(Please scroll down to see the Amharic version)

Miss Mahlet Girma was born on the 11th of April 1975 to her father Colonel Girma Demissie and her mother Nurse Muluberhan Girma at Princess Tsehai Memorial Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

She began her primary education when she was two and half years old at the Debre Zeit City Model School and then enrolled at the French school, Lycée Gebre-Mariam, at the age of four where she continued until tenth grade, when her family moved to Nairobi, Kenya in May 1991. Mahlet continued her high school education at the French Lycee School in Nairobi for a brief period before moving again to Oakland, California in August 1991. After completing her high school education at Skyline High School in Oakland in 1993, Mahlet enrolled at College of Alameda and earned her Associate Degree while working in various jobs, including employment as a waitress at Cafe Colucci, one of the first Ethiopian restaurants in Oakland which was an integral part of the community. She continued assisting the restaurant at a managerial capacity until very recently. Mahlet continued with her education earning a Bachelor’s degree in Child Development from San Francisco State University. Upon graduation, she found employment at a non-profit in Oakland named Black Adoption Agency where she made significant professional contribution to promote the adoption of the city’s most vulnerable children into loving and caring families.

Mahlet earned a Masters degree in Public Health (MPH) with a focus on Global Health from Loma Linda University in Southern California in 2004. She secured a position as an intern at the global humanitarian organization, World Vision and briefly lived and worked in Ghana and Liberia. Mahlet’s desire to be close to her family in San Francisco, led to her to secure a career as Contracts Manager at the City and County of San Francisco’s Department of Public Health where she was employed since 2005.

Mahlet was well known in the Ethiopian community of the Bay Area. She loved the culture and traditions of her country of birth, Ethiopia, and took every opportunity to introduce it to others on various forums. She was a natural stage act and while attending the College of Alameda, she participated in annual cultural shows, where she came up with the idea of changing the event to a traveling show that introduces cultural fashion and entertainment at various venues. To this end, Mahlet and her friends established an organization called Ene Lehagere “I, For My Country” and successfully introduced Ethiopia’s various ethnic dances by performing at several venues throughout the Bay Area for many years. She was known for her dancing and performance skills.

Mahlet was also firmly established in her Christian faith, deeply spiritual and displayed a special love for God. As a member of the Mekane Selam Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Oakland, California, she was a key member of the Hamere Noah Choir and a dedicated Sunday School teacher. She tirelessly served her church and community without any complaints and successfully carried out countless church fundraisers, organized activities, performed and directed plays and dramas, coordinated fun social activities and trips, participated in publishing of church gospel music, and organized events to honor the church’s elderly fathers and mothers.

As a Sunday School teacher to the youth, she was a gentle confidant who stayed in touch with her students as they got older and faced their own challenges in life. She was not only a spiritual teacher but also advised students on college admissions and career planning while sharing her own life experiences with them. She continued her Sunday School teaching ministry even during the COVID-19 pandemic with live video sessions for both the older and younger kids. Above and beyond her service to her students, she also provided their parents with a summary of the lesson of the day. She dedicated her Sundays to sharing the word of God with her students until she could no longer teach due to the severity of her illness.

Mahlet was also known as being relatable to all people of all ages. She participated in various community fundraiser activities and was very much involved with current affairs and did not limit herself to the pursuit of her own comfort. She was always concerned with the wellbeing and rights of others near and far and fought for justice to the best of her abilities. She volunteered during elections for public offices and openly expressed her objections to human rights violations by penning letters, speaking up and marching in demonstrations. She unreservedly dedicated all her strengths to the causes she believed in. She always strived to learn more about the past and better herself and society by sharing her knowledge.

