Virtual Eritrea

We had a long, warm and exciting night on the beach. The evening swim was a spectacle with St Elms Fire in the water and six happy Swedish tourist dancing around in the dark waves singing folk songs.

When it was time to sleep we saw glimmering eyes along the beach and heard screams. We got a little bit nervous until we understood that it was just normal cats. We slept on grass mats and it was tuff for our backs. In the middle of the night Fredrik woke up, the goat had came back and tried to eat his toes. It was impossible to chase the goat away and finally he fell asleep beside Maria.

The night never was totally black since there were so many stars, much more and different from home, and the moon was shining. About six in the morning the sun rose, and it roused so quickly that you could follow it by the eye.
After breakfast the boat went to another corral reeve and here there were even more fishes, thousands  in all colors and patterns that you could imagine. We also saw a turtle swimming near the sand bottom.
 
Back in Massawa the heat caught us again and forced us in to the air conditioned hotel. In the evening we had a really meal at Asmara restaurant and suddenly a man from another table came to us and sad "Välkommen till Massawa" in Swedish. He was from Massawa but had lived for eight years in Gothenburg. He helped us to book a cheaper hotel room in Asmara and he also promised to take us to a place with live traditional music on Saturday evening!

When we strolled back to the hotel in the hot night we suddenly heard "Mr. Mats?". There were to representatives from the Eritrean youth organization that Mats had tried to contact earlier. We had a long chat and they told us a lot of what they were doing. Here come some examples: The youth organization is important in Eritrea since the population is very young and it therefor is supported by the state. In Massawa they have one club for general  knowledge that arrange competitions in different subjects.

They also have a video club. Most people in Eritrea doesn't have TV at home and the Eritrean TV-programs are quite limited so this club is very popular.

The leaders in the club advertise in some places in the schools and in the city and it often comes up to 300 young people to see the programs in a small TV-set. Sometimes they show ordinary American adventure- or love films and sometimes they have educational films about for example AIDS or birth control.

They also copy the afternoon news from CNN and show in the evening.

The organization also arrange sport events. In Massawa, that is very hot and close to the sea, they have training and competitions in swimming, paddle boat and canoeing.

But of course the big interest is football. In the ages from 8 - 14  they have 32 teams.

Another activity is to organize courses in metal work or wood work. If you join a course you will have the opportunity to practice in a work shop and the purpose s to get new jobs.

Red Cross education is also a possibility. The young that have got this education work with first aid in schools and rural districts.
Finally they mentioned scouting. The scouts help families that have lost their father in the liberation movement, "fighters families". They can help by work or by raising money for them.

As you can see this is a very ambitious program and the aim is to build Eritrea to a better country.

All was to be sent yesterday but when we were ready we made a mistake and the computer deleted all the texts.

Answers to Nils Johansson:
What swedish songs did you sing for the congregation?
 

We sang two Swedish psalms "En vänlig grönskas rika dräkt" and "Blott en dag ett ögonblick isänder"

What is the food called "injera"?

Injera is a giant pancake of teff, sorghum or durrha. The mixture of grain and water is fermented for some days so it is very sour and has a spongy consistence. It is common to share the same food with your friends by the table and you eat with your right hand. In the middle of the injera there is zigni, a stew. Mostly we had capretto, goat stew, and the bones can be very sharp.

What sort of music is most up to date in Eritrea?

The music we hear at restaurants an in buses is Eritrean pop music, but when we ask young people they prefer the same popular groups as in the rest of the world.

Can you buy some typical music for Eritrea?

We hope we will have time to do that but we have not succeeded yet.

Here are some more answers to our friends at St. George Grammar school in Capetown, South Africa:

Miraaj Isaacs

What sports do they play in Eritrea ?

Football is the most popular sport. The town Keren in Eritrea sent a team to a big foot ball cup in Sweden, Gothia cup, and they won their class.
They also play basket and we have seen bicycle-races and lots of Eritreans training on the roads.

Do they have lions in Eritrea ?

Yes, there are some lions left but many wild animals were killed or frightened away during the war.

