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Foreign Minister holds talks with Egyptian counterpart
Vol 22. No. 19
Saturday, 9th of may, 2015
Pages 8, Price 2.00 NFA
Eritrea’s Foreign Minister, Mr.
Osman Saleh, held talks on the 7th
of May with Mr. Sameh Shoukry,
the Foreign Minister of Egypt, on
enhancing Eritrean-Egyptian relations.
The two officials conducted extensive discussions on bilateral and
regional issues. Mr. Osman hosted
a dinner reception in honor of the
visiting Egyptian delegation.
The Egyptian Foreign Minister, Mr. Sameh Shoukry, arrived
in Asmara on the 6th of May on a
working visit. He was welcomed
at Asmara International Airport by
his Eritrean counterpart, Mr. Osman Saleh.
Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry
told Erina that in line with the understanding previously reached between the leaders of the two countries, his current visit to Eritrea is
aimed at further strengthening the
longstanding historical relations
between Eritrea and Egypt.
It is to be recalled that President
Isaias attended the swearing in ceremony of President Abdelfatah AlSisi of Egypt in September 2014.
Foreign Ministers Osman Saleh
and Sameh Shoukry also met and
held talks in New York and Cairo
respectively as regards enhancing
brotherly Eritrean-Egyptian ties.
Mr. Sameh Shoukry left for
home on the 7th of May concluding
his working visit.
Anseba regional
Eritrea and African Development
Administrator
Bank sign agreements to finance
inspects development
two USD 41 million projects
programs
The Administrator of Anseba
region, Mr. Ali Mahmud, has inspected development programs
set for implementation this year
in Hadish Adi, Denbe-Habtetsion,
Berona and Jertem in Elabered
sub-zone.
In a meeting with community
representatives, the Administrator
stressed the need for the timely finalization of potable water supply
projects. He said that micro-dams
would be constructed in the subzones of Elabered, Hamelmalo,
Asmat, Adi-Tekelezan, Geleb,
Halhal, Keren and Hagaz at a total expenditure of over 55 million
Nakfa.
Brig. General Kesetebirhan
Gebrehiwet passes away
Veteran fighter Brig. General
Kesetebirhan Gebrehiwet Me-
brahtu passed away on the 7th of
May due to sudden illness.
The funeral service of the late
Brig. General Kesetebirhan, who
has been receiving medical treatment at the Air Force Hospital,
would be held on Sunday May 10
at Asmara Patriots Cemetery at
10:00 am local time.
The departed veteran fighter is
married and father of two.
Expressing deep sorrow over
the passing away of Brig. General
Kesetebirhan Gebrehiwet, the
Defense Ministry expresses condolences to the family members
and friends.
Eritrea and the African Development Bank have signed agreements
to finance two major USD 41 million projects on skill development,
drought resilience and sustainable
livelihood program.
The Minister of Finance, Mr. Berhane Habtemariam, and Mr. Gebriel
Negatu, Regional Director of the
African Development Bank, signed
the agreement. 50% of the amount is
in development assistance to Eritrea
and the remaining 50% in the form
of interest-free loan, according to
the AFDB Regional Director.
The Nairobi-based regional African Development Bank groups 13
countries, including Eritrea.
2
Eritrea Profile, Saturday 9th of may, 2015
The Secret Of Success Is To Develop
Yourself From Cumulative Experience”
His name is Dr. Efrem Tewolde.
He was born in 1986 in Asmara.
He took his elementary school
education at Model School, junior high school at Harbegnatat
and high school at Ibrahim Sultan high school. He went to Sawa
as part of the 18th batch national
service and took his school leaving examination there scoring
a GPA of 3.6. As a distinction
student he joined the School of
Medicine and graduated in Dental Health with Doctorate degree.
Could you please tell us about
your back ground?
I grew up as a normal Asmarino
child. I used to play football and
other sports with my peer groups
in our neighborhood. My elder
brothers were good in their education and that has a big influence
on me. And that helped me to concentrate on my education. I was
price winner all the way except in
grade 2 in which I stood 4th.
What is the secret for all your
brothers and you to become price
winners in your education?
The main reason is that our parents were very much interested in
education and with that they used
to encourage us and follow our
Published Every
Saturday & Wednesday
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Azzazi Zeremariam
Acting Editor
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E-mail:
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azieb habtemariam
daily home works. My father was
a teacher and that was an advantage for us. My mother was also
very much interested in education
and she was the one who put the
basic foundation on me.
To tell you frankly, it was when I
was at my junior high school that
I came to understand the importance of education. It was there
that I started going to libraries,
reading books and other activities
related to education. I was one of
the kinds of students whom score
high grades in the second semester. The reason was that I try to
correct the mistakes I committed
in the first semester. The experience I would gain in the first semester would definitely aid me a
great deal not to repeat the mistakes.
Do you agree that in order to become a doctor one has to be price
winner in his/her education?
