a man on fire

Hi! My name is Abraham. I live in the slums of Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia. Today I am looking for a job in the city to live my life. My story is very common in Ethiopia. I was born in the Amhara region to poor farmers in the countryside.

With a country like Ethiopia if I was going to make it make in this world the only option I had was to study my ass off and get a degree. And for the past 22 years of my life, I became a bookworm and graduated in electrical engineering with spectacular grades.

I thought with this result any company would kiss my hand to get me but the reality was the opposite. Right after I graduated my parents were over the moon, I thought my degree would break the generational curse of poverty in our family. I was the only child so they poured everything they had to get me where I am. After a quick celebration, they sent me off to the capital Addis-Ababa to find a job with a little pocket money.

I was like a man on fire as soon as I arrived in the capital. I rented I dorm to set up myself as temporary accommodation and headed to the nearest newspaper stall and bought newspapers to look for job openings with an infectious enthusiasm. The stall vendor Kebede started to laugh out of nowhere but I didn't even look up I was staring at the advertisements section like a lion looking at its prey. My concentration got interrupted when I heard more laughter as I looked up I was startled because Kebede and other vendors were eyeing me like I was a dimwit.

after a week of the same routine. I was devastated every job I applied to was a dead end and the ones that led to an interview never called back. I was getting desperate by the day. One Sunday I was walking in the vendors' area and started to remember the first day I was here. I saw Kebede laughing with a man in an expensive-looking suit but the man in the suit was speaking to Kebede with respect and reverence after a little banter the man bought a political magazine and left.

I approached Kebede with caution because Ethiopia is a country if god forbid you went missing nobody would look for you. In a place like Ethiopia you had to mind your business or might find yourself at the end of an AK-47 and I didn't want get myself killed. After some hesitation, I approached Kebede to ask him.

Kebede was a man who liked to talk a lot but most of it was just nonsense. He spends most of his time reading fiction books. A man like him would never have a friend like that in Ethiopia. I knew there must be more to Kebede I just didn't know how to ask those questions.

Kebede was quick to notice me and plastered his usual smiling face. After a little back and forth I asked him where he knew the man. Kebede was surprised by my question after a little bit of pause he told me that he was an old friend who made it big in the contraband business. In Ethiopia the economy is like a balloon that keeps expanding from the outside it is growing but for the people who are on the inside it is a nightmare.