Out of hardship and historical chance, Dr. Yared conjures a vivid, unforgettable
portrait of a medical school born on uneven ground. His storytelling is at once
personal, and panoramic, a tribute to resilience, improvisation, and the triumph of
learning under duress. The German-Ethiopian academic partnership is recalled
with rare clarity and warmth, making history breathe again. This is not just a
memoir; it’s a document of hope forged in adversity

Gerd Birkenmeier
Professor of Biochemistry and a member of the University of Leipzig team that
collaborated with Gondar College of Medical Sciences (GCMS).

“This book is a rare and powerful testimony; not just to the founding years of a
medical college, but to the spirit of a generation that was shaped by hardship,
duty, and dreams bigger than the moment allowed. As someone who walked the
same corridors as a student and later returned to serve as director and dean, I
found myself reliving the triumphs and the trials. Dr. Yared captures it all with
clarity, humility, and deep affection. This is a story that needed to be told, and he
has told it masterfully.”

Tesfaye Tessema Gudu, MD
Former Director of the Gondar Teaching Hospital and Dean of Gondar College of
Medical Sciences

This memoir is a rare document, an eyewitness account of Ethiopia’s most
turbulent era, seen through the eyes of a young medical student. It captures the
lived experience of a generation shaped by revolution, war, famine, and mass
migration. The author’s narrative is not only deeply personal but also profoundly
political, offering invaluable insights into how national trauma filters down to the
lecture hall, the hospital ward, and the public health arena.  Few works succeed in
weaving personal memories with national history so seamlessly. A remarkable
contribution to both medical and historical literature.”

Asrat Atsedeweyn, PhD
President, University of Gondar
 
Yared Wondmikun Endailalu is a physician, educator, and medical scientist
whose journey spans continents and generations of students. Yared was born in
Addis Ababa and went to school at Kokebe Tsibah Haileselasse I. A graduate of
Gondar College of Medical Sciences in Ethiopia, he holds a Ph.D. in Human
Physiology from the University of Leipzig, Germany and completed his residency
in Internal Medicine at Howard University Hospital, USA. He further pursued an

International fellowship in medical education at the University of North Dakota,
USA. A former Dean and professor at his alma mater in Gondar, Dr. Endailalu also
served as co-chairman of Ethiopia’s National Medical Education Council and
founding president of the University of Gondar. He now practices internal
medicine in the United States and lives in Virginia with his wife and two
daughters.