Virtual Eritrea

Now I`m back home and try to answer all the questions about Eritrea coming from my colleges, students and friends. I tell them a lot of facts and they are impressed that we learned so much in that short time.
 
But I realize that I know nothing. I´m just in the beginning to learn about Eritrea and the surrounding countries. My eyes are opened and my radar searches for more knowledge.

My strongest memory is the Eritrean people, their kindness to us, their way to see each other. All the people we saw sitting in the dark evenings by the fire drinking tea. It must be a better way of living compared to sitting alone watching the TV as so many of us do.
 
The steppe landscape with it´s endless horizon was also very impressing. The views in the bright sun made me feel exhilarated.

Kerstin Kolback
 

 

Back again in Sweden. It feels like we have been away for a long time and I think we all had difficulties to adjust to the daily life at home and at school. We were exhausted and not that well coming home and it took some weeks to recover.

With so many pictures and impressions turning around in our minds, it was a shock to come back to the coldness and darkness of the Swedish fall.

We have decided to write down some of our thoughts, memories and also some questions that we would like you to discuss and send your opinions on:

Thinking about Eritrea I see the people, so friendly shaking hands, laughing
and at the same time very concerned about each other (and us ). They were so proud and strong, always prepared to work hard for their country, building roads, terraces on the mountains, planting tree. The pupils in school
sitting all day quite and working hard and trying to do their best, understanding that education isn’t any self-evident advantage.

Before we came to Eritrea I had the picture of a poor country in the third world with poor maybe starving people in shabby clothes, dirt and chaos. We didn’t see much of that.

It was clean end very well-organized in the towns. The people didn’t have much but were always clean and well-dressed. Here in the western countries we have everything but are we happy ?

The people in Eritrea were rich in an other way, happy for their freedom, together in a strong communion.

It makes me think about what is valuable in our lives.

Some questions:

· What is the most important  and valuable things in your life?
· Why are there so many students who are not their doing        best in their  studies in the western world ?
· What can we do to make it better ?

Eritrea is trying to go it´s own way in developing the country. They have refused to be dependent on world-bank loans. So far it seems to be a successful way.

But now we heard that they are throwing out all NGO:s (non-government organizations)  as they do not want to be dependent on them. The Norwegian woman we met in Asmara who was working with eye-clinics, told us that they will not manage to take over all the aid-projects. This means that people in Eritrea will suffer.

Another problem is democracy. Now there is only one party allowed. The government is saying that they are going to have democracy in the future but now the country isn’t ready for it.  Of course it is difficult to have elections when 80% of the people can’t read and write.

But on the other hand there is always a risk that you will get corruption and an elite that will get themselves a lot of favors without democracy.

· What way is the best to develop the country ?
· How are they going to make the country democratic ?
· Is our democratic system always the best for the countries in the third
  world ?

Mats Jonsson
 

 

Our students are also going to write but so far they have been very busy trying to catch up with what they have missed in school during our journey.

Please send us your opinion, other questions or thoughts!
 
Here are some answers to questions from Rosmarie Grier:

At 01:50 1997-10-27 -0400, you wrote:
Hi Mats, Kerstin, Ida, Maria, David, and Fredrik,
 
I just finished reading through your 20 reports from Eritrea.  What a
wonderful opportunity.  You did an excellent job.  The pictures were
fabulous.  I have a few questions that I would like to ask you and may have more later.  I tried to read through the sections of your website
where you answered questions so as not to repeat any.

1) Who basically was responsible for you while you were in Eritrea? Who guaranteed your safety?

1 We, the teachers were responsible for our selves and our students. No one guarantied our safety. We talked to many people before we left Sweden and they all said that it was more safe to go out in Asmara then in Gothenburg so we felt quite safe. The things we were worried about was illness.

2) Do the schools have any religious affiliations?  Are they strictly non-religious government run schools?  Are the students allowed days off for their religious beliefs?

2 The ordinary schools don't teach religion, but there are Muslim schools and Christian missionary schools as well. In Keren high school, our friend school, the Muslim students were allowed to go earlier in Fridays to be able to go to the mosque.
 

3) Since the students are taught in English from grade six - at what age do they learn English?  Do they speak English fluently?  Do they speak English at home?

3 Now they start to learn English in grade two, but earlier they started in grade four.
The students skills in English differ very much. Some students speak fluently, but in the same class others didn't want to speak at all. If there are 60 students in a class and the lesson is 40 minutes- what time is there for the students to speak English?

4) The students work very hard so as to be able to advance to higher  education.  I don't think the students in our country (USA), and perhaps elsewhere, appreciate the gift they have of a free education. Maybe they would work harder if advancing to the next level depended on their grades.  Do you have any thoughts on that?

4 We think that the main reasons for Eritrean students to work hard is that they regard school as the way to a better life. The war has made it
impossible to study for such a long time. The Eritrean nation is young and everyone we spoke to was convinced that education was a very important task.

This hope and prudence is probably a more important motivation then the demands for advancing to the next grade.
The biggest problem in higher education was that the girls finished school before grade eleven.
 
5) Could you tell me more about the bao bao tree?  Any special religious group associated with it?  Are there any physical religious boundaries within the towns/cities?

5 The bao bao tree was very old and it was possible to go inside it and meet the statue of virgin Mary. It is regarded as sacred of all Christian groups.
We are not sure if the different religious groups lived in different places, but to some extent it seemed likely.
 

6) When traveling - were the breaks you took in the middle of nowhere or near places to eat?  You mentioned "out in the middle of nowhere were tiny tents with warm coca cola."

6 Mostly we had our brakes in towns but we thought it was strange that we could get a coke everywhere, coca cola transported by mules or camels where no roads existed.

7) What is (are) "crisps?"  You ate it (them) at the camp before leaving Sweden.

7 Tiny potato slices dried and boiled in oil.
 

8) Did you develop your own pictures?  Were they developed in Eritrea
        or in Sweden?  They were great.

8 The pictures on our home page where taken by a digital camera. You just plug in the camera in the computer and you can see the pictures at once.
 
 

http://www.school.alingsas.se/nolhaga/eritrea.htm

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Please write to us and tell us your thoughts about Eritrea, our project.....
mats.jonsson@skola.alingsas.se

 
 
 

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