Month: June 2021

When I was in high school volunteers and medical staff from the blood bank would come and give us an insight into the importance of blood donation. There was some sort of a dictum they repeated constantly, “Donating blood is rather a self- serving act.” I never fully understood what it meant, and at the time I was not able to donate because I was underweight. Now that I am donating I know what “self-serving” implies; by donating blood you are helping not only others but also yourself as the act of giving can boost your own well-being. Also, every person who donates blood undergoes a simple physical examination and blood test before donating blood, which in itself is a reassurance of the person’s health.

The history of blood donation in Eritrea is known to have started during the struggle for independence in 1976 at the hospitals constructed by the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF). In its early stage the EPLF did not have a facility to form a blood bank, but in 1984 a temporary blood bank was set up to give service at the front’s hospital called Arareb. A blood bank was also opened in Asmara in 1981, which mainly served war injured Ethiopian soldiers. After independence the main blood bank was set up in Orotta Hospital with smaller blood banks formed later in eight other hospitals.

In January 2002, Eritrea created the free-standing National Blood Transfusion Center (NBTC). At the beginning, the center, led by a medical director, had only a laboratory, blood donor and administrative services. Since 2007, however, divisions for important functions such as quality management service and data management system were included in the organizational structure.

The blood donor service is the division responsible for conducting campaigns and collecting blood from volunteers. Under this division, there are sections that recruit donors and counseling services. Mobile teams are often assigned to remote areas to deliver services and relieve people from travelling to the centers. Since its establishment, the blood transfusion center has been striving to provide safe and adequate blood nationwide. Moreover, the NBTC separates blood components from a whole blood (WB). This means that a patient in demand of a blood component gets it separately, whether it is RBC, plasma or platelets, instead of being indiscriminately given WB. This is significant in that it prevents placing unnecessary pressure on the heart, allowing it to function normally.

The annual target of the NBTC is to collect 12,000-15,000 units from voluntary non-remunerated donors. The estimation of 12,000- 15,000 units is the number approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) and is calculated in relation to past blood usage, number of hospital beds, total population and medical facilities. The amount of blood the bank collects ranges from 80 to 85% of the target per year. According to this year’s report by the NBTC those percentages are not what they want to accomplish. Mr. Abraham Yemane, medical director of NBTC, said the reason for not reaching the desired percentage is lack of awareness about the benefits of donating blood although it is gradually changing. He said this gives them hope that in the coming few years they will get the amount of blood they would like to secure. He praises the regular donors, who are active in helping address baseline demands at critical times. Campaigns are executed every now and then through meetings, pictorial exhibitions as well as staged dramas to enhance the willingness of society to contribute blood. It is to their benefit as it may reciprocally be transfused to them.

The blood collected by the NBTC comes from regular individual donors, employees as governmental and private organizations, civil society organizations such as the women’s, youth and student associations, high schools and the National Volunteers Blood Donors Association (NVBDA). In 2006, members of the association that have the rare blood type, RH-ve, formed a club to help meet the need for easier access of the rare blood type. Similarly, in November 2009, members of the association with RH+ve formed a club, and in 2011, the two merged as lifesaving clubs. At their first meeting in 2013, they transformed their club into an association, NVBDA. The association has branches in five regions of the country, and its goal, which is allied with that of the blood transfusion center, is to help address the shortage of blood in the country and provide safe blood to people who need it.

The Ministry of Health, through its clinical service under the medical department, arranges international relations to the center, if necessary. Swiss Red Cross (SRC) has contributed considerably toward the establishment of the NBTC, providing equipment and playing important roles for the blood bank to have its current status.

The quality management service is one of the best services of the institution. It follows standards to measure every activity within the center. It uses standards, quality manuals, Standard Operational Procedures (SOPs) and forms to assess the challenges faced and the service disruptions encountered as well as how well the activities are performed. Internal and external audits are done regularly to assess every division in accordance to its mission. The external audit is executed every three years by the WHO-recognized South African Bureau of Standards for blood banks. The auditors visit the center annually for surveillance audit and every three years for certification.

Each day, thousands of people need donated blood and blood products to keep themselves in good health or to be able to stay alive. Donating whole blood can help these people. The message of the bank to the people is to keep on donating blood.

