Caleb's Story
Caleb always had a tender, kind way about him. Everyone he came into contact with, was on the receiving end of his compassionate response and sheer generosity.
The first child of Andrew and Ruth Meakins, and big brother to sisters Lydia and Abigail; they lived happily in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia until Andrew Meakins was tragically killed when Caleb was 7 years old.
The family moved to London, UK. From then on Caleb had a strong sense of responsibility for his mother and sisters. In his early teens, concern for his friends grew into a commitment to gather and lead young people of churches, in and around London, encouraging and inspiring them to grow in their faith. At 18, he headed to Loughborough University, achieving a first and Master’s degree in Civil Engineering.
Post University, it was evident that Caleb’s trajectory wasn’t going to mirror that of a traditional graduate. He didn’t want to go down the Civil Engineering route and felt he was called to something else. Caleb’s mind was brilliant and flowed with big visions and ideas for businesses. He quickly found out that fear was a major factor in preventing people achieve their visions and dreams. So Caleb, being Caleb, embarked on a project to help him become an ‘expert in failure’. He created a project called ‘My 40 Days’ which would take challenges from friends and the wider public. Challenges that would put him out of his comfort zone and cause him to fail. The project was fun and extremely hilarious, and some of the videos even went viral but at the heart of it all, had a deeply important message, of not letting fear hold you back! Numerous invitations to speak, including several Ted Talks followed. He was awarded Milkround Graduate of the Year for 2013. Caleb was passionate about seeing his friends and others dream big and go for what they want in life. His message to them was not to let fear hold you back.
Caleb’s passion for his generation to be captivated by God and impact their culture continued to grow, and with a group of friends, the community of Shift UK began. Through Shift UK’s various events, thousands of 20-30-year olds have been inspired, lives have changed, and communities impacted. Caleb understood his identity in Christ, and lived from that.
Not letting fear hold him back, after 15 years in the UK, Caleb’s longing to return back home to Ethiopia became a reality. Caleb embarked on a venture to create a space where creativity and community flourished, and at the heart of it, coffee. He found a location in the centre of Addis Ababa and opened up Bake & Brew. The coffee shop become a popular spot in Addis for coffee, food and community; everything that Caleb had sought. Ever the entrepreneur, Caleb would go on to launch an independent media agency, RALA. He also wanted to build a community of entrepreneurs in Ethiopia and created Mella. Mella is community, and a regular event, which would bring Ethiopia’s entrepreneurs together and showcase them, and their businesses. Caleb wanted to empower them, appreciate them, and inspire a new generation of Ethiopians. Not only did it showcase some of the best talent in Ethiopia, but the founder of Twitter, Jack Dorsey even stopped by one event and spoke. Caleb had a great way of bringing people together.Caleb was so passionately in love with Ethiopia and wanted to share it with the world. He created a video series called ‘Ethiopia In Me’, in which he would travel around showcasing Ethiopian culture.
Caleb tragically lost his life after a car accident. His loss will always be felt, but so will his impact on the world. In his short time on earth he taught us to dream big and go for it, to not let fear hold us back, to treat all people with respect, to be a voice for the voiceless. He often spoke out against injustices, his desires for a better Ethiopia, a better world. A world where the marginalised in society were shown love, where kids were not living on the streets, where mothers didn’t have to sell their bodies to survive. where the rest of society stood up and said, I might not be able to do everything, but I certainly can do something.
Caleb once said during a sermon he preached: ‘For the sake of the nation, for the sake of the nations, for the sake of the most vulnerable in our societies, let us be praying: “God use us, God use us. May I leave this earth having impacted many, many, many lives”.
Caleb certainly did that! And through the Caleb Andrew Meakins Foundation, we want to continue the legacy Caleb started, and continue his heart and vision for a better Ethiopia, and a better world.