Eritrea: Two Tales of Unparalleled Valor and Determination
Sophia Tesfamariam
July 29, 2007
I just returned from yet another enchanting and memorable trip to Eritrea…leaving grudgingly and promising to return… next time for a longer stay.
From Asmara, Eritrea’s captivating capital to villages and towns across Eritrea, I traveled by road and also by sea, to various towns and villages in Eritrea, including Agordat, Barentu, Dekamere, Elabered, Hagaz, Keren, Massawa, Sawa and my favorite- Assab- where I spent a week marveling in the splendor of Eritrea’s port city. My itinerary was purposefully designed to make the best use of my short time in the region, to visit as many development sites as possible, interact with the local population, visit old friends and make new ones along the way.
There is much to write about and it will take more than one sitting…the Southern Red Sea Zone is the topic for today.
Allow me to begin with a brief introduction of this economically and politically strategic Eritrean region, the Southern Red Sea Zone (SRSZ), in which Assab is located. On the lower portion of the Red Sea and boasting a 300 kilometers long virgin coastline and 36 islands... it has all the makings of a premiere tourist hideaway.
Of the 23,384 square kilometers, the coastal lowlands make up 49%, and 44% is mountainous, with about 7% covered in distinctive black volcanic rock, which adds to the dramatic and magnificent landscape along the Massawa-Assab road. The Southern Red Sea Zone with a population of about 63,168 (2006 census) encompasses 72 villages and 133 satellite villages, all under 31 Administrative centers. The population is 85% nomadic and 15% rely on light trades and fishing.
The Southern Red Sea Zone’s topography is very rich and varied, with sparkling white sandy beaches, reefs, rocky seashores, cliffs, and mountains. This topography supports a wide variety of wildlife, including various species of mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, and numerous species of insects.
All kinds of marine life can be found in both the Northern and Southern Red Sea zones, including coral reefs, tropical fish, shellfish, algae, sea stars, sea cucumbers, sea lilies and sea urchins and many more, all flourish in these waters and are visible to the naked eye…imagine what a pair of goggles could find.
The Red Sea is home to more than 1,000 species of fish, including tuna, red snapper, kingfish, sardines and other prime food fish, and over 220 species of coral. There are also large stocks of high-value species, such as lobster, crab, oyster, and shrimp. The lobsters in Assab are the biggest I have seen to date… If you are not into swimming, scuba diving, snorkeling, boating or fishing, the wide open spaces, low rural density, and no pollution, coupled with its blue skies during the day and its glittering starry skies at night make it a perfect place for just relaxing.
The last time I traveled to Assab in the spring of 2003, the newly built Massawa-Assab road, which ran alongside the Red Sea shore, was just completed, making it possible for me to travel by road and enjoy the spectacular scenery and virgin coastline, to dip my feet in, watch the colorful fish swimming close to shore, and take hundreds of pictures. Herds of camels, ostriches, antelopes and a variety of birds add to the scenery, which is breathtaking with the blue and green water in the background.
This trip to Assab gave me the rare opportunity to visit the various new and old towns along the Massawa-Assab route and visit the many development projects underway in places such as Gelalo, Edi and Tio. In addition to the Massawa-Assab highway, several secondary and feeder roads are being constructed connecting the various coastal towns and villages to each other. Several other development projects, including new ports, refrigeration and storage facilities etc. at an estimated cost of 278 million Nakfa, are currently underway and these are designed to enhance Eritrea’s budding fishery and tourism industries.
It was dark by the time I arrived in Assab. As we got closer the dense doum palms (in Eritrea, its fruit is known as Akat) made the nightfall seem darker than it really was.
In 2003, I had visited the newly inaugurated referral hospital while it was still under construction. It was being built by a unit of the Eritrean Defense Forces (EDF) under Eritrea’s newly launched Warsai Yikaalo Program for Development, and I wanted to see what had been accomplished by Eritrea’s youth since. They told me that when I next returned to Assab, the hospital would be completed…it was.
