A Story of Hope

Captured in Ethiopia and sold into slavery as a child, Malik Ambar travels throughout the Middle East until he arrives in India. Despite a lifetime of adversity and hardship, Malik’s love of language and ideas helps him persevere and inspires him to study military history. Through education, hard work and perseverance, Malik learns to manage his master’s finances and trains legions of African horsemen as a commander in the Indian Army. As a free man, he becomes a respected diplomat and earns his place as a respected figure in Indian history. Written by science writer Dr. Worku L. Mulat and illustrated by Ethiopia-educated Daniel Getahun, the story of the Ethiopian slave boy who grew to be regarded as one of the greatest leaders of central and southern India reminds us how empowering and liberating education can be. Part of the Ready, Set, Go series of dual-language early readers through Open Hearts, Big Dreams Publishing, whose mission is to empower generations of young Ethiopian students with engaging, inspiring stories written in indigenous Ethiopian languages like Amharic, Tigrinya and Afaan Oromo to support bilingual readers.