http://ascenteq.com/project/epdp

Appeal to all Eritreans caring and jealous of their families to donate generously to save the Eritrean refugees in Yemen. We in the Eritrean National Constants Front, in cooperation with the Committee of Eritreans Refugees in Yemen, appeal to every Eritrean caring and jealous of his family to contribute in order to rescue the lives of Eritrean refugees in Yemen who are facing harsh conditions because of the war ignited there, where they lost everything in their refugees' camps and fled after the bombing of Sanaa for their security and safety.

However, the United Nations Office did not provide them with the necessary protection which compelled them to look for renting shelter in Sanaa or lodging with relatives. Their number according to preliminary estimates is about 1,000 refugees, who currently, these poor Eritrean refugees and war victims, run out of all the food and money they had and are unable to get any kind of assistance from the United Nations, which evacuated all its employees from Yemen because of the war resulting in the loss of lost any financial resource to enable them pay for their houses' rent or buy food for their children, especially milk, sugar and flour.

We kindly demand and call upon all Eritreans abroad to urgently donate to their fellow Eritrean refugees in Yemen who became war victims and became entrenched between war oak and hunger hammer, and became homelessness according the Eritrean Refugees' Commission ..

As we all know, the Afwerki regime abandoned its legal and national responsibility to protect its citizens… so, do want to do the same thing and forsake them (the Eritrean refugees in Yemen) too?

Since the possibility of introducing food or medicine to Yemen is not possible, please donate in cash because it can get those nutrients from the black market, despite their very high prices. This action is urgently needed to improve the situation there.

Dear Eritrean compatriot, please donate even one dollar or one Euro… this can save one Eritrean child and mother who are facing real death threats from all sides. We also appeal to all human rights organizations abroad to be active through contacts with concerned international organizations to raise the grave situation of Eritrean refugees' in Yemen.

Eritrean refugees Committee in Yemen account is the( Yemen International Bank account 0002-505936 )

To communicate with the ManagementCommittee of Eritreans Refugees in Yemen to write this e-mail

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April 13, 2015

ጨንፈር ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ኣብ ከለንን ከባቢኣን ብ11 ሚያዝያ 2015 ኣብ ከተማ ከለን ክፉት ህዝባዊ ኣኼባን ሙዚቃዊ ምሸት ብኣጋጣሚ በዓል ፋሲካን ኣዳልዩ ምንባሩ ዝዝከር ኢዩ።

ሓው ዓንደብርሃን ዮውሃንስ፡ ኣቦ መንበር ጨንፈር ሰዲህኤ ከለንን ከባቢኣን፡ ንኣኼበኛታት እንቋዕ ደሓን መጻእኩም ድሕሪ ብምባል፡ ብምኽንያት ፈሲካ ንተሳተፍቲ ይኹን ንህዝቢ ኤርትራ ብሓፈሻ፡ እንቋዕ ጾመ ልጓምክኩም ፈትሓልኩም፡ ርሑስ በዓል ፋሲካ ድማ ይግበርልኩም ብምባል ኢዩ ነቲ ኣኼባ ከፊትዎ። ብድሕር'ዚ መድረኽ ንሓው መንግስተኣብ ኣስመሮም፡ ኣቦ መንበር ሰዲህኤን ንሓው ተስፋማርያም ክብርኣብ፡ ኣቦ መንበር ሰዲህኤ ንኡስ ዞባ ጀርመንን ኣመሓላሊፍዎ።

