He was born in Tulu Bolo, Ethiopia. He went to F&lt;a href="/H/G/A/Mechal%20Elementary%20School"&gt;/H/G/A/Mechal Elementary School&lt;/a&gt; and represented the school in various local running events before making it to the national and then world stage. He later moved to Harrar, East Ethiopia and continued training there for a brief period of time before coming to Addis Ababa where he joined local athletics club. His first appearances on the world stage came in cross country running – he finished seventh in the men's junior race at the 2007 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Mombasa and he went on to win at the Oeiras International Cross Country later that year.