Ethiopia 1981

Ethiopia is a country of extreme poverty and constant famines. In 1981 it was a Communist State under the dictatorship of Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam who in 1991 was overthrown and fled to Zimbabwe. During his stay, John Robert Young was under the constant supervision of the secret police who accompanied him everywhere. An Ethiopian Aid Worker said to him, “Tell them in London we are starving,” which on his return he did, but his message was ignored. Eighteen months later the terrible famine of 1983 shocked the world into action.