A Young Ethiopian Man Talks about "My Cultivation in Falun Dafa"

(Clearwisdom.net) I am a 19-year-old student. I took the college entrance examination from the Ethiopia Higher Education Institute this year, on May 2004, after finishing a two-year preparatory course in Natural Science. This is truly remarkable considering the course my life had taken in the past, and I am pleased to tell you that my many improvements are thanks to my practice of Falun Dafa and the immense compassion of our great Teacher.

Five years ago when I was in grade 9, my father was killed by his brothers. Before he died, he was everything for me. When my father died, I couldn't control myself, and I didn't know what was going on and what I was doing. My relatives sent me to a mental hospital, and I stayed there for about one month. When I came back home, I felt only emptiness, and I stopped my education and started to stay in a forest, thinking about the circumstances surrounding my father's death and how and if I might take revenge against my uncles. In the following year, 2000, I felt better and resumed my education from grade 9. After this time, mostly I stayed and slept in the forest, and I went to school only once a week or once every two weeks, but still the school let me come. Clearly, my life was still in great turmoil.

While I was in the forest I met a man from the military. He was a soldier for about 30 years. For two years he taught me many things, including how to use guns, some techniques for using explosives, and some techniques for self-defense.

These things may sound quite shocking to you, but this type of situation is relatively common in my country in recent years. I was against the government, I was against the rich, and I can even say that I was against society. If I had not found Falun Dafa, it is scary to think about how I might have ended up.

One day while I was in a taxi, I met a Falun Dafa practitioner from Germany, and he gave me a flyer. At that time I wanted to know who this person was, because I was very suspicious of him, fearing that perhaps my uncles had sent him to trap me. I wanted to find out about him. I went to his home, where he gave me the book Zhuan Falun. For the first three days, I was preparing questions to ask him from the book. I was reading the book only to ask him questions and to find out more about him. But I couldn't find anything suspicious about him. On the third day while we were discussing, he said to me, "Read the book, and you can get answers for your questions from the book." At this moment, I said to myself, "I have to read this book," and then started to read.

After reading the book once, I asked myself, "What is the use of revenge?" I asked myself many other questions, and I came to a new understanding of many things. After that, I started to practice Falun Dafa, and thereafter to understand more and more things. After four months, I moved out of the forest and returned to live with my family. I am very happy because I am practicing the Great Way, and I am living peacefully within the community. I can say that I have changed from non-living to living, and I want to thank Teacher for giving me this chance to practice Falun Dafa and to become a good person.

Two weeks ago I went to the town where many of my relatives used to live to search for a job. Before I went there, I prepared flyers about the practice and the persecution in China. I also planned to show the exercises to the people there. I stayed for about nine days. I have not found a job yet, but I was very happy because many people got the chance to learn about Falun Gong.

The German practitioner who introduced me to Falun Dafa and I are trying to translate the book Falun Gong into Amharic, and we are also trying to prepare different kinds of Amharic flyers. I hope that after the book is translated into Amharic, many Ethiopians will come and start to practice. I also hope that our Teacher will give them a chance to practice and to be saved. The below is an account of my journey to my hometown of Mughar.

On Sunday July 3, 2004, I started to get ready for my trip. I planned to stay in small towns on the way to my destination, my hometown of Mughar, and to distribute Amharic flyers about Falun Dafa and about the persecution in China. I filled my small bag with materials and some clothes. In the early morning on Monday, I took a bus and went to Holeta, which is about 45 km away from Addis Ababa. When I arrived there at about 9:00 in the morning, my bag was torn and became a problem for me. I understood this was a form of interference.

Then I went to a small cafe and repaired my bag, and I proceeded to distribute the flyers in this small town. Here I was also discussing about the practice and the persecution of Falun Dafa in China. At 3:00 in the afternoon, I continue my journey to Enchini, which is 85 km away from Addis Ababa. I arrived in Enchini at 4:00 in the afternoon and distributed more flyers. Here there were many young men in the age range of 15-25, who were interested in the practice, and we made an appointment for the next day to show them the exercises. Then at about 7:00 in the evening, I went to Mughar Mokoda Camp, where most of my relatives live. When I arrived there after a one-hour bus ride, my relatives were very excited and happy to see me after such a long period of time.

I told them about the practice and the persecution in China. Most of them were asking me lots of questions, and I answered them according to my understanding. The next day, I took information materials and went to Enchini. The young men that I met the day before were waiting for me in a nearby football field. There I showed them the exercises and practiced together with them. After that, I started to walk in the town and distribute flyers. At 1:30 in the afternoon, while I was distributing flyers, two policemen came and took me to police station, because I had forgotten to seek a permit beforehand. Then they asked me lots of questions and checked the materials that I had. They set me free at 5:00 in the afternoon, because they could not find anything wrong with me or the things that I had. I gave flyers to the prisoners and the policemen, and then I went back to Mughar.

On the next day, there was a graduation ceremony for the upper kindergarten children in the camp community high school hall. I went there in the morning and asked the director of the school if he can give me a chance to distribute the flyers and to tell the people about the persecution in the hall. He told me that I could distribute flyers in the hall, but I could not speak on the stage since they already had a program. I thanked him and waited until the ceremony finished. Then at 7:00 I started to give flyers to those who were in the hall. Many there asked me to show them the exercises, so we went to the football field where I showed them the exercises. On the next morning they came to my relatives' home, and we went together to practice.

After practicing I went to Wayu Boro, where my grandparents used to live. Even though the way to Wayu Boro is very difficult for me since it's only accessible by foot, the way was full of mud and very far from the camp, I was very happy when I reached my grandparents' home after traveling for 7 hours on foot. When I arrived there, I was feeling very tired and wanted to rest, and went outside for refreshment on a grass locally called Cheffe grass. While I was sitting there, I saw many farmers going to a house where an Ethiopian traditional alcohol, Tela, was being sold. I went there to talk with these farmers. The farmers inside were discussing their farms and other things. I went back to my grandparents' home and returned with flyers for the farmers. Even though the farmers can't speak or read Amharic, they took the flyers, promising to give them to their children. Then I told them about the practice and about the persecution in Oromic, the local language. We also decided to meet on the Cheffe grass the next morning.

My fatigue disappeared, and I went back home to discuss with farmers who used to live in my grandparents' home. I sat next to a fire, and so did the farmers. We discussed more about the persecution. On the next morning, many farmers and I met and practiced together. After that I went to visit my great grandparents, who live in a desert area very far away. On my way, I could only see the clear sky and sand, and nothing else. At about 3:00 in the afternoon, I crossed a large river named Sibilu, which I swam across. After traveling for a long time, I still couldn't find the home. I went to a farmer and asked him for help. He told me that he knows my great grandparents. He invited me to come in, and told me that I could stay overnight with him and that he will show me the way the next morning. I ate dinner with his family, and slept on Meded, which is a bed made from mud and stones, with an ox skin on the top.

On the next morning, the farmer and his family showed me the way to my great grandparents' home. After that, I got there on Saturday at around noon without further difficulties. There were many farmers there because there was no work, and I told them about Falun Gong and the persecution in China. Then I discussed with them and answered their questions. On Sunday, I took a horse and got ready to come back. In the morning I started to ride to my grandparents' home, and we got there at about 1:00. After lunch and some rest, at 9:00 we started on our way to Mughar Mokoda Camp. For the next two days, in the morning I practiced the exercises with the locals I had taught the exercises to, and later I went to the Mughar Cement Factory. I distributed flyers there and discussed with them about the practice and the persecution. On the next day, I went back home, to Burayu.