Opened in 1948 at the request of Emperor Haile Selassie, himself a French speaker, Gébré-Mariam High School straddles four hectares on Churchill Avenue, the Champs-Elysées of Addis Ababa.

But the work was hard and she missed her school—so she ran away and returned to her family, only to be sent to Addis Ababa when it became clear that her parents could not afford to look after her.