rahel - My Blog

After seven long years, so my mom had finally managed to persuade me to go back to our dear country. I was initially very skeptical of the whole trip ... especially the trip to Sawa and the tour. Before this trip, my contact with my Eritrean brothers and sisters was very minimal. The knowledge I had about Eritrea was also "SWEDISH". I can without a doubt tell you right now , that this trip was the best out of all my trips around the world !

After five days of presence in Eritrea, so it was finally time for "niklo" (departure) to Sawa. The trip itself was at a first glance … different, it took us a total of 10-11 hours, the bus was not stable by itself, car path was not direct European standard and the extremely hot weather did not help either. Lemon in your mouth,was the deal at all times. But those above mentioned things are the things forgotten rapidly over the years. What I take with me will be those 10 hours I sat and got to know new people, the incredibly beautiful countryside, those very nice animals and the food that was so very different as "Fuul" with bread.

The journey
We spend a total of five days in Sawa. The days were long, endless in hours and extremely hot also. If it was something we learned there was that water = life. The toilets were ... not so fresh as we had hoped for and the simple things like a shower might not have been the easiest of things. But while I noticed these differences, problems, important factors ... call them what you want so, I noticed something else. I saw 10 000 young people from nine different ethnic groups … converse, marching, laughing and dancing together. Each group had its language, its traditions, its culture ... every group and every youth unique in itself, yet no distinction between one another. All in a common purpose and goals as a common people. That kind of community is not easy to find if not impossible. That's when I noticed that Sawa and all those thousands of young people who had been there, who was there and that would come was and is the country's backbone.

The days of Sawa was filled with activities such as fashion shows, competitions and seminars. and we simply had to choose where we would want to spend our time. Of course, I was in a quiz contest. Then we had a lot of free time, so I got to know lot of new and different people.

After four days in Sawa the number of youth got reduced drastically to 150. A round trip ”Zura hagerka” would finally start and our first destination was the remote town of Teseney. Near to the Sudan, teseney was like an oasis in the middle of the desert. The city looked like an Arab city. The reception we got there was incredibly special. They opened the doors to their best restaurant (which was an incredibly beautiful place). The variety of food was as much as the number of days we where away from home. Surely, we were all happy when we were there for both lunch and dinner with guajla as dessert. Unfortunately I did not have time to explore the city.

Our next destination was very special, since we were among those few people who got to see it in close up. The area is called Bisha and it is one of Eritrea's many prides. There are miles of land with gold. Few people have seen this and to be part of it makes me incredibly proud. I saw a piece of Eritrea's future. Just two years after the Bisha mining can begin exporting gold and so increase the degree of the Treasury, and we got to be there in the beginning.

After several hours of bus travel, we arrive at Keren. One of Eritrea's larger cities. The landscape around Keren was so green and so beautiful. The actual city itself was so full of life. Serina Hotel which was the name of our hotel, was among the best in the country. From the balcony you could see how the city was partially surrounded by high mountains. Then when you also add our evening's entertainment with one of Eritrea's great comedians Sandiago , the evening could not have been any better. Disappointingly it was my last night.

In closing, let me just say that this trip has helped me answer the question I asked myself several times through the years ... where do i come from? ... I can now surely say that I am a proud Eritrean! and if you haven’t gotten it yet ... I recommend the trip! Awet N'hafash!

Selam T.welday,Sweden