Thomas Kelati

Basketball guard Thomas Kelati has applied for Polish citizenship in late January, according to Polish media reports. The Eritrean-American professional is currently playing for Valencia in the Spanish ACB league and has strong ties to Poland.

Kelati used to play for Polish Basketball club Turow Zgorzelec and is married to a polish woman, with whom he has two children.

Polish officials have already received all necessary documents and say that the naturalization case might be finalized in June.

Under Polish legislation the application procedure could have been shorter for Kelati if he had been  married for at least three years to his wife. The couple married two years ago.

As a Polish citizen Kelati could play for the Polish national team. However, according to the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) only one naturalized player is allowed to play in a national team.

Kelati struggled to find a new team throughout 2009 as things were not as smooth as expected for the guard. He initially had made a deal with Olympiakos, but his contract was terminated after a medical team discovered health problems.

He returned to America to sign a non-guaranteed contract with the Los Angeles Lakers. One month later Lakers waved the guard announcing that he did not make it through to the final roster.

Following his four year academic career at Washington State University, Kelati went to Europe and helped Belgian team Dexia Mons-Hainaut winning the Belgian Championship in 2006. In the same year he transferred to Polish league team Turow Zgorzelec and continued to play for Spanish team Malaga in 2008.

There was a tribe of the Hawya in Serae Eritrea, ruled by Dejach De’bul, a strong and feared ruler of Mereb Mellash, about 600 years ago. They were of the Great Belew tribe. He was told that he would have a daughter whose son will crush his rule. When the girl was born, his only child, he had her secluded from the public.

The lonely girl grew up and used to watch people from her window. One day she saw this tall and handsome soldier Ambessajir, and fell for him. He was from far away tribe Selewa from the south, and lived with his mother. She was so obsessed that although he could not come to her home, she had herself rolled with hay and taken to him. The romance did not continue for long when he was discovered and caught.

When he found out who the father was, one of his soldiers, Ambessajir, he had him killed, by burying him shoulder deep and horses running over his head, crushing his skull. This was the highest punishment those days.

At those days, the aristocrats were too feared and had full power over the common man. This daughter of Dejach De’bul, named Mariam Hanna, or Wehadet or We’alet, became pregnant and hid from her father. The son grew up with his mother’s tribe.

One day, the chief was sitting outside and saw boys play with a ball game called the Karsa. Dejach De’bul noticed that one boy played very well that the other boys could not wretch the ball from his hold.

He admired this boy and said, to his aide “If this boy could be one’s grandson?” The aide found this opportunity to tell his master of the story, and answered, “My Lord, promise us not to be harsh and be understanding. Can you promise me one thing- kidan? (In the old times, when one gets kidan, he is allowed to say his word and not be punished) Dejach allowed him to speak and the aide replied? This boy is indeed your daughter’s son”.

The chief was so shocked of his not knowing and his daughter had a bastard, and that he knew nothing of it all these years.

But the whole tribe were dissatisfied that their chief had harshly punished their favourite soldier. Dejach De’bul regretted having killed Ambessajir that he forgave his daughter and had the grandson named as his heir.

The son grew up. His mother used to tell him how her father had his father Ambassajir was killed for loving her. Eritrea has still paternal laws. Other kids scolded him of having no father. As a young man, he wanted to vindicate his father.

He felt very sad of his father’s being punished this way and thought of revenging his death, and decided to wait for the right moment against his powerful grandfather.

He became a man and married and became strong. His grandfather had come to forgive, liking and thrusting and relied on him. One day, Dejach De’bul, his grandfather was going for a trip, which would take a year.

He appointed this grandson to be his viceroy, and had him swear the oath of loyalty, three times, as was customary. But after a month of his travelling, the powerful grandfather was taken sick and died of cholera, in a far away country. The grandson inherited the whole country.

This became ripe time to revenge his father’s death. So he prepared a big feast to all male members of mother’s clan, the Hawya. He had a big tent built right by a cliff, known now as Mi-kit-kat Deku.

He had all fine food served. But inside the beer, he had poison, that is, elephant’s bile, added to it. All the guests ate and after drinking of the poison felt dizzy, and he had them thrown off the cliff, so that newcomers would not notice. The hill he built the tent is still called Das Hawya.

But, one member of his mother’s clan, Gebre Hiwet the blind, had perhaps been suspicious of this grandson. When he came near the tent, he asked his daughter who was leading him, if she could see anyone coming out of the tent. She is to have said the famous words “Das Hawya, zi-atew imber zi-wet-sih aye-re-aynan!” The tent of Hawya, entering only, not leaving do we see. Meaning that see could see them entering the tent of Hawya, but saw no one coming out of the tent.

