Visit the new AsenaTv Website

https://asenatv.com

One woman’s journey to trace her unknown family

By Atika Shubert and Teo Kermeliotis, CNN Every week CNN International's African Voices highlights Africa's most engaging personalities, exploring the lives and passions of people who rarely open themselves up to the camera. (CNN) -- For years,

By Atika Shubert and Teo Kermeliotis, CNN

Every week CNN International’s African Voices highlights Africa’s most engaging personalities, exploring the lives and passions of people who rarely open themselves up to the camera.

(CNN) — For years, all Hannah Pool knew was that her biological parents had died shortly after her birth.

An Eritrean-born girl adopted as an infant by a British academic, Pool found herself spending her first years in Norway before landing in the UK at the age of seven.

At times, she remembers, growing up in the northwest English city of Manchester as a Norwegian-speaking black girl with a white father was a source of confusion for people around her.

“When I was walking down the street holding my dad’s hand, people would sometimes check that he wasn’t sort of taking me, that he wasn’t kidnapping me,” says Pool, who today is a writer and journalist in the UK.

“There were lots of incidents like that which actually are just part of my upbringing, part of my DNA almost — I’m used to having to explain myself, explain what I’m doing in the room, explain my relationship, whether it’s with my dad or my brother or my sister,” she adds.

Discovering an unknown family But a few years later, Pool’s already unconventional life took an even more astonishing twist.

An upbringing of discovery

Reunited with an unknown family Almost two decades after she left the Eritrean orphanage where she was adopted, Pool received a letter from the east African country informing her that her father was alive and well, living back home with her brothers and sister.

The news left the then 19-year-old Pool reeling.

“It was a complete shock,” she recalls. “And it wasn’t a creeping thing like ‘maybe you have a cousin’ or ‘maybe you have an aunt’ — it was like BAM! ‘you have a father,’ BAM! ‘here are your brothers and here’s your sister,'” she says.

“My head went into a spin, I didn’t know what to do or how I was supposed to respond to this — was I supposed to get on a plane and go to Eritrea, was I supposed to go back to all the people who I told my story to and tell them ‘actually that story is not right, this story is right’ and the whole sense of the story of me was just pulled from beneath me like a rug.”

Shocked by the revelation, Pool initially decided to ignore it and continue her university studies in Physiology.

But the thought she had a large family living in Eritrea was always with her “as a kind of an itch.” So about 10 years later Pool felt that she had to get on a plane and travel to her birthplace.

Meeting her father and the rest of her family for the first time face-to-face was “incredibly emotional,” says Pool. At the same time however, it was completely different to what she had expected.

“It was almost like an outer-body experience — I watched myself go in the room, I was quite detached, I was surprised.”

“The thing that hit me the most was the language and I hadn’t prepared for that — I had prepared for this beautiful reunion where everybody looked the same as me and we all kind of connect immediately.

“And it wasn’t like that and the main barrier at the time was the language.”

I wrote the book that I wish had been around when I was tracing myself.

Hannah PoolPool quickly understood that her European upbringing was marking her as different in her birthplace, in a similar way that her Eritrean background was singling her out in the UK.

“I thought I’m going to feel at home with everyone and initially that’s how I felt — I stepped off the plane and thought ‘wow, I’m at home, this is where I belong,’ but I realized very quickly that actually I do stand out from everyone.”

Since then, Pool has visited Eritrea three times. She describes her relationship with her family there as a “work in progress” and has started learning Tigrinya — the local language — in order to help her have a “normal family relationship.”

A talented writer, Pool documented her journey to trace her family in a book entitled “My Father’s Daughter,” a project that took about a year to complete.

“I wrote the book that I wish had been around when I was tracing myself,” she says. “There are a lot of books about adoption but usually it’s from the point of view of the parents, there’s very little from the point of view of the adoptees … and I think it’s important to get the debate they’re in from their perspective.”

An emotional memoir, Pool says the hardest part was not writing the book but going through the whole experience — initially, she was afraid of how her fathers would respond to the book but in the end they were both very proud and supportive, she says.

“Both reactions were the best reactions I could possibly hope for,” she says.

