Zemi Yenus
Zemi Yenus left Ethiopia during the Red Terror, a time of violent political unrest in the late 1970s. She eventually settled in Los Angeles, where she worked as a very successful hair dresser. Once she was able to return to Ethiopia she was alarmed at what she saw. In a country where over 43% of the population is under the age of 15 and where one in three currently live in absolute poverty, many young girls have been forced to turn to commercial sex work to support themselves and family members. Zemi vowed to return to Ethiopia to make a difference in the lives of the young people in her country.
I am a leader because when I believe strongly and passionately that change needs to be made I get up and make that change a reality.
I opened the first beauty school in Ethiopia. Thousands have graduated and they have created others, and now we have many vocational training institutes, and beauty schools. I do not wait for others to do something for me. If I believe in something deeply, if I have a passion, I don’t wait for approval. I don’t wait for the norms to change.
Yagebangal is an Amharic saying that means “it concerns me” and this is one of the pillars of my organization, the Nia Foundation. In the past when you saw something that was unjust, you did not walk away because everything was everyone’s concern. Today this element of our cultural belief is almost lost. If people see a child, or woman being harassed in the street, they think to themselves it’s not my problem. I am working to re-establish our cultural sense of responsibility and caring for one another.
When I was 17, the political instability in Ethiopia made it impossible to go to school, so I left for Italy before gaining my high school diploma. In 1993 I came back to Ethiopia for a visit and saw young girls on the street as commercial sex workers. I saw youth without inspiration and I decided to come back to the country I loved to support it however I could.
I wanted to share whatever knowledge and experience I had to offer so I opened the Niana School of Beauty. I had many challenges. It was the first license for a beauty school in Ethiopia so it took a year of working with the Ministry of Education before permission was granted. Working with youth at the beauty school I was shocked to hear the issues they were forced to face. Even the youth from the more fortunate families had no one to talk to about sexual and verbal abuse they had suffered. I also found that there were many young women who wanted to join the beauty school, but could not afford to attend. I started issuing scholarships and working with non-governmental organizations. Many of the women I now train are former commercial sex workers. Now they are selling their talent instead of their bodies, and many of these young people have started businesses of their own. We have more than 6,000 total graduates and most of them are successfully working. They have changed their lives!
In addition to my work with the Niana School, I also established the first center for autism in Ethiopia called the Joy Center. I have a son with autism, and there was no place or school in the country to rehabilitate or educate him. I started to create awareness about autism in Ethiopia and inspired parents to talk openly about their child’s disability. The center I started with one child and 4 staff now serves 72 children with autism and other developmental disorders with a staff of over 40.
I really respect people who try to share and pass their knowledge to others. When I became a Leadership Fellow and participated in the training workshops LDM sponsored I gained new ideas and had the opportunity to share my knowledge with others. The training helps you see things in a different way and helps you to see who you are.
I appreciated the opportunity to train in the Philippines. It was an amazing, eye-opening experience. I learned so much from other participants and from the way the work force operates in Manila. The work ethic of the youth impressed me, it has stayed with me ever since and I often tell my students about how hard the youth I saw there worked.
I am always amazed and inspired by the generosity of LDM and the other Leadership Fellows. I am very thankful for everything that I get; trainings, shared knowledge and financial support. Life is full of challenges. How many of us look at what we have and ask ourselves what can we share with others? There is a big lesson there that has been passed on and I often ask myself what can I share with others?