Others With Mickey Leland

It is with great sorrow that we learned of the death of Congressman Mickey Leland and 15 others in a plane crash in Western Ethiopia. The victims include Leland and his two aides, a child nutrition expert, Leland’s friend, 7 Ethiopians (3 crew members and an agricultural economist among them), U.S. Embassy staff in Ethiopia and U.S. Agency for International Development staff.

According to The Times, this was Leland’s sixth trip to refugee camps in that part of Africa. The congressman was reputed to be a champion of civil rights and other just causes.

His work and martyrdom carry a particular significance because of the area he chose to work for. The Horn of Africa, comprising Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia and Djibouti, is one of the most troubled regions of the world, on the magnitude of the Middle East and Indochina. The area has earned a dubious distinction for cyclic famine (man-caused and natural), mutual destabilization of the governments in power by creating and supporting insurgents against each other, self-proclaimed “liberation fronts”, civil strife and population dislocation in the form of refugees.

Leland and his crew were a few of the people (few in number, but huge in achievement) that are on the asset side of the bookkeeping in the Horn. The volunteers and missionaries who tirelessly work in this area amid immense difficulties have made a difference in the otherwise pathetic situation. People like Leland, with a strong sense of justice and unassuming humility, give a flicker of hope for the hopeless, provide food for the hungry, give sense and show direction for the confused and create order for the victims of chaos.

Hopefully, volunteers and missionaries whose selfless work keeps hope alive amid anarchy will draw inspiration from the loss of one of their own and intensify the good work. One also can’t help but hope that the so-called “liberation fronts” and governments who audaciously claim to fight for their people, but have done their part to tear the societal fabric apart, will stop their pretense at monopolizing the truth and follow Leland’s example in promoting peace and understanding.

SOLOMON EJIGU

Duarte

Solomon Ejigu is from Ethiopia