Extracted PDF page text

PDF page 1

View this page in original PDF

webmaster@awate.com
 
Awate Main Menu
Front Page
News & Analysis
Gedab News
Gedab Analysis
Articles
Interviews
Documents
Belly Of The Beast
Human Rights
Regional Events
Awate Team
Cartoons
The Pencil (Editorial)
Martyrs' Album
Search Awate
The Kind Citizen
How Many Months Will It
Take The Eritrean
Government To Attack
the Obama
Administration?
> than 1 but < than 3
months
3 to 6 months
6 to 9 months
a year
there will be no attack.
   
LINKS
Asmarino
Al Khalas
Alnahda
Asena
Awna
Alenalki
Adoulis
Baden Kunama
Congress Party
Democrasia
Dekebat
Debanma
Erit-Alliance
Eriplanet
Farajat
Gabeel
Islah
Jeberti
Maihabar
Mesel-Bihereat
The Kind Citizen and ‘Zemen’
Awate - The Kind Citizen
By Ghezae Hagos Berhe - Jun 18, 2009   
I am launching a column in this venerable website, Awate.com. The column’s name
is ‘the kind citizen.’ I choose this name because that is my vision for Eritrea, a
nation of kind citizens. Citizens who pride in their histories and identities, who know
and exercise their rights and duties (mainly rights in these times) and citizens who
are kind to themselves and to each other. In today’s Eritrea, we need these kind
citizens, and I dedicate this column for them.
Kindness (‘Lew-Hat’) is the character and name I cherish most. And here is why:
LIFE  is too,  too  short.  “Hello, babies. Welcome to  Earth. It's  hot in the
summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. At the
outside, babies, you've got about a hundred years here. There's only one
rule that I know of, babies—God damn it, you've got to be kind.”- Kurt
Vonnegut
I  was  a  private  press
journalist  in  Eritrea  from
1998-2001, for ‘Zemen’. I
want to keep alive the spirit
of  freedom  of  press,
freedom of self. I hope this
column will be my niche to
post  different  articles,
essays,  chats,  reviews.
Through  this  column,  I
hope I will be able to share
with  fellow  Eritreans  my
views, my fears, my hopes,
my desires, my life.
In  this  installment,  I  am
honored to remember one of the proudest moments, my experiences with  Zemen
newspaper  along with  one  of my  friend and colleague, Amanuel Asrat, Editor-
in-Chief of Zemen newspaper; imprisoned since September 2001.
I believe in Eritrea. I believe in Eritreans. I believe we will see better days. I believe
the God of fathers and mothers, the God of our land will not abandon us. I believe
we have gone through a lot in our history, our present to simply fade away in the
future. I believe in Ibrahim Sultan and Welwel and their sons and daughters. I
believe in the fertile womb of Eritrea to give birth to more kind citizens. I believe in
the forces of justice, tireless advocates, writers, bloggers, webmasters –AAA, the
chargers  of  our  battery,  our  sleeping  conscience,  Asmarino,  Awate,  Assena).
(Incidentally, I wish success to the historic event, the EGS’s peaceful demonstration
in Washington on 19 June 2009, ‘Yes YiAkL’.) I believe in the Phoenix nation.
“Phoenix tale is a myth. A bird burned down, with its nest, to ashes and
get to rise again fresh and beautiful, for another one thousand years is
sure exiting fantasy disposed to be told by an elder to awed kids studded
across  camp  fire.  Phoenix  bird  may  exist  in  the  wild  imagination  of
philologists and mythologists. Phoenix nation- a nation that rises up from
ashes of history- yes, fresh and beautiful for another long life- undoubtedly
exists in the minds and hearts 4.5 million of Eritreans. I believe we shall
rise. Again.”
****************************************************************
Ade Hanti Koyna Wulada Enashaqelet
Bk’a  Kem’tom  Azmad  ArbaEte  HamuShte  M’konet!--Amanuel Asrat,.
Mother being just one makes her children anxious
If only there were four or five of her, like the relatives!
I have a wallet. Its denizens have changed overtime. Sometimes, it buffs up like
George Costanaza’s; sometime it slims down to few credit cards and Ids. I trim it
regularly. Yes, many items move in and out. Even come to think of it, the wallet
itself has changed in the past ten years. Still, one card remained the veteran. I
kept it in my wallet for ten years. The constant. The talisman. The memory. The
promise.
 
