Ted Jaleta says, “I've run for pleasure and I've run for my life.” The Regina marathon runner, author, humanitarian, Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame inductee and Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal recipient recently delivered his challenging and inspiring message to students, as part of Arcola School's Education Week celebrations.
The “almost 60”-year-old was one of eight children born into a farming family in northwestern Ethiopia, and one of the first members of his family to attend school.
“We had no running water, no electricity,” says Jaleta. “My parents couldn't read and write-that was a privilege reserved for the very few-but they believed in education, especially my mother.”
“Sometimes, I was late to school, because I had to get up early to do chores at about 5 a.m. We had no clock, just a radio. It was pretty hit and miss, so I often used the shadows to tell time.”
“And that's how my running began,” “I didn't want to be late for school, but I had to finish the chores, so often I was running to school.”
“The distance to school was more than 10 km,” he adds. “And I walked there barefoot, from the age of five.”
While education opened up new opportunities for Jaleta; it also brought challenges-many of which involved heartbreaking choices.
“I (now) speak six languages, including English, Swahili and Arabic,” says Jaleta. “ There are more than 80 languages and 200 dialects in Ethiopia. But when I started school, school was taught in a language I didn't understand. It was very difficult and I faced bullying and was punished severely for not understanding. I almost gave up.”
“There were no role models or support back then. So my role models were teachers. They dressed better and they had shoes-and I had none. That's how I measured my success.”
Jaleta persevered and from grades four through eight, attended a second school that was a four-day walk from his home.
“I was only home during Christmas and Easter,” he says. “It was very mountainous country up and down and mules and donkeys carried our supplies.
After completing grade eight, Jaleta's mother- “my first hero”-and father decided that he had enough education.
“You have to understand, my mother, especially, dreamed of a better future for me. She was a community leader and she taught me compassion and caring for others. Without my mother, I would not be here.”
“But by grade eight, I had to make the choice to run away from home in order to continue my education, because both she and my father believed that grade eight was enough education for me. I stayed with an uncle and I didn't see my parents again until grade 11.”
During high school, the man whom Jaleta calls “my second hero” came to speak. Barefoot runner and later, Olympic gold medalist and Ethiopian, Abebe Bikila made a profound impression on the young Jaleta.
“He won the Olympic gold medal in the 1960 Olympics in Rome,” says Jaleta. “He told me: 'Don't get held back because you don't have shoes. Instead, work hard and don't set barriers, set goals. Make the right choices.'”
Like his hero, Jaleta was soon on track to become a world-class long-distance runner and Olympic candidate.
However, in 1970, his country entered what Jaleta calls, “the darkest period in Ethiopia's history” as civil war broke out.
As a university student, Jaleta was caught up in a peaceful demonstration and was shot in the leg, imprisoned, and brutally tortured.
“I was shot in my upper left leg,” he says. “I was lucky my muscles and bones were okay.”
“It was a peaceful protest and then the military showed up, firing AK-47s,” says Jaleta. “We started running for our lives. At first I didn't realize I had been shot. I felt a burning sensation in my leg and then the wetness on my pants, then I passed out.”
As a result, Jaleta was imprisioned in a detention camp, “a horrible situation.”
“I was kept in a small room, meant for three or four people. But there were 20 to 30 people standing there. Every night, some were taken for interrogation. Some came back and some did not.”
“Sometimes, we were made to dig our own graves.”
“I was one of the youngest there,” adds Jaleta. “Once, 20 of us were ushered outside to sit by the gate. Sometimes, other detainees were coming into the camp, in trucks. The police officer got distracted and I escaped.”
“There was a small, slim chance that I would succeed in escaping,” he adds. “Either I would get killed or at the very least, shot. But I managed to escape. I jumped a brick fence that had broken glass on top. I have lots of scars on my arms.”
“People ask me how I did it. But when you are scared, you can do anything. You just come to understand you're (probably) going to die. At the time, some detainees advised their fellow prisoners to get some cyanide poison, if you could. It was that bad.”