The next day, in the early evening hours, after spending the day touring other sites in Assab, I headed for the hospital. As we drove towards the hospital, seeing the majestic structure in the distance left me teary eyed… I was totally blown away. What a sight, I had to catch my breath; it was not what I expected to see. It was fabulous and so big! I had no idea in 2003 that the EDF members had it in them to build such an architectural marvel. I could not have ever imagined this spectacular outcome …
I was excited, surprised and everything else one can feel when given a once in a lifetime opportunity to witness history in the making, once in a lifetime chance to witness nation building from scratch, once in a lifetime chance to witness the enormous, selfless, contributions the youth in Eritrea are making to the development of Eritrea.I felt blessed. I was proud beyond words…wow!
Dhtum Referral Hospital, the 200-bed facility, complete with a blood bank, conference and meeting halls, an emergency services ward, medical offices, pharmacy, pediatric and maternity wards, radiology ward and on site laboratory and more is housed on an expansive 32 hectares of immaculately manicured, fenced-in property, adjacent to the vast Red Sea coastline. The magnificent structure was built without the use of any external “technical experts” or “advisors”, or external aid. This was a 100% Eritrean affair, from beginning to end.
As I walked through the massive facility with the architects, engineers and those who were behind the designing and planning of the facility, through the many corridors and intricately designed outer walls, my mind went back to 2003 and I remembered walking through the very same areas and the many young Eritreans I met and talked to.
I remembered their determination, enthusiasm, passion, and most of all, their confidence. I remembered the noise, the taping of hammers and the roar of the drills. I remember looking out of an empty windowsill and seeing the calming sea and imagining what it would be like when it was all finished. I especially loved the way they interacted with each other. The various nationalities-the Afar, Bilen, Hidareb, Kunama, Nara, Rashaida, Saho, Tigre and Tigrinya, all with varying degrees of professional skills, backgrounds etc. who together brought the qualities needed to work on a national project of such great importance and magnitude.
I wanted to see them again, but alas, most of them had moved on, off to other projects. With hands on training in carpentry, electrical and mechanical engineering, design and production, masonry and other construction skills, these young men and women, armed with their new expertise and experiences, were off to perform other miracles in other parts of Eritrea.
The Warsai Yikaalo Program is producing noticeable, measurable results in the lives of the daily lives of the majority of the Eritrean people who now have access to healthcare, education and more. The youth in Eritrea are contributing to Eritrea’s accelerated development, and are at the same time honing new skills, acquiring lifetime experiences, and providing many generations worth of services to their country and people. Eritrea’s
Warsai Yikaalo Program for national development enhances:
Character: Eritrea’s youth have acquired a great sense of responsibility and accountability and now have the ability to look beyond the present and put national needs and interests ahead of their own personal needs.
Confidence: Eritrea’s youth have developed a greater sense of self-worth; have won the admiration and respect of their fellow Eritreans in Eritrea and in the Diaspora.
Connection: Eritrea’s youth, who are working side by side with their fellow Eritreans from the various ethnic groups have developed a positive sense of belonging no matter where Warsai Yikaalo takes them. Eritrea’s unity is further solidified.
Competence: Eritrean youth are mastering sound educational and vocational skills. With each project, they are exposed to machinery, industry specific tools and equipment, and have the distinct advantage of acquiring a variety of skills which they can develop and use in their future.
Contribution: Theirs is a contribution of a lifetime; Warsai Yikaalo is history in the making, and its contribution to Eritrea’s development is immeasurable.
So where did the name “Dhtum” come from? I set out to find out. It is the name of a place, midway on the road that runs from Assab to Bure near the border with Ethiopia, and that it had its own story of Determination, Heroism, Triumph, Unity and Magnanimity.
On 24 May 2000, the Eritrean army pulled its forces back nearly 30km in order to help push a peace plan put forward by the Organization of African Unity (OAU). The proposal called on the parties to re-deploy their forces to the pre-1998 positions. Eritrea withdraw from all disputed border territories and more. In order to deny the minority regime any more pretexts for continuing with the war, Eritrea also agreed to withdraw its forces from the Eastern front, the Bure front.
