What's In Our Name?

What’s in a name? What’s behind our name? 

When it came time to choose a name, my first thought was to find a word or words, maybe Amharic ones, that would brilliantly capture our high aspirations or core values. We experimented with words like “future” “innovation” and “excellence”. Alternatively, we considered names that grounded the school in its location or alluded to its student body, and words like “summit” or “peak” (as in the beautiful mountains that surround our town) and “national” came to mind. For sure, my first instinct was not to give it our names. That felt like attention-seeking, and uncomfortably boastful. 

How then did we settle on Haile-Manas Academy? Jean and I have worked on the school in partnership from day one. We decided to use our names because we realized that we could, and should, model and reinforce the fundamental HMA values of enterprising mindset and community-mindedness by doing so. We want generations of HMA students to remember that this school was not conceived by a large NGO or a government entity, but by individuals who saw the need, decided to dream big, then set about with focus, persistence and commitment to make it a reality. Moreover, we realized that highlighting us as individuals was especially significant in the context of Ethiopia. Working on this school I have interacted with so many new people and communities, and I have come to appreciate that I really am a role model: as a woman, as an Ethiopian, as an immigrant whose family rebuilt a life from scratch. Jean is Greek Armenian from Turkey; he too is an immigrant from a modest background, and has relied on his own skills, resourcefulness and a “can do” mindset to achieve success. 

The name “Haile-Manas Academy” emphasizes, I hope, that this groundbreaking project was initiated by a pair of immigrants, working with other like-minded individuals, for the purpose of serving others and bringing about change. That’s powerful, and well worth swallowing any discomfort for.