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Port of Call |
LAST UPDATE October 16, 2006
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| August 21, 2006 |
Massawa, Eritrea – Unified Under a State of Emergency |
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| View from the road up to Asmara |
We were warned that Eritrea’s main port town of Massawa would be hot but few were expecting the melt-to-the-bone-dehydration-and-delirium kind of heat that welcomed us. The backdrop of recently war-scarred Massawa, including former Ethiopian emperor Hailie Selassie’s bombed-out palace, set a haunting reminder that Eritrea is still living under a state of emergency after Ethiopia refused the UN border-commission to end the conflict in 2002. We climbed three hours and 2300m up a winding mountain road to Asmara, the capital. There are no mirrors along this road, so as a gift Peace Boat donated 35 curve mirrors to reduce the accidents that were a real risk during our journey of near-misses. |
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| Main road, Asmara |
Asmara is considered the “second Rome”. It is drastically cooler than Massawa, dropping to 10 degrees Celsius in the evenings. Long avenues are lined with tall dark palm trees that droop from the weight of their age and mass. Beautiful architecture from the Italian era creates an exotic atmosphere where Europe and The Horn of Africa fuse with style. Most men wear crisp collared shirts and the numerous cafes serve rich coffee made by espresso machines still in use since the 1920’s. |
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| IS students talk with CPE members in Asmara |
After lunch with members of NUEYS (National Union of Eritrean Youth and Students), a governmental organization that works to empower youth by building awareness on various issues such as female genital mutilation, education and AIDS, I joined the Peace Boat IS (International Students) for a visit to the office of Citizens for Peace in Eritrea (CPE). The International Students consist of Basel Nasr (from Palestine, 25 years old), Ilil Bartana (from Israel, 19 years old), Luna Kalas (from Bosnia, 25 years old) and Vladimir Milovanovic (from Serbia, 25 years old). They are onboard from Cochin to Barcelona to share their personal experiences in areas of conflict and about the work that they are currently involved with to resolve conflict and rebuild after war.
CPE is a voluntary association of Eritrean citizens who have formed a committee for the purpose of studying and disseminating information about the Ethio-Eritrean conflict and its human consequences. They have been focused on the massive displacement of ethnic Eritreans who have been deported from Ethiopia at a rate of about 7000 people per month since the second war broke out between the two countries in 1998. We met with Prof. Asmarom Legesse (director of the organization) Mr. Karaeb (a lawyer who is working closely with the organization), as well as a number of other professionals involved with CPE. They were happy to answer our questions about the conflict, the situation for displaced Ethiopians with Eritrean ethnicity, and the reality for youth growing up in a nation under a state of emergency. Members of CPE in return, asked the IS about their experiences with conflict in their regions, which made for a dynamic discussion with a depth of experience and knowledge.
You can contact CPE at er4peace@infodesk,gemel.com.er or alegess@eol.com.er |
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