http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/14114524._Once_you_are_in_a_battlefield_you_become_a_different_person____the_remarkable_journey_from_rebel_fighter_to_successful_businesswoman/
'Once you are in a battlefield you become a different person' - the remarkable journey from rebel fighter to successful businesswoman
Finn Scott-Delany, Business editor / 07:05 Tuesday 1 December 2015 / News
GAP YEAR volunteering in a foreign country is a feature of many modern CVs.
But few can claim to have spent their formative years in a war zone as part of a decades-long struggle for independence.
That is the real-life experience of Mebrak Ghebreweldi, managing director of Lewes-based Vandu Language Services, and a former freedom fighter in her homeland of Eritrea.
One of the last African countries to win independence, Eritrea went from being an Italian colony, to a by British administered territory, before being annexed into a province of Ethiopia.
Mebrak grew up in a farming family in the midst of a 30-year battle for freedom, between 1961-1991, waged by the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF).
Joining the struggle at just 16 years old, she acted as a barefoot doctor, dressing wounds, handing our tablets and helping professional medics.
She also trained as Morse code operator, sending messages from the battlefield back to the rebel HQ.
After freedom finally came after 14 years, she headed to the UK on a scholarship to study business and computing, where she married and had two children.
After separating and becoming a single mum, she faced another battle to raise two children under five years old, while starting her own business, which involved working into the early hours.
She said: “I started the business from home and it wasn’t easy having two little boys with a business to run. I used to work through the evening up until 2 or 3 in the morning.
“To start with it was quite tough, very difficult to work full time.
“But I’m proud to say it grew and grew into a well-regarded service.”
Ironically it was another war which helped launch her translation business.
As war raged in the Balkans, Vandu worked with the local authority to support refugees fleeing Bosnia and Kosovo.
She said: “We started supporting the public sector to deal with all the refugees from the other side of Europe.
“As we began to support these people, that’s how things developed.”
After 16 years in business, Vandu has some 2,000 translators on its books, about 400 local interpreters, and works in more than 100 languages.
Well-known in Sussex, Vandu works with Sussex Police, Brighton and Sussex Hospitals University NHS Trust, West Sussex County Council
As well as interpreting and translation services, it offers cross-cultural training for business working in foreign countries, and bilingual advocacy, for example helping non-English speakers make decisions about health and social care.
Despite her success, Mebrak says her experience of war will never leave her.
She said: “Once you are in a battlefield you become a different person. That’s universal.
“You become someone that’s respectful, reliable and respects others.
“It teaches you how precious life is, how it can go in seconds.
“I don’t think people that haven’t had the experience can understand. And why should they? They haven’t been through it.
“You become clear that you don’t want war to happen anywhere. It’s ugly.”
As well leaving its emotional mark, her experience has taught her practical lessons.
She said: “My job was communication and so I have seen how important it can be.
“In war if you make a mistake it can be life or death."
The impact of the Syrian refugee crisis has yet impact business.
But Mebrak hopes her story shows that immigrants have a positive contribution to make.
She added: "Refugees and immigrants are good people.
"I'm contributing a huge amount to society. I'm proud to be supporting civilised society."
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Received on Tue Dec 01 2015 - 10:40:53 EST