Engineer Survives Tumult in Africa, Realizes Promise of America

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (12/8/99) -- Dagnachew "Dag" Wold, a project engineer in The Aerospace Corporation's Rosslyn, Va., office, measures everything against the tumultuous backdrop of Ethiopia and the excitement, challenges and opportunities he encountered when he came to America. He gauges the future in larger terms -- world progress through space technology.

Dag's journey to America was precipitated by the takeover of Ethiopia in 1974 by military forces. The emperor, Haile Selassie, was deposed and the social tumult was pervasive. Those considered a threat to the new government were imprisoned or shot.

"Many of my high school buddies were shot dead by government soldiers and the ones alive were picked up by security officers, some never to be heard from again. The luckier ones got thrown in jail, did time and survived it. My sister was one," Dag wrote in a sketch of his experiences.

He fled his home in the capital city, Addis Ababa, along with a flood of others and made his way to a refugee camp in the Sudan.

Domestic Work

While awaiting an opportunity to escape to Khartoum, the capital city, Dag worked as a domestic laborer in local households, mostly keeping house and washing clothes.

His knowledge of English, acquired during his education by Canadian Jesuit missionaries in Addis Ababa, got him work with Swedish missionaries providing medical assistance to the sick in the refugee camp. With assistance from one of the missionaries, he made it to Khartoum, "a big city filled with countless more refugees."

"Life was lived mostly on the streets. The handy ones got jobs as electricians, school teachers and drivers, or anything that came about. Life was somewhat communal among the refugees; you helped each other and you shared everything. Nobody had anything, let alone extra things. If there was an extra shirt, it was on someone's back."

"The idea of getting back home was impossible given the conditions," Wold said. He also thought it "very difficult or impossible to get to America."

A Breakthrough

But it turned out he was found qualified for resettlement in America by the U.S. State Department which was conducting a resettlement program for Ethiopian refugees. The fact that he had a brother, Tafesse, who formerly worked for the Peace Corps in Addis Ababa and now worked for the U.S. embassy there, and a brother, Daniel, in Washington, D.C., simplified his case which was quickly approved by the U.S. immigration officer.

His journey to America was sponsored by the Church World Service of New York which loaned him $300. This got him a flight to Greece, then to New York, where he arrived "on a brisk cold November night in 1980 with nothing by way of luggage." His feet, in slippers, were cracked from exposure to the harsh experiences he endured.

His next stop was Baltimore-Washington International Airport where he was met by his older brother, Daniel, who had a small apartment in Rosslyn, "just on the back side" of the building which houses the offices of The Aerospace Corporation.

A Pair of Shoes, Socks

The first order of business was shoes: "He (Daniel) bought me my first real pair of shoes, along with life's personal 'essentials.' And a pair of socks too, the first in a long time."

After briefly "playing tourist" he obtained work as a doorman at the nearby Normandy House. "Believe it or not I now see the building from where I am sitting in my office."

Next came a second job: work as a parking lot attendant in downtown Washington where employees of ABC News parked their cars.

Ted Koppel, David Brinkley, Jack Smith and others were among his clients. Here he encountered the rough and tumble of life in the big city American style. He found that you had to be aggressive and competitive to survive. During slow shifts he washed cars to earn extra cash.

"I quickly decided this isn't the way to make a living in America."

Going to School, Driving a Cab

He enrolled in the University of Maryland at age 24, still working two jobs.

In his sophomore year he took a job driving a cab, which offered the flexibility to design a schedule around mechanical engineering studies.

Wold graduated in 1986. He became a citizen in 1987 and got a job at McDonnell Douglas Aeronautics Company in St. Louis in 1988.

After two years at McDonnell Douglas he went to General Dynamics Space in San Diego, canceling plans to finish graduate school at Washington University in St. Louis, "because I really wanted to work in space."

At General Dynamics, now a unit of Lockheed Martin, he worked on the Centaur upper stage and Titan IV and Atlas rockets. He also "got to work as a systems engineer on several space missions" and was introduced to independent readiness review teams and The Aerospace Corporation.

Wold joined the Systems Engineering Division at the Aerospace corporate offices in El Segundo, Calif., in 1991, where he participated in satellite, ground and launch systems projects and a number of mission-oriented independent review teams.

Because his wife-to-be was living in Washington, D.C., Dag obtained a transfer in 1994 to work in corporate development. He ended up working in the same block in which he formerly lived as a newcomer to America.

"Show me a place in the world (besides America) where you can do this. This is a great country and I feel a deep sense of gratitude."

Dag's focus now is the satellite industry and the creation of civil and commercial clients. His enthusiasm is apparent:

Mirrors in the Sky

"To me the satellite industry is so exciting, enabling the transportation of digital information in the form of 0s and 1s via these mirrors in the sky we call satellites.

"Space and satellite technology that was predominantly a military tool is quickly transforming itself into an information infrastructure to deliver digital data, video, television, radio, the Internet, multimedia, college education, knowledge, experience, culture, discourse, dialogue and commerce, thus opening the eyes and ears and the hearts and minds of people everywhere. This is very powerful and I am happy to be working in this dynamic industry.

"0s and 1s to everyone. That is my motto. When seven-year-old school children in Africa start communicating and being friends with seven-year-olds in Europe, Asia or America on the Internet, that will be the day."