In her short 46 years of life, Mahlet has lived in the cities of Debre Zeit (Ethiopia), Addis Abeba (Ethiopia), Nairobi (Kenya), San Francisco/Oakland, and Los Angeles and Washington D.C. at different times of her life making countless friends and spending quality time with all her loved ones. Mahlet was an avid traveler and adventurer who was fortunate enough to visit over 25 countries and 5 continents. She always made time to visit family and friends in Ethiopia and also explore new parts of her native country. She made it a priority to visit new places and was fortunate enough to have traveled to Canada, Cuba, Jamaica, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Bahamas, Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Ghana, Liberia, Senegal, Morocco, Egypt, South Africa, Zambia, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Greece, Italy, France, Spain, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Croatia, Poland, Netherlands, Iceland, Thailand, and Hong Kong to name a few. She loved world history, international sports, world affairs and was truly a global citizen.

Although she made new friends at different stages of her life, she sustained her childhood friendships until the end. She honored everyone without partiality and gave her time to all her friends without reservations. She was famous for staying in touch and connecting long lost friends. She was an anchor to all the groups she was involved with in both personal and professional realms.

After her breast cancer diagnosis in 2017, instead of succumbing to her illness and focusing solely on her recovery, she chose to teach, comfort, strengthen and encourage others by creating and sharing videos that portray the joys and challenges of her journey. She transformed many lives and made new friends online by openly sharing her vulnerability, strength, concerns as well as her reflections on God as her source of strength.

Her favorite verse was “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me -Philippians 4:13”

Mahlet always found a way to give 100% of her time and energy to help others. She has raised funds for those in need by mobilizing her large circle of friends and family. She was a natural leader with a servant heart. Before her passing, Mahlet was working on various projects to help fight breast cancer in Ethiopia. She was teamed up with Alemtsehay Breast Cancer Foundation (ABCF) which provides a temporary shelter “Pink House” in Ethiopia for women who need a place to stay while seeking treatment for breast cancer. Motivated by her concern, her friends all over the world, organized a breast cancer awareness walk and raised funds to help those fighting the disease. Most recently, Mahlet was working on various projects, including one to expand preventive services in Ethiopia by brining in mammogram machines to the country’s hospitals serving the most needy population.

Mahlet lived her life to the fullest and will be remembered for her love, laughter, dedication, service and humility.

Our dear Mahlet (Chuni) Girma went home to the Lord on September 7, 2021 at age of 46.

Mahlet is survived by her father Colonel Girma Demissie, mother Muluberhan Girma, brother Yonathan Girma, sister Deborah Girma, brother-in-law Liku Ashenafi, nieces Makeda Liku and Emnet Liku and nephew Melak Liku. 

                                                                           የወ/ት ማህሌት ግርማ አጭር የሕይወት ታሪክ

ወ/ት ማህሌት ግርማ ከአባቷ ከኮሎኔል ግርማ ደምሴና ከእናቷ ከሲስተር ሙሉብርሃን ግርማ እንደ ኢትዮጵያ አቆጣጠር ሚያዝያ 3 ቀን 1967 ዓ. ም. (April 11, 1975) በአዲስ አበባ ከተማ በልዕልት ፀሐይ ሆስፒታል ተወለደች።

 እድሜዋም ሁለት አመት ከስድስት ወር ሲሆናት በደብረዘይት ከተማ ሞዴል ት/ቤት ትምህርቷን ጀመረች። ከዚያም እድሜዋ አራት ዓመት ሲሆን በሊሴ ገ/ማርያም ት/ቤት ገብታ እስከ አስረኛ ክፍል ተምራለች።  ቤተሰቦችዋ በሥራ ምክንያት ወደ ኬንያ በተዛወሩበት ወቅት ናይሮቢ በሚገኘው የፈረንሳይ ት/ቤት ትምህርትዋን ቀጥላለች። ማህሌት ወደ አሜሪካን ሃገር እንድ አውሮፓ አቆጣጠር (እ.አ.አ) 1991 ከመጣች በኋላም በኦክላንድ ካሊፎርንያ ስካይላይን ሁለተኛ ደረጃ ት/ቤት ገብታ የሁለተኛ ደረጃ ትምህርቷን እ.አ.አ በ1993 አጠናቃለች።

