A second chance in life

By Alemayehu Seife Selassie
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – Artists Serawit Fikre and Mulualem Tadesse are well known for their TV commercials. But as the two have gone their different ways to success, these days there are only a few occasions in which the two artists are seen together.
Mulualem’s journey to Israel for a show, during which she fell sick and was admitted to hospital, had alarmed her fans. Luckily, the artist is now well. During the month of March, the duet is going to partner again for yet another delightful performance. MCing at a fundraiser concert that hopes to raise awareness over the upcoming cancer treatment hospital by Life’s Second Chance Foundation, the two artists are going to get a second chance to entertain the crowd all over again. Serawit Fikre’s company, Serawit Multimedia Production, is the organizer of the show, which is entitled “Tena Yistilign” (“May God give you health on my behalf”).

The Life’s Second Chance program was founded by a former cancer victim named Wossene. Currently, Life’s Second Chance is run at this victim’s expense, and in the near future, the hospital will be erected in Sheno city, located 80 kilometers from Addis Ababa in Oromia State. 68 hectares of land has been allotted for the first-of-its-kind hospital in Ethiopia. Artists are going to promote the hospital this coming Saturday, March 1, at the Millennium Hall in Addis Ababa. A 1.2 million birr fund is expected to be raised from the large concert event.

The hospital and teaching facility is estimated to cost 130 million dollars. The 400-bed hospital is expected to be finished within three years. And within not more than seven years of its foundation, it will have 1000 beds. It will be one of the four hospitals in Africa that focus entirely on cancer, making Ethiopia one of the countries to where patients from all over Africa would come for treatment.
The musical concert is expected to raise awareness as well as funds for the hospital. The foundation of the hospital will be laid in three months time. “The main reason that the hospital is going to be built in the Oromia regional city of Sehno is, because, the elevated highland of Sheno has been proven to be clean from any pollution,” Dr.
Alemayehu Tegegn, a representative of Life’s Second Chance Foundation, said. The doctor stated that there are only five persons that are specialized in cancer treatment and the Life’s Second Chance Foundation members abroad are composed of medical professionals that have specialized in cancer treatment. The specialists have pledged to assist teaching component when the hospital becomes functional.

The medical doctor representing Life’s Second Chance Foundation highlighted that there are 200,000 Ethiopians affected by cancer every year, while only 60,000-150,000 come for treatment. From the patients that come to the hospital, only 500 are treatable. The rest go there after the cancer has progressed beyond treatment. “There is only one hospital that has the facility to treat patients for an expensive price of 80,000 Birr,” Dr. Alemayehu stated.

Over 22 artists and musical groups will perform a show next week Saturday for this one-of-a-kind life-saving concert. “We have been involved in similar activities prior to this one and we are happy to be a part of such a project now,” artist Serawit Fikre, the MC of the night and the owner of Serawit Mulitmedia, said at a press briefing this week. The artist that has been known for his several feature films and Ambassador Tailor commercials. “Usually our business policy is to partner or get paid in advance, but this time the organizing of the current project is going to cost us over 100,000 birr. And we may ask just the refund of that or maybe even less.”

Poets, dancers, musicians, comedians and theatrical personalities are all part of the current show. “Cancer is not just the White man’s disease. Our concert will highlight the actual cancer threat in Ethiopia. Our motto is, “let’s be entertained as we build our hospital,” Serawit stated.

The concert next Saturday is going to feature Tewodros Tadesse, Kuku Sebsibe, Abinet Agonafir, Tadele Roba, Semahegn Belew and many more.
Thanks to the “Tena Yistilign” concert, the two artists Serawit and Mulualem will appear on stage together. And with the laying of the foundation stone in a month’s time, the upcoming hospital will soon give thousands of people a second chance in life.