I don’t agree! There are many
distinguished scholars that have
been average students but they
contributed a lot to this world
with their scientific discoveries.
The fundamental thing is that
to identify your talent and use it
properly. That is the secret for
success.
Why did you choose to join the
school of dentistry?
The Dental school has been established in 2007 and I was very
much interested in that profession. We were 16 students who
joined the school.
How did you experience being
one of the first batches to attend
the school?
It was very much challenging.
You have to read a lot and do experiments. Our instructors were
always on our side and very much
supportive and with their help and
guidance we gradually improved
ourselves. College education also
needs hard work and try different
things on your own.
You have been working as a
qualified dentist for about one
year and half. What is your observation in with the professional
aspect of it?
Researches show that 90% of
the world population suffers from
teeth related diseases. It also applies to our country. It stands one
of the five health problems. That
means there is great expectation
from us. Teeth problem could be
easily prevented. It is only a matter of hygiene. One has to sustainably brush his teeth and clean the
tongue before going to bed and
after lunch and dinner.
Is there anything you want to say
before we end today’s interview?
I want to thank my parents, my
lecturers and friends for their support and their help in assisting me
become what I am today.
Good luck!
Thank you!
Coming In Terms With Reality
3
Eritrea Profile, Saturday 9th of may, 2015
Solomon Mengsteab
Human desires are infinite; the
things we yearn to possess, things
we wish to do, personages we aspire to be etc. are indeed utterly infinite. Even if at times we seem or
feel to be sure about the definitiveness of our desires, such appearances and feelings are never long
lasting; time itself, if nothing else,
erodes and banishes the presumed
definite desires out of our mind and
replaces them with others before
we know it. We desire something,
get obsessed with it, toil day and
night to get it and if we are blessed,
we win it in the end. As it is in human nature however, the success in
achieving one desire only leaves us
with another. Our wants, our desires just keep on being supplanted
by others in a nonstop chain reaction, one replacing another.
These infinite desires engage
us in nonstop lifelong industry.
What’s more, it is not always that
we achieve our goals and fulfill our
cravings. Many a time we fail, as
the road to success is not always a
walk in a park. Sometimes the road
to success is filled with barriers and
setbacks and these barriers and setbacks are what we call problems
in our lives. And everybody have
some problem in one or another
form. No matter whom, where
and when, there is no one without
a problem. Whether the problems
are big or small and/or simple or
complicated depends on the goals
and desires sought after to be accomplished and fulfilled and many
other factors. The fact remains the
same however, there are always different possible ways that could take
one to one’s goal and every one of
them will have some barriers, some
problems, of one sort or another.
Sooner or later everyone will have
to overcome these barriers, solve
these problems in order to achieve
their goal depending on how soon
and how bad they want their desire
fulfilled.
The ability of people to solve
problems depends on different factors; the physical, intellectual, social
financial political etc. background,
the circumstances they are in, the
nature and size of the problems etc.
In general however, there are two
ways with which people attempt
to solve the problems they face in
life. Some poor souls ride into the
battle to fight their problems almost
blindfolded, without any decipherable system in their approach. Others deliberate up on their problem,
the different possible approaches
and outcomes of their undertakings,
they analyze and plan. Such people
take systematically arranged steps
in identifying their problem analyzing their circumstances, making plans and implementing those
plans; they apply systematic problem solving methods.
There are various systematic approaches to solving problems which
are suitable for different kinds of
problems in diverse circumstances.
However, most of them are similar in their rudimentary steps and
structures. They all begin with the
clear and direct identification of the
problem by eliminating the extraneous but misleading issues from
the real problem at hand. Then they
analyze circumstances and identify
possible ways to find the desired
solution. After that, they plan and
implement. Later, they assess the
effect of the implemented plan,
they plan and implement again
until they accomplish the desired
goal. There could be some variance
in the details of the processes of
different problems solving methods however, basically they are all
similar. And looking closely into
different problem solving methods
manifests one noteworthy fact; the
significance of clarifying the problem.
Stating the problem clearly and
directly by eliminating all the other
extraneous issues around it is the
basic but the most crucial step in
any problem solving approach.
This might seem straight forward
and simple, especially in considering individuals and their minor and
uncomplicated personal problems.
However, stating the real problem
is not as simple as it sounds or as
most of us would like it to be in
considering higher organizational
levels, such as big companies, governments, and major governmental
and nongovernmental organizations. In such levels problems are
often multiple which makes their
identification and prioritization
even more complicated and crucial.
Moreover, in these macro levels
problems tend to assume chameleonic, intricate and interacting
nature, which complements to the
necessity of careful assessment and
elucidated statement of the problem.
However, it is not just for the
nature and magnitude of problems
that this basic step of clarifying the
real problem is critical; it is rather
because it is the key to solve any
given problem. All the efforts exerted in an attempt to solve a given
problem, even while following systematic problem solving methods,
are nothing more than useless if
they lack the basic clarification of
the actual problem to begin with.
