the yes! effect - can one word change the world? yes!

Not unlike so many people who use Western Union, I too am a regular user of Western Union services. For the past 20 or so years, I have used Western Union on many instances to wire money to my family in Ethiopia. In 1983-84, I turned 16 years old which was old enough for the government to take me to the army. I did not have the stomach to participate in a war where I would have been forced to possibly kill my first cousins. So I ran away. In addition to war, Ethiopia went through one of the worst famine in its history in those two years. I became causality of the famine caused by war and drought. After four months of travel to the Sudan, I became one of 24,000 people in a refugee camp in Easter Sudan. At age of 16, I had only completed grade 8 schooling. I hungered for more and looked forward to the day where I can go back to school. When a BBC documentary film team asked me to translate a few things at the refugee camp and they wanted to pay me with money, I asked them to send me books when they got the UK in lieu of payment.

However, what truly changed my life was a Canadian who said yes! to me. His name is Hal DeCoste. Hal was the UNHCR field officer for the refugee camp that I was a resident of. It must have been fate that I met him on his second day in the camp. We became friends over time and started teaching me, among other things, English and how to drive. He also gave me a job and a place to live at the UN compound. Although my life went from 600 grams of wheat flour per day to near luxury, things were taking a turn for the better. A nun from the US, named Sister Bridget asked Hal to consider taking me to his home country, Canada and he said yes! After nearly three years in the camps in Easter Sudan, I was finally sponsored by Hal’s extended family. Eventually, I made it through several processes and was on the plane to Canada. I arrived in Canada on July 3 1987. Within a week, I was in school studying English. I went on to finish high school In Halifax, Nova Scotia and eventually enrolled at Dalhousie University. I graduated in 1994 with a business degree.

My early Ethiopian education was not that great but it had a lot to do with why I ended up in Canada. The first day I met Hal, he was speaking to a group of young people at the refugee camp. Many of them not unlike me spoke very little English. But I was slightly better than they were and was able to understand what he was asking. Although I was not part of the conversation, as soon as I realized they did not understand his question, I jumped into the conversation and answered his question. That lead to him asking my name and the rest is history. Today, because of education, I have a better life for myself and for my extended family. I have also begun helping beyond my family through zorat.org.

Yes to me means providing an opportunity of a life time. If you make a difference in one person’s life, it has a ripple effect in so many ways. I see the impact of Hal saying yes to me in 1984. Since I came to Canada, I have helped many of my family members. Further more, I have managed to bring two brothers and my sister. One brother is studying engineering at the University of New Brunswick, the other is studying engineering technology at a community collage while my sister is in her second year of Nursing at the University of New Brunswick. Yes to me means giving back to my community and beyond. That is why I have begun Zorat.org to help students in my old elementary school in Ethiopia who have so little. Recently, we sent $6000 to buy chairs and desks for over 180 students, library chairs, tables and shelves. Yes to me means giving what you can not because you have excess but because there are people who have even less.

I believe I can inspire others by leading by example. It is one of the best ways I know. I truly believe there are millions of people who are more than happy to help and provide support. All they need is a person who can take the lead and provide a little bit of inspiration and a lot of hard work. I am but an ordinary person who knows that one person can make a difference on another person’s life. Hal and family certainly did for me.