Donate to help Author Girmay GebreTsadik

Let’s help teacher Girmay Gebretsadik who has lost his eyesight to help us open our eyes and has taught thousands of students. He needs medical treatment so he can continue publishing his books and sharing his knowledge.

Memhir Girmay Gebretsadik has touched the lives of thousands through his artistic and literal works as well as his academic teachings. He is the author of several history books. Not only did he work as a teacher, author, journalist, book translator, researcher, psychology lecturer, and historian but his talents extend to the realm of sports and music as well. He superbly plays the harmonica musical instrument, and he was a talented soccer player and a musical artist.

Today Memhir Girmay is facing an enormous life challenge and needs our urgent help. At this time, he can barely make ends meet in his daily livelihood. But what is much more concerning is that he is fast losing his eyesight. He can only see about 20% of what he should, in just one eye. He lives off his small pension, 1385 Birr (USD 25) per month.

He was born in 1945 (1952 GC) in Tigray, in the city of Adigrat. He went to Agazi school in Adigrat, and attended college at Bahir Dar University. After he graduated from Bahr Dar University, he taught in Inticho, Adigrat, worked in Nekemte, and at TTI, in Asmara.

When Memhir Girmay moved to Addis Abeba, he worked for over 10 years as an expert in the Addis Abeba Sports Commission. Later, he tapped into his training as a psychology major to teach courses on psychology at the Medico Bio-Medical College, Addis Ababa. There too, he was loved and admired by his students and colleagues alike.

Many of his former students have become successful in their professional careers and many of them serve in leadership roles. To name a few: Dr. Zaid Negash, president of Adigrat University, Dr. Belay Fantahun, WHO representative in Tigray, Dr. Gebrehiwet, a researcher, Mr. Oqbay Berhe producer of "Gebena #1& #2" and many journalists such as Mudu Ali and Ykum Haile.

This multi-talented and generous man also wrote more than 100 songs and composed the music for about half of them. The songs were performed by his younger brother Gebrezgiabiher Gebretsadik, a very well-known singer who played some of his famous songs in Eritrea back in 1974.

Throughout his life, Memhir Girmay has always researched and written about Tigray's history and his work has won many awards. His three most recent books are:

Asefa Bahta (keGNazmach Assefa Bahta - The African Che Guevara), which was reviewed in an Egyptian press.

Yesemien Atir is about the history of Agame and Tigray and explains how they beat the Sudanese, Egyptian, Turkish, and Italian colonial armies. It won an award.

Agame is the result of 30 years of research. It describes the Tigrayan people, politics, culture, tradition, food, and dances in a vivid way. It includes the recent archeological findings of Professor Catherine D’Andrea who worked for ten years in Gulo Mekeda Zalambesa, Tigray. By the way, we recommend this book to all who want to know more about some of the mesmerizing history of Tigray that may be hitherto unknown.

He also wrote and published three periodicals, each of which is about 100 pages. Among them “The Message of Agazi” which appeared in English, Amharic, and Tigrigna, was written for the Agazi Alumni Association.

His work didn’t stop here, though. He made many history books written in English more accessible by translating them into Amharic (A Guerilla’s Journey, by Teklu Abraha (Yesekokaw Zemen); No Diamond No Jewell, by Abel Leake (Wetatnet Mechachal and Amerar)) and edited 1000 pages of the Tigrigna Dictionary by Dr. Ambassador Kassa Gebrehiwet.

An African proverb says that when an old man dies a library burns to the ground. Memhir Girmay Gebretsadik’s knowledge is comparable to a big library. Some of his students call him "A Walking Library." Let’s do our best to preserve it for posterity.

Money left over after expenses for medical treatment will be used to reprint his books and support Memhir Girmay as he edits and publishes his five history manuscripts, among them one on Atse Johannes IV.

Contributing to this noble cause means helping ourselves and future generations learn more about Tigray and its long history. Let’s do what we can so that this knowledge isn’t lost but passed on to and cherished by future generations.

For those who live in Ethiopia and want to contribute, please find Girmay’s bank account details below.

Many have asked for a GoFundMe campaign for Memhir Girmay. Please share it as much as you can.

With gratitude,

Bank account in Addis Abeba

Girmay Gebretsadik Gebru

Commercial Bank of Ethiopia

‪1000205778024

‪

‪Mobile: +215 (0)935327555

Organizers:

Berhe Hagos and

Ahmed Mohammed Siraj