ሓው መንግስተኣብ ኣስመሮም፡ ብዛዕባ ህልዊ ኵነታት ሃገር: ኵነታት ደምበ ተቓውሞን ንጥፈታት ሰዲህኤን ሰፊሕ መግለጺ ኣቕሪቡ። ኣቦ መንበር ሰዲህኤ ኣብ ዝሃቦ መግለጺ፡ ዲክታቶርያዊ ስርዓት ኤርትራ ሕጋውነት ዘይብሉ፡ ብሓይሊ ኣብ እንግድዓ ህዝብና ተጻዒኑ ዘሎ ስርዓት ምዃኑ ኣብሪሁ። ህዝቢ ኤርትራ፡ ኣብ ትሕቲ'ዚ ስርዓት፡ ብስእነት መግቢ፡ ማይ፡ መብራህቲ፡ ፍትሒ ትምህርቲ፡ ሕክምና ወዘተ ይሳቐ ምህላዉ ውን ኣብነታት ብምጥቃስ ገሊጹ። ሕጂ ድማ፡ ገዛውቲ ኣብ ምፍራስ ተጸሚዱ ምህላዉ ጠቒሱ።

ብዛዕባ ደምበ ተቓውሞ ወይ ደምበ ፍትሒ ብዝምልከት ከኣ፡ ንለውጢ ዘድሂ ወይ ዝጽውዕ ድምጽታት እናወሰኸ ይኸይድ ምህላዉ ገሊጹ። ካብ ድሕሪ ናጽነት ክሳብ ሕጂ፡ እቲ ተቓውሞ እናበረኸ እምበር እናነከየ ከምዘይከደ ኣብሪሁ። ካብ'ቶም ዝተራእዩ ተቓውሞታት ድማ፡ ናይ ተጋደልቲ ናይ 93 ኣድማ፡ ናይ ኣካለ ስንኩላን ተቓውሞ፡ ናይ ጕጅለ 13ን ጕጅለ 15 ተቓዉሞ፡ ናይ ወድዓሊ ናይ 21 ጥሪ ምንቅስቓስ፡ ናይ ካቶሊካውያን ጳጳሳትን ናይ ኦርቶዶክሳዊት ቤተክርስትያን ገዳማትን ተቓውሞታት፡ ናይ መንእሰያት ሰላማዊ ሰልፍታትን ምጥርናፋትን፡ ናይ ህዝባዊ ምጥርናፋት፡ ናይ ዓርቢ ሓርነት ተቓውሞታት ከም ኣብነት ጠቒሱ። ሕጂ ድማ፡ ኣብ'ዚ ቀረባ እዋን ንምፍራስ ኣባይቲ ብምቅዋም፡ ኣብ መንጐ ህዝብን ኣብ መንጐ ወተሃደራትን ሰራሕተኛታት መንግስትን ዝተፈጥረ ኣምባጓሮ፡ ልክዕ ከም'ቲ ፍልስጤማውያን ንኣባይቶም ከፍርሱ ዝመጹ ወተሃደራት እስራኤል ብኣእማን ኢዮም ተሳሂሎሞም ኢሉ።

እንተዀነ ግን፡ ኢሉ ሓው መንግስተኣብ፡ እቲ ተቓውሞ ጥርኑፍ ዘይምዃኑ ማዕረ'ቲ ትጽቢት ዝግበረሉ ለውጢ ክኸውን ከምዘይከኣለ ድማ ኣስሚርሉ። ነዚ ሽግር'ዚ ንምፍታሕ ኣሳታፊ ዝዀነ፡ ግሉጽ ልዝባትን ርክባትን ናይ ተቓወምቲ ሓይሊ ዕዙዝ ኣድላዪነት ከምዘለዎ ኣሚቱ። እቲ ተቓውሞ ኣድማዒ መታን ክኸውን፡ ናይ መንእሰያትን ደቂ ኣንስትዮን ተሳትፎ ክዓቢ ከምዘለዎ ኣረዲኡ። ኣብ ውሽጥን ኣብ ግዳምን ዘሎ ተቓውሞ ተሓባቢሩን ተወሃሂዱን ዝኸደሉ መንገዲ ምንዳይ ናይ ኵሉ ተቓላሳይ ተሳትፎን ጻዕርን ዝሓትት ምዃኑ ኣተሓሳሲቡ።

