MESSIE & JOHSIAS - SUCCESS STORIES

Messi Maru and her nine- year-old son Johsias arrived in Huntsville in 2006 from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia following a challenging journey through Poland, Italy and Canada. Her father, and the father of another Ethiopian émigré who was living in the US, arranged a marriage for her that brought her to Huntsville. Within months, her brutally abusive husband had tired of the marriage and literally threw Messi and Johsias out into the street and abandoned them completely.