My life story

Since 2006 when I immigrated to the United States of America with a family visa, I have called Kansas City metro area home. I currently live in Overland Park, a beautiful Kansas City suburb and the second largest city in the State of Kansas. Have you noticed how courteous the drivers are in the Kansas City metro? Next time you run into an aggressive driver on the road (I know you will), take a closer look at their licese plate. Chances are they are out of state. If you are like me, you also like this city for its country-side appearance - lots of lots of trees. Some people point out the city's numerous fountains (They say only Rome beats KC in number of fountains).

Prior to my move to the western hemisphere, I have spent seven years in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. You could say that is where I grew up. I have completed my Bachelor degree in Computer Science there. I have made tons of teenage and campus life memories there. I vividly remember when we had to take turns for a single textbook in the library that each student was allowed to borrow for just one hour. No kidding. Addis Ababa is a city I am still attached to (albeit its horrible transportation). I still remember the first day I landed in the Addis Ababa airport. I flew to Addis Ababa with my dad from the Kebri Dahar airport. It was chilly Friday afternoon. I used to the mild to hot weather in the Eastern Hararge (Where I originally come from) and border towns across the Ethiopian/Somali border. Addis Ababa's cold weather hit me like a breeze but I loved it. To this day, I prefer the cloudy, somewhat cold 40- to 45-degree weather. In Kansas City, that is about the weather we get in April and May.

Access to education is something that is close to my heart. Remember my textbook shortage remark? What if we have had more textbooks? I have seen countries that spend billions of dollars on foreign aid that goes to foreign militaries in order to gain political influence. What if a very small portion of that would be used to give kids in developing countries access to education? What if we had more and more charities that are focused on promoting education? I know the importance of education and how significant it can change lives. I try to do my part in making sure that we slowly improve kids' chances to go to school and set them up for success.