Gebre Hiwet the blind then cried “This cursed son! He has killed all of my brothers! Quickly, lead me out of here before he kills us too!” And they quickly went away, to flee. The grandson had almost all members killed and then remembered the shrewd Gebre Hiwet the blind. He asked if he had been inside.

When told that he never entered, the grandson realized Gebre Hiwet had been suspicious and had fled. Gebre Hiwet the blind was the only male member of the Hawya tribe to be alive, and he should be killed. In the meantime, having vindicated his father’s harsh death, this new ruler proclaimed that his name was Jir Gedela. He may be the father of the Adkeme Melega’ tribe.

Soldiers were sent in pursuit of Gebre Hiwet the blind. He had gone some time earlier and being wise, he told his daughter to watch out for horses. When the horse hooves were heard, they hid under a tree. He, being blind, counted the horses’ hooves, piling a stone for every horse. After they had passed, the daughter wanted to travel on.

But cautious as he was, he told her to wait until the horses passed, returning. And return they did, having had trouble riding through swampy ground. Then, Gebre Hiwet the blind piled the stones one by one for every horse returning, and all were counted for.

This resting place still bears this incident’s name, i.e. a town called Tera Imni, pile of stone, to this day, in Serae. When they decided to rest from their journey, they did so in what place he named Hadire, meaning, I slept the night. When he was surely far away from danger, they temporarily settled in Ma’reba, sunset, which is still called so, in Akele Guzai.

But he missed his home Serae and wandered to a hilly place and continuously asking if Serae could be seen. In this mountain, in now Segeneiti town, at night his daughter could see lights of Serae. He decided that they would settle there, calling the hill Adi Serae, now known as Aserwe Mountain. There were other tribes already there, the Degera people. They intermingled with them. But they slept in this wild uninhabited mountain.

One evening, a lion that had eaten many goats of the people, roared near them. The frightened daughter cried that they were doomed. The brave blind father told his daughter to heat stones. When the lion came close to them and opened his mouth to eat them, the father had his daughter give the hot stones inside the lion’s mouth that when he fell, the father killed him with his spear. He then told his daughter to cut out the lion’ eyebrows (Fare) and kept it safe.

The next day, Degera man was shouting words of their bravery, and dancing warriors? Dance, that they had killed a lion. A killer scalps the lion’s head and wears the fur around, to show around. All the people assembled and were praising them.

Then Gebre Hiwet the blind asked audience to the chief and was granted so. He said that if the braves had indeed killed the lion, where the lion’s eyebrows were. Surprised, the people noticed the lion’s eyebrows were missing. He then pulled out the eyebrows and claimed he himself had killed the lion. He was much hailed.

They said that if this blind man were brave with his handicap, what strong sons he would rear. For this bravery, he was given land to farm, presently known as the Hawya land, south of Segeneiti town, and a girl, from the Injen (look below) house of Degera village, for marriage. But the girl refused to marry a blind man.

Time went by. They were the only survivors of the Hawya tribe. Without him, there will be no more descendants. He had to bear more children. The only female with him was his own daughter.

He proposed that as they were to perish without descendants, she, his daughter should bear him sons. The daughter was very shocked. He explained. But still, what would the villagers say of this scandal! The father said that people would talk for a short while and forget. To prove so, he told her to go to the market naked, but wearing a hyena’s hide.

When she went to the marked as he said, all people gathered around her sneering and laughing at her. Returning home, she told her father of what had happened. The next week, he told her to repeat with the hyena skin again. She did so. Some cried that the crazy one had come, saying “Is not she from last week?” and were less curious to see her. The third week in the market, nobody bothered her saying is that same crazy one.

Her father now made her understand that people tend to not care after a while, and they lived as husband and wife. She bore him three sons. It is also said that a Degera woman with beady eyes was given to him and she bore him three sons but died.

With his sons from the Degera woman, and these 3 present ones, he settled in the land the Degera people had given to him. They had given him land so they would not quarrel with him over land ownership later. And the land was called Ad Hawya after his tribe’s name. The Degera man who gave him the land was called Zena Gabriel. One son went to Agame.

One to Hazemo, three settled in Segeneiti, and two went further to their land of origin, in Serae. Gebre Hiwet divided his land equally to all his sons, like they were all from one mother. Two of his sons went to his ancestral country to see.

When the two sons arrived in their father’s village, water was scarce with no rainfall for a long time. One of the sons struck his stick on the ground and water gushed out that their horses drunk enough. The villagers who were watching them curiously, happily drew plenty water to their homes. The village elders were astonished of this water. When told of these two strangers, they knew they must be Gebre Hiwet’s sons.

