Ethiopia and Eritrea in the late 1990s that killed tens of thousands and eventually led to a two-decade cold war.

"When the war against Eritrea began," she says, "I saw friends deported, their homes, their belongings, taken away forcefully. It was so unfair, because they had worked so hard."

For decades, she says, she has wanted to speak that truth in public. And now, she finally can.

Over the past year, Ethiopia has gone through a historic transformation at breakneck speed. The country welcomed a new reformist prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, in April. He forged peace with former enemy Eritrea, ended an almost four-month-long state of emergency and freed the country's thousands of political prisoners. Seemingly overnight, the new leader opened up a democratic space — allowing foes, allies and regularEthiopians a chance to speak their minds — after decades of authoritarian rule.

Outside the church, Teshale Abebe is praying among the trees and tombstones. At 65, he is old enough to remember that you couldn't criticize the king. In the 1970s and '80s, he lived through the communist regime, which massacred its political opponents in a period known as the Ethiopian Red Terror. And he saw what happened over the past three years as a government intent on squashing a protest movement threw tens of thousands in jail and killed at least 1,000 young people demonstrating in the streets.

He is happy about this year's reforms and cherishes that he can talk openly about politics now. He says he came to pray that the changes continue. But history, he