Bonfires are set, and children go house to house singing Hoya Hoyeduring the holiday of Buhe, which is observed annually in August by followers of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The song is one of praise for the occupant of the house they have knocked at, and in return, they expect traditional, homemade bread. Yohannes Kifle, a devout member of the faith, deviates from this tradition.

Instead of bread – or cash handouts, as has become more prevalent these days – he wants to do something less symbolic but far more important. The children that come to his house are encouraged to bring their certificates for the previous academic year. A list is drawn up, and from that, he chooses children for whom he can personally cover a year’s worth of educational materials.

He moved on to parents this past year, after the lockdown measures put in place to contain the spread of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. He provided financial support for families in his neighbourhood.

When he then passed on December 25, 2020, at 81 years old, of complications from breathing problems (he was on oxygen support for some time) following treatment at Hallelujah Hospital, he was missed.

“Young people, kids, relatives, you name it, he was kind to everyone,” says his wife of over half a century, Yemesirach Feleke.

Part of Yohannes’ humanitarianism may come from the circumstances of his birth. He was exposed to adversity from then. This is despite having aristocratic roots. But that counted for little once Ethiopia was invaded by Fascist Italy, and his family had to run to Kenya, a British colony at the time.

It was there that he was born inside a refugee camp. By the time he was able to return to Ethiopia, he was four. It was an eventful childhood, most of it spent in the United Kingdom before he returned to Ethiopia in his teens to attend high school and college. He did his master's in the United States in journalism and taught at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Like most families, especially of a certain economic and political pedigree, fate is determined mainly by the regimes that come and go. It was not different for Yohannes. Initially, he had the distinction of being among one of the earliest employees of Ethiopian Television, now EBC, when television broadcasts began in 1964. He stayed there for seven years.