For, they are wasted in an attempt
to solve nonexistent problems or
problems of less significance therefore, do not deserve all the energy
time and resources engaged in their
direction.
Wasting resources, time and energy in fruitless endeavors of solving problems which are non/lessimportant, due to lack of awareness
and/or ability to clearly identify
and state the core problem, is one
thing. However, more often than
admitted people intentionally seem
to evade the identification and clarification of the real problem and
engage themselves in trifling. Of
course, deep inside they know the
feebleness of their engagements in
solving the fundamental problems
in their lives. Nonetheless, whatever their reason is for not stepping
up and face the real problem, they
still waste their time energy and
resources in trivial. For instance, a
man may be suffering from financial a crisis which in turn agitates
most of his life aspects. The man
might engage in blind boxing trying
to fill in a one bill and to another instead of tackling the major problem
which is inadequate income and
finding solution, balancing the ins
and outs of his finance.
Some might argue that when a
problem is too big and too complicated and there is but limited energy, resource and/or and time it is
better to deal with and eliminate the
smaller problems and reserve the
big one for better days. However,
most of the times no matter how big
and intricate problems seem when
examined closely their root causes
and by implication their solutions,
although they may be rough and
crude at times, are usually simple
and basic. And just may be if all the
energies times and resources are
combined in finding the root causes
and tackling them, may be, just
may be it would find the ultimate
solution for most of those trivial
problems.
A man gets his toe injured and due
to lack of basic medical care and attendance the wound somehow fails
to heal. By the time he got access
to medical care the wound have got
worse and developed into gangrene.
In time, the gangrene expands to
his knee and keeps on going up to
his thigh threatening to invade his
upper body and kill him. Now, the
man has two choices. He could try
to ignore the real problem and the
real solution and feebly attempt to
treat the pus-buds appearing here
and there on his leg. Or, he can step
up and face the real problem and
find the real solution. He needs to
acknowledge the gangrene and cut
of the leg and save his life.
Fighting trivial problems while
there is a clear knowledge of the
real problem is like trying to treat
the pus-buds. Which is why, many
a time dealing with problems in life
requires an executive decision of
identifying the source of the problem and rooting it out once and for
all and redirecting one’s attention
to address other basic problems.
Come in terms with reality, cut off
the leg and learn to live with one
leg. The good thing about most of
the problems in life however, is
they are not like the leg which can
never grow up ones you cut them
off. One can cut off a bad friend
from one’s life, divorce one’s wife
or husband and/or quit one’s job if
one wants to. Yet still one can make
new friends, better friends, remarry
and/or find a new job. Unlike a cut
of leg which would never regrow,
life usually gives second chances to
amend and fix the problems in our
lives once we cut off the gangrene,
root out the real problem.
Eritrea Profile, Saturday 9th of may, 2015
ADS
4
Invitation for Bid (IFB)
STATE OF ERITREA
NATIONAL AGRICULTURE PROGRAMME
(NAP)
Date: May 16, 2015 Contract Identification No: PMU-MOE/GPE/G/NCB/002/2015
1.The Government of Eritrea has received a grant from the Global Partnership for
Education towards the cost of Education Sector and intends to apply part of the funds
to cover eligible payments under the Contract for the Procurement of Furniture for
Complementary Elementary Education (CEE) Schools; IFB No.PMU-MOE/GPE/G/
NCB/002/2015.
2. The Project Management Unit-Ministry of Education, of the State of Eritrea invites
sealed bids from eligible and qualified bidders for the supply of furniture to be delivered
between July 14, 2015 and September 14, 2015
3. Interested eligible bidders may obtain further information from the PMU-MOE and
inspect the Bidding documents at the address given below during working hours.
4. A complete set of bidding documents in English may be purchased by interested
bidders on the submission of a written application to the address below and upon payment of a nonrefundable fee of 500.00 (five hundred) Eritrean Nakfa (ERN) or equivalent starting from Monday, June 18, 2015.
5. Bids must be delivered to the address below on or before Tuesday, June 02, 2015
at 9:30 A.M. Local Time. Electronic Bidding will not be permitted. Late Bids will be
rejected. Bids will be opened in the presence of bidders or their representatives who
choose to attend in person at the address below at 9:35 A.M. on June 02, 2015. All bids
must be accompanied by a bid security of ERN 50,000.00 (Fifty thousand).
6.The address referred to above is: Project Management Unit – Ministry of Education
(PMU-MoE) Dembe Sembel, Hiday Street, Block “A”, First Floor, RH, ZIP code: 748-1.
Contact person Mr. Mebrahtu Gilagaber email: [email protected] and/or [email protected] Phone Number; 291-1-151614 fax: 291-1-152181
Invitation for Bids (IFB)
Name of Country: Name of Project: Grant No: Date:
IFB Title:
IFB Number:
Eritrea
Global Fund
ERT-H-MOH
May 09, 2015
Procurement of Food Supplements
GF/R10H/ICB/01/2015
1. The Ministry of Health of the State of Eritrea has received a grant from the Global
Fund towards the cost of HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and TB Project. It is intended that part of the
proceeds of this grant will be applied to eligible payments under the contract for procurement of Food Supplements for PLWHA.