Taking advantage of Eritrea’s troop deployment and rearrangement, which was verified by diplomats and journalists who were flown to the area, the deceptive minority regime in Addis, desperate for a “win” in its ill-advised 2-year war of aggression and expansion against Eritrea, and believing that it now had a good chance to capture the port city of Assab, made its last and most deadliest miscalculation to date. Eritrea voluntarily withdrew to give peace a chance, and the regime in Ethiopia mistook that for weakness. It paid dearly.
On 3 June 2000, deploying two divisions, Ethiopia opened a fresh ground attack. The fighting was underway deep inside Eritrean territory, 40 kilometers from the port, along a line to where Eritrean forces had withdrawn at the request of peace mediators. By the end of the day, Eritrean forces had foiled the Ethiopian attack, destroying Ethiopia's 38th division and killing, wounding or capturing 3,755 Ethiopia troops. A few days later, on 8 June 2000, Ethiopia launched another attack on the Assab front. The attack involved three divisions or more than 20,000 troops. Eritrean forces decisively foiled that offensive which left 4125 Ethiopian soldiers dead (actual body count), and 7110 wounded. 7 Ethiopian tanks were also destroyed.
On 14 June 2000, just as Meles Zenawi was reluctantly agreeing to sign the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, his Deputy Foreign Minister, Tekeda Alemu, was in Washington, telling a crowd of Ethiopians, “You will soon hear good news. Ethiopia will have its own port; we will take Assab within a few days”. There was no such good news…For the regime, its adventures into sovereign Eritrean territories proved to be disastrous and a foolhardy pipedream, not to mention a diplomatic and political embarrassment. On 18 June 2000, the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement between the Eritrea and Ethiopia was signed.
I visited Dhtum and the surrounding areas in March 2003 and saw the trenches which were constructed on both sides of the lone highway that led to Point 71 and the Bure front (at border with Ethiopia). The entire area is covered with black stones that seem to spike menacingly from the ground, and there were no natural defenses such as high grounds or anything. It was very open and the trenches didn’t seem to be more than 200 meters apart. I heard lots of stories of valor and sacrifice from those who were there.
During my last visit in 2003, the bodies of some Ethiopian soldiers were still there, in the trenches, behind the trenches, everywhere…lying where they fell. The Ethiopian regime had refused to accept them as its own, and they lay there, under Assab’s scorching heat, until they were repatriated on July 2003 with the help of the United Nation’s Mission to Eritrea and Ethiopia (UNMEE) and the Red Cross. At that time, UNMEE reported the repatriation of 164 bodies to Ethiopia.
At Dhtum, Eritrea’s finest sons and daughters, veteran fighters and new recruits, gallantly defended the nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and decimated Meles Zenawi’s invading forces. The newly built referral hospital is named in memory of all those who gave their lives in defense of Eritrea in Dhtum. For this and future generation of Eritreans, Dhtum will serve as an example of one of the many accomplishments by Eritrea’s young men and women across the country, who are making their own marks in Eritrea’s proud history of commitment, hard work, sacrifice and self reliance.
Much of what is written about Eritrea’s most coveted and strategic port city has come from outsiders who have repeatedly and deliberately misrepresented the facts surrounding Assab’s economic viability. Some of those who propound to write so much about Assab have never even visited the city, and some do not even know where it is located. From what I have been able to see, Assab’s future looks bright. Its economic potentials in fisheries and tourism are virtually untapped, and I have no doubt that it will become an important economic hub for the region in the near future. Assab’s strategic, economic and political, importance cannot be undermined by self serving Ethiophyles, and will not be defined in terms of Ethiopia’s usage or not.
Congratulations to Eritrea’s Defense Forces, who are not only defending the nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, but who are also in the forefront of Eritrea’s economic, social and political development.
