Chapter 3: Young Adult in Ethiopia 1971-1975
Mekanissa is a suburb west of the capital city, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Mekanissa Church of Christ and Deaf School is the headquarters of the Ethiopian Church of Christ Mission, where I lived my happy young adult life for nearly five years. My family was the only American missionaries for the Church of Christ mission. Our home was the last missionary house in the compound at the bottom of the hill. The director was my father, Lyle Leach. My mother, Pearl, taught Deaf girls how to sew handmade clothes and quilts and taught women Bible studies. Kim, my younger brother, went to an English-speaking high school nearby. As a high school senior, I finished school credits for graduation through a correspondence course. I taught and played with Deaf students from our arrival in March 1971. My dad’s assistant, Behailu, was his translator, and they became best friends. Demere was the Deaf School director and taught a sign language class that summer for all the new teachers, of which I was to be one. In October 1971, at 18, I was teaching first-grade Deaf students.
In April 1972, Carl arrived as a Deaf Education expert to work closely with the School Director, Demere, and upgrade the Church of Christ Deaf schools. Daily working with Deaf students and riding horses on weekends is how we fell in love. My mother created a lovely garden in front of our home, providing a perfect backdrop for our simple wedding. My dad married us, and I became Mrs. Carl McDonald. Family members, Deaf students, staff, and preacher trainees were present to celebrate with us. Friends with my parents, the Honorable American Ambassador to Ethiopia, E. Ross Adair, and his wife, Marian, gave us a reception in their home at the embassy and went to our wedding. After six months of the apartment living in the heart of Addis Ababa at Maskel Square, we became neighbors to my parents by moving into the first missionary house near the gate. In the early and mid-1970s, Carl was the only Deaf education expert in Ethiopia, developing education for the Ethiopian Deaf. Our lives revolved around Deaf students. With total commitment, Carl and I did our best to help educate Deaf pupils, which included many extra-curricular programs. We loved our Deaf students and wanted to show them God’s love. At midnight, September 7, 1974, during strict curfew hours with permission of a military tank staff outside our compound, I was rushed to the hospital.
Carl and I became parents to a beautiful baby girl, Wendy Genet.
September 1974 was a dark time of political unrest in Ethiopia. September 12, 1974, Marxist-Leninist, the Derg, under a military junta and provisional government, overpowered Emperor King Haile Selassie in a coup d’état. The new communist government took over private schools as they saw fit. The only other Deaf school in Addis, run by Independent Baptists, was confiscated, becoming a government deaf school now called Alpha, or Bole School for the Deaf. Because of Carl’s knowledge of Deaf education, the Derg left the Mekanissa Church of Christ Deaf School alone.
My folks, Behailu, Demere, Carl, and I were inseparable, eating meals together in one another’s homes, daily sharing, and praying about our hopes, dreams, and sorrows of Deaf students and the Church. We functioned as a close-knit family. July, 1975, Carl, I, Behailu, and his wife, Alem, were sent a telegram saying we were to go to Demere’s house. At Demere’s home, we received a phone call from John Ed Clark (our spiritual and emotional supporter stateside) with an inconceivable report. There had been an accident at a stop sign a block from his house. A drunk driver speeding in a residential area hit my parents’ car.
They died instantly; their arms wrapped around each other. My mom and dad died only days before their expected return to Ethiopia. Never experiencing the loss of loved ones by death, shock and confusion overwhelmed me. Carl, 14-month-old Wendy Genet, Behailu, and Demere were the closest ones left. Believing Behailu’s deep love and concern for Carl and me, we left Ethiopia and returned to the States because of his advice. That decision was one of the worst mistakes we could have made.
