International Success Story

New Zealand filmmaker Anna Cottrell has been filming the story of Ethiopian refugee Terefe Ejigu since he was 16, when newly enrolled at Wellington College he began running. Ejigu’s talent as a runner was evident right away, and in 2005 he represented New Zealand at an international track meet in Morocco. Ejigu, 23, graduated from Eastern Michigan University in May with a degree in international relations and one of the top middle-distance runners in the Mid-American Conference. “Terefe’s story is an inspiring one of the human spirit triumphing over adversity,” Wellington College headmaster Roger Moses said. Upon hearing Ejigu’s story and his mother’s – who spent six years in a Kenyan refugee camp before escaping to New Zealand – Cottrell began working on the film Running for His Life. “This is an American success story. It’s an international story,” Cottrell said.