An extract of the book was also published in Tigrinya in an Eritrean newspaper.

Source:CNN

aseye.asena@gmail.com

Review overview
26 COMMENTS
  • Temesgen Medhanie October 7, 2011

    It sure is interesting story if not fascinating. I hope she will feel at home when the thing “in progress” matures into a complete reunion with her biological parents and siblings as they embrace each other as many in one. I ask to be forgiven. I don’t mean to put a political twist into the otherwise heartwarming story. However, more often, PFDJ sychophants would accuse Amanuel of dragging news items or digging up news items which particularly puts the PFDJ regime in a corner. I wouldn’t say this is a vindication or “absolution” on his part but the story brings the human side (read where all come together Opposition and supporters alike) of the nation we call Eritrea as she perpetually finds herself in a political whirlwind and seemingly endless growing pains.

  • abdi October 7, 2011

    Its interesting and fascinating i couldn’t stop myself curiously wondering why assena post it as if it care about eritrean affairs,!! Ah it didn’t last long a paid agame agent spoiled the mood.

    • Temesgen Medhanie October 7, 2011

      abdi,

      Ayt’tsaref. Tserfi newri eU.

  • denden October 7, 2011

    Temesgen

    How quick of you to praise this delusional friend of you and you are so cunning to connect the issue with theEritrean Governement. Alas we are ahead of your silly game, when i see you support this sell out man, boy I rest my case the only connection you could have is BIRR….BIRR connection hence seen Eritrean so called free press run by delusional Amanuele Eysu, wedi Maharena (AKA TEWELIJE), the jihadist Johar and the so called commision have lost it, now hands up.

    Hope the story of Hanna Pool will teach you more than what you call education.

    • Temesgen Medhanie October 7, 2011

      denden,

      Tserfi tezeykoynu qumneger keyt’zareb m’Hilka ekha.

      • Ahmed Saleh October 8, 2011

        denden
        Calling names for no reason it doesn’t make you right. Why don’t read carefully the above article
        of TEMESGEN and dig on it slowly to undestand what he means before you judge a person.

  • Paradiso October 7, 2011

    I urge everyone to read the book. It is interesting and very fascinating. I had to clean my teary eyes several times reading the book. This is a must read book to any Eritrean or Ethiopian adopted or diaspora young person.
    What makes her case better than many other adopted is that her father, professor Pool, is one of the most respected experts in the Horn of Africa and Yemen in the University of Manchester. He had published several books in Eritrea. In a way, the issue of Eritrea or Africa was there around not far from her home, even if …, read the book.

    • Temesgen Medhanie October 7, 2011

      Paradiso,

      I didn’t know that was him. I have seen some of his works on Eritrea. Many thanks for the info. I actually thought I heard Isaias (in a video that is) talking about him in passing as Isaias was telling anecdotal story relevant to the meeting he was leading. It must had been in the late 90s or early 2000s.

    • Maazza October 7, 2011

      Paradiso

      This young lady has authored a book that has move you to tears. This brings home the tragic reality that thanks to Isayas’s oppressive rule, Eritrea’s youth will be deprived from shining like her and are doomed to be dim-witted likee Abdi and Denden and Tegadalay and the likes who can are specialized in the arts of insults. I feel sorry for my country when I clearly see what type they are through their posts. Needless to say, their potential for brilliance was as great as anyone else. Inoctrination and brainwashing had reduced them to the pitiful state they are in.

      Isayas has no vision for our youth except the kalashinkof. His tyranny transforms, otherwise potentiallay brilliant people, into pets who parrot, untiringly the same abusive insults as if their survival depends on that. I normally wince when some call them zombies, but, come to think of it, some of them have become just that.

      You fill me with pride with your posts. Thank you.

      • abdi October 7, 2011

        interfering in eritrean affairs doesn’t make you an Eritrea,

        • guest October 8, 2011

          Abdi,
          So what are u doing here in non Eritrean web site.Sorry even the Patty that u worship can not give u a space to say what u want, even though u support them

          • abdi October 8, 2011

            Im here to defend my country from ur Agames fabrication,stop talking about my country promise you won’t see me in this full of lies website.after all i don’t like to be near to these stinky creatures called agame.

