Time for another episode of the Lernen to Talk Podcast! In Episode 3 I interview TEGEST ENYEW, the person behind the translations into English of Season 2 of the Lernen to Talk Show.
Download or stream on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/lernentotalk/episode-3-tegest-enyew
Subscribe on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lernen-to-talk-podcast/id1192172639?mt=2

Tegest is an attorney from Ethiopia who now lives in Chicago. She was forced out of her country by a government which felt threatened by the work she did to empower women in Ethiopia.
Tegest is the founder of BIGA, through which she organized over 3000 women into self-help groups of economic empowerment. She became a beloved figure among the communities she helped.
Before BIGA, her work with the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association led to the illegalization in Ethiopia of female genital mutilation, a harmful practice which is still prevalent in many developing countries. Learn more here: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs241/en/
How can a country which acknowledges and denounces such a practice then perceive a person working tirelessly against that practice as a threat? This is the question I try to wrap my head around throughout our conversation.
Often we hear about political refugees in a generic way. In this episode you’ll hear the detailed story of one such refugee who still loves Ethiopia and her language Amharic.
Thank you Tegest for all the work you have done for the Lernen to Talk Show, but even more for the work you’ve done for women and children in Ethiopia! You’re amazing!
Here’s a link to Heartland Alliance Marjorie Kovler Center, which is where Tegest and I first met: https://www.heartlandalliance.org/kovler/
And here’s a link to the Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago (ECAC): http://www.ecachicago.org/home0.aspx
Keep lernen,
-Mickey