They followed them to Segeneiti and begged them to return to Serae. The villagers asked for forgiveness and begged them to settle there, and they agreed to return after the seven years the community re-divided lands of Segeneiti.

Their former lands and wealth were returned to them. But fearing another ambush, those who returned did not settle in one village, but spread around. They are found in Ad Gawel, Adi Hayo, and Ad Hawya of Serae villages. Now the clan have spread to other areas too, like Ad Zewabo, Wekerti and Enda Emmanuel villages.

About 40 years ago, the Hawya, with the initiation of Aboi Berhane Gurumu (of Hawya tribe in Segeneiti, he told me of this meeting) met in Segeneiti and had a feast in Asmera. Hawyas from Wekerti and Inda Emmanuel were with them. But they did not continue after that. (Other tribes also ceased to meet when the Derg time came and it was too dangerous to move around). Enda Emmanuel village is mostly from the Hawya. In Segeneiti town there are several dozen farmers of Hawya now. Source: (Eritrios Net)

A six-year-old African girl is to be given an Irish passport following DNA tests that prove she is the daughter of an Irish soldier who died before she was born.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) had refused to accept that Martina Padwick was the daughter of Martin Padwick, a soldier from Cork who died in December 2002 shortly after returning from a United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission in Asmara, the Eritrean capital.

The Irish government may now be required to offer her protection and make provision for her education, as all Irish children are legally entitled to free primary schooling.

The existence of the child, born in June 2003, has been known to the DFA since 2004, but officials refused to issue a passport on the basis that Martha Woldu Hagos, her mother, needed to “establish by formal means” the father’s identity. She met Padwick while working in the kitchen at the UN compound in Asmara.

The DFA agreed to carry out a DNA test last October after The Sunday Times highlighted the case.

Hagos said: “The DFA wrote to me last week to say the DNA test had proved that Martin was Martina’s father. I don’t know what to say, I am so happy. Actually I am the happiest woman in the whole of Eritrea right now.”

Anthony Joyce, a Dublin-based solicitor who represents Hagos and her daughter, claimed they had suffered while waiting for the government to recognise Martina as an Irish citizen. “Martha suffered discrimination in her community as a result of having a white child. She was living in poverty, and at one stage she considered putting Martina into an orphanage where she could be guaranteed food and shelter,” said Joyce.

“Martina’s case should send a warning to the DFA. In certain circumstances the government is obliged to have ‘due regard for the natural and imprescriptible rights of the child’ under the constitution. This case highlights the need for the state to prioritise applications for Irish passports from minors living abroad.”

Brian O’Shea, the Labour party spokesman on military affairs who raised Martina’s plight in the Dail, criticised the DFA’s handling of the case. “No Irish citizen should ever be treated in such a manner,” he said.

“This child was forced to live in what can be best described as adverse conditions in Eritrea for years, although she was an Irish citizen. The state had a responsibility to Martina, but didn’t fulfil its obligations to this girl. Any proposal by this child and her mother to come to Ireland should be treated as sympathetically as possible.”

Billy Timmins, the Fine Gael spokesman on foreign affairs, called on Micheál Martin, the foreign affairs minister, to introduce new procedures to ensure similar cases were dealt with more compassion.

John Weakliam, country director for Vita in Eritrea, an Irish charity that helped Hagos, believes there may be other children living in Asmara who were fathered by Irish peacekeepers. “God knows how many soldiers fathered children who still await their birth rights,” he said.

“There is a popular perception in Ireland that African women are queuing up to conceive and become a burden on our state. On the contrary, these mothers and their children suffer discrimination at home.”

Neil Nolan, a spokesman for the defence forces, said the military was aware of the case, but was unable to intervene. The DFA refused to comment. Source: (TimesOnline)

By Stefano Valentino

“Si, se puede,” “Pabst, please” and now, “African Unity” is the latest political mantra echoing in the Mission.

The African Advocacy Network will hold its inaugural meeting early this year at its headquarters at 522 Valencia Street to explore ways to promote stronger cooperation within the African community and with other ethnic groups in the Bay Area.

To this end, the network has extended an invitation to the leaders of other communities, including the Latino, Asian and Arab communities, as well as to the Oakland-based Black Alliance for a Just Immigration.

“We think we can learn a lot from the experiences of well-established communities and we might better achieve our goals by cooperating with them,” says Adoubou Traore, who was born in the Ivory Coast and is currently a language teacher at Cañada College in Redwood City as well as project director of the African Advocacy Network.

