Habitat for Humanity East Bay

Meet the Sile Zemulu Family

Girmay and Mebrat have weathered a lot in their 30 years of marriage. After being forced by the Ethiopian government to move to Eritrea in 1998 due to civil conflict and having all of their money and belongings taken, the family finally found a light at the end of the tunnel. In 2000 Mebrat came to Oakland to visit her brother where she applied for, and was granted, political asylum. Five years later, Girmay, Haben (20-years-old) and Bersabel (19-years-old) joined her in the United States.

The couple has four older children: daughters in Switzerland and Eritrea and sons in Ethiopia and Washington DC. Mebrat currently has a green card, but hopes to have US citizenship in a year so she can apply for her oldest children to join the family in Oakland.

Both Girmay and Mebrat work full-time at the Oaks Card Club as housekeepers and Mebrat works an additional two days per week as a Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA) doing private home care.

Haben and Bersabel graduated from Oakland Technical High School in 2008. Currently, Haben attends Berkeley City College and has plans to become a nurse. She also enjoys volunteering with the African American Museum in Oakland. Bersabel, who volunteers as an afterschool tutor, attends UC Davis and is studying to become a cardiologist.

The family attends an Eritrean Orthodox Church on Sundays and enjoys attending Eritrean festivals and concerts together. Mebrat enjoys cooking and putting on traditional coffee ceremonies for family and visiting friends.

The family chose to purchase their first home with Habitat East Bay because they could not afford the down payment for a market-rate investment. Mebrat, who remembers the pain of being forced to leave her country with no belongings and eventually coming to the United States with nothing, believes that owning her own home will bring her piece of mind and an assurance that her family is finally stable. “Nobody can move me,” she says.

Regarding her dreams for the future, Mebrat says, “All my children will come here, they will marry, and I will become a grandmother.” She also looks forward to the day when she can rest and not work seven days each week. She states, “I want to go to school and learn better English so I won’t have to ask for translation. But my biggest dreams are for my family, and not for me.” Haben interjects, “She wants us to be the best students and graduate from the top colleges.”