The 2015 Bikila Award Winners

Lij Habteselassie Tafesse, popularly known as “the man who invented tourism in Ethiopia”, introduced for the first time the concept of tourism in Ethiopia in 1961.

This was the time when the memory of Italian fascist invasion and subsequent British occupation was still fresh in the communal consciousness and foreign visitors were seen with suspicion rather than a source of important income to a developing nation.

He coined the phrase, “Thirteen Months of Sunshine”, in referring to the Ethiopian Calendar, which in turn provoked the imagination of visitors. He played a major role in the creation of the Historic Tour Route that includes a visit to the Blue Nile Falls, Lake Tana, Gondar, Lalibela and Axum.

This route to this date has remained as the most popular segment of Ethiopia’s tourist attractions.

Lij Habteselassie represented Ethiopia at various international forums to bring Ethiopia’s history, geography, culture and artifacts to world stage. He was one of the key organizers of the Ethiopian exhibition at the 1967 International and Universal Exposition (Montreal Expo).

Lij Hapteselassie, who has unique linguistic abilities, is a role model who embraces, respects and honors cross-cultural understanding. His love of Ethiopia is a source of inspiration for generation of Ethiopians who live around the world.

Bikila Award congratulates Lij Habteselassie Tafesse for being selected as the 2015 Bikila Lifetime Achievement Award winner for his distinguished contribution to the development of Tourism Industry and for the preservation of Ethiopian history and culture.

Dr. Ingida Asfaw, who left Ethiopia at the tender age of 16 to study medicine in the United States, is a nationally and internationally renowned Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeon currently on staff at the Detroit Medical Center Hospitals.

He also serves as the Chief of Cardiovascular Surgery at Sinai-Grace Hospital, a Clinical Professor of Surgery at Wayne State University, Chairman of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Trinity Health-St. Joseph Mercy Oakland and Chief Executive Officer of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeons of Michigan.

Dr. Ingida has kept his true promise to return to Ethiopia with healing hands. He played key role in creating the Ethiopian North American Health Professionals Association (ENAHPA), an international network of more than 500 medical and non-medical professionals who donate their time and talents in Ethiopia.

He and his team of volunteers have performed surgical procedures; conducted advanced training for healthcare professionals; donated books; provided lifesaving medical equipment, instruments, and supplies to several specialized hospitals, three universities, and a leprosy research training center.

He has also played a very important role in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia and has been instrumental in creating a program to support a grassroots Ethiopian organization caring for hundreds of AIDS orphans. Dr. Ingida Asfaw was named America’s Greatest Hometown Hero winning the Volvo quality of life category and the overall grand winner selected from among 4,341 nominees.

Bikila Award congratulates Dr. Ingida Asfaw for being selected as the 2015 Bikila Professional Excellence Award winner for his distinguished research work, outstanding clinical services and teaching excellence as Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeon.

Chemist, physicist and inventor Mulugeta Desta is currently employed as a Nuclear Safeguards Inspector at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In November 2002 when the former Iraqi President Sadam Hussein agreed to allow UN weapon inspectors to inspect, verify and destroy Iraqi nuclear, chemical, biological and long range missiles, Mr. Mulugeta was one of a handful of UN inspectors and the second from Africa selected for this historic mission.

With his group, Mr. Mulugeta performed more than 70 sensitive, critical and dangerous inspection missions serving many times as inspection team leader at many Chemical Weapons related facilities.

He was one of two inspectors chosen to interview top Iraqi chemical weapon scientists. He was also involved in the task of destroying Saddam’s remaining Chemical weapons. In addition letters of appreciation he had received from such notable international figures as Mr. Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Mulugeta received his own copy of the certificate of the Nobel Peace Prize when the IAEA was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for peace.

Holder of several patents, Ato Mulugeta was the first to develop an infra-red spectroscopy method to separate identical color male and female tropical fruit fly eggs which is key in eradicating fruits flies using nuclear irradiation technology.

He graduated from Addis Ababa University with BS in Chemistry/Physics and went on to receive a Masters in Physics with Great Distinction from the University of Aberdeen in the UK. His formal specializations in his current field of nuclear technologies were received during training courses in the USA, UK, Japan, South Korea, Sweden, Austria, and many other countries.

Bikila Award congratulates Mr. Mulugeta Desta for being selected as the 2015 Bikila Professional Excellence Award winner for his outstanding contribution and the fortitude he has shown to the international community as nuclear safe guards inspector on world issues of proliferation of Chemical and Nuclear weapons.

Professor Joseph Beyene (PhD) is a professor of Biostatistics and the John D. Cameron Endowed Chair in the Genetic Determinants of Chronic Diseases in the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics of McMaster University.

He established and directs the Statistics for Integrative Genomics and Meta-Analysis (SIGMA) research laboratory at McMaster University. His SIGMA lab currently trains several post-doctoral fellows; PhD and MSc-level graduate biostatistics and epidemiology students; undergrad students as well as research assistants.

