(Courtesy of Kirubel Salomon)
“It was my idea,” said Kirubel Salomon, an Ethiopian Airlines pilot.
In early October, Saloman surprised his mother with a bouquet of flowers as she boarded a flight to Addis Ababa from Beirut. Unbeknownst to his mother, Saloman was the flight's pilot.
From behind a drawn curtain, and with the help of his colleagues, the 20-year-old stepped out to greet his mother, Minalu Mergiya.
Mergiya was boarding a one-way flight to Ethiopia after having worked as a domestic worker in Lebanon for 25 years. The emotional moment was beautifully captured on video and swiftly circulated across social media.
“I realized at a very young age that my mother had gone to work in Lebanon to be able to provide for me,” Salomon said. “This had an undeniable impact on my determination to succeed.”
Salomon is an engineer by training and graduated in April from the Ethiopian Airlines Aviation Academy.
“One day, while we were talking about my future, my mother confided in me her dream of seeing me become an airline pilot,” he said. “This is my way of thanking her and making her proud.”
Mergiya, who had not seen her son since 2019, could not hold back her tears. “When I saw my son standing by the cockpit, I ran up to hug him,” she recounted. “It’s so beautiful to see your child make it in life.”
Salomon was initially surprised and worried about the video of him and his mother going viral. “But I loved the story it told; that of my mother’s journey,” he said. “It is a good example of perseverance for young people, but also for all the mothers out there who work as domestic servants in Lebanon.”
Twenty-five years in Lebanon
When she first arrived in Lebanon in the late 1990s, Mergiya was 21. She had a secretarial diploma and two little boys.
“I was a ballet dancer in Addis Ababa. I wanted to find a secretarial job to support my family, but no opportunities were coming up,” she said.
“Later I was offered a job in Lebanon,” Mergiya added. “I didn’t think twice.”
“I was only three, but I remember when she left Ethiopia,” Salomon recounted. “My brother and I cried a lot, but my mother was always very optimistic and passed on to us her trust in God and in life.”
After working in a Beirut household for two years, she started working for the Italian-Lebanese Spagnolo family in Kornet al-Hamra, Metn. She remained with them for over 20 years.
“When I left Addis Ababa, I was very young and truly apprehensive about what awaited me in Lebanon,” she reminisced. “However, the Spagnolos were exceptionally kind to me, and I discovered a second home.”
During these years, Salomon and his little brother Surfel grew up in Addis Ababa, where they lived with their grandmother who died in 2015. “She brought us up with love and discipline,” Salomon said.
However, the separation was hard to bear for both mother and sons, who looked forward to each reunion: one month, every five years.
“When we were little, our mother used to talk to us a lot about Lebanon,” Salomon recalled. “She used to tell us how beautiful the country was and how nice the Lebanese were. When she’d leave, we’d beg her to take us with her.”
For her children’s future
“I was in Beirut during the 2006 war, the economic crisis and the 2020 Beirut port explosion, I always stayed in Lebanon,” Mergiya said. “I loved this country and the family I worked for.”
“But most importantly, I had no other choice; I had to pay for my children’s schooling,” she said
“Even thousands of miles away, our mother was always encouraging us,” Salomon, said. “We had to succeed professionally; it was imperative that we do.”
Salomon’s younger brother has a degree in computer science and works in Croatia as a sports coach and model.
“They’re my pride and joy,” Mergiya said.
Since his mother returned to Ethiopia, Salomon wanted “to show her the whole world.”
“I know she dreams of traveling to France, Italy and Brazil,” he said.
While Mergiya expressed joy at being reunited with her family, she acknowledged that “her heart will always hold a special place for Lebanon, where my friends and adopted family reside.”
“Every day since my return, I continue to say ‘hello’ and ‘good night’ to Valeria and Fabio Spagnolo. They are like my children,” she told L’Orient-Le Jour.
Salomon added with a chuckle, “I’m even jealous of them sometimes.”
Although Mergiya has turned the page on her life in Lebanon, the young pilot remains resolute about someday crossing the gates of Beirut’s airport.
“I haven’t given up on my childhood wish to explore this country one day.”
This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour. Translation by Sahar Ghoussoub.