በዚህም ወቅት ካፌ ካሉቺ ስራ ጀምራ እስከ ቅርብ ጊዜ ድረስም በአስተዳደር በኩል ስታግዛቸው ቆይታለች፡፡   የሁለተኛ ደረጃ ትምህርቷን ከአጠናቀቀች በኋላም የአሶሲዬት ዲግሪዋን ከኮሌጅ ኦፍ አላሚዳ አግኝታ ወደ ሳንፍራንሲስኮ ስቴት በመዛወር በሕጻናት እድገት (Child Development) የባችለር ዲግሪዋን አግኝታለች፡፡ ትምህርቷን ከሳን ፍራንሲስኮ ስቴት እንደጨረሰች በብላክ አዳፕሽን ኤጀንሲ ውሰጥ ሥራ በመያዝ የሥራ አስተዋጽዋን አበርክታልች።  ማህሌት ትምህርቷን በመቀጠልም በሕዝብ ጤና አጠባበቅ (Public Health) የማስተርስ ዲግሪዋን (MPH) ከሎማሊንዳ ዩንቨርሲቲ እ.አ.አ በ2004 አግኝታለች።  ወደ ላይቤሪያና ጋና በመጓዝ በወርልድ ቪዥን ውስጥ ኢንተርንሺፕ ሠርታለች።  ማህሌት በተማረችበት የትምህርት ዘርፍ ሥራ አግኝታ በሳንፍራንሲስኮ ከተማ የሕዝብ ጤና አጠባበቅ አስተዳደር (Department of Public Health) ውስጥ በኮንትራክት ማኔጅመንት የሥራ ዘርፍ ተሰማርታ ከ2005 እ.አ.አ እስከ ቅርብ ጊዜ ስታገለግል ቆይታለች።

 ማህሌት በጣም ሃገሯንና ባሕሏን የምትወድና ባገኘችው አጋጣሚም ለሌሎች ለማስተዋወቅ የምትጥር በመሆኗ በተለያዩ መድረኮች ይህንን ስታደርግ ኖራለች። በአላሚዳ ኮሌጅ በነበረችበት ወቅት በዓመት አንድ ጊዜ በተማሪዎች እየተዘጋጀ የሚቀርበው የፋሽንና ባሕላዊ ትርዒት በዓመት አንድ ጊዜ ብቻ ከሚሆን ለምን በሌሎች ቦታዎችም እየተዘዋወርን አናስተዋውቅም በማለት ከሌሎች ጓደኞቿ ጋር በመሆን “እኔ ለሃገሬ” የሚል ቡድን በማቋቋም የሃገሯን ባህልና የብሄረሰቦችን አለባበስ የፋሽንና የባሕላዊ ትርዒቶችን በተለያዩ ዩንቨርስቲዎች እየተዘዋወሩ ሲያስተዋውቁ ቆይተዋል።

