August 16, 2022 • ISSUE 635

Samuel Tumdedo

Humanitarian Software Developer

MIU student Samuel Tumdedo grew up in a family of farmers in Ethiopia and studied hydraulic engineering at Arba Minch University. As a Christian, he wanted to use his education to help communities in need, so he decided to do humanitarian work.

He joined World Vision International, where he worked as an infrastructure engineer, and then was promoted to water supply design engineer on area development programs in various parts of Ethiopia.

Later he worked for Samaritan’s Purse International in South Sudan, supporting the water and sanitation needs of several large refugee camps, serving hundreds of thousands of displaced people. He managed different projects, working with various humanitarian organizations in a war zone under extremely difficult weather conditions.

While with Samaritan’s Purse he also spent three years in Cambodia, managing water supply, sanitation, and hygiene programs for refugee camps.

Samuel with children in Cambodia

After many years of living under stressful and unsafe conditions, Samuel needed a change. He had always been interested in technology and programming, and he began working on IT projects with friends while still working with humanitarian organizations. In 2019 he got a job in Maryland and moved to the US. But he wanted to further improve his skills, so he joined the Master’s in Software Development program at MIU.

Samuel enjoys the healthy vegetarian meals on campus and his daily practice of the Transcendental Meditation® technique. “I’m not accumulating stress anymore because I have a way to release it,” he said.

“The education system, coupled with TM at the beginning and end of the day, makes me feel like I am understanding something deeper, like I am more connected to God, and have a deeper appreciation of my own religion.”

Samuel hopes to use his software development skills to work with humanitarian organizations and contribute to educational systems in underdeveloped countries.