Two young men, one in a white hoodie and the other in a camouflage jacket, share a joyful hug outdoors with rocky terrain, aloe plants, trees, and a utility pole in the background.

Returning home From War

A week before Kibrom Berhane will climb the hill to his village in northern Ethiopia and embrace his mother, before he will tell her that the war is now over, that everything will finally be all right, he stands in a small room on the outskirts of the town of Mekele and tries to keep his balance.

The war in the northern Ethiopian region of Tigray was one of the bloodiest conflicts in recent history. Observers estimate that up to 600,000 people died in almost two years. Tens of thousands of women were raped. Millions were starved to death by a blockade. The guns fell silent for a year. In November 2022, the two warring parties, the Ethiopian central government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front, signed a peace agreement. 

 The only rehabilitation centre in Mek'ele, the capital of Tigray, has been making orthoses and prostheses by hand since the end of the war. The centre was established in 1991 during the Ethiopian civil war and is still run by war-disabled people. Around 15,000 disabled people are currently waiting for treatment. Many of them are young men like Kibrom. Recognising the brutal war crimes committed by the Ethiopian army, he was recruited into the Tigrayan Liberation Front at the start of the conflict. A young man who wanted to fight for his region. And who today wants nothing more than to learn to walk again and return to society.

Prosthetic legs and shoes lined up against a wall in a workshop, with some shoes on the floor and tools on the side.
A man in a wheelchair looks at a healthcare worker adjusting a prosthetic leg in a clinic room.
Group of young men with disabilities, including prosthetic legs, sitting in a room with one standing up and talking to another man who appears to be a healthcare professional.
Young man with a prosthetic leg balancing on a raised platform in a room with chairs and large windows, practicing balance.
Young man walking with crutches on a dirt pathway beside a large tree and a green building, surrounded by grass and shrubbery.
A group of people walking outside, carrying red and yellow flags with stars, near a brick building and rural landscape.
A young man with curly dark hair and a mustache, wearing a black jacket and a gray graphic t-shirt, sitting outdoors in a garden area with bushes and trees, during dusk or early evening.
Two people share an intimate moment outdoors, with one person dressed in white. They are touching foreheads and smiling, surrounded by trees and succulents in a rural landscape.
Four people seated indoors, engaged in conversation, with one woman wearing a traditional headscarf, in a room with a colorful religious poster on the wall.
Rural scene with stone building, trees, and people standing on rocky terrain, with cows and donkeys grazing