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Port of Call |
LAST UPDATE July 12, 2005
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| Exchanging waves with Eritrean children |
Peace Boat made its tenth visit to Africa's newest state. It is just over a decade since Eritrea gained independence from neighbouring Ethiopia and only recently that the physical scars of 30 years of conflict have started to fade. The prolonged border dispute unfortunately still continues today. Although the tension tends to dominate the front pages of the papers and political conversations, the quality of life for people especially in Asmara and Massawa, the cities where Peace Boat's partners are based, seems to have improved significantly. |
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| Sandal monument in downtown Asmara, one of the symbols of the independence struggle |
A more peaceful existence has meant a greater ability to focus on developing infrastructure, the economy and addressing social issues such as education, health care and human development. Two of Peace Boat's partners are working hard on achieving social change and development: the National Union of Eritrean Women (NUEW) and also the National Union of Eritrean Youth and Students (NUEYS). Through Peace Boat's connection with these community organizations in particular, it has been possible to learn about the lives of Eritrean people today and the suffering and hardship they have endured in the recent past.
Large groups of participants visited the recently completed city museum in Massawa, which not only exhibits photographs from the three decades of conflict but also military paraphernalia and everyday goods that reflect people's lives during the independence struggle. One eye-catching example is the rubber sandal which has reached iconic status throughout Eritrea. Sandals apparently symbolize thrift, utility and durability, characteristics that were valued greatly during the lean war years. In fact, there is even a giant pair of Eritrean sandals in monumental form in the center of Eritrea's capital city of Asmara. |
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| A simple but peaceful and secure life prevails in Eritrea for most |
A 1930s Italian-built steam locomotive that has been out of action for a long period came to life on the day the ship arrived in Eritrea. With the right amount of coal and water and some cheering from onlookers, the old-style train departed Massawa carrying over 50 Peace Boat participants. At a gentle speed, we chugged through the parched landscape and into the hilly area where Mai-atal station was located. Spending over one hour onboard allowed participants to view life in Eritrea from an unusual perspective. After passing the outskirts of Massawa, a camp for Somali refugees came into view. Seeing even a glimpse of these displaced families' Spartan lifestyle provided a sharp reminder of the impoverished living conditions in which fellow humans are forced to live, particularly as a consequence of fleeing conflict. |
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| Women's work is never done: drying chilies |
Riding a bus through winding roads, participants finally reached the mountainous capital of Asmara where the climate is noticeably cooler than the arid area surrounding Massawa. Participants' jaws were left gaping wide as their bus passed young men riding gearless bicycles up the same steep mountains. According to local counter-partners, although competitive or leisure sports in Eritrea have not really begun to flourish in the post-war years, cycling is very popular.
In Asmara, several groups of participants from Peace Boat visited the head office of the National Union of Eritrean Youth and Students (NUEYS). Younger participants spent time getting to know teenage NUEYS members with the help of music and intercultural games, while other participants listened to speeches by two people with war experience.
Ms Belainesh Seyoum heads International Relations at the National Union of Eritrean Women (NUEW), an "autonomous organization that works to improve the political, social and economic status of Eritrean women". Created in 1979, NUEW seeks to enhance women's role in society by raising their political consciousness and ensuring their participation through literacy campaigns, credit programmes, English language courses and other capacity-building projects. |
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| National Union of Eritrean Women (NUEW) ? improving women's status |
Ms Seyoum spoke about women's roles during the liberation struggle, including their active participation in the military where women comprised 30 percent of fighting forces. Such roles ranged from duty on the front line to munitions production. In this respect, the women's movement in Eritrea successfully challenged the traditional male societal structure from an early period, as compared with other African states.
Participants learnt that as a mass organization, NUEW has been effective in coordinating grassroots campaigns that focus on poverty reduction, education for girls, and micro-credit schemes. Achieving a higher literacy rate for the female population, the majority of who missed out on education during the long period of conflict, is seen as fundamental in allowing women to participate actively in rebuilding a peaceful and stable society. |
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| Hanako Ise eating dinner with Asmara University students |
Mr Ghebrihiwet Receta provided a comprehensive overview of the political history of the land now known as Eritrea. In explaining the long history of colonization, first by the Persians, then by the Turkish, Egyptians, and Italians, Mr Receta helped people understand the background to which the 1961 - 1991 independence struggle against Ethiopia took place. Even though it was difficult for the participants to imagine the kind of conditions that many Eritreans experienced during the three decades of fighting and deprivation, the former fighter's testimony had a strong impact on our understanding of Eritrea's path to nationhood.
Another valuable interchange was made possible during Peace Boat's visit to Asmara University. Here we met with dozens of young students in the university cafeteria. The casual setting lent itself to several hours of friendly conversation while eating local food, including "injala" (flat bread) with stew. Performing several skits in English about the transition from the military world to the civilian world, as well as touching on themes of love and learning, gave the largely Japanese participants a sample of the current concerns and issues that Eritrean students are interested in.
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| Graveyard of tanks and junk metal from the war years |
What struck many Peace Boat participants was the fairly stark absence of female students at the university. We later learnt that women make up 10 percent of the university population. Attributing this imbalance to the emphasis on early marriage and motherhood, as well as the value placed on domestic duties over participation in public life, it was fascinating to talk with some of the female students about their achievements having come from a minority group. We could feel the warmth of the bright Eritrean students and sense their keenness to have more interaction with people from around the world. In fact, many of them expressed a keen interest to study abroad and inquired about the universities that members of the Peace Boat group had studied at.
The final part of Peace Boat's exposure programme in Asmara was a walking tour of the "Tomb of Tanks". This is a dumping ground on the outskirts of the capital city for the thousands of tonnes of rusting tanks, jeeps, trucks as well as artillery. Like permanent scars on the landscape, the cemetery of dilapidated military hardware is a strikingly visual reminder of the ugly futility of war. Whether or not the vast amount of abandoned military equipment that is scattered all over the country can be positively utilized to help people instead of damage their lives is still yet to be discovered. Peace Boat wishes that Eritrea can continue strongly on its path of reconstruction and positive social development. |
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