food review
WHERE FAMILY BEGINS
INTERVIEW BY Sonia Guimbellot
Thousands of miles and over 40 years lay the origins of Lucy Ethiopian Restaurant and Lounge in Houston . In 1974 , in the Awash Valley of Ethiopia , the modern world was introduced to the oldest known member of the human family when archeologists discovered bones believed to be the oldest known human from 3.2 million years ago , a young woman who they named “ Lucy ”. That same year , Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie was deposed in a violent coup beginning a 17 year civil war in Ethiopia and changing the life of a young girl forever .
Suzani Asmlash was the first girl in her family and when her elder brothers left to become freedom fighters opposing the dictatorship that had come to power , she took responsibility for her younger siblings as her parents struggled to provide for the family . Life was dangerous as a member of one of the northern tribes as the civil war engulfed the country of Ethiopia resulting in the great famine of 1983-85 which killed more than one million people .
After growing up surrounded by civil war , tribal conflict , famine , and deprivation , it was time to escape . The United Nations had built refugee camps in neighboring Sudan . Suzani ’ s mother rubbed her skin with coffee to darken her skin so that she would resemble the darker skinned farm laborers of the border area and had her carry an infant niece on her back to complete the disguise . They and others masqueraded as a group of local farmers on their way to church . After they ran a gauntlet of soldiers , armed rebels and tribes hostile to their own , she and her mother parted ways as Suzani and others began the long walk toward the Sudan . Suzani had been sent on ahead in hopes of forging a future for her family still trapped by dictatorship and violence . After weeks of walking , sleeping in the bush , and crossing the Sahara with little food or water , she found her way to a Red Cross camp in Khartoum , Sudan . Two years of camp life ensued until Suzani was able to emigrate to Holland . Suzani , now a young single mother , began building a life for herself and her son while preparing the way for over a dozen other family members who were to follow and join her in Amsterdam over the next several years . In time , she learned to speak Dutch and became a Dutch citizen .
After 10 years of hard work , Suzani and her son , Danny , took a vacation to the United States that included a trip to Las Vegas where they had relatives . Her son , then a little older , declared that they should make
18 iF Magazine | OCTOBER 2016