A Personal Reflection on Women Who Have Inspired Me

Projects always involve the unexpected—some good, some less good—and one of the great unexpected gifts of the HMA journey has been the chance to meet and befriend some truly extraordinary people. Today, the last day of Women’s History Month, I’m writing about two such women, Helen Mesfin and Azeb Worku, both trailblazing superstars in their fields of media/entertainment.  

First, Helen (because I met her first!) Helen came to the US from Ethiopia at the age of 17 and is now best known as a television personality and Amharic language talk-show host. Her show, in its 10th season, appears on Ethiopian Broadcasting Services, and aims to inform, inspire, and empower Ethiopians domestically and abroad. Helen is our Oprah – in her interviews she has fearlessly tackled issues that have been seen as taboo in Ethiopian culture, and done so with cultural sensitivity and style. There simply was nothing like the Helen Mesfin show before Helen created it. 

I met Helen at an HMA fundraising dinner, during which she asked most of the questions, as well as the most wide-ranging questions.  A couple of months later, I got to see her in action during a taping at her Maryland studio. The studio is inside an unassuming office building on a suburban street, somewhat incongruent with the environment inside, which is warm and joyful – a reflection of Helen’s personality. Helen and her team had done their homework in advance, and within moments she had sketched out an interview that would cover all the key elements of our project, put me at ease with my imperfect Amharic, described the personal background she wanted to bring to her viewers, and checked to be sure she would address everything I felt was a priority. She repeated the process with the evening’s other guest, and both our interviews came off without a hitch. The entire time she was marvelous with her crew, making jokes about the microphone cords dangling like tails behind us (chira alegn!) and clearly relishing the collaboration. Helen, you are a role model and an inspiration– thank you!  

Azeb Worku is another powerhouse. Based in Addis Ababa, Azeb is an accomplished actor and journalist who has done significant work both behind and in front of the camera. She has adapted, produced, and written for both theatre and television, and is currently the CEO of ArtsTV, an Ethiopian entertainment and news television channel. Azeb pushed against gender boundaries for years, with her first adapted play debuting at the Ethiopian National Theatre in 2006. It is hard to overstate just how groundbreaking her career has been. 

Currently Azeb hosts a widely watched show on ArtsTV, on which I recently appeared. Azeb taped the show in Addis in December, and like Helen she was prepared and focused on telling the HMA story thoroughly and with generosity of spirit. She somehow made a full hour of Amharic questioning fly by and created a brilliant final production that combined the interview with still images, site footage, and short interviews with other HMA team members. 

I’ve spent time with Azeb on each trip to Ethiopia since we met last September. Once, over breakfast with four other women, we talked about increasing the number of women in Ethiopian politics, and Azeb volunteered that she would want to head her local woreda – the equivalent of a small town mayor, or county supervisor – rather than have a big position like prime minister, because it would allow her to have a larger impact on people’s everyday lives. During another conversation, she told me about once having spent several weeks by herself in New York City visiting museums and attending plays and concerts. She observed that it was then that “for the first time Azeb really got to know to Azeb”. I love this statement, for its clarity and for its profound feminist significance. All of us must know ourselves in order to fully be ourselves, and self-knowledge is, I think, a prerequisite for true gender equality. Azeb, you also inspire me, and I am excited to see what’s next for you, in the arts or as woreda head – or both!