ምስ ጐረባብቲ ሃገራት ዘሎ ዝምድና ናይ ቋንቋ፡ ባህሊ፡ መበቆል፡ ታሪኽ፡ ቅርጻ-መሬት (ጂኦግራፍ) ኣብ ግምት ዘእተወ፡ ኣብ መትከል ሓባራዊ ረብሓን ሕድሕድ ምድግጋፍን ኣብ ውሽጣዊ ጕዳያት ናይ ካልእ ዘይምትእትታውን ዝተሰረተ ክኸውን ኣድላዪነቱ ዕዙዝ ምዃኑ ገሊጹ።

ብዛዕባ ሰዲህኤ ብዝምልከት ድማ፡ ኣብ ታሪኻዊ ፍልልያት ምንባር ነጺጉ ንቕድሚት ክጥምት ዝተበገሰ፣ ኣብ መንጐ ተቓወምቲ ሓይልታት ዝተፈላለየ ብርክታት ዘለዎ ምሕዝነታት ክቐውም ዝድግፍ (multi-level alliances)፣ ሃይማኖት ካብ መንግስቲ ዝፈሊ፣ መሰረታዊ ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ዝኽበሩላ ዲሞክራስያዊትን ቅዋማዊትን ሃገር ንምምስራት ዝቃለስ ሰልፊ ምዃኑ ብሰፊሑ ገሊጹ።

ንንጥፈታቱ ብዝምለከት ድማ፡ ተዓዛቢ ኣባል ሶሽያሊስት ኢንተርናሽናል፡ መስራቲ ኣባል ገስጋሲ ምሕዝነት ኰይኑ፡ ኣብ ኒጀር፡ ቱኒዝያ፡ ጀርመንን ሽወደንን ዝተኻየደ ኣህጕራዊ ኣኼባታት ከምዝተሳተፈ ሓቢሩ። ከምኡ'ውን፡ ካብ 15 ሃገራት ደቡብ ኣፍሪቃ ዝመጹ ኣባላት ዘለውዎ ምስ ጕዳይ ኤርትራ፡ ፍልስጤም፡ ምዕራባዊ ሰሃራን ስዋዚላንድን ዝደጋገፍ ሲቪካዊ ማሕበር ብዝገበሮ ዕድመ መሰረት ወከልቲ ሰልፍናን መድረኽን ተረኺቦም ብዛዕባ ሃለዋት ኤርትራ መግለጺ ሂቦም፣ ናይ ረድዮ ቃለ-መሓትት ኣካይዶም፣ ምስ ኤርትራውያን ኣብ ደቡብ ኣፍሪቃ'ውን ተራኺቦም ኢሉ።

ኣብ ርእስ'ዚ፡ ንጕዳይ ስደተኛታት ብዝምልከት ሰልፍና፡ ናብ ላዕለዋይ ኮሚሽን ስደተኛታት ሕቡራት ሃገራት፡ ናብ ኣውሮጳዊ ሕብረትን ዝተፈላለዩ ትካላቱን፡ ናብ ሰብኣዊ ማሕበራት፡ ናብ ተጣበቕቲ ሰብኣዊ መሰላት፡ ናብ መንግስታትን ሰልፍታትን ዓለም ብርክት ዝበሉ መዘክራት ልኢኹን ብርክት ዝበሉ ርካብት ኣካይዱን ኢዩ ኢሉ።

ኣብ መወዳእታ፡ ካብ ኣኼበኛታት ዝቐረቡ ሕቶታት ድሕሪ ምምልሳስን ርእይቶታትን ለበዋታትን ድሕሪ ምስማዕን ኣኼባ ብዝኽሪ ናይ ስውኣት ተዛዚሙ።

