The Highlander

Issue date: 2/9/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Janet Lee Children in Ethipoia were given books for the first time in many of their lives. One young boy even held the book upside down because he had no previous experience with books. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Hooyman Family Dr. Hooyman was a professor at Regis University. He passed away last semester at the age of 52. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Janet Lee Yohannes Gebregeorgis (Geb-ruh-gee-or-geez), is the founder of Ethiopia Reads. [Click to enlarge]

This News article was published in the January 26 issue of the Highlander.

Two men, from opposite sides of the world, met in Nov. 2008, and became immediate friends. The recent Dr. Tom Hooyman, associate professor of Health Care Ethics in the RHCHP at Regis, hosted Regis' KRCX radio program "Some of this is True," where he interviewed Yohannes Gebregeorgis (Geb-ruh-gee-or-geez), founder of Ethiopia Reads. "The two men clicked right away," says Janet Lee, technical services librarian, who introduced the two. It was as if they had always known one another. Hooyman took such an interest in Gebregeorgis' organization that he invited him to speak at the Cherry Creek Rotary Club in Denver, of which Hooyman served as president.

Hooyman passed away on Nov. 20, 2008 in a motor vehicle accident. Beloved among the Regis community, Hooyman touched everyone he knew, including Yohannes Gebregeorgis. In honor of Tom Hooyman, the Rotary Club has begun to support, through matching grants, building a new library that will honor the memory of Dr. Hooyman.



Making connections



Gebregeorgis, who grew up in Ethiopia, founded Ethiopia Reads, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving childhood literacy and promoting education in Ethiopia through the construction and maintenance of libraries and schools.

In November, Janet Lee invited Gebregeorgis to speak at Regis. From 1974-76. Lee (also a Regis College grad) served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ethiopia. In 2006, she returned to Ethiopia with the RHCHP and taught English classes for seventh grade students at local schools. "It was a tremendous experience," recalls Lee. Back in the United States, a web of contacts began to take shape. "I met people who knew other people who knew more people," chuckles Lee. Upon hearing about Ethiopia Reads, Lee's curiosity was peaked. She contacted the president of Ethiopia Reads, Jane Kurtz, an American children's book author. Kurtz grew up in Maji, a small town in the southwest corner of Ethiopia where inspirations for her books emerge.

Lee and Kurtz agreed to meet up at a library conference they were both attending in Seattle. Lee became more involved with Ethiopia Reads in 2007, attending board retreats and meeting new people. One of whom was Gebregeorgis, who worked with Kurtz at Ethiopia Reads.

For a time, Gebregeorgis worked in the children's department of the San Francisco Public Library where he noticed the lack of (or complete elimination of) Ethiopian books amongst the children's collection written in 75 different languages. He met Kurtz while on a search for Ethiopian books. He wrote his first children's book titled Silly Mammo, a story of his childhood as a first step towards a movement to create and publish more childrens book in Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia.

Kurtz and Gebregeorgis worked together editing, illustrating, and collaborating to raise money to publish and transfer books to his home country in the town of Addis Ababa, which means "new flower."



Starting a Movement: Hooyman Enriches Ethiopia Reads

Once Lee met Gebregeorgis she immediately picked up on his passion for promoting child literacy and education.

"I believed in him [Gebregeorgis] so much. I believed in what he was doing; I believed that the way to get kids out of poverty is through education," says Lee.

Lee's newfound passion for Gebregeorgis' work drove her to introduce Dr. Hooyman to Gebregerogis. Hooyman later interviewed Gebregeorgis on KRCX in early November and the two bonded instantly.

During his interview with Gebregeorgis, Hooyman projected great interest, curiosity, and fascination with him and the Ethiopia Reads project. Throughout, Hooyman chuckles and signals great enjoyment in their conversation asking questions about the Ethiopian country and culture, and the Ethiopia Reads project.

Hooyman and Gebregeorgis also planned to collaborate in a future project together to set up a literacy radio station in Ethiopia as a mass form of communication.

"They really liked each other. By the end of the hour you would have thought they had known each other all their lives," says Lee.



Honoring Dr. Hooyman: Establishing A Memorial

Hooyman later invited Gebregeorgis to the Cherry Creek Rotary Club. Hooyman, who joined the Rotary Club about four years ago, had recently been elected president, according to Gary Williams, member of the Rotary Club.

The Club decided to support Hooyman and Ethiopia Reads and is matching donations to help fund and establish libraries in Ethiopia. Williams and the rest of the Rotary Club want to honor Hooyman's legacy by awarding Ethiopia Reads a grant to fund a memorial library in his name.

"Tom loved life; his laugh was infectious. Tom could find anything that would tickle him," says Williams.

Williams remembers Hooyman as a man who was focused and professional yet fun- loving and humorous. He took the ethics of life seriously but enjoyed life everyday and saw humor in everything, recalls Williams.

"He was a sophisticated individual; a multifaceted individual," says Williams.

Collaboration with the International Rotary Club, as mentioned by Gebregeorgis in Hooyman's interview, is pending. Funds to establish the library will be combined with the Tom Hooyman Memorial Fund that was created by Ethiopia Reads.

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