volunteer of CUSO International, Belay, returned to his native country Ethiopia after several years, with skills and a passion to give.
In a humble and often funny way , Belay gave details to the audience of the CUSO International’s event at Daniel Spectrum on how he contributed in changing the IT infrastructure of the University of Afar in Ethiopia .
He explained the Afar people as “the most humble”. The Electrical Engineering graduate of Regina University, Belay helped a young man to graduate , a young woman to learn computer networking . Above all, he rescued a 12 year old girl from being given away for an early marriage, something that is taking him back to Ethiopia. “I will go back and make sure that girl goes back to school. I will give her father whatever he wants and I will take her a keyboard as well”, he briefed ethiofidel.com in an exclusive interview.
Belay and his colleague, Mekbib Hailemariam ,who also returned after volunteering for NGOs in Ethiopia, described their volunteer experience as rewarding.
In its involvement n Ethiopia since 2009, CUSO International sent 20 Diaspora volunteers who according to the Public Engagement Officer of CUSO, Tina Sweeney, have shared their expertise in the areas of education, capacity building, health, accounting and livelihood.
Representatives of the event partners, P2P Canada, Ethiopian Association in GTA and Young Diplomats briefed participants about their activities.
For some in the audience, sustainability of the impacts of the many Diaspora volunteers was a concern. However, CUSO International representatives affirmed that they will continue to send Diaspora volunteers to Ethiopia. And some appear ready.
Belay already promises to go back to Ethiopia’s Afar region to work with the people he fell in love with.
Picture by Yohannes Ayalew of ethiofidel.com