 
 THE ACCUSED         
ARABIC 
 TIGRIGNA  ENGLISH  
  
English            ትግርኛ
 
ADF: Update # 2,
(3/4/2008)  
Eritrean News, analysis & information. - The Kind Citizen and ‘Zemen’ http://www.awate.com/portal/content/view/5198/18/
1 of 4 30/06/2009 18:02

PDF page 2

View this page in original PDF

Maitemenay
Modaina
MekalehEritra
Nharnet
Omaal
SelfiDemocracy
Sweetkeren
Suwera
Togoruba
Teshamo
AFP
Amnesty I.
BBC
HRW
Reuters
RSF
alenalki
Biddho
Dehai
Meskerem
Shaebia
Shabait
It is my press card.
Amanuel Asrat…’Nay Ne’Snet FiQri AytreSiEya!’
I invite the reader to recite slowly and mull over the
quote.  Ade  Hanti  Koyna  Wulada  Enashaqelet/  Bk’a
Kem’tom Azmad ArbaEte Hamushte M’konet!
I  read  it  in  Asha-golgol  (around  15-20  kms  from
Asmara)  where  Amanuel  Asrat  was  stationed  as  a
member  of  Eritrean  Defense  Forces  in  Spring  and
Summer 1999. I went there to visit him and others I
befriended though him. I read the quote and other one
liners in his small room. I was touched, deeply. I said
that it beautifully, poignantly revealed the incomparable
love Eritreans had to their mothers. He was surprised,
pleasantly. Through a protruded smile, may be a smoke
too, he said, ‘Chhidd!! FeTikaya…SaQt EQua Iye TsiHifeya .’ I repeated it was
one of the sweetest lines I ever read in Tigrigna. So I always recite the lines to
whoever wants to listen about Amanuel Asrat. ‘Ade Hanti Koyna...’ I remember
him. I remember his mother. His sisters ( Misgana, Rahiel). His father (Aboy Asrat.)
Then I shudder with fury, with desperation, with anger…with promise. That year,
1999, was the zenith of our friendship….but the kindred sprit started earlier. Way
earlier.
I don’t distinctly remember but it must be around summer 1993 we made the first
acquaintances. We were both Asmara University students; Him in Soil Science, me
in Law. Slowly, yet surely, our friendship, rooted in the soil of arts/ bohemianism,
grew.  Not  only  our  deeper  interests  but  also  our  personality  meshed  well.
Incidentally  (may  be  not), we  were  from a  neighboring ‘ Gezawti’. H im , f ro m
MedeShto/ MaeKelay Sefer , Me, from my beloved, Edagahamus. We both related
with  the everyday  dramas and bohemian  dusts of the meanest and the most
unforgettable streets of Asmara, the legendary Abashawel.
Reminds me of the huge underground classic of the 1990s (one of the best albums
of the decade) the sleeper-hit of Abraham Bayre, Wedi-Bayre of Hadish-Adi (Zoba
Qaza). AseAt weSta Baburey  DeGiga/ Tetl’e Nab Shawely tiShreb MeriSa . H e
crooned in his one of his songs “AlMaz ile ALoku.”
GeZana Villagio GueZena nab AkrYa
Nay NieSnet FiQri AytreSieya
Eta MeRiet xeDfi  ZiteXawtNLa
Ab moNgo FikRiKum Zekurini iLa ALa
Frequently called by “Wedi-Asrat,” Amaneul was a fine young man with great
artistic potential. He was a very popular in his days at Asmara University and out
for his humor, intelligence, personality and social graces. He was the first student I
met who was writing on campus life. I still remember him reading his poem on one
of the most lovable figures of Asmara University, ‘Hiwota,’ the woman janitor.
After we secured our friendship, we used to chat endlessly about arts, writers,
themes, personals, and pure nothings. Like budding writers, we showed each other
our works. Though he complemented on my English poems, he clipped my Tigrigna
ones. After I asked his opinion of my poems on “Barya’s” death, I remember his
gracious suggestion  that I don’t have the “IT” to write poems. I believed him.
Because, he wrote spectacular poems and he honed his style with great passion for
the language and love for his craft. I will deal with Amanuel’s poems and other
works at other occasion.
BeALu Girma and Delalaw
Naturally, we discussed, debated, agreed, and disagreed on the literature of the
time, favorite books, articles, and authors. It was the general consensus of the
younger  artists of that time that the ‘Mieda’ culture had stunted the Eritrean
literature. ‘Tegadelti’ authors were unable to distinguish between objective writing
and subjective politicking. As a result, you find in all  ‘Tegadelti’ fictions, this
‘Tegadalay’ character predictably boring, one-dimensional, John Wayne, robotic.
Many writers, especially, Solomon Dirar (the worst author and person ever in my
book)  and  Samuel  G/hiwot  (AkaAka)  fell  in  this  group.  As  a  pure  talent,
Alemseghed Tesfai  leads the  pack. Michael  Berhe  was consistent  in  his short
stories,  Like  “Fetaw  SeAt.”  I  liked  the  artist/  writer  Micheal  Adonai’s  “Klte-
merakib.” Amanuel liked the poets. Issayas Tsegay and Beyene Haile Mariam were
his favorite poets.
In search of deeper inspiration and talents, we looked across the horizon, across
the border. Ethiopia hosted brilliant fiction writers whom I had been reading
faithfully and hungrily for ages. Who in my generation have not read or heard of
Contribute 
Donate through Mail
Eritrean News, analysis & information. - The Kind Citizen and ‘Zemen’ http://www.awate.com/portal/content/view/5198/18/
2 of 4 30/06/2009 18:02