An Afro-ethnic Mosaic

“Coordinating workshops and events can be really challenging because African immigrants are dispersed all over the Bay and are not as tightly connected as Latinos or Asians are,” says Joe Sciarrillo, a paralegal at the network, which was created last June. An estimated 38,000 African immigrants live in the Bay Area, with approximately 4,700 in San Francisco. The largest number of immigrants come from Ethiopia, but there are also substantial numbers from Kenya, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa.

Still, creating services that cater to all of them has proven to be difficult, at least partly because local governments frequently fail to identify them adequately.

“The first challenge that African immigrants face is being under-counted, since most local government forms do not list Africa as an option for country of origin, so African immigrants are often counted as ‘African-American,’” explains Tomás Lee, director of the San Francisco Office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs.

This social fragmentation also reflects Africa’s cultural and linguistic heterogeneity and the geographical distances within the continent itself.

“Very often it’s only when we come to the US that we meet other African immigrants for the first time outside of our countries of origin,” Traore said.

“It takes time to overcome the anxiety resulting from the contact with individuals who are different from us, learn about each other and focus on what we have in common – being African and away from our homeland.”

Starting Small, Growing Quickly

The organization has a growing number of clients who accept free social services, case management, housing assistance, resources for employment, job searches and legal assistance. A third are from Ethiopia and Eritrea, a third from French-speaking countries in Western Africa, such as Ivory Coast, Togo and Senegal and a quarter are from English-speaking countries, mostly Nigeria and Ghana. Newcomers from North Africa, in particular Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, add to the mosaic of ethnicities that the network is seeking to stitch together.

The majority reside in San Francisco, including a great many in the Mission.

The upcoming meeting will focus on how to support unique ethnic identities while simultaneously forming a greater African movement, helping people resolve immigration issues, organizing joint cultural events, providing educational services and fundraising.

Another key focus will be on promoting business awareness within the community and encouraging people to patronize each other’s services.

“Many Africans we see don’t even realize that some compatriots live in their same neighborhood, thus missing the chance for accessing mutual support,” Sciarrillo says. “For example, few Africans living in the Mission know that one of their community members has a thriving computer repair business (Bay Computers) and that another one runs a taxi service.”

Promoting Dialogue Between Communities

The African Advocacy Network receives funding from the Mayor’s Office of Community Investment, through the San Francisco Immigrant Legal & Education Network, as well as from the California Endowment through Dolores Street Community Services. Both the legal network and Dolores Street are based on Valencia Street.

The way the network operates is a unique example of inter-community collaboration.

“AAN is a project of Dolores Street, which traditionally serves Latinos, and as such it represents the first official form of cooperation between the two communities,” Sciarrillo says. “Up until now, these two communities have collaborated but there has never been a formal organizational integration.”

Many clients who need specialized legal assistance from immigration attorneys are served by the Asian Law Caucus.

The Arab community, through the Arab Resource and Organizing Center, also assists the African network by providing office space at below-market rates.

Another important issue on the agenda is how to work together with the African-American community.

“Our current level of intercultural understanding is not as great as we would like it to be,” Traore says.

“We are different from each other: many African-Americans no longer know much about Africa. Many African immigrants only know of the mass media’s narrative when it comes to African-Americans. It’s going to take a great deal to educate both sides. African-Americans can serve as powerful source of support for newly arrived African immigrants. And we can help them to recover their historic roots.” Source: (Missionlocal)

Asmara- Gulai Ezekiel Nelson has found an elixir to cure the feeling of hopelessness in times of hardship.

In the middle of the night, in Asmara and in the midst of one of the most difficult times the religious man blows away all fears and worries with his golden trumpet.

Because of severe draught in some parts of Eritrea, many people fear a poor harvest and renewed famine. Nonetheless, where there is hardship hope is not far away. There is a sweet melody coming out of the Lutheran Community Centre nearby, carrying a hopeful message through the night sky and far beyond the buildings and roof tops of the Eritrean capital. The message is “Praise the Lord” from Paul Gerhardt.

Ezekiel Nelson Gulai’s composition for hope works like this: Take a trumpet, a trombone and a tenor horn, blow into it with all your force and bring the air to vibrate, then your problems will be blown away for a while. “We want to praise God with everything we have,” says the 57- year old music teacher.

An import with obstacles

This time Gulai is joined by two very special musical compatriots: Jochen Hutt, Head of a Civil Engineering Office and Gustav Faigle, Conductor of a Brass Instrument Ensemble from Germany. They brought along six other Germans who made the 3000 km journey to bring Gulai new instruments and share their passion for music.