2. The Project Management Unit of the Ministry of Health now invites sealed bids
from eligible bidders for the supply of Food supplements for PLWHA.
3. Bidding will be conducted through the International Competitive Bidding (ICB) procedures specified in the Global fund Guidelines:
4. Interested bidders may obtain further information from PMU, Ministry of Health
and inspect the Bidding Documents at the Procurement Office, PMU, Ministry of Health,
Denden Street No.82, Asmara, Eritrea; Tel: 291-1-122978, Fax: 291-1-124357 from 08:00 to
12:00 hours.
5. A complete set of Bidding Documents in English language may be purchased by
interested bidders on the submission of a written Application ( if agents, presentation of authorization and renewed licence) to the address and upon payment of a non refundable fee USD
fifty (50.00) or equivalent. The method of payment will be cash or Bank transfer to the credit
of our account No. 120-122-0184 with Bank of Eritrea through DZ BANK SWIFT. GENO
DE F - Frankfurt, Germany IBAN. DE39500604000001030 736. The document will be sent
by DHL/Express mail.
6. Bids must be delivered to the address below, on or before 14:30 Hours on June
11, 2015. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security amounting to not less than two
(2) percent of the bid amount in a freely convertible currency which should be submitted
sealed within the bid offer envelop.
Address: Red Sea Trading Corporation (RSTC)
P.O. Box 332
2nd Floor Room No 203
ASMARA – ERITREA
Tel. No. 291-1- 124388/202360
Fax. No. 291-1- 124353/202367
7. Late bids will be rejected. Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below at 14:35 hrs on June 11, 2015
INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB)
1. The Government of ERITREA has received a Grant from the International
Fund for Agricultural Development towards the cost of National Agricultural
Project(NAP) and it is intended that part of the proceeds of this Grant will be
applied to eligible payments under the contract for the supply of:- Lot.1 Supply
of Generator.
2
Bid shall be Valid for a Period of 120 days after Bid opening, and must be
accompanied
by a bid Security of 2% at any Eritrean Bank and delivered to Procurement and
Supplies
Management Unit office on or before June/09/2015 local hours 14:30 PM and will
be
opened on the same date at 15:00 PM Local hours in the presence of the Bidders or
Bidders’ Representatives who wish to attend.
3 Eligible bidders may bid for a complete lot. Bid for partial lot will be rejected as
non
responsive
. 4.
A complete set of bidding documents may be collected by any interested Eligible
bidders
From the address below.
Ministry of Agriculture, Procurement and Supply management Unit, Sawa Street,
Tel:
181077/76 Fax: 181415, P.O.Box:1048, Asmara, Eritrea.
5 Bids will be opened in the presence of Bidders’ representatives who choose to attend
at
3:00 Pm Local Time hrs on June 09, 2015.
part if
doing
The Ministry of Agriculture reserves the right to accept or reject this bid fully or in
it finds any option better than this IFB without needing to justify the grounds for it
So and Compensation which the bidder may incurred in preparing its bid.
Ministry of Agriculture
Eritrea: A Beacon...
continued from page 8
COI included Sheila Keetharuth, the SR
whose professional credibility and personal
integrity were seriously tarnished as a result of her woefully flawed and politically
motivated report, Mike Smith from Australia and Victor Dankwa from Ghana.
It is noteworthy that, inspired by US
President Obama’s statement[7] and former
US Ambassador to Eritrea’s preposterous
comments[8], UNHCR officials in collusion with Senior U.S. Administration officials made a concerted effort to classify
Eritrean economic migrants as political
asylum seekers and secure them legal status in Western nations. It seems as if the
squandering of very much needed financial
and human resources on futile projects and
flagrant breach of ethical standards are normal practice at the UN institution and eroding its integrity.
A few Western Nations have become increasingly concerned with the accuracy
and objectivity of the HRC initiated and
sanctioned reports and have, therefore,
conducted their own inquiries and reached
their own conclusions which are significantly at variance with the politically motivated SR and COI reports[9]. One hopes
that, as a result of their findings, these nations will revisit their policies regarding
Eritrean migrants and their diplomatic relations with Eritrea.
GOE’s demonstrable political maturity,
steadfast determination to pursue a policy
of social justice and principled, consistently
independent and forward-thinking diplo-
matic interventions have enabled the nation
to become a beacon of stability, peace and
hope in a region mired in chronic ethnicity
and religion based strife. As Eritreans, we
have demonstrated our strength and tenacity as a people and as a nation through our
tested ability to stay the course even in the
face of relentless adversity and intrigues
and determination to continue to pursue our
aspirations of a prosperous, stable and truly
democratic nation. Collectively and individually, we should be neither motivated
nor feel the obligation to adapt to and embrace an essentially unethical, plutocratic
and sociopathic international political and
socio-economic system. Furthermore, we
should not exalt duplicity, voracious greed
and callous disregard for the needs and
rights of others as virtues that we and our
future generations must emulate.
