ኤድሰን ኣብ ኣንጎላ እዩ ተወሊዱ፤ እታ ሃገር ናጻ ምስ ወጸት። ኣዝዩ ነዊሕ ወዲ እዩ ነይሩ። ብሰንኪ ቁመቱ ፍሉይ ኮይኑ ይርአ ነይሩ። እቶም ኣብ ኲናት ሓድሕድ ከም ወተሃደራት ኮይኖም ንኽዋግኡ ንህጻናት ኣጽዋር ዘትሕዙ ዝነበሩ ሰባት ከም ኤድሰን ዝኣመሰሉ ኣወዳት እዮም ዝደልዩ ነይሮም።
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.
ኣዲኡ ከይወስድዎ ስለ ዝፈርሐት ምስ ኣብ ፖርቱጋል ትነብር ሓትንኡ ንኽነብር ክትሰዶ ወሰነት። ኣብ ፖርቱጋል ብሰላም ክነብር ይኽእል እዩ ኢላ ሓሰበት።
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 ነቲ ውዑይ ኩነታት ኣየር፣ ባህላዊ ምግቢ ልዕሊ ኹሉ ድማ ሕቁፍን ምስዓምን ናይ ኣዲኡ ስለ ዝናፈቀ ኣብ መጀመርታ ኣዝዩ ከቢድዎ ነይሩ።
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.
ቋንቋ ፖርቱጋል ጽቡቕ ጌሩ ምዝራብ ስለ ዘይኽእል ዝነበረ ትምህርቱ ንምክትታልን ምስ መማህርቱ ንምጽዋትን ኣዝዩ ይጽገም ነበረ። ናብ ፖርቱጋል ምምጸአይ ግን ጽቡቕ ሓሳብ ድዩ ኔሩ ኢሉ ይሓስብ።
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.
ሓደ መዓልቲ ሓደ መምህሩ ኣብ ኩዕሶ ሰኪዔት ክሳብ ክንደይ ንፉዕ ምዃኑ ኣስተብሃለ። ኣብ ጋንታ ኩዕሶ ሰኪዔት ተጸንቢሩ ኣዝዩ ዕዉት ነበረ። ኣብ ቤት ትምህርቲ ተፈላጢ ኮነ። ኣዕሩኽ እውን ፈጢሩ። ዝያዳ ዓርሰ እምነት እውን ገበረ።
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.
ሕጂ ስለ ዝዓበየ፣ ኤድሰን ስደተኛታት ህጻናትን ካልኦት ካብ ሕብረተሰብ ናይ ምግላል ሓደጋ ዘለዎምን የሰልጥን። ሓደ እዋን ቁመቱ ኣብ ወተሃደር ናይ ምዃን ሓደጋ ኣእተዎ ኔሩ’ዩ። ሕጂ ግን ቁመቱ ንኻልኦት ውሕስነት ክስምዖም ንምሕጋዝ ጥንካረ ኮይኑዎ ኣሎ።
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.