“I ran for my life and I was a fugitive in my own country for two years. The militia was hunting for me. I hid in caves and I was safe in the bush, so that's when I would stop running.”
After two years in hiding, Jaleta escaped to Sudan in 1978, a period he calls “the darkest moment of my life.”
“I was in a refugee camp. There was disease and suicide all around me. The conditions were appalling. Sometimes there was no food for two or three days. There was no running water or electricity and when there was food, there was very little.”
“It was so hard---just to survive.”
Jaleta refused to give up and on Christmas Eve 1978, he was accepted to Kenya, where thanks to a humanitarian organization, he attended trade school from 1979 until 1982.
“Life was better,” he says. “But I still wanted more.”
“I was accepted to Canada and in 1982, I arrived in Regina as a refugee. My early years in Canada were very challenging,” he says. “But I set about adapting to my new home and that meant stepping outside my comfort zone.”
“I didn't have a clue,” he says. “When people ask me what I expected Canada to be like, to be honest, after the refugee camp, having a home and a country to accept me felt like heaven.”
“When immigration officials asked me where I might like to go, I said I knew of Toronto and Vancouver. I knew Toronto had an Ethiopian community, so that was my first thought, but I really was so grateful to come to Canada, I was happy to be anywhere.”
“They asked me if I knew anyone in Toronto. When I said, 'No',” they said, 'You're going to Saskatchewan---Regina, Saskatchewan.' I had actually learned about Saskatchewan in school, because it was known for agriculture.”
“I was randomly assigned to Regina,” adds Jaleta. “Because there were immigration quotas. And I'm so glad I came to Regina for so many reasons. I've been there for 33 years now. It was smaller and at that time, didn't have a lot of large ethnic groups, so I had the opportunity to become immersed in Canadian society.”
“I've met wonderful friends here and now my friends and family are here. I don't need to go anywhere else.”
However, life in Canada required Jaleta to consciously make the choice to adapt to yet another new environment.
“I chose to move out of my comfort zone to learn more about my new country,” he says. “The weather was different and there was a language barrier. But community members and people were very welcoming. But coming from an African village, it was scary.”
“But I knew that Canadians were compassionate and caring, so I knew that I was in good hands.”
In Canada, Jaleta says he was inspired by the man he calls “my third hero”-Terry Fox.
“Terry Fox made me realize I could reach my potential,” says Jaleta. “His story inspired me to believe I could do anything. He took a negative and turned it into a positive for others.”
“I was empowered by his message. I put up his poster in my room. I quit smoking. I took up running again.”
“I realized that every choice I made affected my destiny. My choices regarding diet, friendship, education, activities, community involvement...It all helped to shape my future.”
“And you don't know where destiny can take you.”
Since his arrival in Canada, Jaleta worked several jobs-often more than one at a time. “I worked in construction, I did manual labour,” he says. “But eventually, I went to university to become an accountant and I've only recently retired. I worked for 25 years at the CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) as an auditor.”
Still a runner and enthusiastic community volunteer, Jaleta has received numerous honours-among them, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012 and in 2005, he was inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame. Combining both his athletic and philanthropic interests, he founded Regina's 'Jaleta's Pacers'-a group of runners who “have raised over $600,000 for local charities.”
Married with two sons, Jaleta credits the “second chance” Canada gave him and is determined to repay this country and its people for making him one of their own.
“Since I came to Canada, I see opportunities everywhere,” he says. “When I received an award, I never imagined such a moment, when I was sitting in a refugee camp contemplating suicide. I used to homeless and now I have a home and a beautiful family.”
“It's a great opportunity to be born and raised here,” says Jaleta. “And my biggest message to young people is if they want to succeed and live life to the fullest, education is one of the greatest tools and they should take it seriously.”
“Canada is a great country, you don't have to walk or run from far away to get an education, and you don't have to run for your life.”
“My advice is: 'If you have the motivation and if you do the work, anything is possible.”
For more information, check out http://tedjaleta.com/about-me.