More on other development projects in the Southern Red Sea Zone and my latest tour in Eritrea coming soon…
From Asmara, Eritrea’s captivating capital to villages and towns across Eritrea, I traveled by road and also by sea, to various towns and villages in Eritrea, including Agordat, Barentu, Dekamere, Elabered, Hagaz, Keren, Massawa, Sawa and my favorite- Assab- where I spent a week marveling in the splendor of Eritrea’s port city. My itinerary was purposefully designed to make the best use of my short time in the region, to visit as many development sites as possible, interact with the local population, visit old friends and make new ones along the way.
There is much to write about and it will take more than one sitting…the Southern Red Sea Zone is the topic for today.
Allow me to begin with a brief introduction of this economically and politically strategic Eritrean region, the Southern Red Sea Zone (SRSZ), in which Assab is located. On the lower portion of the Red Sea and boasting a 300 kilometers long virgin coastline and 36 islands... it has all the makings of a premiere tourist hideaway.
Of the 23,384 square kilometers, the coastal lowlands make up 49%, and 44% is mountainous, with about 7% covered in distinctive black volcanic rock, which adds to the dramatic and magnificent landscape along the Massawa-Assab road. The Southern Red Sea Zone with a population of about 63,168 (2006 census) encompasses 72 villages and 133 satellite villages, all under 31 Administrative centers. The population is 85% nomadic and 15% rely on light trades and fishing.
The Southern Red Sea Zone’s topography is very rich and varied, with sparkling white sandy beaches, reefs, rocky seashores, cliffs, and mountains. This topography supports a wide variety of wildlife, including various species of mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, and numerous species of insects.
All kinds of marine life can be found in both the Northern and Southern Red Sea zones, including coral reefs, tropical fish, shellfish, algae, sea stars, sea cucumbers, sea lilies and sea urchins and many more, all flourish in these waters and are visible to the naked eye…imagine what a pair of goggles could find.
The Red Sea is home to more than 1,000 species of fish, including tuna, red snapper, kingfish, sardines and other prime food fish, and over 220 species of coral. There are also large stocks of high-value species, such as lobster, crab, oyster, and shrimp. The lobsters in Assab are the biggest I have seen to date… If you are not into swimming, scuba diving, snorkeling, boating or fishing, the wide open spaces, low rural density, and no pollution, coupled with its blue skies during the day and its glittering starry skies at night make it a perfect place for just relaxing.
The last time I traveled to Assab in the spring of 2003, the newly built Massawa-Assab road, which ran alongside the Red Sea shore, was just completed, making it possible for me to travel by road and enjoy the spectacular scenery and virgin coastline, to dip my feet in, watch the colorful fish swimming close to shore, and take hundreds of pictures. Herds of camels, ostriches, antelopes and a variety of birds add to the scenery, which is breathtaking with the blue and green water in the background.
This trip to Assab gave me the rare opportunity to visit the various new and old towns along the Massawa-Assab route and visit the many development projects underway in places such as Gelalo, Edi and Tio. In addition to the Massawa-Assab highway, several secondary and feeder roads are being constructed connecting the various coastal towns and villages to each other. Several other development projects, including new ports, refrigeration and storage facilities etc. at an estimated cost of 278 million Nakfa, are currently underway and these are designed to enhance Eritrea’s budding fishery and tourism industries.
It was dark by the time I arrived in Assab. As we got closer the dense doum palms (in Eritrea, its fruit is known as Akat) made the nightfall seem darker than it really was.
In 2003, I had visited the newly inaugurated referral hospital while it was still under construction. It was being built by a unit of the Eritrean Defense Forces (EDF) under Eritrea’s newly launched Warsai Yikaalo Program for Development, and I wanted to see what had been accomplished by Eritrea’s youth since. They told me that when I next returned to Assab, the hospital would be completed…it was.
