Seble's Story
Dr. Seble Fisseha - A ProfileThursday, July 27, 2006
Dr. SEBLE FISSEHA - Overcoming adversity to Serve Others
To understand my passion for the work of SELAM Foundation, you need to have an understanding of my personal life story. Like many others in the United States, my journey here started in a world far away and very unlike the one I know now. I was born in Ethiopia and spent my childhood up to age 10 there where I lived with my parents and siblings. In the 1980s, my family left Ethiopia in search of a better life for their daughters including better opportunities for education and access to medical care. We left much of our family behind and traveled across the desert to a refugee camp in Sudan on foot. I don't remember much of the journey but I do remember being both scared and in great pain from the chronic ear infections which constantly plagued me throughout my early childhood.
The ordeal my parents and I went through to heal my ears will be embedded in my memory for as long as I live. In Ethiopia, I was taken to every possible doctor and treated with many courses of medications which mostly consisted of painful injections. The infections would clear up for a while but would always return again, this time more painful and difficult to eradicate. My parents took me to the best hospitals in Addis Ababa and spent more money than could afford to help me become pain free. The doctors could not offer surgical intervention because it was not performed anywhere in the country.
It was not until we were in the United States about a year after we left Ethiopia that I finally had surgery that once and for all cured my problem. Because of the prolonged course and severity of my infections, I needed multiple surgeries on my ears. Although I have not had any additional problems with my ears, I do suffer some moderate hearing loss in the more affected ear.
Of course, my personal and family struggles are not unique and are indeed minor compared to the daily struggles of so many millions of people throughout the world. Whether it's seemingly minor problems like ear infections or serious problems like HIV and AIDS, people throughout the world are suffering from lack of appropriate medical care. I now realize there is a lot we can do to help. Many young people in our society, growing up with so many of their own personal challenges and lack of opportunities, need to learn at their innermost core that they too, if they try, can make a meaningful contribution to this world. This is the essence of the work of SELAM.
I feel so lucky that despite growing up in some hardship and challenging economic circumstances, I learned at an early age that with support, courage and determination, I could take control of my own life. After spending my teen years in a low income section of Philadelphia, I went on to UCLA for College and stayed to attend Medical School at UCLA's combined program with Drew University. I decided to pursue Pediatrics, completed my training as a General Pediatrician at Children's Hospital and Research Center Oakland in 2005. Now working with SELAM, I hope to continue my work in providing medical services and education to people around the world and more importantly, to instill in motivated young people the idea that one person can make a difference.
To understand my passion for the work of SELAM Foundation, you need to have an understanding of my personal life story. Like many others in the United States, my journey here started in a world far away and very unlike the one I know now. I was born in Ethiopia and spent my childhood up to age 10 there where I lived with my parents and siblings. In the 1980s, my family left Ethiopia in search of a better life for their daughters including better opportunities for education and access to medical care. We left much of our family behind and traveled across the desert to a refugee camp in Sudan on foot. I don't remember much of the journey but I do remember being both scared and in great pain from the chronic ear infections which constantly plagued me throughout my early childhood.
The ordeal my parents and I went through to heal my ears will be embedded in my memory for as long as I live. In Ethiopia, I was taken to every possible doctor and treated with many courses of medications which mostly consisted of painful injections. The infections would clear up for a while but would always return again, this time more painful and difficult to eradicate. My parents took me to the best hospitals in Addis Ababa and spent more money than could afford to help me become pain free. The doctors could not offer surgical intervention because it was not performed anywhere in the country.
It was not until we were in the United States about a year after we left Ethiopia that I finally had surgery that once and for all cured my problem. Because of the prolonged course and severity of my infections, I needed multiple surgeries on my ears. Although I have not had any additional problems with my ears, I do suffer some moderate hearing loss in the more affected ear.
Of course, my personal and family struggles are not unique and are indeed minor compared to the daily struggles of so many millions of people throughout the world. Whether it's seemingly minor problems like ear infections or serious problems like HIV and AIDS, people throughout the world are suffering from lack of appropriate medical care. I now realize there is a lot we can do to help. Many young people in our society, growing up with so many of their own personal challenges and lack of opportunities, need to learn at their innermost core that they too, if they try, can make a meaningful contribution to this world. This is the essence of the work of SELAM.
I feel so lucky that despite growing up in some hardship and challenging economic circumstances, I learned at an early age that with support, courage and determination, I could take control of my own life. After spending my teen years in a low income section of Philadelphia, I went on to UCLA for College and stayed to attend Medical School at UCLA's combined program with Drew University. I decided to pursue Pediatrics, completed my training as a General Pediatrician at Children's Hospital and Research Center Oakland in 2005. Now working with SELAM, I hope to continue my work in providing medical services and education to people around the world and more importantly, to instill in motivated young people the idea that one person can make a difference.
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