The journey had its first small obstacles at the stopover in Yemen, a country known for its reputation of tourist hijackings. At the airport in Sanaa the Germans draw the attention of airport officials because of their odd shaped luggage with the shiny and golden content. The officials screened the luggage at a special security checkpoint and placed stickers with the label “Fragile” on it.

However, things started to get really complex with the cargo when arriving at Asmara Airport. The day aliens from Mars should invade our Earth disembarking from their space ship with strange shaped luggage under their arms, the look on our face would not differ from the the look of the three customs officers in Asmara.

They must have been prepared for a lot of things on the late arrival flight from Sanaa, but surely not for eight Germans marching with strange looking and “Fragile” labelled bags through security customs. Gustav is the first person to be stopped. You could see how baffled the customs people were, while the laid-back German opened slowely his luggage. One of the custom officers made the first move asking, “Are you Musicians?”

Even before having finished explaining that the instruments should remain in the country as gifts, the second customs officer alerts his colleagues pointing to the next three suspicious looking bags. When they found another trumpet in the private suitcase of one of the Germans it was finally over with the patience of the officials. The supervisor on duty confiscated all instruments and said, “You need to pay customs for that!”

No chance that upright officials would allow gifts to enter the country without declaring them. The Germans say that it would have been impossible to fund the journey if they would have declared all their cargo officially before starting the trip.

This tour is not the first of its kind. Already several other groups from the region have flown to Asmara to provide aid in the form of musical instruments in the past. The projects are financed through private charities which organise small ventures and events in order to raise money for a good cause.

Before the instruments could be finally handed over to Neslon Gulay he had to overcome some bureaucratic hurdles. First the president of the Evangelial Lutheran Church in Asmara had to confirm that the presents are welcome.

Further, Gulai had to get a letter signed by the religious authority in charge. Finally, after having sorted out all the formalities, paper work and a ransom of 150 Euros Nelson Gulai was allowed to pick up his gifts.

Even if the Germans would have not managed to hand over the instruments to Gulai, the visit itself was already encouragement enough for the Christian community. “That you have come from far away shows how great your love is,” says Nelson Gulai. A different member adds, “This shows us that God has not forgotten us”.

For years, about five million Eritreans live in hardship in the Horn of Africa. Eritreans wants to be self sufficient and do it better than their southern neighbour Ethiopia. Eritrea has fought for decades a long war for independence with Ethiopia and tensions are still high due to an unsolved boarder dispute.

This explains why the country has an army of 400.000 soldiers. Once the young men and woman are old enough, they will be called up for military service. On top of an already weakened economy.

Nelson Gulai’s cause is to build something lasting in times of hardship. The big politics lies in the hands of God, at least not in his. He wants to teach young Eritreans the art of music, culture and spirituality giving them a chance to express themselves and to leave a lasting mark of their own.

His music schools are schools of the generations. ”If we have enough instruments,” says Gulai, “then the older ones can teach the younger. Even if the older generation has to go the military, we will not loose all the knowledge and skills at once.”

He founded three brass choirs with German support. More than thirty instruments delivered by communities in south-west Germany have helped several students in towns such as Asmara, Keren and Barentu to perform music. The new instruments are for a new choir in the town of Mendeferra, about an hour’s drive south of Asmara.

“Things start to roll”, says Nelson Gulai with his eyes fixed to the wall and a soft smile. His dream is a big concert at Christmas with all the trombone choirs and his German friends sitting in the audience. “In order for you to see how big your plant is already grown,”Gulai says. (Article edited from Stuttgarter Zeitung.)

The martyred fighter Minister Saleh was born on 12 December 1948 in Gul’ie, Central region, from his father Mr. Seid Saleh Meki and mother Mrs. Saedia Abdalla. He attended school up to Grade 4 at the Medeber Elementary School and evening classes at the Principe Italian School. Following academic classes from Grade 5 to 8 at the Islamia and Godaif schools, he completed his 9th grade at the Prince Makonnen School in 1963 and subsequently joined the Nursing School in Asmara where he pursued his studies from 1963 to 1967.

The late Minister Saleh served as a teacher at the Asmara Nursing School from 1968 to 1972, and later pursued science education at the University of Asmara where he graduated in diploma.

In 1972, he began studying at the College of Health Science in Minnesota University, USA, where he obtained Bachelor of Science degree in 1974. He further continued his studies in Biology at the same College during the years 1974-1979.

The late Minister Saleh Meki also graduated in Marine Science from the State University of California upon completion of courses from 1980 to 1982. Also from 1980 to 1984, he worked at the renowned Moss Landing Marine Laboratory where he undertook research studies. Since 1972, the martyred Minister Saleh worked as an expert in anesthesia in various US hospitals for over 15 years.