The next day, in the early evening hours, after spending the day touring other sites in Assab, I headed for the hospital. As we drove towards the hospital, seeing the majestic structure in the distance left me teary eyed… I was totally blown away. What a sight, I had to catch my breath; it was not what I expected to see. It was fabulous and so big! I had no idea in 2003 that the EDF members had it in them to build such an architectural marvel. I could not have ever imagined this spectacular outcome …
I was excited, surprised and everything else one can feel when given a once in a lifetime opportunity to witness history in the making, once in a lifetime chance to witness nation building from scratch, once in a lifetime chance to witness the enormous, selfless, contributions the youth in Eritrea are making to the development of Eritrea.I felt blessed. I was proud beyond words…wow!
Dhtum Referral Hospital, the 200-bed facility, complete with a blood bank, conference and meeting halls, an emergency services ward, medical offices, pharmacy, pediatric and maternity wards, radiology ward and on site laboratory and more is housed on an expansive 32 hectares of immaculately manicured, fenced-in property, adjacent to the vast Red Sea coastline. The magnificent structure was built without the use of any external “technical experts” or “advisors”, or external aid. This was a 100% Eritrean affair, from beginning to end.
As I walked through the massive facility with the architects, engineers and those who were behind the designing and planning of the facility, through the many corridors and intricately designed outer walls, my mind went back to 2003 and I remembered walking through the very same areas and the many young Eritreans I met and talked to.
I remembered their determination, enthusiasm, passion, and most of all, their confidence. I remembered the noise, the taping of hammers and the roar of the drills. I remember looking out of an empty windowsill and seeing the calming sea and imagining what it would be like when it was all finished. I especially loved the way they interacted with each other. The various nationalities-the Afar, Bilen, Hidareb, Kunama, Nara, Rashaida, Saho, Tigre and Tigrinya, all with varying degrees of professional skills, backgrounds etc. who together brought the qualities needed to work on a national project of such great importance and magnitude.
I wanted to see them again, but alas, most of them had moved on, off to other projects. With hands on training in carpentry, electrical and mechanical engineering, design and production, masonry and other construction skills, these young men and women, armed with their new expertise and experiences, were off to perform other miracles in other parts of Eritrea.
The Warsai Yikaalo Program is producing noticeable, measurable results in the lives of the daily lives of the majority of the Eritrean people who now have access to healthcare, education and more. The youth in Eritrea are contributing to Eritrea’s accelerated development, and are at the same time honing new skills, acquiring lifetime experiences, and providing many generations worth of services to their country and people. Eritrea’s
Warsai Yikaalo Program for national development enhances:
Character: Eritrea’s youth have acquired a great sense of responsibility and accountability and now have the ability to look beyond the present and put national needs and interests ahead of their own personal needs.
Confidence: Eritrea’s youth have developed a greater sense of self-worth; have won the admiration and respect of their fellow Eritreans in Eritrea and in the Diaspora.
Connection: Eritrea’s youth, who are working side by side with their fellow Eritreans from the various ethnic groups have developed a positive sense of belonging no matter where Warsai Yikaalo takes them. Eritrea’s unity is further solidified.
Competence: Eritrean youth are mastering sound educational and vocational skills. With each project, they are exposed to machinery, industry specific tools and equipment, and have the distinct advantage of acquiring a variety of skills which they can develop and use in their future.
Contribution: Theirs is a contribution of a lifetime; Warsai Yikaalo is history in the making, and its contribution to Eritrea’s development is immeasurable.
So where did the name “Dhtum” come from? I set out to find out. It is the name of a place, midway on the road that runs from Assab to Bure near the border with Ethiopia, and that it had its own story of Determination, Heroism, Triumph, Unity and Magnanimity.
On 24 May 2000, the Eritrean army pulled its forces back nearly 30km in order to help push a peace plan put forward by the Organization of African Unity (OAU). The proposal called on the parties to re-deploy their forces to the pre-1998 positions. Eritrea withdraw from all disputed border territories and more. In order to deny the minority regime any more pretexts for continuing with the war, Eritrea also agreed to withdraw its forces from the Eastern front, the Bure front.