ስዒቡ፡ በቶም ወናማትን ዘይደኽሙን ደረፍትን ሙዚቀኛታትን ዝተዳለወ ናይ ወጋሕ ትበል ለይቲ መደብ ተኻይዱ።

Besikdira and its children, በስግዲረዲንርቍርዲ is the latest Blin literary work, in the fiction genre, mainly based on historical, real events in Eritrea since 1960s. The book consists of 21 chapters opening up with a Preface and Acknowledgement. In this review, I find only point out the main story lines. The narrative is centred around, but not limited to, the massacre in the village of Besikdira, 15km east of Keren town. After burning seven villages the previous days, the uninvited Ethiopian army visited Besikdira in November 30, 1970 only to destroy it. The officer (ሻምበል) Teshome, and his Amharic-speaking troops, also including Eritrean-born Kumandos, posed two immediate questions to the people in Tigrigna (only 5 adults could speak it) as the people did not understand Amharic: (1) if the village is free from bandits (ሽፍታ, shifta)[i], in his own words bedbugs and fleas), and (2) if they were either Muslims or Christians. Mr Mender Beimnet, the village chief, and Mr Tesfu Almedom responded that they did not know of any bandits and that the people belonged to both Christianity and Islam. Upon learning that the people did not want to get separated along religious lines, the troops forced the inhabitants into the village Mosque and shot them down indiscriminately, killing 118[ii] civilians 11 of whom were pregnant mothers, 20 were children, and the rest were youngsters and adults[iii]. The author narrates in his fictional work about the details in the killing. The next day, December 1, 1970 was the turn of Ona village, only 4-5 Kms north east of Keren, when the military forces headed by Colonel Welana massacred almost 800 civilians indiscriminately, and without any notice. There was no question that the people supported the liberation movement since 1962.

   The story starts off with the general political instability since the 1960s when the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) confronted Ethiopia’s domination after the latter had annexed Eritrea as its 14^th Province, revoking the UN arranged Federation (1952-1961). As the ELF was active in the Western lowlands, Ethiopian atrocities increased heavily and the apex of that came in the fall of 1970 when the ELF ambushed and killed General Teshome Ergetu, head of the Second Military Division in October 1970. He was heading toward his new headquarters in Keren town to crash the ELF and the people, to ‘dry the sea in order to catch up the fish’, i.e., to target the civilians in order to weaken and consequently destroy the ELF. Those massacres are put in this context, and one man’s life was to be compensated for by around 1000 within less than 24 hours in Besikdira and Ona. Interestingly enough, the author accounts for how the atrocities became catalyst and intensified struggle for independence.

     In his fictional description, the author exemplifies the events in a life of a nuclear- and extended family members, the inhabitants of Besikdira, its environs, the Sekwina district, the Senhit Province, events all over Eritrea, the fate of youngsters in their yearning for freedom, justice and equality, and finally, the inflicting cruelty of Ethiopian soldiers. The centre stage actor becomes the family of Fickak and his wife Afiet, their only son Terexbe[iv] who got married to the beautiful Melika and begot two sons, Aybu and Abbe. Unfortunately, on the bloody Monday massacre at Besikdira where the people were forced into a small mosque only to be shot down, ((እልላ, ኣጣቅዕዳ, p. 57-60) the young wife of Terexbe, and the mother of the two, Malika, fell dead alongside the other 117 victims in the mosque. Survivors discovered that it was her bold that they were covered by, and that her younger son suckled her dry breasts for milk.

   On the one hand, Paulos beautifully crafts the Blin language to narrate how the family not only suffered physically the painful events of the period such as imprisonment (when Terexbe was imprisoned, (ንሽዋ p. 32-37), continued house-burning (48-49), sexual harassment and abuse but also in terms of psychological inhumation. He also describes in detail some more events, such as forced displacement (ገዓዳ, p. 49) etc., On the other hand, Paulos depicts how the Fickak family enjoyed the good sides of life, often highlighting underlying cultural values and societal norms, entertaining daily communal routines such as coffee break, child rearing and development, engagement, initiation rite, Blin-style brethren hood, story-telling (dannar–jigna, p. 12-13), neighbourly life (gor-dannar, 14-17), wedding festivities (ferwenter, p. 24-28), youth love, socialization and friendship (wrznet, p. 12-15), pastoral life, initiation rite ceremonies (Hiche, shngalle, kxan, p. 18-23), wealth-sharing, development, dreaming for peace, avoiding hatred or disagreement, war and conflict.

