Birhan Weldu

Birhan Weldu (born c.1981) is an Ethiopian woman best known as a poster child for the 1984 Band Aid concert that served as fundraiser for the Ethiopian drought of that same year.

Born in Mek'ele, Birhan's family travelled from their village in Tigray to Mek'ele, which is roughly 500 miles north of the capital, Addis Ababa, in hopes of finding food or relief. The harsh journey proved too much for many: her sister Azmara, died during the trip; she and her mother both became very ill.

While at an aid center, her father, Weldu Menameno, was told by the attending nuns that his daughter Birhan, would likely die within the next fifteen minutes. Her father, preparing for the worst, wrapped her in a white burial shroud, and began to dig a grave. However, as he began to bury his daughter, he noticed a faint pulse. He alerted the nurses, who restored her to health.

The photograph of Birhan, wrapped in her burial shroud, emaciated and exhausted, was part of Canadian television footage screened at Band Aid, and could be considered a uniting factor in the success of that concert's fundraising.

As of October 2004, Birhan is 23, and lives in a stone shack in Tigray with her father and other family members. She is currently attending an agricultural college, and is an outspoken activist for change in Ethiopia. She recently met with Tony Blair and Band Aid organizer Bob Geldof in the event's 20th anniversary.