Source: Ministry of Information Eritrea

Eritrea is endowed with enormous potential. Boasting a 1,200-kilometer coastline and a fair share of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait — an important strategic connection in the maritime commerce route, pristine beaches and dozens of secluded islands that make it a one-of-a-kind tourist destination, it also has a young, vibrant population, and, importantly, enjoys a semblance of peace in a turbulent region. The list could go on and on. All of these things were supposed to have led to Eritrea’s prosperity.

But after 18 years of independence, the once-promising country was isolated and sanctioned for nearly a decade. According to Yemane G. Meskel, Eritrea’s Information minister, these actions were nothing but politically engineered charges that resulted in deleterious economic consequences and an imposed climate of insecurity that cost the country hundreds of billions of dollars in potential revenue.

Why did the international community come to assume Eritrea was accountable for crimes it had not perpetrated and ultimately impose sanctions on it? To understand this, we must unwind and look back in time. In the 1940s, Haile Selassie, then-emperor of Ethiopia, had expansionist ambitions, made his desire to expand Ethiopia’s territory by annexing Eritrea known to the world at the Paris Peace Conference and the First Session of the United Nations, and sought assistance from the United States in annexing Eritrea, then under British protectorate military control.

The Americans, who felt indebted to Ethiopia for their assistance in World War 2, agreed and used every tactic possible to ensure Ethiopia’s regime maintained the upper hand. As a result, the US declined to support Eritrea’s desire for independence. Although these events occurred more than half a century ago, they explain US policy views and actions towards Eritrea in its post-independence history.

Subsequently, Emperor Selassie abrogated the UN-sponsored Federal Act and annexed Eritrea in 1962 with the blessing of the US. During the Eritrean War of Independence, which lasted until 1991, the United States continued to support Ethiopia militarily and diplomatically – resulting in the deaths of some 250,000 Eritreans.

In 2008 and 2009, the TPLF regime launched a campaign, again with US backing, targeting Eritrea. Its support to the TPLF regime, including supporting Ethiopia’s disastrous invasion of Somalia, demonstrates America’s unwavering backing, which included always following Ethiopia’s policy in the region; the TPLF campaign culminated in a slew of international sanctions placed on Eritrea.

Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea ( SEMG) Role

The UN Security Council established an “expert Monitoring Group,” which churned out reports alleging Eritrea’s support for the al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab terrorist organization. In retrospect, it is now clear that the overarching purpose behind these fallacious reports was to weaken and downgrade Eritrea’s defense capabilities and pave the way for agendas of re-annexation by the TPLF–dominated Ethiopian regime.

According to media accounts and eyewitnesses, the Intelligence Section of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) enlisted the help of a prominent member of the Monitoring Group. The accounts narrate visits to Alshabab prisoners in Kenyan and Ethiopian prisons by key members of the Monitoring Group, offering them deals in return for evidence pointing to Eritrea as their sponsors. The false “witness testimonies” were published as incriminating evidence and facts in the Monitoring Group Reports, which led to the adoption of the sanctions.

The late Girma Asmerom, Eritrea’s ambassador to the United Nations until his death in 2016 questioned whether the Monitoring Group assertions had been corroborated by solid information and that their findings are substantiated by credible sources. Asmerom stated that the SEMG itself admits that in compiling the report it has relied on “defectors”, “unnamed diplomats”, and “authorities in East African countries”, and “confidential notes submitted by regional authorities”.

The international community did not listen to Eritrea’s arguments, whose pleas went unheeded. When the sanctions were implemented, Ethiopia’s government still occupied parts of Eritrean land and threatened additional attacks.

An arms embargo was also placed on Eritrea when Ethiopia was buying hundreds of millions of dollars in weaponry. These untenable positions lead to the disturbing inference that the world might have been tacitly supporting another annexation of Eritrea — a repeat of the hand dealt to Eritrea in the 1950s and 60s.

Eritrea’s comeback

The regional dynamics have changed since July 2018. Eritrea and the new government in Ethiopia signed a Peace Agreement in Asmara, which led to full normalization of relations with the resumption of full diplomatic ties, air services, and a formal cessation of military hostilities. Families estranged by the war and subsequent climate of perpetual tension have been united. Furthermore, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia signed a Tripartite Agreement allowing all the three countries to embark on the path of robust regional economic cooperation as well as “close political, economic, social, cultural and security ties.”

