Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Updated: July 21st, 2020
New York (TADIAS) — For over 20 years Ethiopia Reads has been cultivating and promoting “a reading culture in Ethiopia by connecting children with books” and establishing libraries. This week the non-profit organization announced that it has appointed Ethiopian-American Surgeon Dr. Electron Kebebew as its first Goodwill Ambassador.
Dr. Electron is currently a Professor of Surgery at Stanford University and Chief of General Surgery at Stanford Health Care. “We are delighted and honored that he has agreed to represent Ethiopia Reads, and our work for literacy and education in Ethiopia,” said Malcolm Clark, President of the Ethiopia Reads Board of Directors. “Since childhood, Electron has loved reading and has helped to raise his own two children to be avid readers. He remembers very well the first Amharic storybook given to him by a 3rd grade teacher to read outside of school. The book described the life of a peasant boy who learned many important life lessons as a cattle herder. This book in his mother tongue made such a powerful impact on little Electron that he can still picture it in his mind today.”
Below are the rest of the announcement courtesy of Ethiopia Reads:
Dr. Electron Kebebew, Ethiopia Reads Goodwill Ambassador. (Courtesy photo)
A Leader in Improving the Science and Treatment of Endocrine Cancer
Dr. Kebebew completed his medical studies at UCSF and today is a leading researcher and surgeon in endocrine oncology. Dr. Kebebew is a Board Certified General Surgeon by the American Board of Surgery. He was the inaugural Chief of Endocrine Oncology Branch at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Currently, Dr. Kebebew is the Harry A. Oberhelman, Jr. and the Mark L. Welton Professor at Stanford University. Additionally, he is the Editor-in-Chief for the scientific journal Thyroid.
He remains personally and professionally engaged with the country of his birth, having worked at Addis Ababa’s Black Lion Hospital during medical school and traveling in Ethiopia as an adult. In 2019, Dr. Kebebew returned to speak as an invited guest of the nonprofit People to People for World Cancer Day at the Black Lion Hospital
Photo courtesy of Ethiopia Reads
Join Dr. Kebebew in reading a poem #EthiopiaReadsOutLoud
We would like to thank Dr. Kebebew for joining us to bring back the love of children’s books in Ethiopia. “I am pleased to be a champion for children’s literature and to represent the valuable work of Ethiopia Reads. If it wasn’t for the value that my family placed on education and reading, I would not be where I am today.”
Please enjoy a short video of Dr. Kebebew reading a children’s poem by the well loved and humorous Shel Silverstein entitled “Instructions”; Send us a video of yourself reading a short poem or tag us on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram #EthiopiaReadsOutLoud
Our Goodwill Ambassador Electron Kebebew is a great example of what we always say to young students in Ethiopia: Readers are Leaders!
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You can learn more about Ethiopia reads at ethiopiareads.org.