"It's really hard
for a person to realize the truly precious things in
life as they are living it. Sometimes it is not until
you're about to lose everything, not until that moment
when it all becomes clear," says Engedasew Menkir. He is speaking
of a key moment from his play Puzzle.
As a student who
immigrated from Adis Ababa, Ethiopia only three years
ago Enge has had the opportunity to consider what really
matters from multiple perspectives. He is currently a
student in the 11th grade at Bell Multicultural High
School.
"Washington is
different than I thought it would be. Once I knew more
about the issues that were going on in America I found
it surprising," he says.
For example, Enge
says that he identified teenage pregnancy as a problem
in Ethiopia but in the United States "it is off the
charts."
"In Ethiopia I
knew everyone in my community. If something happened ten
or fifteen blocks away we would be there because we knew
those people. Here I live in an apartment building and I
do not even know my neighbors," Enge laments.
Moving to the US
led Enge to focus more on his studies. "When I got here
I realized that if I can do the task I've been assigned,
then I can be the person I want to be," Enge says. He adds, "I
never thought in a million years when I was living in
Ethiopia that I could write a nineteen page play,
in English!!
But I allowed myself to do it. I believed in myself."
Enge's play Puzzle is a
sophisticated tale of a CIA agent in the days leading up
to September 11th, 2001. The main
character struggles to manage the demands of his country
with his role as a father and a husband. "I'm a very big
fan of 24,"
Enge admits. The pacing and detail of his play reveal
his close study of that television show. "I love films,"
Enge says, "but I do think that Hollywood culture has a
bad affect on kids."
Enge hopes to
attend George Mason University and settle one day in
Sweden or Ethiopia to have a family. His play Puzzle will be
featured at next Friday's