Professor Joseph and his team are working on an ambitious series of projects that aim to develop online methods and software that may help predict what a person’s health would be like under different situations, improve the accuracy of diagnosis, or show how an individual would react to specific drugs

Professor Joseph, who received his BSc degree in Statistics from Addis Ababa University, MSc in Statistics from the University of Guelph, and a PhD in Biostatistics from the University of Toronto, was a Senior Scientist in the Research Institute of the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and an Associate Professor of Biostatistics at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health as well as at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto.

Bikila Award congratulates Professor Joseph Beyene for being selected as the 2015 Bikila Professional Excellence Award winner for his outstanding achievements in establishing and directing the Statistics for Integrative Genomics and Meta-Analysis (SIGMA) research laboratory at McMaster University.

Director and dramaturge Weyni Mengesha is well known for her extraordinary accomplishments in Theatrical Arts including directing ‘da kink in my hair’ and composing its Dora-nominated score.

Da kink in my hair went on to make history as one of the most successful shows of the nineties selling out some of the largest houses in the country and being developed into a TV series.

In 2010 she made her Stratford Festival debut (North America’s largest classical repertory theatre) as one of the youngest directors to date. She followed that with two critically acclaimed productions in 2011 and 2012. Kims Convenience which broke box office records and won two Toronto Critic Awards, including best play, and The Small Room at the Top of the Stairs which won 2 Toronto Critics Awards including best direction.

Weyni earned a spot among NOW magazine’s “Top Ten Toronto Theatre Artists” in both 2008 and 2012.

Bikila Award congratulates Weyni Mengesha for being selected as the 2015 Bikila Professional Excellence Award winner for her outstanding achievement as a producer of acclaimed plays and visionary leadership inspiring a growing community of black artists in Toronto.

Artist Yared Nigussu is a keen observer of the beauty of human gaze, shapes and colours. Yared, who is fascinated by the stories behind faces, states that, “eyes can hide a lot of stories and that is an infinite source of inspiration for me.”

His most symbolic portrait is that of an old friend, a former child soldier, whose childhood had been stolen. Yared’s paintings have been described as provocative and creating a deeply sensorial experience for the viewer fusing undisguised brushstrokes with mixed media, rendered in a bright, opulent palette.

Artist Yared graduated from Addis Ababa University of Fine Arts and Design and pursued further studies in France.

He won Canada’s National Art Battle live competition for three years in a row in Toronto and Vancouver in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Yared’s work has been exhibited in France, Austria and Canada, and now widely his work collected internationally.

He is also the recipient of the 2015 Sage Award of Social Acceptance and Great Excellence.

Bikila Award congratulates Artist Yared Nigussu for being selected as the 2015 Bikila Professional Excellence Award winner for pursing his dream to become a painter and becoming internationally recognized award winning artist.

Hannah Godefa may be one of the youngest winner of this year’s Bikila excellence award but her achievements are truly extraordinary.

Since the age of seven, Hannah has cultivated a desire for giving and founded a project; “pencil mountain”, which has since delivered close to half a million pencils to thousands of children in rural Ethiopia.

As UNICEF National Ambassador to Ethiopia, she has opened doors to see UNICEF‐assisted programs in different parts of the country in terms of Health, Education, Child Protection, Nutrition and Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH).

While in the field, she has inspired many of her peers and especially young girls to pursue their education to the highest level. She has also developed Public Service Announcements advocating for girl’s education in Ethiopia.

Hannah also serves as a Child Advocate for South Sudan where she will begin distributing educational material for children and youth in the region. Hannah does not want a world where all children are happy and safe to be just a dream, but a reality.

Hanna has won several awards including the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Award, the second youngest recipient of this award in Canada.

Bikila Award congratulates Hannah Godefa for being selected as the 2015 Bikila Community Service Excellence Award winner for her positive contribution to society in advocating the importance of education, empowering and wellbeing of children.

The profile of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo St. Mary Church in Toronto shows an exemplary long journey of determined unity and harmony among the clergy and congregation members resulting in a historic construction of a new church building where full church services are being delivered to the Ethiopian community in Toronto.

Indeed it is a powerful and shining example of what can be achieved when people are united under a common objective/faith and strive in love, peace, tolerance and harmony benefiting a community and society at large.

When the need to have a new and larger church building became apparent due to the ever increasing size of the congregation and high maintenance cost of the old church building fundraising schemes for the new church building were initiated in 2000.

On April 18, 2010 the foundation stone for the new church building was laid in the presence of Archbishops, the Clergy, various parishes, distinguished invited guests comprising Federal, Provincial and City officials, members of Canada Council of Churches, other invited guests and the enthusiastic members of the congregation.

In November 2010 ground breaking for Phase I of the construction was began. The period between 2010 and 2012 was marked by unparalleled and successful fundraising events and programs that are too many to list.

On November 17, 2012, the new church building was consecrated in the presence of Archbishops, the Clergy, many distinguished guests including other church leaders, members of Canada Council of Churches, Federal, Provincial and City Officials and members of the congregation.

Bikila Award congratulates Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo St. Mary Church of Toronto for being selected as Community Service Excellence Award winner for the extraordinary achievement in bringing Ethiopians together to build a cathedral that has become a lasting foot print of Ethiopians in Canada and a major architectural and artistic contribution to the Canadian cultural mosaic.