ማህሌት እጅግ በእምነቷ የፀናች ሃይማኖተኛ የተለየ የእግዚአብሄር ፍቅር ያደረባት እህት ነበረች። በመካነ ሰላም መድኃኔዓለም ካቴድራል ውስጥ ከነባር አባላት አንዷ ስትሆን አሁን ካቴድራሉ ያለበት ቦታ እንዲገዛ ታላቅ አስተዋፆ ያበረከተች የቤተክርስቲያኑ ባለውለታ ነበረች። በሐመረ ኖኅ ሰንበት ት/ቤት መዘምራን ውስጥ ሆና ቤተክርስቲያኗን በተለያየ መልኩ ደከመኝ ሰለቸኝ ሳትል ያገለገለች እህት የነበረች ስትሆን እንደ መዘምራን እሁድ እሁድ በመዝሙር አግልግሎት ከመሳተፍም በተጨማሪ በማንኛውም የገንዘብ ማሰባሰቢያ እንቅስቃሴ ውስጥ ብዙ ሃላፊነትን ተወጥታለች። በጥቂቱ ለመጥቀስ ድራማ መስራት፤ መኪና ማጠብ፤ የጨዋታ ፕሮግራሞችን ማዘጋጀትና ማጫዋት፤ ከማህበሩ ጋር የመዝሙር ሲዲ ማሳተም፤ ለቤተክርስቲያናችን አረጋውያን አባቶችና እናቶች የክብር ቀን ማዘጋጀትን የመሳሰሉ ናቸው። ከዚህም በተጨማሪ በቤተ ክርስቲያኑ ውስጥ ሕጻናቱን በሰንበት ት/ቤት ውስጥ በማስተማር ስታገለግል ቆይታለች ለተማሪዎቿም የምስጢራቸው ጠባቂ፤ አድገው ወደ ኮሌጅ ሲሄዱ በሕይወት በሚያጋጥማቸው ውጣ ውረድ አብራ በመሆን መንገድ የምትመራ፤ ትምህርት ቤት በሚመርጡበት ጊዜና ሥራ በሚፈልጉበት ጊዜ ማመልከቻ ሲሞሉ በማገዝ፤ ምክር በመስጠትና ያላትንም የሕይወት ልምድ በማካፈል አብራቸው የኖረች ናት። እሁድ እሁድ ልጆቹን ማስተማሯን በኮቪድ ወረርሽኝ ውስጥም በመቀጠል በሕመሟ ወቅት እንኳን እሁዷን ለልጆቹ ሰጥታ እስከ ቅርብ ጊዜ ድረስ ሕመሟ እስኪጠናባትና ማስተማር እስከሚያቅታት ድረስ የእግዚአብሔርን ቃል ስታካፍላቸው ቆይታለች። ከልጆቹም አልፋ ለወላጆች በእለቱ ያስተማረችውን ትምህርት አጠር አድርጋ የምታካፍል ከዛም በተጨማሪ ስለ ሕመሟ እንኳን ሳይቀር ከልጆቹ ጋር በግልፅ የምተወያይ ከልጆች ጋር ልጅ ከሽማግሌዎች ጋር ሽማግሌ መሆን የምትችል ሰውን ባለበት ደረጃ ቀርባ ማነጋገር ማወያየት የምታውቅበት ልጅ ነበረች።

 ከዚህም በተጨማሪ ማህሌት ወቅታዊ በሆኑ ጉዳዮች ላይ በጣም የምትሳተፍ የራሷ ምቾት ብቻ ሳይሆን የሌሎችም ደህንነትና መብት የሚያሳስባት በምትችለውም አቅም ለመፍትሄ የምትታገል ልጅ ነበረች። በምትኖርበት ሃገር በምርጫ ወቅት በበጎ ፈቃደኛነት ያገለገለች የሰብአዊ መብት ጥሰትን በተመለከቱ ጉዳዮች ላይ የፃፈች የተናገረች ሰልፍ የወጣች የአቅምውዋን ሁሉ ላመነችበት ነገር ያበረከትች ነበረች። በምትኖርበትም ቦታ የነዋሪዎች ማህበር (HOA) ውስጥ በፕሬዝዳንትነትም አገልግላለች።

