Eritrea: The Apple of Our Eye

Eritrea: The Apple of Our Eye

By Bereket Kidane

Eritrea, for which many parents sacrificed their precious kids whom they consider the apple of their eye or the pupil of their eye (bilen aynom) has in turn become the apple of our eye.  Part of the reason Eritreans respect President Isaias Afewerki so much is he puts his kids on the bus and waves goodbye to them as they depart for Sawa with all the new soldiers.  I am sure like any parent he considers his kids to be the apple of his eye but he is willing to offer them as a potential sacrifice for the country.

Martyrs Day is the commemoration of those precious kids who lost their lives and limbs at a young age so Eritrea can exist.  It’s a day of commemoration that encompasses the whole nation.  There is no way to understand Eritrea without understanding this.

Without the resilient mothers who have lost multiple kids but only show pride and strength throughout the year, without the heroic tegadeltis who made the mountains and trenches of Nakfa their home, without the brave Warsays who defended the country against a determined enemy that went for broke, there would be no sovereign State of Eritrea today.  It is that stark, and that simple.

Eritrea has lost some 90,000 combatants – often the very best – during the armed struggle for independence or in defense of its sovereignty, 19,000 of them since Eritrea became independent in 1991.  The lives of those fallen heroes were cut short at a young age for many of them, but they have left behind parents, spouses and children.  They have also left behind their comrades-in-arms, who do not forget!  We have heard some amazing stories of heroism and selflessness about those comrades, who remain forever devoted to the families of those fellow tegadeltis and warsays whom they have lost.

This Saturday, June 20, Eritreans around the world will remember those fallen heroes and express an important solidarity with the State of Eritrea, the pupil of our eye.  Let us all remember the covenant we have made with the families of those fallen heroes.

Zelealemawi Zikhri n Sematatna!
Awet n Hafash!

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