PDF page 3

View this page in original PDF

“Sememen?” by Sisay Nigussu: a love story of Abel and Tigist in Addis University. I
guess that book pushed even mediocre high school students to pull an all-nighter
in the hope of joining the University and fall in love with a version of “TiGist” as a
freshman.
But still, the great BeAlu Girma  dominated every discussion I had with Amanuel
and other friends. In his short life, BeAlu has penned wonderful books like ‘Haddis’,
‘Ye-key kokeb Tri’, ‘Oromay’, ‘Kadmas-Bashager’ and his finest ‘Derasiw.’ The latter
was thinly veiled biography of another great Ethiopian man of letters, Sibhat
Ghebregiziabhier. I still can conjure up the characters of his books, like Tsegay
Ghebremedihn of ‘Oromai’ and Sirak of ‘Derasiw.’
Amanuel loved more essays and commentaries of the newspapers. I remember how
he much loved Professor Mesfin’s (the essayist, not the activist) long poem on “ Ye
Lijuagered FeteNa”. It was about a serial dater who sat for an exam and all she can
remember was the names of the ‘ wendoch” she dated. Most of all, Amanuel was
entranced by the famous Ethiopian newspaper, “The Reporter”, and especially, the
column  one  can  arguably  say  brought  the  readers’ perpetual  interest  to  that
newspaper.  Of  course,  I  am  talking about  the  column,  “DELALAW”,  Amberber
Mentesnot. The pen-name with his brilliant descriptions, satirical but still unique
observations of social life, captivated Amanuel. “Delalaw” fuelled his imaginations
and his dreams.
At that time, we were both contributing articles to then existing papers. He wrote
heavily for “ Tirigta” which was published by NUEY (Hamama’T’e). I remember a
few,  like  on  Yemane  Mekonen  (Lilo)’s  Adulis  on  Pushkin’s  Eritrean-Debarwan
ancestry. I also remember one at Tsigenay. I liked that article. It admonishes us for
forgetting the tenth anniversary of “Afabet” victory over “ Nadew-Ez.” The event
(March 17, 1998) passed without any sort of celebration or even mention. I argued
that it was the greatest victory that changed the course of our armed struggle and
we should have honored it. The fact that Massawa’s ‘Fenkil’ was garnering all the
attention each and every year has got to do more with the bathing suit and extra
cash  the  national  tourists were  taking along with  them than  with  the  actual
importance of the victory itself. Afabet, being situated in far outpost from the
glitter, was fading, sadly.
I was also sending few articles to Haddas Eritrea . They published one after an
unrecognizable edit. It was some sort of exposition or extended treatise of a few
verses of the Polish poet, Wislawa Szymborska . The art of writing/ the powers
of preserving/ revenge of mortal hand . What art/literature really means. I
remember including, my Russian favorites, like Tolstoy’s, or rather his hands as
described by Aleksey Peshkov, rather Maxim Gorky in his reminiscence of Tolstoy
and Antoine Chekhov. Revenge of mortal hand…Isn’t that still true?
Zemen more than a newspaper
It was sometime around 1997, Amanuel popped the idea, disguised in a question.
“Why don’t we start our own newspaper?”  It was the long-anticipated wish.