   The family exemplified the fate of Eritreans at that time. Terexbe was imprisoned (p. 32) because a certain informant (ሺኩት) spied to the Amhara[v] that Terexbe was a member of the village lajnet, with the responsibility for collecting the monthly dollar per family, qesem, which every Eritrean adult had to contribute for the liberation movement, i.e., ELF. Malika was shot dead in the Mosque, and Terexbe’s parents were also dead because they could not bear the pain. Eventually, once on age, the two brothers joined ELF and the EPLF, respectively, in order to revenge their mother’s loss in the Mosque, leaving Terexbe alone in the house (pp 77-80).

   The reader also finds a lot of Blin liberation songs, praising the independence and rebuking the enemy, such as –“Na Shugutl: Shebab Axnima genjew DeAritl”, literally, aren’t the youth reside in Deari in such a tender age” (p. 34). +A recurring worry of the author, however, lies in the never-ending disagreement between the two ‘siblings’, ELF and EPLF, that “resulted in unnecessary loss of Eritrean lives and consequently, prolonged the independence day to 1991” (interspersed in the overall text). Paulos also notes the series of Ethiopian war crimes and major massacres and since 1961 in Eritrea, narrating the events not only as they occurred but also rhetorically in their connection to the dreams of people to live together in good or bad times, peacefully.

   Finally, in 1980, the ELF and EPLF clashed in Halhal, the worst event which occurred to many Eritrean families who sided with the wrong side (p. 99-100), and Aybu shot down his own brother Abbe ‘simply assuming that he was the foe. Aybu was not alone in that incident as many other Eritreans also shared that fate’, narrates the author. The story culminates in an eventual meeting of the EPLF fighter Aybu and his father Terexbe after the latter wanted to meet his son, Abbe. Unfortunately, Aybu was forced to reveal the truth, and finally exclaimed, “Daddy, I will tell you a taboo, (ኤበ, ዲደትድውየከ ግን), I killed my own brother even I if rejoiced at first when I thought I won over the enemy in that civil war” (p. 99). “That is the fruit of disagreement among brothers and sisters”, laments the author (p. 99-100). Disappointed, sad and frustrated, Terexbe returns home and continued living alone. Terexbe had only one hope, supporting the even much more independence movement for which he was imprisoned and waiting for the return of his only remaining family member alive, Aybu – “as did many Eritrean parents”, notes Paulos.

   The concluding chapter (p. 102) is in fact a methodological note on the writing process. The author advises potential authors to follow standard referring system, interview the living witnesses of events in Eritrea, and coming up with a quality research work: “My advice to potential authors is that we have to write different kinds of literature because there lies our cultural capital. We praise those who have already written something, and at the same time we criticize those who did not write anything (yet). Future generations need to benefit from our literature as their heritage. Thus, I encourage you all to write about something” … so that one can improve the style and content in the literature, to sustain existing knowledge and create new knowledge – for the sake of future generations” (p. 102).

   This unique work in narrative genre is a welcome contribution to the literature in Blin with its rich documentation of knowledge of values, norms and daily lives, with substantial contents as well as presentation.በስግዲረዲንርቍርዲ[vi], ‘Besikdira and its Children’ fills a badly needed gap about historical events delving into Eritrean/Blin mentality in coping with problems and bad situation. I only commend Paulos work as one the boldest contribution so far on the emerging Blin (and other Eritrean) literature with its deep narration of events that will live for many generations to come.

   As a reader, I enjoyed reading በስግዲረዲንርቍርዲand I hope that this work will only be the beginning. ኣጃሀብሪዅይዳን. Well-done a young author!