In line with his active participation and organizational capacity in the liberation struggle, he fulfilled organizational duties in various capacities in Minnesota and California, USA, from 1972 to 1980.

During the years 1980-1984, Minister Saleh made significant contribution in organizing Eritrean nationals in western USA, besides popularizing the just cause of the Eritrean people’s struggle for independence.

The late Comrade Saleh served as EPLF representative in western USA from 1984 up to the achievement of independence, during which he made valuable contribution to the victory of the liberation struggle.

Cutting short his PHD courses, he returned home in 1991 and served as Minister of Marine Resources up to 1997, and later on as Minister of Health from 1997 to February 2009. Moreover, the late Saleh Meki served the nation with devotion as Minister of Fisheries beginning in February 2009 until his martyrdom. He was a modest, sociable and dedicated comrade.

The martyred fighter Saleh Meki was elected as Member of the EPLF Central Council during the 3rd Congress of the Front which was held in 1994.

In the discharge of all the responsibilities to which he was entrusted, the late Minister Saleh strived for the realization of the set goals. During the 12 years he served as the Minister of Health in particular, he played a leading role in the implementation of the Government’s and PFDJ’s programs aimed at ensuring the expansion of equitable and efficient health services along with trained manpower in all parts of the country. In this respect, Mr. Saleh’s contribution together with fellow comrades and co-workers is praiseworthy, enabling the country to win broad acclaim at the continental and international levels as regards the development of all-round health service in general and control of various diseases in particular.

The martyred Fighter Saleh Meki is survived by his wife and 4 children. He was martyred on 2 October 2009 in Massawa city at the age of 62 due to heart stroke.

The funeral service of the late Minister Saleh was conducted today, the 6th of October, at the Patriots Cemetery in Asmara in the presence of President Isaias Afwerki, Ministers, PFDJ heads, Army commanders and comrades, as well as thousands of citizens, including members of the EDF and members of the Diplomatic Corps, religious leaders and international organizations.

Expressing deep sorrow over the martyrdom of Fighter Saleh Meki, the Government of Eritrea conveys condolences to the bereaved family.

Eternal Glory to Our Martyrs!

Victory to the Masses!

Source: (Shabait)

Oslo

Eritrean hero Hamid Edris Awate triggered the first bullet in the eve of the 1st September, 1961 against successive colonizers and oppressors.

Following this, it took the people of Eritrea a thirty year long bloody war to achieve its independence in the 24th of May, 1991.

However, the war did not end up without its destructive consequences. Eritrean people suffered a lot and experienced tough life; family members were separated and the infrastructures got collapsed, and an unimaginable overall destruction of the nation happened.

Thus, Eritrean people back home and the Diasporas have a special memory in their minds to reflect the second to none history of the past thirty years long revolutionary struggle. Every celebration on behalf of this special occasion has a unique meaning and context to the people of Eritrea. In this context we would like to report how the Eritrean community in Europe’s far north has celebrated the event.

Eritreans living in Oslo (Norway) celebrated this occasion on the 29th of August, 2009 like many other people from Eritrea did world wide.

The celebration was opened by the chair person Mr Yemane Haile. In his opening, Mr Yemane Haile emphasized the importance of the special occasion Bahti Meskerem and addressed the participants of the day concluding his statement through the nation’s popular closing slogan: ‘’Awet Nehafash’’.

Besides, Madam Mislal, the representative of the Eritrean Ambassador to the Scandinavian countries, also transmitted her message in a similar fashion.

The invited singer of that special night Mr Isaak Okbay was highly appreciated for his performance and good deeds. He contributed the money for his performance to parents of those who sacrificed their lives during the historical struggle.

Dr. Berhan Ahmed

ERITREAN community leader Berhan Ahmed has urged the community not to marginalise the large population of Somalians in Flemington in the wake of anti-terrorist raids last week.

A pre-dawn operation involving 400 officers from the Australian Federal Police, Victoria Police, NSW Police and Australian Security Intelligence Organisation resulted in the arrest of five people, including a 26-year-old Carlton man, a 25-year-old Preston man, a 25-year-old Glenroy man and a 22-year-old Meadow Heights man.

All those arrested are Australian citizens of Somali and Lebanese descent. The Glenroy man has been charged with conspiring to commit a terrorist act. Police allege they were motivated by ongoing conflict in Somalia and had planned to carry out an attack on army barracks in Sydney.

More than half of Victoria’s Somali refugee settlers who have arrived in the past decade call Moonee Valley home, according to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship’s settlement database.

The municipality is also home to many other African migrants.