Taking advantage of Eritrea’s troop deployment and rearrangement, which was verified by diplomats and journalists who were flown to the area, the deceptive minority regime in Addis, desperate for a “win” in its ill-advised 2-year war of aggression and expansion against Eritrea, and believing that it now had a good chance to capture the port city of Assab, made its last and most deadliest miscalculation to date. Eritrea voluntarily withdrew to give peace a chance, and the regime in Ethiopia mistook that for weakness. It paid dearly.
On 3 June 2000, deploying two divisions, Ethiopia opened a fresh ground attack. The fighting was underway deep inside Eritrean territory, 40 kilometers from the port, along a line to where Eritrean forces had withdrawn at the request of peace mediators. By the end of the day, Eritrean forces had foiled the Ethiopian attack, destroying Ethiopia's 38th division and killing, wounding or capturing 3,755 Ethiopia troops. A few days later, on 8 June 2000, Ethiopia launched another attack on the Assab front. The attack involved three divisions or more than 20,000 troops. Eritrean forces decisively foiled that offensive which left 4125 Ethiopian soldiers dead (actual body count), and 7110 wounded. 7 Ethiopian tanks were also destroyed.
On 14 June 2000, just as Meles Zenawi was reluctantly agreeing to sign the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, his Deputy Foreign Minister, Tekeda Alemu, was in Washington, telling a crowd of Ethiopians, “You will soon hear good news. Ethiopia will have its own port; we will take Assab within a few days”. There was no such good news…For the regime, its adventures into sovereign Eritrean territories proved to be disastrous and a foolhardy pipedream, not to mention a diplomatic and political embarrassment. On 18 June 2000, the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement between the Eritrea and Ethiopia was signed.
I visited Dhtum and the surrounding areas in March 2003 and saw the trenches which were constructed on both sides of the lone highway that led to Point 71 and the Bure front (at border with Ethiopia). The entire area is covered with black stones that seem to spike menacingly from the ground, and there were no natural defenses such as high grounds or anything. It was very open and the trenches didn’t seem to be more than 200 meters apart. I heard lots of stories of valor and sacrifice from those who were there.
During my last visit in 2003, the bodies of some Ethiopian soldiers were still there, in the trenches, behind the trenches, everywhere…lying where they fell. The Ethiopian regime had refused to accept them as its own, and they lay there, under Assab’s scorching heat, until they were repatriated on July 2003 with the help of the United Nation’s Mission to Eritrea and Ethiopia (UNMEE) and the Red Cross. At that time, UNMEE reported the repatriation of 164 bodies to Ethiopia.
At Dhtum, Eritrea’s finest sons and daughters, veteran fighters and new recruits, gallantly defended the nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and decimated Meles Zenawi’s invading forces. The newly built referral hospital is named in memory of all those who gave their lives in defense of Eritrea in Dhtum. For this and future generation of Eritreans, Dhtum will serve as an example of one of the many accomplishments by Eritrea’s young men and women across the country, who are making their own marks in Eritrea’s proud history of commitment, hard work, sacrifice and self reliance.
Much of what is written about Eritrea’s most coveted and strategic port city has come from outsiders who have repeatedly and deliberately misrepresented the facts surrounding Assab’s economic viability. Some of those who propound to write so much about Assab have never even visited the city, and some do not even know where it is located. From what I have been able to see, Assab’s future looks bright. Its economic potentials in fisheries and tourism are virtually untapped, and I have no doubt that it will become an important economic hub for the region in the near future. Assab’s strategic, economic and political, importance cannot be undermined by self serving Ethiophyles, and will not be defined in terms of Ethiopia’s usage or not.
Congratulations to Eritrea’s Defense Forces, who are not only defending the nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, but who are also in the forefront of Eritrea’s economic, social and political development.
More on other development projects in the Southern Red Sea Zone and my latest tour in Eritrea coming soon…