The dream that we both had for our own newspaper took some time to materialize.
We had to pass through phases of ephemeral alliances with other colleagues and
financial bumps. I teamed up with my university colleagues, with the one and only
Milikias Yohannes, the dearly missed Medda “Medhaine Haile”, Yosief Alazar and
Habeteab Yemane (all  law graduates) to start Kestedemena, around November
1998. After a brief stay there, I finally joined him Amaunel Asrat, Amanuel Elias,
Tesfazghi Oqbazghi and later Yosief Berhe (Josi) to start “Zemen”, in January 1999.
We were issued with a press card that I still have it in my wallet. I remember I felt
more pride and joy in flashing that press card than the law faculty staff card which
was more prestigious and harder to obtain.
I really can’t very much process and rewrite here my experiences in “Zemen.”
Simply put, it was the most gratifying period I had ever  had. Zemen  was not
merely a print media for us. It was our dear home. Zemen was a place. It was
where we felt safe, witty, true, free. Zemen was a time. It was when we
knew we were ‘in the zone.’ It was when time stood still. Zemen was an
opportunity. It was what we were waiting for to curve our little statutes
from our imaginations, desires, fears.
Zemen was people. How can I remember Zemen without our dear mutual
friends? Friends  who  encouraged us  and  walked  the walk. Wedi  Asrat,
Wedi Elias, Wedi Adie, Fagi, Memhrey, Jossi, RaEsu, the lone distributor
Aklilu, Zewintana (Wintana editors, Aziz, and Dawit), Simon, Dani, Woldu,
the iconic Lancha, Peter, Leake, Enda-Minassie Computer Center, Meron,
R-ghede,  Saba,  Efrem  wedi  Khuwada,  Duba,  Seife,  Bizen  (Samu),  Yoni
(Wedi  Zekarias),  Gorgorios  (Bini).  Zemen  was  indivisible  part  of  the
close-knit family, the family of Eritrean journalists. We worked closely with
Kestedemana friends (Milkias, Medda Haile, Yosief) Admas editors (Khaled,
Eritrean News, analysis & information. - The Kind Citizen and ‘Zemen’ http://www.awate.com/portal/content/view/5198/18/
3 of 4 30/06/2009 18:02

PDF page 4

View this page in original PDF

Character encoding review needed: replacement-characters.

Haileab,  Yonas),  Tsigenay  (Meles  Nigusse,  Akhedir,  Omar,  Zemenfes,
Yusuf) Meqalih (somehow my favorite newspaper, with Matchu-Mathewos,
Dawit Wedi-memher, Yebio wedi Gerie), Setit (Aron, Simret, Dawit, and
Joshua). Zemen was people. Zemen was our dear home.
************************************************************
Ag’Do  Nieyratni  Ag’Do  nay Beyneye
Shibo  Neiyratni shibo nay Beyneye
Eidom  AyseAnu WeSidomuleye—Ato AtweBr’Han Segid
I have a wallet. Its denizens have changed overtime. Still, one card remained the
veteran. I kept in my wallet for ten years. The constant. The talisman. The accuser.
The reminder. The guilt. The memory……The Promise.
It is my press card.
ghezae_hagos@yahoo.com
Last Updated ( Jun 19, 2009 )
 
[ Back ]
� Copyright 2000-2006 Awate.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without written consent from the Webmaster@awate.com.
Eritrean News, analysis & information. - The Kind Citizen and ‘Zemen’ http://www.awate.com/portal/content/view/5198/18/
4 of 4 30/06/2009 18:02