While the world appears to have conspired against the small country, Eritrea managed to survive from the crippling sanctions; with the sanctions’ lifting, Eritrea now has a chance to start on a clean slate. The country has significant natural riches that have remained untapped, including oil reserves beneath the Red Sea and significant gold deposits in the Zara mountains.

The investment opportunities are many – the extractive sector, manufacturing, fishing, agriculture, and tourism, to name a few. In recent years, the government’s emphasis has been on physical infrastructure – although legal and administrative infrastructures are already in place – to foster an enabling environment. Much attention is also being paid to domestic investment by Eritrean citizens. Regional cooperation agreements now being negotiated provide another layer to the investment matrix.

The prospective investment sectors are many and diverse, including the extractive industry, manufacturing, fishing, agriculture, and tourism. Because the legal and administrative infrastructures are already in place, the Eritrean government has concentrated its efforts in recent years on improving the physical infrastructure to create a more favorable atmosphere.

Déjà vu

When the unjustifiable sanctions were removed, and the normality was picking up, a similar plot that began in the 1940s appears to take up again in Eritrea, keep the nation under another set of harsh sanctions, different powers in Europe and the US that have used TPLF as a proxy political organization to promote their regional objectives are playing the role they played in the last century again.

There are now ongoing diplomatic and media efforts to resurrect the defunct TPLF, turn the clock back, and establish a state of perpetual tension and war in the region. Even considering diplomatic lethargy and entrenched interests on the part of certain parties, this contradicts logic and common sense.

Similarly, the European Union is pursuing a misguided aim of resurrecting the TPLF regime. They ignore the fact that the TPLF launched massive, premeditated, unprovoked, and reckless attacks on Ethiopia’s Northern Command to neutralize this large contingent, appropriating its weaponry, including Ethiopia’s entire arsenal seizing power in Ethiopia before attacking Eritrea.

Despite the enormous level of criminality committed by the TPLF group, several EU nations seem eager to somehow rehabilitate the criminal organization at the cost of Eritrea’s sovereignty. It’s mind-boggling. This is the backdrop to the unwarranted inferences that Eritrea is once again witnessing from the EU and the United States. Will the world allow another injustice to be perpetrated against a nation with so many opportunities? Time will tell!

Source: Dehai Eritrea Online

Our guest for today is Dwayne Darnell Martin, an assistant film director, from the U SA. He’s been here with his crew to shoot for a documentary film. Here’s a brief chat about his observation of what Eritrea truly is.

It’s really nice to have you here, Dwayne. Welcome back to Eritrea. Let’s start with your documentary production house. What triggered you to work on Eritrea?

When I first came out here, when I started doing research and told people I was coming, they warned me against coming. They were saying a lot of horrible things. So I had some hesitations. I thought I was a well-read person and studied pretty well, but I never heard about the country and its background. So I thought it was odd. When I first came to the country, it was totally opposite from what people said. It was warm and welcoming. Everyone was happy; I saw nobody down, upset or mad. It was just very interesting and I thought that if I had that experience maybe other people should know about it. So it’s more out of curiosity.

What was the narrative you heard about Eritrea before you got here and what difference did you see?

I had some reservations about coming here just because of the negative media coverage. But I talked to people and asked all the right questions and that’s not the perception I came away with. I asked very pointed questions and people were very open and they gave me direct answers. It was a 180 degree difference from what I saw on the media.

From what you have observed, can you tell me why the world has been so unjust to Eritrea?

I think Eritreans just want to have self-determination and mark out their own future. I think they are being villainized to a certain degree because they have been a beacon to the rest of the world of how to have self-determination and how you stand up against colonial and imperial powers. They don’t really give people motivation to rise from their own countries to take control of their own narratives. They rather do like they did to some other countries and just reap their resources and extract them from the people. When anyone stands against that and defeats them, that’s not something they want to expose and bring to light. I don’t think Eritrea is any different from or any worse than anybody else. In fact, the women’s empowerment, women’s equality and their different cultures all in one unified people; it’s almost like a Wakanda to me. I have never seen anything like this in America. The Christians, the Muslims and all the different ethnic groups put that to the side and respect their culture. At the end of the day, they have one unified culture. People from outside would love to come and divide and conquer, but that’s impossible because there’s so much unity here.

I’ve heard you visited different cities and villages of the country, including colleges and hospitals. What did you notice about the social service facilities?

