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Oral history interview with Abel F. Getachew

 Collection
Identifier: SR 12279

Scope and Contents

This oral history interview with Abel F. Getachew was conducted by Sankar Raman and Gina Ruggeri on June 11, 2018. The interview was recorded for The Immigrant Story, an organization that documents and archives the stories of immigrants and refugees in the United States. In this interview, Getachew discusses his family background and early life in Ethiopia, including his education, social life, and playing soccer. He talks about his mother's disappearance in 2007; learning later that she had immigrated to the United States; and his life in Ethiopia until he was able to join her in 2012. He describes the process of immigrating to the U.S. and adjusting to life in Portland, Oregon. He talks about his education in Portland, including learning English as a second language, playing soccer, and participating in various academic extracurricular activities. He also talks about his experience at Roosevelt High School and transferring to De La Salle North Catholic High School. He discusses his plans to pursue a career in the medical field and interning at Oregon Health & Science University. He talks about applying for colleges and scholarships. He speaks at length about creating an organization, Hope for Bright Future, to support other immigrant students. He closes the interview by discussing his plan to attend Georgetown University, then medical school, and to become a cardiovascular surgeon.

Dates

  • Creation: 2018 June 11

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Joint copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society and The Immigrant Story. Use is allowed according to the following statement: In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/

Biographical note

Abel F. Getachew was born in Ethiopia in 2000. His mother immigrated to the United States in 2007, and in 2012, Getachew and his brother joined her in Portland, Oregon. He founded an organization, Hope for a Bright Future, to support immigrant and refugee students. He began studying biochemistry at Georgetown University in 2018.

Extent

75.6 Megabytes (1 online resource (1 audio file (1 hr., 21 min., 44 sec.))) : MPEG-4

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Oral history interview with Abel F. Getachew conducted by Sankar Raman and Gina Ruggeri on June 11, 2018, for The Immigrant Story. Getachew immigrated to the United States from Ethiopia in 2012, and founded an organization, Hope for a Bright Future, to support immigrant and refugee students.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of The Immigrant Story, July 2020 (Lib. Acc. RL2020-018).

Publication note

An article about Abel F. Getachew, "A Heart in the Right Place" by Gina Ruggeri, was based on this interview and published on The Immigrant Story website at https://theimmigrantstory.org/heart/.
Title
Guide to oral history interview with Abel F. Getachew
Status
Completed
Author
Sarah Stroman
Date
2020
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
Finding aid is written in English.

Repository Details

Part of the Oregon Historical Society Research Library Repository

Contact:
1200 SW Park Ave.
Portland OR 97205 United States
5033065204
5033065240