ኤድሰን የተወለደው ሀገሪቱ ነፃ ከወጣች በኋላ በአንጎላ ነበር። በጣም ረጅም ልጅ ነበር። ከቁመቱ የተነሳ ጎልቶ ወጣ። በእርስበርስ ጦርነት ውስጥ ህፃናት ወታደር ሆነው እንዲዋጉ መሳሪያ እየሰጡ የነበሩ ሰዎች እንደ እሱ ያሉ ወንዶች ልጆችን ይፈልጋሉ።
Edson was born in Angola, just after the country became independent. He was a very tall boy. Because of his height he stood out. The people who were giving weapons to children to fight as soldiers in the civil war wanted boys like him.
Edson est né en Angola, juste après que le pays soit devenu indépendant. C’était un très grand garçon. Il se démarquait à cause de sa taille. Les personnes qui donnaient des armes aux enfants pour qu’ils se battent en tant que soldats dans la guerre civile voulaient des garçons comme lui.
እናቱ እንዳይወስዱት ስለፈራች ከአክስቱ ጋር ወደ ፖርቹጋል እንዲኖር ልትልከው ወሰነች። እዚያ ደህና እንደሚሆን አሰበች።
His mother was afraid they would take him, so she decided to send him to live in Portugal with an aunt. She thought he would be safe there.
Sa mère avait peur qu’ils ne le prennent, donc elle a décidé de l’envoyer vivre au Portugal avec une tante. Elle pensait qu’il y serait en sécurité.
ኤድሰን ሞቃታማውን የአየር ጠባይ፣ ባህላዊ ምግብ እና ከሁሉም በላይ የእናቱን እቅፍ እና መሳም ስለሚናፍቀው ኑሮውን ለመጀመር በጣም ከባድ ነበር።
It was very difficult to begin with, as Edson missed the warm weather, the traditional food and, most of all, his mother’s hugs and kisses.
C’était très difficile au départ, puisque la météo chaude manquait à Edson, ainsi que la nourriture traditionnelle et, surtout, les câlins et baisers de sa mère.
ፖርቱጋልኛ በደንብ አልተናገረም እና ትምህርቶቹን እና የክፍል ጓደኞቹን ንግግሮች ለመከታተል በጣም አስቸጋሪ ሆኖ አገኘው። በስተመጨረሻ ወደ ፖርቱጋል መምጣቱ ከጅምሩም ጥሩ ይሁን አይሁን ሀሳብ ገባው።
He did not speak Portuguese well and found it very hard to follow his classes and the conversations of his classmates. He wondered if it was a good idea to come to Portugal after all.
Il ne parlait pas bien le Portugais et trouvait difficile de suivre ses cours et les conversations de ses camarades. Il se demandait si venir au Portugal était une bonne idée après tout.
አንድ ቀን አንድ አስተማሪ በቅርጫት ኳስ ጎበዝ መሆኑን አስተዋለ። የቅርጫት ኳስ ቡድንን ተቀላቀለ እና በጣም ስኬታማ ነበር። በትምህርት ቤት ታዋቂ ሆነ እና ጓደኞች አፍርቷል። እሱ ደግሞ የበለጠ በራሱ የሚተማመን ሆነ።
One day a teacher noticed how good he was at basketball. He joined a basketball team and was very successful. He became popular at school and made friends. He also became more confident.
Un jour, un professeur a remarqué à quel point il était doué en basket. Il a rejoint une équipe de basket et a eu beaucoup de succès. Il est devenu populaire à l’école et s’est fait des amis. Il a également gagné en confiance en lui.
አሁን ጎልማሳ በመሆኑ ኤድሰን ከህብረተሰቡ የመገለል አደጋ ላይ ያሉ ልጆችን እና ሌሎችን ያሰለጥናል። አንድ ጊዜ ቁመቱ የልጅ ወታደር የመሆን አደጋ ላይ ጥሎት ነበር። አሁን ግን ቁመቱ ሌሎች ደህንነት እንዲሰማቸው ለመርዳት ጥንካሬ ይሰጠዋል።
Now that he is an adult, Edson trains refugee children and others at risk of being excluded from society. Once, his height put him in danger of becoming a child soldier. Now, his height gives him strength to help others feel safe.
Maintenant qu’il est adulte, Edson entraîne des enfants réfugiés et d’autres qui risquent d’être exclus de la société. Avant, sa taille le mettait en danger de devenir un enfant soldat. Maintenant, sa taille lui donne de la force pour aider les autres à se sentir en sécurité.