They were all professional and they were all staffed with people who are very passionate. They had the most modern equipment, most modern medicine and nobody paid anything. The doctors were trained here in the country, which is another good thing, and it was amazing. Everybody had an opportunity to participate, nobody was left out. People didn’t have to travel to the city center to get treatment. They have made sure the clinics were available for people in the communities. So everybody had access. They also had referral services. You can start in your local district and if you had a larger problem they refer you to the bigger hospitals. Everybody was passionate.

It’s wonderful for a country that has been in war for decades to want to educate every person, to make sure that they are taken care of as far as health is concerned. It’s just beautiful and shows the idea of the community that you want to represent to the world. It’s phenomenal, it’s impressive and it should be the standard for every country. You are still building from the ground up but you want to make sure that you dedicate resources to the people and that’s just beautiful.

We live in a small corner of Africa. But the peace and security we have is unmatched. What have you observed firsthand about the peace and security in Eritrea?

It was totally peaceful. I didn’t see any places with guns; I didn’t see any check points. Everybody just walks nonchalant, nobody’s worried about anything. I saw kids playing in the streets. They seem that they have total freedom, total safety. And women walking by themselves at night, it’s a beautiful place. I mean I live in a nice neighborhood back at home but I don’t know if my kids go play as freely. I’m not sure about the surrounding areas, so it seems more free here than back home. Nobody gets pulled over by the cops; it’s all one people. Back at home you see cops every ten minutes, good or bad. Out here, it’s not even needed. It’s peaceful, I feel totally safe.

What’s the overall impression you’ve got from the Eritrean people in general? Have they met your expectations?

They surpassed my expectations, everybody was very humble, very nice. The people are very peaceful. The first thing somebody told me was ‘welcome home, brother’. They didn’t know who I was and where I’m from, they could tell I was an outsider and they said welcome. Nobody made me feel out of place, I felt nothing but warmth and acceptance.

Nipsey Hussel is from my community. He motivated the community with principles I think he learned here about self-determination and perseverance, and I think that’s why he is so popular and well received. He had messages aside from rap; it was more about taking control of your community and ownership. That’s why people like him and respect him and that’s why his legacy still continues today.

I want to encourage people to see it for themselves and to maybe take a visit because it’s very easy from a distance to believe the things on the media and everything has a spin for a reason.

You’ve come here on more than one occasion. What changes have you seen?

When I first came here there was still some tense situation with Ethiopia. Since then they’ve made peace and people are happy to make the peace and that’s been the focus.

Thank you again.

Source: Ministry of Information Eritrea

Like many countries, Eritrea’s popular proverbs and sayings tell a lot about its people. Acquiring proverbs and sayings of Eritrean people not only contributes to a better knowledge of its languages, but also promotes a better understanding of the way of thinking and the nature of the people. The nine ethnic groups of Eritrea have proverbs that reflect upon various aspects of life, community, and society. A proverb is defined as “a short, generally known sentence of the folk which contains wisdom, truth, morals, and traditional views in a metaphorical, fixed and memorable form and which is handed down from generation to generation.”

In Eritrean society, proverbs are central to the art of public speaking. Eritreans often use proverbs when they communicate and the society has a rich treasury of proverbs that have been passed on from generation to generation. These proverbs have been a source of guidance in times of peace and war, birth and death, happiness and distress. They have also been a basis of self-regulation, guidance, self-confidence, problem-solving and decision-making. It has enabled them to live in harmony with their physical and social environments. Chiku (2010) indicates that proverbs are used to identify and dignify a culture, clarifying a common vision, serving as metaphors to explain complex issues, and creating strong mental pictures of events. Proverbs have an incredible power to picture reality. Consider for instance the Tigrigna proverb: “???? ??? ???????? ?? ??? – melk’A gereb qoxli, melk’A seb Aqli” which translates literally as “the beauty of a tree is its leaves and the beauty of a person is patience.” This proverb nicely sums up the virtue of patience.

