Ruth is my teaching assistant and she gave me permission to share her story.

Ruth is one of four children and when she lost both her parents she was also separated from her brothers and sister. She and her sister were taken in by an Ethiopian Orthodox man who had two wives. Ruth’s sister (to whom she was very close) was taken in by one wife and lived in Addis. Ruth meanwhile was taken in by the other wife who lived in a town outside the capital. She did not see her siblings while she was growing up.

Ruth recalls that she was provided for, but from the youngest age she was expected to work. The man had a souk and Ruth had to work there, sometimes counting money, sometimes unloading goods. She told me that she attended a school where there were about fifty pupils in her class; not unusual for an Ethiopian school. Her teacher saw her potential and realised that she had a good brain and could learn. One of them gave her a book as encouragement. Delighted with this gift she ran home to show her guardians. The man threw the book across the room and told her that homework had to be done in school and when she was in his household she needed to work for the family.

Ruth was brought up as Ethiopian Orthodox in the tradition of her guardians. However as she sat in the souk a young boy used to come in and read to her from the Bible. She used to ask him questions but would encourage him to go quickly to prevent trouble. These conversations contributed to her later becoming a Christian. When she told her guardians they rejected her completely.

Ruth went to live and work in Beirut as many young Ethiopian girls do. She worked as a house help and provided care for the children of the family that she lived with. It was partly through the youngest child that Ruth learnt Arabic. She describes a culture of hurtful, raised voices that she didn’t always understand. If she was the target of the harsh words the young child would run in front of Ruth and plead with his parents to leave her alone.

Later Ruth went to live for some years with her older sister who by this time had a dwelling of her own.

Rather than react negatively to this difficult upbringing Ruth is full of praise and thanksgiving for the protection that she experienced.

This year Ruth and I have worked closely together every day, sometimes attending a wedding or other social functions at weekends too. Language challenges have been frequent for both of us but we have developed an ability to laugh about them and move on.

Ruth is adaptable and learns quickly. She was able to replicate my phonic teaching methods with three children who arrived at Christmas. It has been largely because of her small group teaching that they are now all reading and beginning to write in English.

Every year the school allows an opportunity to nominate an Ethiopian staff member to receive special recognition. For taking on so many new initiatives joyfully, I nominated Ruth and she was delighted to receive the award. I felt that it was truly a well deserved honour.