Subject: Profile of the Executive Director.
Berhanu Belay Wondimagegne
[All dates are stated according to the Ethiopian Calendar unless expressly indicated otherwise.]
Profile
Date of birth
Place of birth: Harer;
Date of birth: Senie 15 1940/1948; Special condition: loss of vision at about seven years of age; Occupation: history teacher from Tir 1968 to Senie 30 1999;
Educational Background:
entered the special School for the Blind opened by Emperor Haile-Selassie I in 1952 [GC] joining the School sometime in 1954 and attended the School until he was transferred to the newly constructed Haile-Selassie I special school for the blind at Sebeta about 25 kilometers southwest of Addis Ababa where he completed grades 7 and 8; then joined Kokebe-Tsibah High School and successfully completed grade 12 and entered Addis Ababa University where he joined the Arts Faculty, Social Department where he graduated with a BA degree in Social Work in 1968. In the same year, he was assigned to teach history in Harer where he taught until 1974 mostly as Head of the History Department. InTir of 1974, he was assigned as the Administrator of the Ethiopian National Association of the Blind [Enab] where he served for six months and returned to his teaching profession to Diretdawa and became head of the History Department. He also acted as choir organizer and gospel preacher as well as church elder.
In addition, he was assigned to manage the branch office of the Ethiopian National Association of the Blind [ENAB] where he did a lot to improve the life of the blind there by collecting uneducated blind boys and girls and giving them Braille literacy lessons and helping them to join schools when they successfully completed the Braille literacy lessons, providing them with the necessary assistive materials including white canes. Besides, he contacted different governmental and non-governmental institutions , including an international organ and requested them to provide wheat and others items of foodstuff. He succeeded in obtaining a considerable amount of wheat and other types of grain as well as clothing which he distributed to blind residents in Diredawa. He served there until he was transferred to Medhanialem High School in Addis Ababa at the beginning of 1992 and served as head of the History Department until he retired in 1999 to concentrate on his role as head of the Braille Transcription Department of Adaptive Technology for the Blind [ATCB] founded by TamruEwnetu and others in 1992. Later on, he was appointed as Deputy Manager of ATCB and served in this capacity until he resigned in Miziya of 2005 due to unfavorable conditions created by the General Manager. Sometime later, he was invited by the founders of Together Civil Society Organization [Together] to join them. He accepted the offer and served in different capacities. Lastly, he was elected by the Management Board to serve the Organization as its Executive Director and is still serving in this capacity.
Side by side, his regular or normal duties and responsibilities, he has been coordinating the distribution of the bible or parts thereof, by means of audio devices, for quite a long time to all members of persons with visual disabilities without distinction among all denominations: whether Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, or any other sect.
Members of the community at large, that desire to use the audio devices have been beyond the scope of the coordinating and distributing process. Even those with the slightest eye problem want to avail from the audio devices.
Moreover, he has also been active in coordinating the importing of white canes, Braille magazines as well as other beneficial devices and materials useful for persons with visual disabilities.
In 2007, he established with others, the Zenawengel Ministry and serves as its General Manager since its inception and has been responsible for providing both spiritual and social services both to members of the disadvantaged community, in particular, the blind and their dependents as well as those that are in in need of getting the good news of the Gospel.
What is more, Berhanu Belay, in 1964, co-founded with Ato Amare Asfaw the German Church School where blind persons collected from the streets were taught Braille and given other basic education assisted by: Kesis Solomon Gebre Selassie, from the Orthodox Church, Mr. Vandel, from the German Church and Rev. ItefaGobena from the Bethel Church by providing service to train the blind trainees in turns. Those trainees that were young and successful in their studies were admitted to different special schools such as Sebeta School for the Blind and Bako School for the Blind.
On the other hand, older blind persons were admitted to a production center constructed on a piece of land given by the German Church. This later became Hope for the Blind Vocational Training Center which became a separate entity.
Moreover, the German Church Braille Training Center opened the way for the establishment of the Misrach Rehabilitation and Vocational Training Center which has been serving persons with all sorts of disabilities, besides blind people.
Moreover, he has also been active in coordinating the importing of white canes, Braille magazines as well as other beneficial devices and materials useful for persons with visual disabilities.
What is more, Berhanu Belay was elected as manager of SRBH, [Society for the Rehabilitation of the Blind and the Handicapped or persons with other disabilities] a production center for the rehabilitation of persons with visual and other disabilities. Later on, the production center was divided into two sections: No. 1 production center and the second, Hope for the Blind Rehabilitation Center.
Berhanu Belay is currently serving as board member of Misrach Rehabilitation and Vocational Training Center, having been elected in Tir of 2016.
Since recently, persons with visual disabilities including: university graduates, but unemployed, high school graduates, whether employed or unemployed, single or married mothers, have been coming to the headquarters of Together from all directions looking for Berhanu Belay to request him either financial or material support as well as seeking for advice.
He has been endeavoring to satisfy their respective needs to the best of his ability by coordinating support from different sources and his own Organization. Of course, the diversity, complexity vastness of the problems or hardships faced by persons with disabilities cannot be tackled by a single person, institution, consortium or government.