Addis Dump Story

In biblical times three thousand years ago Lepers were shunned and ostracized from society. There was no cure and it was very contagious so they were kicked out of their homes, they could not work, like dogs they were stoned and driven from the villages to be outcasts for the rest of their lives. This disease was like a curse and if you were a leper in Ethiopian Society 95 years ago, life was not good and you were doomed to die an agonizing death as bits and pieces of your body were eaten away leaving no fingers and only stubs of limbs left and often blind.

There were thousands of lepers left to fend for themselves and in

Addis Ababa. These groups of lepers dwelled in the trash heaps of society, rummaging thru the garbage looking for anything that was edible or could be used to make shelters and provide the basics of life. 36 years ago Tesfeye was born to leper parents and began his life in the trash dumps of Addis Ababa. In order to survive he had to be tough. He learned very early in life that in order to survive, he had to fight for every thing he got. There were thousands of people who lived this very dangerous existence. The older boys would always get to the trucks of garbage first and would get first pick of anything edible or wearable. As he got older he would lift weights and become as strong as he could. When he became strong enough he joined a gang of eighteen youth who became dominate and were always first of about a thousand or more scavengers. There was never enough to eat.

One day he saw a younger child hungrily eating a bag of food. Thinking he had missed a morsel of food, he went over to take the bag away from the younger boy and discovered the boy had been eating from a barf bag that had been amongst the airlines garbage. On another day the group of eighteen unknowingly ate some poison and a neighbour heard them crying for help and was able to give them an antidote to detoxify them but two of his friends died that day. Disease and infection were an ever present threat. Tesfeye had a throat infection for six years from a fish bone that was lodged in his throat. He was hit in the mouth by the door of a dump truck and this

serious injury went untreated for three years.

A young American by the name of Jarrett befriended him and after two weeks took him to the hospital where he was given treatment. An American Christian from Maryland who's last name was Welsh, nicknamed Trooper heard about Tesfeye and he sent money for the necessary surgery and partial plate that Tesfeye needed. With his salary he sent more to Tesfeye than he kept for himself and paid for Tesfeye to attend university. Because of this man Tesfeye became a Christian and felt that his calling was to help the people of the dump.

The dump has since been closed by the Ethiopia government but no relief was offered to the thousands of people who had relied on scavenging the garbage. Their make shift shacks made of recycled plastic have been bulldozed several times but with no other place to live they are rebuilt time and time again.

Tesfeye began Bethel Holistic Development Organization because he firmly believed the wholeness of the person depends on the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual needs of the person. He has married and has one child. He and his wife adopted another child who was left homeless when his mother died. He is now supplying 550 families with assistance 70lbs food distribution a month with help from churches in the US.

Devxchange is now involved with assistance in providing micro loans starting at $1000 brr to $2,000 bur up to $7,000 brr to enable people of the dump to begin their own businesses which can lift them out of poverty. There are 550 families being assisted through this program.

To find our more or how you can help got to https://devxchange.org/bethel