Individuals are socialized into a system of beliefs, norms of behavior and institutions. It can be said that a proverb is an expression of truth. Reality is constructed through human activity as a product of socialization. Fayemi (2010) points out that “proverbs are an essential oral tradition that Africans use in storing and retrieving any aspect of their cultural worldview.” Eritrean society has in fact a long tradition of writing and is among the few to develop its own written script. Since ancient times it has developed its own means of constructing and reinventing their understanding of themselves and the world around them. Members of Eritrean society developed a means to comprehend the external world and to reflect their life experiences through the socialization process. All societies implement different culture forms and rationalities which members utilize in their search for meaning. The term social construction is understood as a means that reality is built from a set of social ideas through which a system of practices is implemented. In this case, proverbs act as catalysts of knowledge, wisdom, philosophy, ethics and morals. Penfield and Duru said that proverbs are a “social mode of communication… not only reflective of life but part of life” (1988:119).

Proverbs are often brief, terse, and colorful sayings expressed succinctly and in a way that makes them easy to remember. Comparison, pictorial depictions, poetic presentations, and exact expression are among the qualities of Eritrean proverbs that have made them popular among the people. Using a proverb when communicating is like adding salt or spice to food – it adds flavor. The proverb links an oral society and its past with the present. Proverbs are part of traditional knowledge and constitute a cultural heritage, which is handed down to us by the past generations. It is the remnant saved from the ruins of the collective wisdom, knowledge and philosophy of past generations. Fergusson (1983) gave a comprehensive definition of proverbs, stating that a “proverb is a succinct and memorable statement that contains advice, a warning or prediction, or an analytical observation. Its form is usually terse, figurative, and rich in metaphor and most often poetic.”

Proverbs in Eritrea are very much alive and they are found among all ethnic groups in the country. There have been some efforts by interested individuals and government institutions to collect as many Eritrean proverbs of different languages as possible. The exercise has produced a number of monographs and books mainly in Tigrigna. Coordinated efforts are required to document and translate into all national languages, as well as international languages, to preserve and share Eritrea’s rich collection of proverbs. Human communities belonging to different countries and continents are no longer isolated. Besides the common home of planet earth, we can also be united with sayings, knowledge, philosophy, and culture.

Using proverbs, the people of Eritrea can communicate much information with fewer words. Proverbs tell a lot of stories about the nature of a society. Todd and Hancock noted that “Proverbs are the distilled wisdom of a group of people and their study can provide insights into the activities, interests and philosophy of the people who created them” (1986: 385). Generally speaking, proverbs may provide interesting information of the people’s geography, history, culture, religion, social organization, attitudes, values, and attitudes. For example, the Afar people of Eritrea who live predominantly along the coast and whose livelihood is dependent on the sea have a lot of proverbs about sailing, fishing, storms, and other activities or occurrences related to the sea. In societies where agriculture is dominant, proverbs related to farming are common. Proverbs are thus closely linked to the living environments, customs and conventions, values, and beliefs of the people.

Proverbs have various social and aesthetic functions. They beautify the conversation, offer advice, and provide instruction, among other things. Eritreans used to say “Zeymsl abdi zeyeKoms’A adgi” which literally translated as “one who doesn’t use proverbs is unintelligent and one that doesn’t cud is a donkey.” The aesthetic function of the proverb is evident in all ethnic groups of Eritrea. For instance, another Tigrigna proverb says a proverb is the “butter” of speech. Others are compared with palm-wine with which words are eaten. Proverbs are considered as the cream of language. Proverbs are an integral part of interpersonal communication of everyday life.

Historically, the prominent writers and orators of Eritrea, such as Weldeab Weldemariam and Gebremesqel Weldu, used to employ proverbs, stories, and historical anecdotes in their writings and speeches. They used proverbs as a way to sharply deliver their points and as an instrument of expression. During the intensive political debates carried out in 1940s, these literary figures employed proverbs wisely to make their speech more persuasive and effective. Proverbs also help us to “strengthen our arguments, express certain generalizations, influence or manipulate other people … satirize social ills, poke fun at ridiculous situations.” Journalists and public leaders must pay attention to the linguistic, literary, cognitive, informative, and other purposes of our proverbs to carry more weight in speech or writing. It also makes a conversation more humorous, lively, and interesting. Proverbs as powerful rhetorical devices may contribute to the development and effectiveness of our spoken and written communication.

The strength and impact of our proverbs is captivating and fascinating. They are compressed words of wisdom. Eritrea is endowed with vast verbal art forms that represent every aspect of life. Like our predecessors we should practice and use proverbs as an important component of writing and speech. The young intellectuals should devise ways to exploit and incorporate the aesthetic and intellectual content of our proverbs into their works.

Source: Ministry of Information Eritrea