In Eritrea, Yosef had worked as a welder, and once he had been granted asylum he started an apprentiship as welder in a private company, while at the same time studying Norwegian. But with three - soon to be four - children, and a wife who started work very early every morning, the working day as welder became impossible.
He decided to change track and started an adult education course of nursing and health while continuing to study Norwegian. The studies were followed by practice at Home for the Sick and Aged at Tiller, and in 2010 he gained his professional certificate. After ten years in Norway he speaks very good Norwegian and has close to full post at Heimdal care-service (hjelpetjeneste). He meets lots of old and sick people in his daily work. He has found that they soon get used to him and receive him with open arms.
His family is well integrated in the local environment at Kroppanmarka where they live, and much of his spare time is used to driving children to soccer practice and matches and taking part in working bees for the soccer clubs. He is also an active participant among the Eritreans in Trondheim, and he dreams of the day when Eritrea will be a free and democratic country.
Yosef is born a catholic. As a young man he wished to become a priest and he spent several years in the seminary in Eritrea. As the studies progressed he realized that he did not have a vocation for the priesthood after all, and he finally left the seminary. But the Church has remained important both for him and his family. Several of the children has served as altar boys in St. Olav and Yosef himself is now an elected member of the parish council.
As member of the parish council he hopes primarily to be of assistance to the church. He sees that the church needs both spiritual and practical help and as an active participant in the parish he hopes that he will be able to provide some of that help. He is especially interested in activities concerning children and young people and would very much like to see such activities being further developed in St. Olav parish. He also feels that he represents all the Eritreans in the parish, and to some extent all Africans. He hopes that other African nations will put up candidates for the parish council in the future. That is a hope we all share!