Join us on Shabbat morning for a talk from writer & poet Yikealo Beyene:
"Why I Translated the Diary of Anne Frank into Tigrinya"

On Saturday night at 8:00p, Lea & Jeff Mendelsohn will host a Q&A with Yikealo at their home (1463 Roxanna Road, NW). This is an opportunity to get to know Yikealo and to learn more about the African Student Organization.

Yikealo Beyene, originally from Eritrea, was a refugee in Israel for eight years. He won a national medal prize for outstanding students. He pursued his education in Israel despite legal and financial obstacles; he earned his BA in Psychology and MA in Organizational Behavior and Development from the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC), Herzliya. He developed an after school program for children of asylum seekers, co-founded an association for social change and initiated Bicicletta TLV and "Injera Farming." He worked for African Refugees Development Center (ARDC) as a community organizer and trained community leaders on non-violent movement. He moved to the US in 2016 on a family unification visa to join his wife. He currently lives in Seattle. He works for Fred Meyer store and takes part in Eritrean community events organizing in Seattle. 

Yikealo's life is a journey; he left his home country in 2005 after two arrests by the government. He spent about two years in a refugee camp in Ethiopia, where he volunteered for the International Rescue Committee (IRC). He also formed an art club, wrote poetry and played music. He translated the Diary of Anne Frank when he was in the refugee camp, but he lost it along the perilous journey to Israel through Sudan and Egypt. He resumed the translation work in Jerusalem and is still working on it.