Wetru Awet N’hafash
––––
[1] John R. Bolton, Surrender is not an
Option. Threshold Editions, p. 347-348
[2] UNICEF, 2014
[3] NOKUT, 2013—Norwegian Agency
for Quality Assurance in Education
[4] WHO, 2012
[5] UNAIDS, 2015
[6] UNDP, 2014
[7] Speech at the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting, 9/26/2012
[8] Amb. Ronald K Mcmullen’s statement on 5/5/2009 (Wikileaks)
[9] UK Home Office-Country Information and Guidance- Eritrea: National Military Service, March, 2015
Eritrea Profile, Saturday 9th of may, 2015
ADS
5
6
Eritrea Profile, Saturday 9th of may, 2015
Teklehaimanot Yemane
Self-Improvement
and Self growth
By: Werede Tareke, CoE, EIT
Nowadays, there is a growing interest in self growth and self help
techniques. It seems that people are
turning themselves to find the solution to their problems. People are
beginning to understand that self
improvement and self growth can
improve the quality of their lives.
Self improvement and self growth
is an inner process, aiming for better and happier life. It is a process
of inner change, adopting a positive mindset, getting rid of negative
habits, and building new, positive
ones. The process of inner change
requires inner work. It is not enough
to read articles and books. We also
have to practice what we read. Inner change requires motivation,
desire, ambition, perseverance and
dedication. When we are starting
with a self improvement program,
it is common to encounter inner
resistance that comes from our old
habits and from our subconscious
mind, as well as resistance and opposition from the people around
us. The desire to change, build new
habits, and improve oneself must
be strong enough to resist laziness, the desire to give up, and the
fear of being ridiculed by family,
friends or colleagues.
If we find a person with a peculiar character or behavior, which
we do not appreciate, it is better to
examine ourselves closely, as impartially as possible, and find out
whether we act or behave in the
same way. If we do, think, how we
should behave in a similar situation.
In order to change to more positive way, think often about the importance and advantages of a different and positive behavior. Then,
perform mental rehearsals of the
new behavior. Act in the way we
will remember to act differently
the next time we are in a situation,
which triggers the behavior patterns that we want to change. At
the first attempt we will probably
forget to act as desired, but keep
visualizing and thinking about
the new behavior pattern, and we
will see how we gradually change.
Whenever we see people acting
which brings them positive results,
and we should try to act and behave the same. If we keep doing so,
we will soon start to see changes
in ourselves and in our life. The
advantage of this technique is that
we can use it everywhere, anytime,
without any prior preparations.
The quality of our life depends to
a large extent on the quality of our
emotional and mental status. If we
are lazy, worry too much, and afraid
to try new things, we will remain at
the same spot. If we are not afraid
to change our thinking patterns,
our life will soon change accordingly. Our habitual thought in our
subconscious mind, determines our
behavior, and the way we act and
react. When we change the way we
feel, and think about things, and the
way we react to people’s behavior
and situations, then our actions
and behavior change accordingly.
These changes in us create changes
in our external self.
If we are the worrying type,
we are probably afraid to change.
Meaning that we prefer to stick
to our past life style that we knew
well. We see other people improving their life and achieving success, but we do not follow their
steps, though we might wish to. If
we do nothing, we will be static.
It might never occur to us that we
can visualize a different, improved
reality. In this situation, our thinking pattern, our mindset, limits us.
We constantly see in our mind’s
eye the same day-to-day reality,
and consequently, our conscious
and subconscious minds keep being programmed to see and expect
the same reality every day, and
to create, attract and experience
the same kind of experiences and
activities. The inner changes in
us, will gradually affect our outer
self. Our behavior, and the way
we act will change. We will have
more energy, ambition and inner
strength. We will get over our fear
of change, and be ready to take
action to change and improve our
life, in accordance with the changes happening within us. Sometimes
things happen in such a way that
we could label them as miracles,
but most of the time things happen
in a more natural and gradual way.
Inner changes will start to manifest, and will lead to outer change.
Doors will open, people will help,
circumstances and situations will
change, and new constructive
ideas will come up, all of which
will bring the desired changes and
improvements.
Do we sometimes hear ourselves
or other people say: “I have tried
positive thinking, and I have repeated affirmations, I have meditated and yet nothing happened”?
The fact is that few people use selfimprovement or positive thinking
techniques correctly, and fewer
still do so earnestly and wholeheartedly. We may start enthusiastically making affirmations for
a few days, waiting for miracles,
yet nothing spectacular happens.