Dr Ahmed, who is chairman of the African Think Tank, said people must remember the men arrested should be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

“The court has to prove that and the media has to be careful in not polarising the mainstream Australian society against the Somali community,” he said. “We need to make them welcome so we understand each other and more harmony is created.”

Moonee Valley police have injected significant resources and developed a number of programs in recent years to build bridges with Horn of African community groups and youths living in the Flemington and Kensington high-rise flats.

Programs have included youth mentoring, homework clubs and trips to Kokoda in Papua New Guinea, which have been instrumental in establishing better relations between police and the diverse population of Moonee Valley’s south.

Dr Ahmed, Victoria’s Australian of the Year recipient in 2009, said all that effort “could go down the drain”.

“The current media bashing of particularly Somali and generally [people] of Muslim background destroys the trust we built and the work we did. [There] needs to be double effort now to regain the status we originally built.”

Dr Ahmed said there was a perception that Somali refugees had brought their problems with them. He feared a backlash from the wider community, particularly aimed at Somali youths.

“Somali [people] will not attack, definitely. They will be attacked because they are seen as bad … my main worry is school kids.” He also believed it would now be difficult for Somali people to help bring relatives to Australia for a better life. “Also it will make it hard for Somalians to travel to their homeland because of the suspicion that is created now.”

AGAINST TERRORISM

A WESTERN suburbs Somali community leader says the arrests of a group of Somali-born Australians in counter-terrorism raids in Melbourne’s outer suburbs last week will reflect badly on Melbourne’s Somali community, which numbers between 4000 and 5000 in Footscray, Sunshine and Braybrook.

The president of the Flemington-based Somali Community of Victoria, Abdurahman Osman, said the community was against terrorism.

“It’s not good for our community. “Our name will be in a bad way and anyone who is doing a terrorist act is damaging our reputation.”

Water is precious in Eritrea, where farmers have to cope with droughts and crop failures. With support from the government and an IFAD-funded project, farmers and herders are expanding spate irrigation, an ancient form of water management. By harnessing floodwaters and collecting run-off, farmers can provide enough water for the crop season. Now some farmers can obtain yields that are six times what they used to be.

Water scarcity is one of the many challenges that farmers face in Eritrea. The country has two perennial river systems, the Setit River, which forms the country’s border with Ethiopia and drains into the Nile basin, and the Gash Barka system, which collects the run-off water from the highlands.

All other rivers in the country are seasonal and carry water only after rainfall, which means that they are dry most of the year. The country has limited sources of fresh surface water, and although groundwater can be tapped, it may be s quantity and quality may be poor. The average annual rainfall is approximately 380 mm. Rainfall is usually torrential — of high intensity and short duration — and varies greatly from year to year.

The Gash Barka region in the south-west of Eritrea has a harsh climate, with rainfall that is limited and unreliable. The region shares its western border with Sudan and its southern border with Ethiopia. It has a surface area of 37,000 km2, which constitutes one-third of Eritrea’s land area, and a population of 567,000. Gash Barka was severely affected by the 1998–2000 border conflict with Ethiopia. Eight years after the conflict, carcasses of tanks and other military hardware can still be found there.

Every three to five years, droughts cause partial or complete crop failure in the region. When crops fail, farmers and herders sell their livestock and other assets as a survival strategy.

The IFAD-funded Gash Barka Livestock and Agricultural Development Project introduced improvements in grazing and farming. The project also supports infrastructure works, such as spate irrigation systems. Efforts to develop and improve the systems include harnessing run-off and diverting rivers and small streams, improving hafirs (ponds) to collect water for livestock, and water harvesting.

Spate irrigation – an ancient form of water management – is one of the most viable ways of supporting the livelihoods of economically marginalized farmers. It is different from conventional perennial irrigation and it is used in areas prone to unpredictable and destructive floods, particularly in arid and semi-arid areas.

How does spate irrigation work?

Spate irrigation is a floodwater harvesting system. It is a resource system, harnessing floodwater or ephemeral streams and diverting the water to agricultural fields through earthen or concrete canals. It is a pre-planting system, in which the crop season follows the flood season.

In the Gash Barka and Debub regions, major floods occur between June and September, and the main crop season is between September  and February.

Spate irrigation systems are usually established in the plains around mountainous or hilly areas in order to collect run-off, allowing low-lying fields to store moisture for crops during the crop season.

“Farmers can start planting their crops only after irrigation has taken place,” explains Efrem Tekle, crop specialist in the Ministry of Agriculture. “Since the timing, volume and number of floods are highly unpredictable, this type of agriculture is prone to risk. Farmers need to cooperate closely with one another to manage the distribution of flood flows and also to manage and maintain the spate irrigation system.”

