Nine years ago, 5-year-old Menhale Dessie became separated from her family as they made their way through the Sudan en route to Israel.
On Sunday, Menhale, now 14, was reunited with the loved ones who never gave up hope of seeing her again.
At 9 a.m., the entire Dessie family gathered at Ben-Gurion Airport to welcome the daughter they had not seen in nearly a decade. They waited on the tarmac as Flight 542 from Athens touched down and the passengers disembarked.
Menhale, a graceful figure in a flowing white robe, burst into tears at the sight of her parents. Their embrace was captured by dozens of journalists and photographers, who vied for a view of the reunion.
Flanked by officials from the Jewish Agency, the family then entered the airport’s absorption terminal, where they continued the reunion in private.
Zimna Berhanie, the Jewish Agency’s emissary in Ethiopia, recounted the amazing story that led to Menhale’s discovery some five months ago.
“Back in 1984, a group of 70 Ethiopian Jews set out on foot from the Gondar region of northern Ethiopia for a difficult monthlong march through the Sudan on their way to Israel. They were forced to travel at night and hide by day to avoid detection by the police of the former Ethiopian regime.
“One night,” Berhanie said, “the group arrived at a steep passage. One of the guides leading the group offered to carry 5-year-old Menhale on his back. At the bottom, the family discovered that the girl had disappeared.”
“After two days of frantic searching,” said Berhanie, “the guides warned the family that to stay any longer would put the entire group at risk.
“On September 1984, after a stay of several months in the Sudan, Genetu and Dvora Dessie and their six other children arrived in Israel and settled in Migdal Haemek,” said Berhanie.
“The Dessies never gave up hope and asked the Jewish Agency’s Immigration Department for assistance. We made every effort to hunt for any shred of evidence that might lead to the girl’s whereabouts,” Berhanie said.
FOUND WORKING AS A DOMESTIC
The breakthrough they needed occurred several months ago, when an Ethiopian immigrant returned to his native village and overheard the story of a girl who had wandered, naked and in shock, into a nearby village some nine years ago.
She had been adopted by a man named Adgeh Kebede, who raised her as his daughter.
Upon hearing this story, the agency flew the girl’s father, Genetu Dessie, to track down the adoptive family. After several days, the agency found Adgeh Kebede, only to learn that Menhale had been abducted a year earlier and taken to a village 150 miles away.
With the help of Berhanie, who enlisted the help of local guides and the girl’s adoptive father, Menhale was found four months later working as a domestic.
On May 3, the agency presented the Dessie family with recent pictures of Menhale. The emotional family immediately identified the girl thanks, in part, to a scar she has had since infancy. With the blessing of her adopted family, Menhale was flown to Israel two weeks later.
Sitting before the media in the absorption hall, Menhale seemed overwhelmed and bewildered by the day’s proceedings. Her large dark eyes were rimmed with red and filled with tears. She was too overcome with emotion to speak.
“Having Menhale back among us is a miracle,” said the girl’s aunt, Rachel Issachar. “There is no other way to describe this reunion and all the events that brought it about.”
Amid the joy, there was also concern for the teen-ager. “This is going to be a very difficult time for her and her family,” said Jewish Agency official Micha Feldman.
“The absorption of every new immigrant takes time, but Menhale will have special needs that will have to be met,” he said. “First, she and her family have to become reacquainted.”
To ease the way, the agency has already contacted an Ethiopian social worker in Migdal Haemek, where the Dessies reside.
“I have no doubts that Menhale will adapt very quickly to her new surroundings. I’ve known the Dessies for years. They are a warm family and will do everything possible to ease the transition.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