This makes us lose our enthusiasm
and any confidence we had, and we
disappointedly stop affirming. We
may start visualizing something
we want to accomplish or get, but
when after a few days the object
of our desire does not drop on our
head from the sky, we lose our faith
and stop visualizing. Self-improvement and positive thinking methods work and bring results, but
only if they are used correctly. We
cannot build a building, a bridge
or an airplane, without the proper
knowledge, training and preparation, and following instructions
and rules. Self-improvement and
positive thinking methods should
be approached in the same manner. We need to know how to use
these techniques. It is not enough
to say for a few moments, “we are
achieving our goal, we are happy,
we have money”, and then revert to
negative thinking and worrying.
There is no magic in repeating a
few words for a few moments. How
can we logically expect to accomplish anything by visualizing, and
at the same time worrying and having doubts about our ability to get
what we are visualizing? How can
we possibly get any positive results
if we sit for meditation, but instead
of meditating we think about all
kinds of irrelevant matters? Selfimprovement comes only if we fully and whole-heartedly desire what
we are affirming or visualizing and
concentrate on the task. In order to
see results we have to show interest and earnestness and do our best.
Our inner vision should be strong
enough to propel us forward, no
matter how negative our current
situation is, and despite any failures we may experience. If we
think, visualize, affirm or meditate
for a few minutes, and then for the
rest of the day think negatively, we
neutralize or destroy all our positive thoughts, mental images and
affirmations. Following are among
the tips for self improvement and
growth techniques that we have
to critically read, understand and
practice them. Doing so will lead
us to improve and grow in our life.
Eritrea Profile, Saturday 9th of may, 2015
Meron Abraha
This past Saturday, in this
same column of Eritrea Profile,
I had taken the liberty of sharing with readers a story on Oral
Poetry. Published under the title
“Oral Poetry: Society’s Communal Treasure”, the article made a
modest attempt at addressing the
importance of oral poetry and featured a story where the intervention of an oral poet (through his
creative massé) resolved the confrontation between the peoples of
two villages and avoided a bloody
conflict.
That story was taken from a
paper entitled “Aspects of Traditional Wisdom: As Agents of
Conflict Resolution”, submitted
by Solomon Tsehaye for presentation at the Fourth Conference on
“Storytelling: Global Reflections
on Narrative” in May 2012.
In his paper Mr. Solomon explains how people have always
been engaged in trying to settle
conflicts with the aim of ensuring
social stability. He went on to say
that the conflicts resolved wisely
were settled for good while those
mishandled became causes of
long standing problems, resulting
in disrupted social progress.
In a culture that abhors conflicts, which are inevitable results
of social interaction, resolution in
a way that advances human development is of utmost importance.
Today’s story is from that same
paper. Although it has already
been published here a while ago,
several people (who apparently
missed it last time) insisted that
I run the story today so here it
goes:
A Woman with Two Lovers
There is a story told that there
lived a woman with two lovers at the same time. She used
to indulge them at different and
regular times, one during the daytime and the other at night. Each
of them believed that he was her
only boyfriend. One day when the
night time lover paid her an unexpected visit he found her daytime boyfriend in her house. He
was furious at him and so was
the other. They wrangled bitterly
and started fighting in an effort to
eliminate one another’s competitor. Since she loved both equally,
she did not want to lose either of
them. But she could not stop them
fighting. So she cried for help and
people gathered soon. They forcefully separated her fighting lovers
who were vowing to kill each
other.
Some sagacious people from
the crowd inquired what the problem was. Upon knowing the love
affair the woman had had with
the two men the sages wanted to
settle the fatal dispute between
the men by trying to convince either of them to leave the woman
7
Traditional Wisdom
for Conflict Resolution
to the other because it is socially
unacceptable to be the lover of a
woman who has another lover.
But none of the two was convinced. One of them said that he
cannot live without her bodysmell and the other affirmed that
it is impossible for him to survive
without kissing her. It was difficult for the inquiring men to understand why both were mysteriously glued to the same woman
while there were so many beautiful and lovable women around
them. Yet, as wise men, they had
to resolve the conflict in order
not to risk the lives of the lovers. They proposed that the lovers
divide the woman between them
with one only indulging in the upper half of her body and the other
only in the lower half and that
this should be decided by casting
lots. Both lovers and the woman
endorsed the proposal. The lovers
drew lots and each of them knew
his respective part.
As time passed the woman gave
birth. But the lover stationed at
her upper part refused to allow
her to suckle the baby because
her breasts fall under his domain.
The baby would starve and die.
The father was urgently called to
solve the crisis and save his baby
by negotiating with the man next
door, but to no avail. The adamant
refusal of the man of the upper
half compelled them to rush to the
ruler of the land hoping for a fair
judgment.
When the ruler
asked them what
their case was, the
father accused the
other man for not
letting the baby
feed on its mother’s breast. The
ruler was stunned
at hearing this and
inquired how on
earth a man can
have prohibitive
powers on the natural right of a baby
to feed on its mother’s breast. The
man from the upper
half told him the
background story
of the affair and the
agreement reached
under the arbitration of certain wise
men. Before taking any decision
the ruler preferred to consult with
the arbitrators and demanded that
they be brought to him instantly.