Are the deserts very sandy in Eritrea ?

No, there are more mountains and rocks.

John Logue

Do people have any special holidays and celebrations ?

The 24th of May is the Freedom day, 1st of September they celebrate the day of the big struggle.
All the nine different cultures and religions have their own celebrations.

The day we arrived they celebrated Meskel, an orthodox ceremony. But we missed that as we where stuck in the custom.

Describe the climate in Eritrea.
On the highland the climate is temperate and cooler in the winter months.
On the lowlands and in the deserts it is very hot and dry.
In the region near the coast it is very hot and humid with monsoon  rain.

Wylde Ryder

What is the national animal ?

We donut know if they have a national animal but they use the camel as a symbol. The reason for this is that the camels were very important during the war, transporting weapons and food for the fighters. They still use lots of camels for transports.

James Walkman

Are there any villages in the desert ?

Yes, the Afar-people live in the Dankalia desert.

Steven Mc Glynn

Is most of the land arid or fertile ?

The country is arid but with irrigation it could be more fertile. We have seen some experimental farms using irrigation.

Dale

Are the cities fairly large compare to other countries overseas like London and others?

No, they're not. The biggest city is Asmara with a population of 400 000 persons.

Sumaya Mall

Why was the war Eritrea fought against Ethiopia called a civil war when a civil war is usually fought within the country?

In Eritrea they say "the war with Ethiopia" but it in fact Eritrea were in federation with Ethiopia when the war started.

Are landmines a problem in Eritrea?

Yes, its still a problem. Their are lots of information missing about where Ethiopia did put land mines.
The Eritreans we have spoken to in Keren says that you shouldn't go in the mountains without first consulting an Eritrean about where to go and where not to go. It can also be dangerous to walk in the riverbeds after the rain period because the Ethiopians placed lots of land mines there as the riverbeds were used as roads by the Eritrean fighters and the water flood can move land mines to "safe" areas.

What are the laws regarding female circumcision ?

As far as we know there are no laws but the government and the youth organization NUEY are working active against it and have made propaganda campaigns.

Nikki

The crime here is very bad, how is it over there?

The people I've spoke with have told me there is no crime and it seem to be right. You donut have to worry about going all by your self on the streets in the middle of the night but we have been warned to avoid the market place in Asmara in the  night. Probably no one would do anything but  there lives a lot of poor people and there might be some drunk people if its late.

Is there beautiful scenery and long stretches of beaches that you can sit on and waste the day away ?

Yes, as you have red in the reports it is a very beautiful country and outside Massawa there are beautiful beaches with a growing tourism.

Ebrahim Ally

How do the refugees react when they come back to their country that have been fighting for so long and what are there reasons for coming back?"

How they react I donut know and the most of the refugees don't or can't come back. Sudan which has most of refugees has closed their border. Some have been staying in another country so long, many got a work a family and a place to live. If they would go back to Eritrea they may not get a job.

Actually I met an Eritrean women that had escaped to Sweden during the war today. She said that she had been in Eritrea for seven months looking for a job while her children were home in Sweden. She would stay for seven months but if she couldn’t find a job until then she would go back to Sweden.

What is the population?

Their is no exact number so far. The government have tried to count the population but there is no exact information. They think it’s about 2.5 million people living in Eritrea.

What is one of the most profitable exports of Eritrea?

So far I just know fish and salt. In Keren we met an American who worked for a multinational gold company. He spent the days in the mountains looking for gold. He had found gold but he didn’t tell us how much and when we went to and from Barentu we saw some strange cars digging in the sand, possibly for minerals or oil but it could have been something else. We never asked.

 
 

What type of climate do they get there, and when do they have summer and winter?

The climate is a little bit different where in Eritrea you are staying. In the capital, Asmara it's about 30 degrees °C in the days and in the evenings it gets a lot cooler and you can sleep very well. In other cities like Barentu and Massawa it's more hot. Like 45-50 degrees °C during the days and about 30 degrees °C at night.
 

Greetings from Mats, Kerstin, Ida, Maria, Fredrik and David