When my former Addis Ababa housemate and fellow teacher at Tafari Makonnen School, Garber Davidson, told me that a former TMS student of ours, Abebe (now known as “Abe”) Abraham, would be coming with him and his wife Sally to the reunion lunch of our Peace Corps “Ethi III” group in September 2011 in Washington, Abebe’s face came immediately to mind. He’d made an indelible impression in my tenth grade English class at TMS – not only as a serious-minded and hard-working scholar at the top of his class, but also as a tremendously outgoing, socially adept young man who made friends easily. There was no question in my mind that, God willing, Abebe would succeed at whatever professional path he chose, and I was delighted to learn when we reunited in 2011 that he’d founded a highly successful firm in 1989, CMI, whose mission is “to provide management and support services utilizing innovation, technology, and knowledge-sharing to improve performance and reduce operational costs.” He, as President & CEO, and his wife Azzi, as Chief Operating Officer, work closely together at the helm of CMI, which has been featured in the Black Enterprise “Top 100” list for three consecutive years.

It gives me great pleasure to publish Abebe Abraham’s fascinating audio memoir at entwinedlives.com. Over the course of a half-hour, Abebe describes his experience as a TMS student, reflects on Emperor Haile Selassie’s place in Ethiopian and world history, talks about the life he has built in the United States, and shares his thinking about Ethiopia’s future.

©Douglas C. Eadie All Rights Reserved

• returned peace corp volunteer