A Journey From the Dumpsite to the Sky

Mulualem was a young boy in Ethiopia when he found it: a discarded boarding pass, crumpled on the ground after someone else’s trip. Most people would have thrown it away or never bothered to pick it up. But Mulualem folded it carefully and put it in his empty pocket.

“I’m going to travel one day,” he would say. None of us laughed. There was something so quiet and certain in the way he said it that you believed him.

But the road to that dream was not easy.

A Boy with a Boarding Pass and a Promise

His days were spent at Koshe, the dumpsite in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, sorting through other people’s waste beneath the heavy sun, looking for recyclables he could gather and sell.

Mulu shared that life with us through a video filmed in the garbage dump and in a previous blog post.

It was exhausting work, and the kind of work that can slowly convince someone that their circumstances define their worth. Mulualem refused to believe that.

A Scholarship Door

Then one day an opportunity came to leave that difficult work and pursue an education. With scholarship support, he was able to have his educational expenses covered. 

He knew it was more than a scholarship. It was a door.

“Now it’s time to shift gears,” he said. And he did.

He began taking greater care with himself. Every morning, he would wash and straighten the clean clothes he had, smoothing them by hand with a few drops of water before heading out even though he knew dust would cover them again before the day was over.

He was no longer willing to see himself only through the lens of a dumpsite. He carried himself like someone with somewhere to go because in his heart, he had a destination.

Mulualem graduated, has been working various jobs to save money, and now, just two months ago, he finally boarded a real flight.

The Flight He Always Knew Was Coming

The plane took him to Abu Dhabi, where he has begun a new chapter as a skilled driver with a respected transportation company. 

Not long ago, his hands were sorting through garbage. Today, those same hands are on a steering wheel, carrying him toward a future he once held in his imagination.

Mulualem never needed anyone to tell him that dreams could come true. He had been rehearsing his dream all along.  

Selam Terefe, Regional Director, East Africa

Selam has years of experience in international development and aid. Her education and career have given her a thorough and in-depth knowledge of the gender, legal, social, and political issues of East Africa with a special focus on Ethiopia. Selam is passionate about development in Africa and a strong believer in effective partnerships.