They appeared in front of the
ruler and were asked to elaborate on how they arbitrated the
dispute. After listening to their
explanation the ruler noted that
dividing the woman between the
two lovers was wrong. He tried to
justify his position by the problem
created after the birth of the baby.
The wise men defended their arbitration as the best settlement
they could ever think for that
particular dispute. Furthermore,
they said that had it not been for
that unique type of arbitration the
two lovers would have killed each
other. They also argued that, not
only were they alive but also reproduced by being able to have a
child.
Considering their argument,
the ruler, was inclined to believe
that the wise men’s arbitration
provided a practical resolution to
the conflict, and hoped that they
would also be able to think of a
solution to the pressing problem
of feeding the baby. He, therefore,
assigned them to arbitrate the new
dispute, too.
The men briefly took counsel
together and came back with a
solution. They proposed that the
two lovers exchange parts. The
father of the baby ascends up so
that his child shall have the right
to breast feeding, while the other
man descends down to the lower half so that he shall have the
chance to have a child in his turn.
They also concluded proposing
that the shifting from the upper to
the lower and vice-versa should
continue in such a rotational way
each time a new baby is born.
The lovers adopted this arbitration proposal as favorable to both
of them and the ruler was happy
to see the problem solved.
Mr. Solomon inserted a disclaimer for this story. He asserted
that while the story was certainly
part of the Eritrean oral traditions,
it could by no means be real.
In his own words:
“It is a product of the imagination and intellectual exercise
of wise ancestors to create stories which teach important lessons and entertain. The dividing
of the woman between the two
lovers should not imply that she
has been considered a sex object.
Nor should this be interpreted as
gender discrimination. The interconnected biological roles of a
woman as a child giver and breast
feeder were aesthetically essential
to constitute the central conflict of
the story. Thanks to her multiplicity, the nature of a woman could
provide a sharp conflict which
challenged and stimulated human
wisdom to resolve it.”
Oral traditions have such tremendous significance in revitalizing cultural legacies and bequeathing them to coming generations. These communal treasures
need to be preserved so they can
serve as sources of wisdom to
consult and learn from in today’s
age of globalization.
8
Eritrea Profile, Saturday 9th of may, 2015
Eritrea: A Beacon Of
Stability And Hope In
A Troubled Region
By Tesfay Aradom (PhD),
ON MAY 24, 1991, the indomitable forces of the EPLA liberated
the people and the land of Eritrea
from the protracted and brutal colonial rule of successive Ethiopian regimes. The feudal and later
self-proclaimed socialist Ethiopian regimes, despite their decisive numerical superiority, would
not have been able to hold their
colonial rule on Eritrea had it not
been for the continual and massive flow of sophisticated arms
and training provided by successive US administrations and
Soviet Union. Furthermore, these
nations, along with their Western
and Eastern allies, continued to
offer their client state all the necessary diplomatic cover throughout the duration of our war for
independence. In a characteristic
display of magnanimity, the EPLF
led Eritrean Government established diplomatic relations with
several nations including those
which demonstrated their determination to deprive the people of
Eritrea their inalienable right for
self-determination.
Soon after Eritrea became a de
jure independent nation in May
1993, several legal, political and
military challenges transpired
that tested the Government of
Eritrea’s (GOE) ability and determination to defend its sovereignty
and protect its territorial integrity.
Faced with such events the GOE
consistently adopted a constructive conflict resolution approach:
to forego violence and resolve
issues through negotiations, arbitration or adjudication. However,
motivated by a sinister political
agenda, several actors opted to
unnecessarily prolong the conflicts and causing enormous human and material challenges on
this nascent nation. Needless to
say, such intrigues have also contributed significantly to the instability and volatility that prevails
in the Horn of Africa today.
The first legal and territorial
challenge to the nation occurred
in December of 1995 when Yemeni troops occupied, by force,
Eritrean land in the Hanish Archipelago. This illegal action led to
further military confrontation as
Eritrea was forced to defend its
sovereignty. Eventually, despite
its reservations, Eritrea acquiesced
to the 1998 Permanent Court of
Arbitration (PCA) ruling. It is important to note that this situation
transpired only six years after its
de facto independence in the aftermath of a protracted and costly,
both in human and material terms,
war for independence. The timing
of this provocation could not have
been more inauspicious since the
nation had just begun implementing a much needed massive national reconstruction program.
A year before the resolution
of the Eritrean-Yemeni conflict,
the Ethiopian Government under the leadership of its deceased
prime minister, was involved in
insidiously provocative illegal
actions both in the western and
south-eastern part of the nation.
They, among many, included the
dismantling of the administrative structures of the Eritrean
Government in the sub-region of
Adi-Murug, removal of border
markers implanted by the Italian colonists, encroachment on
Eritrean villages and issuance of
an illegal Ethiopian map which
included large swaths of Eritrean
territory.
