Jember Teferra: a most remarkable woman by Sheila Johnson

 

 

The book I have been busy editing over a number of years in collaboration with Arthur Champion, arrived yesterday in several boxes

This is a picture of Dr Jember Teferra. You could say a very ordinary lady from Ethiopia, why write a book about her?

But Jember wasn't any ordinary Ethiopian woman. Firstly, she was the niece of the last Ethiopian royal ruler, Hallie Selassis. But that isn't all. Under the communist regime of the 1980's both Jember and her husband, Haliegiorgis, were imprisoned, even though they had small children at the time. You might say, well, I expect thousands of others were also imprisoned at that time and yes, that would be true. But the difference lies in Jember and her faith in God.  

 “I cannot put blinkers on and ignore what I see around me – it is not making me comfortable.  I feel that God has not meant human beings to be so degraded living lives worse than that of a stray dog.  These people don’t have access to the most basic human needs.  Many live in simple cardboard shelters which give them no protection against the elements.  A lot of the children don’t have any time for schooling, having to work four to five hours a day.  Young people are often forced into taking up a life of crime on the streets and the old beg.”

Jember saw the poor of her city all around her and wanted to do something to help them. She began addressing the needs of these people by providing housing, sanitation, medical care, education and employment for the people. Giving them a way of helping themselves and bringing these funding needs to various charitable organisations.

 

What a contrast from the old to the new!

Some of this funding initially came  from Bob Geldof and Live Aid, Comic Relief, and other organisations in the US and the UK. One of the main funding bodies was the church we joined in Cheltenham this was partly due to a personal connection of Jember's with the leader's wife who she had been at school with in the UK.

In conclusion, I feel very proud to be able to put my name to this book. It isn’t my book, I simply edited the Bible reflections of Jember as she humbly went about her work. She would hate the fact that her name is on the front cover because she always believed that the work was God’s work and not hers, but without her, thousands of poor people in Addis Ababa would still be living in abject conditions. This book is a tribute to this wonderful lady and tells her life story, which is also reflected within the various passages chosen.

 Sheila Johnson lives in Cheltenham and is a qualified journalist who has written for a number of publications both local and national. She has just launched this new book along with Arthur Champion and in addition has written two books under her pen name Sheila Donald, Alpha Male and Waireka. Her website can be found at www.journojohnson.com