   I recommend this book to anybody who is interested to know more closely the situation in Eritrea during (and shortly after) the war for independence from a local point of view. Those who want to develop literacy work in the Blin language are also recommended to read this book as well as those who want to write and learn in Blin script.

A father of two, Paulos Tesfaldet lives in Oslo, Norway.

For any contacts about the book, mail Paulos at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

[i] When the Ethiopians referred to the liberation fronts as shifta (ሽፍታ) as bandits, Eritreans in general (excluding the shikut, jasus, and some of the wedo-geba) reacted that ‘they did know anything about shifta”, implicitly protesting that the ELF and later on the EPLF were not bandits but liberation fighters. Yn shifta aerini, runs in Blin.

[ii] There were more than 50 survivors, including this reviewer’s close relatives, who still narrate the sad events vividly. The victims, however were not only from Besikdira village but also from adjacent villages who were forced to settle in Besikdira in May 1970, including Sanqa, Hangol, Feledarb and Fissoruxw, victims from the latter two were passersby. The author mentions other displaced villages in the former Senhit District (p. 48-56).

[iii]There are a couple of historical work on Ethiopian War Crimes (massacres) in Eritrea, including (1) Abba Teweldebrhan Geberemedhin and Abba Zerayakob Okbamikael, Capuchin friars (2001): መሪርግፍዒኣብበስክዲራንከባቢኣን (A Painful Massacre at Besikdira and its Environs), ትምጻእመንግስትከ (Adveniat Regnum TUUM), 44th Year, Nrs 73/74, 2000-2001, page 1-14; (2) Amina Habte (2001), Ethiopian war Crimes in Eritrea: A Case Study of the Massacres of Besik-dira and Ona in 1970. BA thesis, Asmara University; Kiflemariam Hamde (2004) “The Impact of war and climatic changes on the environment in Eritrea: The Case in Senhit Villages” (www.daberi.org); (3) Downey, Marty & Hugh (1996), On Heart’s Edge. Arvada, CO: Mikeren Publications, and (4) (Habtu (Fr. Athanasius) Ghebre-Ab (2013), “The Massacre at Wekidiba: The Tragic Story of a Village in Eritrea”, RSP, and (5) “List of massacres committed during the Eritrean War of Independence”, in Wikipedia.

[iv] In Besikdira and Its Children,በስግዲረዲንርቍርዲ, the main actor Terexbe sharply contrasts with Salih “Gadi” Johar’s actor, Ghebrebbi in his 2010 book, Of Kings and Bandits. However, if one looks closely both fiction works, they complement each other, in many, many respects, in spite of the common geographical location and the suffering incurred to them by the Ethiopian army (and their collaborators), illustrating social life in the then Senhit area, rich in diversity of values, norms and languages. Issues of religion come close in both readings, Gebrebbi being from a Muslim family, while Terexbe is from a Christian family. These are shown in the rites of passage, child development, training, and other issues. It seems to me that the authors communicated with each ‘in spirit’, without clashing, and thus made their point jointly that people can live together peacefully only if they accept and respect each other’s difference, the same way as the Besikdira residents refusing to get separated in terms their religion (to heaven or hell we got together’, expressed the late Mr. Meibetot Berih, a survivor in an oral communication with the reviewer, Besikdira, January 9^th, 2007.

[v] Amharu or Amhara in the text is used synonymously with Ethiopians and Ethiopia, connoting the Ethiopian Military Army.

[vi] The reviewed work is in fact preceded by a dozen literary works in Blin, for example, the recent books by Medhanie Habtezghi (2008), Lexen (lekhen) axra-mewedi, “The Ring which became a sore”, and (2010) Enkie, (እንከኤ) translated into Tigrigna as lekas. I hope to review these works also so that readers who do not understand Blin may be able to get more information on such literary work. For further works in Blin and on Blin, visit the Blin Language Forum, www.daberi.org