The Government of Eritrea, the Ministry of Agriculture and the IFAD-funded Gash Barka Livestock and Agricultural Development project have joined to finance the construction of spate irrigation systems in the Gash Barka region.

The Hashenkit River Diversion project is strategically situated to serve 14 villages and a total of 1,300 families, of which 20 per cent are households headed by women.

The region’s farmers  traditionally plant sorghum. Sorghum is the fifth most important cereal crop in Eritrea, after wheat, rice, maize and barley, but it is the leading crop in Gash Barka. It is used for food, feed, fodder and fuel.

“We know that improved sorghum has better quality and high production value. But, given our reality of water scarcity, we prefer to plant traditional sorghum because it needs less water,” says Adam Humed, a farmer.

“Before the spate irrigation system we engaged in rainfed farming, and our yield never exceeded 5 quintals [500 kg] per hectare,” Humed explains. “Spate irrigation has increased our yield up to six times, which means 20-30 quintals [2,000–3,000 kg] per hectare. As a result we are able to feed our children and buy new livestock.”

Like all infrastructure, spate irrigation works need to be maintained. It is necessary for farmers’ organizations to establish a good relationship with the local government so they can jointly administer and maintain the infrastructure. To administer the spate system the farmers also need to collaborate and agree on equitable water distribution.

“We will be meeting with the local government to propose that if they help us with levelling, removing the silage and improving the channels, we will take charge of maintaining the spate,” says Humed.

Looming shadow of drought

“We face many challenges. One of them is drought, which has a three- to five-year cycle”, says Humed. “This year we had only 10 mm of rain, which means a decrease in food production and increased vulnerability.”

“The Gash Barka region has approximately 3.5 million head of livestock,” Humed explains. “In this community, approximately half of the households own livestock, and on average each household has from six to seven head of livestock.”

The pastoralists consider their livestock to be a valuable source of income. “Livestock is a source of money, because we can sell the animals when faced with hard times,” says Humed. “We have learned to put aside 10 per cent of our income during good times, in a community saving scheme. As a result, today we have 240,000 nafka in our saving account, which we use in times of crisis.”

The Ministry of Agriculture and the IFAD-funded projects are conducting capacity-building and awareness-building campaigns to demonstrate the benefits of good storage mechanisms as an alternative way of coping with crises such as droughts.

“The awareness campaign is helping pastoralists and farmers understand that the price of livestock will decrease substantially during drought because there is an over-supply,” says Yordanos Tesfamarian, senior economist in the Ministry of Agriculture.

“Extension workers are imparting knowledge to the farmers about how to take advantage of a bumper year by investing in proper storage, so that when drought hits, the farmers have food and also the possibility of selling their surplus at higher prices.”

“By working together with the farmers to identify their needs and aspirations and by involving them in decision-making processes, we are building their capacities and those of their institutions so they can advocate for themselves,” explains Abla Benhammouche, IFAD country programme manager for Eritrea.

“This is how we are ensuring full ownership and sustainability.”  Source (IFAD)

Mother and Daughter

Alessandra “Sandy” Meyer-Wolden, ex-girlfriend of Tennis star Boris Becker, is a little known celebrity outside Germany.

She commutes back and fourth between New York and Frankfurt to take care of her jewellery design business and she covers the front pages of celebrity tabloids.

Sandy grew up in Germany and was sent by her mother (Antonella Meyer-Wolden) to the United States after the death of her father and former lawyer of Boris Becker (Axel Meyer- Wolden) in 1999.

After studying in Miami she opened her own jewellery designer brand in the United States and Germany.

Her former relationship with Boris Becker and breath taking beauty brought her celebrity status and the nick name of Germany’s “Paris Hilton”.

At a first glance one could not sense the roots of Alessandra, as she is a daughter to a biracial marriage born to a mother from Eritrea and a Father from Germany.

However, when looking at her mother the Eritrean roots become more obvious. Alessandra says that although she lost her father very early at the age of 14, life has awarded her and her mother with a lot of luck and fortune.

Antonella and Boris

She says that her mother who was born in Eritrea came from a poor family and had to earn her living as a singer when she moved from Eritrea to Italy.

Her father grew up in a care home and had financed his university degree while working as a taxi driver and later became a lawyer for Boris Becker.

She says that her mother had it very difficult in the early days after leaving Eritrea and as this was a great lesson for Sandy which thought her how to be self-sufficient and to stay in touch with reality.

It seems that sandy has little in common with the real Paris Hilton as she seems to be more down to earth, which makes it even more confusing why the Germans have nick named her after the Hilton party princess.