 ማህሌት በደብረዘይት ፣ አዲስ አበባ ፣ ናይሮቢ ፣ ሳን ፍራንሲስኮ/ኦክላንድ ፣ ሎስ አንጀለስ እና ዋሽንግተን ዲሲ ከተሞች በተለያዩ ጊዜያት ኖራለች። በጣም ከምትወዳቸው ነገሮች አንዱ የተለያዩ ሃገራትን መጎብኘት ሲሆን ማህሌት ከሃያ አምስት ሃገራት በላይ ተዘዋውራ ጎብኝታለች። ለመጥቀስ ያክል ማህሌት ካናዳ ፣ ኩባ ፣ ጃማይካ ፣ ሜክሲኮ ፣ ፑዌርቶ ሪኮ ፣ ዶሚኒካን ሪፐብሊክ ፣ ባሃማስ ፣ ኮሎምቢያ ፣ ፔሩ ፣ ብራዚል ፣ አርጀንቲና ፣ ጋና ፣ ላይቤሪያ ፣ ሴኔጋል ፣ ሞሮኮ ፣ ኢጅፕት ፣ ሳዉዝ አፍሪካ ፣ ዛምቢያ ፣ ዩናይትድ አረብ ኤሜሬትስ ፣ ተርኪ ፣ ግሪስ ፣ ጣልያን ፣ ፈረንሳይ ፣ እስፔን ፣ እንግሊዝ ፣ ስዊትዘርላንድ ፣ አይስ ላንድ ፣ ታይላንድ እና ሆንኮንግ ጎብኝታለች። ማህሌት የሄደችበትን ሃገር ታሪክ መማር የምትወድ ፣ ዓለም አቀፍ ስፖርት የምትወድ፣ የዓለም ጉዳይ ግድ የሚላት ነበረች።

በሕይወት ጉዞዋ ውስጥ አዳዲስ ጓደኞች ብታፈራም የልጅነት ጓደኞቿንም እስከመጨረሻ ድረስ ይዛ የተጓዘች ሁሉንም እኩል የምታስተናግድ ጊዜዋንና እራስዋን ያለምንም መሰሰት የምትሰጥ ነበረች።

 ማህሌት ለአገልግሎት የተፈጠረች ሌሎችን በማገልገል ደስታን የምታገኝ ቅን ሰው ነበረች። የእራስዋ ህመም ሳይከብዳት የገዛ ሕመሟን በማስታመም ፋንታ ሌሎችን ለማስተማር ለማፅናናት ለማጠንከር እና ለማበረታታት በዚህ ጉዞዋ ውስጥ የምታልፍበትን ውጣ ውረድ ሁሉ ከእግዚአብሔር ቃል ጋር እያዋዛች በምትለቃቸው ቪዲዮዎች የብዙ ሰዎችን ሕይወት የቀየረች ነች። “ኃይልን በሚሰጠኝ በክርስቶስ ሁሉን እችላለሁ። — ወደ ፊልጵስዩስ 4:13” የሚለው የመጽሐፍ ቅዱስ ጥቅስ መሪዋ ሆኖ አበርቶቶዋል።

አገልግሎቷም ወሰን የሌለው ከመሆኑ በላይ እሷ በምትጓዝበት መንገድ ላይ ላሉ ለሌሎች ለታመሙ ወገኖቿ ገንዘብ ማሰባስብ በጡት ካንሰር ዙሪያ ብዙ የሰራችና ብዙ ትልልቅ ኃላፊነትን በብቃት የተወጣች እስከ መጨረሻው እስተንፋሷም ለሌሎች እንዳሰበችና እንዳገለገለች ያለፈች ናት።  ለዓለምፀሐይ ብረስት ካንሰር ፈውንዴሽን ቀጣይ የገንዘብ ማሰባሰብ እና ከጤና ጥበቃ ተቁዋም ጋር አብሮ በመሥራትና 10 የማሞግራም መሣሪያዎችን ኢትዮጵያ ዉስጥ ማስገጠም የወደፊት ህልሞችዋ ነበሩ።

ማህሌት እጅግ ትሁት የነበረች በዕድሜ ባልፀጋ ከሆኑት ጋር ፣ እና እንዲሁም ከህፃናት በአጠቃላይ ከመላዉ ህብረተሰብ ጋር በመግባባት ሁሉንም አክብራና አስደስታ የኖረች ምግባረ ሸጋ እህት ነበረች።

በመጨረሻም ማህሌት ባደረባት ህመም ምክንያት በሕክምና ስትረዳ ቆይታ ጳጉሜን 2 ቀን 2013 ዓ. ም. (September 7, 2021) በ46 ዓመቷ ከድካም ሥጋ አርፋለች።

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