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| Port of Call-Massawa,Eritra |
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| Salt mounds near Massawa city |
Even at 7am, as we drew close to the Eritrean coast,
passengers outside could feel the temperature rising with the sun,
burning away the mackerel sky and casting long shadows on the buildings
of Massawa city, still scarred by the bombing of the Ethiopian army
during the war of independence. The new dock and city hall completed
only three months ago, however, testified to the rebuilding of Eritrea's
infrastructure, while tours gave participants a chance to witness
the efforts of NGOs and ordinary people to rebuild this young country. |
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| The human chain grits its teeth at aching muscles
and chanting keeps up a rhythm |
As droughts result in crop failure, recent months
have seen the return of famine to this part of Africa, so one of Peace
Boat's activities before departure was the collection of aid goods
by UPA (United People's Alliance) to help alleviate the suffering.
UPA gathers donations of goods and money from individuals, private
organisations and local governments in Japan, to ship them around
the world and allow members to see with their own eyes how they have
contributed to local communities. In Eritrea the bulk of the donation
was in the form of 'hard tack' famine relief for refugees and those
living in areas of subsistence farming, though other goods included
law books for Asmara University and footballs and goalposts for Massawa's
youth centre. In the blistering sun it took about fifty volunteers
three hours to unload 3500 boxes of aid goods, a total of 200,000
meals. There was time only for a quick shower and group photo in front
of the mountain of boxes before the group set off on a tour of local
development projects, with the first stop being a computer training
programme started with machines donated by Peace Boat a year ago.
According to Huruy Araya, one of the volunteers teaching as part of
his national service, basic computer skills are vital for African
countries to develop their human resources and local economies. One
hundred and thirty two students of all ages have already graduated
from the current course and his main hope for the future is to expand
the programme to include Internet training and take advantage of the
wealth of technological information on the web. |
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| Workers at the Seawater Farm show participants
some of the shrimp |
The UPA team's next stop was Seawater Forest Initiative;
a four-year-old wetland creation project funded equally by the Eritrean
government and private US companies. By planting mangrove trees and
other salt-water tolerant plants such as Salicornia, the seawater
forest produces organic fodder, firewood, cosmetic oil and fishing
reserves and will evolve into a more complex ecosystem as it grows,
creating a haven for wildlife and bringing green back to desert areas.
The initiative also provides employment for local women who are underprivileged
in Eritrean society and is part of a wider integrated project promoting
sustainable development in Massawa. Plankton and algae taken from
the mangrove swamps feed shrimp in the nearby Seawater Farm, which
exports around five million shrimp a week to markets in Europe. |
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| Eritrean women encourage passengers to eat more
of the local dishes |
With Peace Boat's onboard programmes focusing on
sustainable development, participants of the UPA and other tours showed
great interest in the Seawater initiatives. Participants who visited
Asmara welcomed the chance to meet with local student activists who
guided them around the capital city, explaining recent Eritrean history
and their visions for the future of their country. Members of the
National Eritrean Union of Women talked about their efforts setting
up a fair trade company promoting economic independence for local
women and also demonstrated a traditional coffee ceremony, complete
with popcorn! On the youth exchange programme Peace Boat passengers
and the hosts joined forces for an exuburent combination of Japanese
Bon Odori, taiko drumming and Eritrean traditional dance! After sitting
down to a meal of local food (plenty of spicy sauces mopped up with
'Injala' a sour pancake), members cemented the friendship by decorating
a banner with handprints showing solidarity between the two nations. |
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| A lone camel and rider on the shore of the Red Sea
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On another tour, people of the nomadic Rashaida
tribe rode with participants in a camel caravan, a symbol of independence
after the animals played an indispensable role transporting freedom
fighters in the 1990's. Those passengers on the steam locomotive travelling
through the desert from Massawa, experienced first-hand the result
of the people's initiative to develop the country's infrastructure
without outside support. Finally, an overland tour left to visit refugee
camps guided by Zerisenay Habtezion, now teaching law at Asmara universitiy
but formerly one of a group of law students sponsored by Peace Boat
to visit law firms, courtrooms and universities in Japan. As the sun
started to fade behind wispy clouds and the distant, barren mountains,
Peace Boat pulled away from the dock while UN trucks laden with UPA
goods started their journey to the distribution centres inland. |
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| For more information, please see the following
NGO Web Link >>www.seawaterforests.org
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| Peace Boat's
39th Voyage index |
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PEACE BOAT is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. |
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