Aki Nikulainen has no idea what surname he was born with or what his parents were called.
He knows that his mum died giving birth to him but he has no idea how his dad passed away.
He also doesn’t know if he has any blood relatives left alive in his home country of Ethiopia and, apart from the name of a city in Ethiopia, he doesn’t even have any idea where he was born.
But now Aki, a 23-year-old youth worker and film-maker from Dundee, is determined to find out more about his background.
Aki said: “Basically there is a 14-month period from my early childhood that is missing.
“Now I’ve reached a point in my life where I would like to find out as much as I can.”
What Aki does know is that he was born in a city in Ethiopia called Gondar in 1992.
He added: “This was obviously only a few years after the famine in Ethiopia which inspired Bob Geldof to organise the Live Aid concert of 1985.”
Aki said his dad had died before he was born. But other than that he has no details about him.
He said: “I don’t know anything about him. I don’t know his name, I don’t know how he died, if it was related to the famine, or if he has any other relatives still in Gondar.
“I know my mum was a nurse, so she must have been educated but I also don’t know what her name was or anything about her either.
“She died giving birth to me but I don’t even know where exactly I was born.”
Aki said he was given the name Adane in Ethiopia.
That name, and his birth city of Gondar, are all he has to go on to trace his life story.
He added: “It at least gives me somewhere to start searching from although I have no idea how common a name Adane is in Ethiopia.
“I have some photographs of me as a small child and in these there is a picture of a woman I have been told was very good to me and looked after me.
“I would love to trace her but I don’t even really know how to begin.”
Aki said this was complicated by the fact that as an Ethiopian, if he went back to the country, he could still be asked to do national service — something he is keen to avoid in a country he doesn’t even know.
He added: “I am aware that when I was born that a check would have been done of any Ethiopian family members who would have been able to take me in and care for me as both my parents were dead.
“I can only assume that there was nobody who could look after me and so I was put up for adoption.”
When he was 14 months old, Aki was adopted by a Finnish couple who had already adopted an Ethiopian child, Joonas, who is now 26.
He added: “When I was four my dad came to Dundee to study and the family ended up staying here.
“I call Dundee home as it’s where I grew up and went to school and college. Until now I have never given too much thought to my Ethiopian roots but recently I have been thinking about it.
“If I ever have children it would be great to be able to tell them something of their heritage and background.
“At least I have a name given to me as a baby, my brother doesn’t even have that. He knows nothing about his background at all except that he was born in the capital city of Addis Ababa.”
Aki said that he has begun researching his life story now and would love to be able to write a book. He added: “A friend said that my story would make a great film and it probably would, but my research is still at the early stages.
“I need to try to get in touch with a few key people and fill in a few blanks that exist.”
Aki is now involved with a film-making company based in Newport and, in his spare time, he works with young people at the Dundee Employment and Aftercare Project.
He added: “I think maybe my background has led to me wanting to work with young people.
“I really value people and like helping others — a lot of that might stem from my own story.”