Collegiate Times

Professor Gebremariam stands in his office in Pamplin.

“The Ethiopian prisoners were friends of the guards, and over time the guards became friends with us,” Gebremariam said. “And of course, you give (the guards) money, and they’ll do it — they didn’t have much money.”

The money and food used to placate the guards came from the prisoners’ families, who visited every Sunday bearing those items, as well as educational materials.

“We were able to mobilize money to buy small blackboards from outside the prison, (but) we had to smuggle them into Alem Bakagn,” Gebremariam said.

While Gebremariam was studying and advancing through grade levels, Astuha was essentially teaching full time, providing knowledge and preparing exams. He even educated some of the guards and their families.

“I did it to actually help the prisoners,” Astuha said. “By helping them, you get satisfaction and also keep yourself busy. You keep busy so you don’t think of imprisonment.”

Once Gebremariam reached 12th grade, he was able to take the Ethiopian national exam — a test he said would essentially determine his future, if he still had one.

After completing the exam, Gebremariam learned that he received the highest score, not just out of all the prisoners, but out of all 380,000 Ethiopian students that year.

“This record in Ethiopia has not yet been broken,” Gebremariam said. “And this is from a prisoner of war — an enemy.”

Gebremariam continued the liberation movement behind bars, serving as a role model for the other prisoners, and an inspirational figure to his family and other fighting Eritreans.

In 1991, the Eritreans succeeded in the liberation movement, and Gebremariam, along with Astuha and the other prisoners, was finally able to leave prison after over a decade.  

Following his release, Gebremariam studied economics at a local university in Eritrea and later moved to Glasgow, a city in Scotland, where he received his master’s degree in economics. He then came to the United States and earned his doctorate degree at West Virginia University, which led him to where he is today — Blacksburg.

“The lesson that you can learn from this is that I educated myself behind bars, under extraordinary circumstances, with no resources at all,” Gebremariam said. “If you are committed to something, it is possible. We were able to change the environment from an ugly place to make it conducive for learning.”

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A version of this article appeared in the Sep 23 issue of the Collegiate Times.