Emboldened by external forces,
the Ethiopian regime launched
three unprovoked military offensives between May of 1998
and May of 2000. In December
of 2000, the two nations signed a
comprehensive peace agreement
(CPA) in Algiers, Algeria. The AU
(African Union); the EU (European Union); the UN (the United
Nations) and the USA witnessed
the event as guarantors. This was
followed by the establishment of
the EEBC (The Eritrean-Ethiopian Border Commission) in collaboration with the PCA (Permanent Court of Arbitration) in The
Hague.
It is noteworthy that article
three of the CPA calls on the AU
to carry out an investigation by an
independent and impartial body
to determine the genesis of the
conflict. This body was to be appointed by the Secretary General
of the OAU (currently the AU) in
consultation with the Secretary
General of the United Nations.
To this day, the AU has failed to
shoulder its responsibility and
produce a report. In April of 2002,
the Border Commission rendered
it’s previously agreed upon final
and binding verdict and awarded
Badme, the casus belli of the conflict, to Eritrea. Although the Ethiopian Government professes to
have accepted the EEBC decision
“in principle”, it refuses to allow
the demarcation of the border and
continues to illegally occupy sovereign Eritrean territory including
Badme and its environs. In their
characteristic desire to appease
Ethiopia and thereby promote the
economic and political regional
strategy of the US, several high
ranking US officials attempted
but failed to introduce alternative
“solutions” in blatant violation of
Eritrea’s territorial integrity and
national sovereignty[1].
In their relentless effort to diplomatically isolate Eritrea for its
independent and constructive
regional policy and unwavering
adherence to a principle of social
justice at home, the now deceased
prime minister of the minority
government in Ethiopia as a principal architect, in collusion with
and senior US administration officials, hatched plans to wreak havoc in the country and bring about
regime change. As a result, the
prime minister became the principal architect was not reticent in
his claim that he was instrumental
in the imposition of two illegal,
unjust and punitive sanctions on
Eritrea: (UNSC 1907) in 2009
and (UNSC, 2023) in 2011. The
“evidence” for the sanctions such
as links to Al-Shabab, providing
to support to Ethiopian opposition groups, the recovery and rehabilitation tax (RRT) and the
Eritrean-Djiboutian
“conflict”
was provided mainly by Ethiopia,
disgruntled Eritrean individuals and forces bent on destroying
Eritrea. With regards to the latter conflict for instance, the US
administration, consistent with
its past pattern of behavior, was
quick to denounce Eritrea as the
guilty party. However, in June of
2010, the Presidents of Eritrea and
Djibouti signed a comprehensive
agreement mandating the Emir of
Qatar to facilitate the resolution
of all outstanding issues between
the two countries. Eritrea remains
fully committed to the agreement
and processes thereof.
It is an open secret that these
conspiracies were aimed at holding Eritrea hostage, sow dissension among its population and
seriously compromise its national
integrity. However, the GOE, undaunted by such desperate intentions, continues to make impressive strides with regard to social
justice as well as the political
and economic conditions of the
nation. Young children and the
youth have access to free educational opportunities at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels.
The adult literacy rate in Eritrea,
which stands at 80%, is higher
than those in Ethiopia; South Sudan; the Sudan and Djibouti [2].
Currently, at least 18 thousand
Eritrean youth are receiving tertiary level education in Colleges
spread over several regions of
the country [3]. Needless to say,
this will be a remarkable boost
to the nation’s human resource
potential. Life expectancy in Eritrea is 66 years compared to 36
in 1991, and an average of 54 for
the entire African continent [4].
The rate of HIV/AIDS at 0.6% is
the lowest in Tropical Africa [5].
With regards to the Millennium
Development Goals ( MDGs), the
country achieved Gender Equal-
ity, Reduction of Child Mortality
(MDG4), Improvement of Maternal Health (MDG5), Combating
HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other
diseases (MDG6) before the target date and has been on track to
achieve goals 2, 6 and 7[6].
In its June 2014 report the
SEMG (Somali-Eritrea Monitoring Group) stated that there is
no credible evidence that links
Eritrea to Al-Shabab. However,
Eritrea’s historical enemies are
leaving no stone unturned to
prevent the lifting of the illegal
sanctions. Hence, they concocted
of a ludicrous plan to accuse the
GOE of unfounded human rights
violations. Notwithstanding the
fact that the GOE was actively
involved in the UPR (Universal
Periodic Review), which the it
considers a valid mechanism in
enhancing constructive dialogue
and cooperation among member
states, the Human Rights Council proceeded to appoint Sheila
Keetharuth as a special rapporteur
(SR), in October of 2012. Despite the fact that her reports were
based on outlandish accusations
by disgruntled and discredited
former officials bent on demonizing the GOE, economic migrants
who were primarily motivated to
seek political asylum in various
Western nations, and elements of
dubious Eritrean nationality, the
Council decided in June of 2014
to escalate its abuse and established an International Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights
(COI). Adding insult to injury, the
continued on page 5