  • tegadalay October 7, 2011

    thats is what iam talking abaout this is the frist time ASSENA dont insolt the eritrean gov even so ASSENA try to use this as their propoganda so they cant get one this is avery good story iam happy she find her family so ASSENA iam not going to put abad comment on this thank you

  • tegadalay October 7, 2011

    HI ASSENA you dont say nothing bad abaout the eritrean gov in this report ithank you for that how ever there are some in your website trying to use this as eritreas afair LOOK THE COMMENT BY TEMESGHEN MEDHANE & MAAZZA they are giving bad name to your website you jast put the history of this lady bat some people are trying to use this for their hiden ajenda so jast delet or ignor this kind of comment

  • Dawit October 7, 2011

    This story is not really an exception. There are countless Eritreans who have never seen their siblings, patents, friends, and relatives largely due to the dictatorial government who does not have any regard what so even for Eritreans. We have Eritreans in Diaspora who have never been to Eritrea for 10, 20, 30 and even 40 years. The solution: we Eritreans need to remove the tyrant in cooperation with Eritreans inside Eritrea.

    What makes this story a bit different is the fact that she is able to visit Eritrea with out fear. She won’t be asked no question. She won’t be forced to sign a paper of false confession.

    • Maazza October 7, 2011

      Dawitom

      I hear you LOUD and CLEAR!

      Maazza

    • abdi October 8, 2011

      Everybody can visit without any fear unless s/he has committed a crime against his/er ppl and nation the way you selling ur ppl now in Ethiopia.

  • Tecle October 7, 2011

    My guess is that Abdi is AGAME himself, like his leader. So guys don’t kill your time responding to a stone head like Abdi. He is trash like the GANG seting in Eritrea.

    • abdi October 8, 2011

      Aytfletuna dus?weys aboy key qedemeka agame belo?
      Hzbu ahlifu zhb kedaen kurkur Agame kemakha eyu,
      ane mo mskrnetka zey yedlyo chw zbelku wedi keren tsaeda eye, arskha khe khabey ekha atayo?

    • Fitihi October 8, 2011

      Dear Tecle,
      There is nothing wrong with being Agame.Its neither an insult nor deragatory but a name of a district.Agames are very proud people known for handling their businesses with due deligence.You have to remember that we don’t fight the dictator because he is the son of Tigrayan immigrant parents but because the atrocities he is committing against our defenceless and voiceless people as well as destroying our nation that thousands perished their lives for.Its also worth noting that they are the only trusted ally and cousins we have at this dark hour of our country.
      Lets leave that kinds of language to the dead supporters and zombies of the shifta leader.

      Happy thanks giving day to all,

      • abdi October 8, 2011

        What do u mean nothing wrong with being agame.ya meTaqeEi?its all wrong they are beggars,HIV infected hunger,degalat,and above this they are the source of prostitution in the horn, be brave say the truth for once.or you defend them to not to be kicked out from the hotels they put u in?husur mehser hzbu

        • Maazza October 8, 2011

          Abdi

          You are insulting Isayas because Tembien is very close To Adi Grat. Did this occur to you, you dim-wit, vulgar man?

          • abdi October 9, 2011

            Keep defending them until they done with you and kick ur teeth.kendi chama ISAYAS atkhonn ya kahdit.

  • Ahmed Saleh October 8, 2011

    ABDI
    WHY ARE YOU SO HATEFULL, TAKE IT EASY, MAN.

    • abdi October 9, 2011

      I just mentioned what they are good at, please give me one reason to like them.

      • Ahmed Saleh October 9, 2011

        Abdi
        I know you are not stupid, and as you said before you originate from MAY-DAEIRIT that means from
        Keren. KERENITES are proud people with their history in our struggle . All of us love our country and
        that is why we engage in this arguments out concern of own people . Because my opinion is different
        than yours it doesn’t mean we have different personality. Some of us could be as good as you are .
        Therefore it is wrong to hate your brother for his ideology believe. LIFE IS SHORT

POST A COMMENT