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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
