Historic Weekend
It
was Friday evening and the venue was Sheraton hotel, Arlington. We already bought
discounted three day bundle tickets from the Eritrean Cultural & Civic
Center in Washington DC. I was, (as my family and friends were) looking forward
to the DC Eritrean Festival 2013. We set off from Washington DC on Friday 2nd
August towards Arlington. This year's Eritrean Festival was going to be
different from the recent years because 'Hade Lbna' cultural troupe with Zainab
Bashir, Dawit Shilan, Yowhans Tukabo and Melekin Atombes; as well as the Kunama
cultural group from south Dakota were going to entertain the crowd that was
flocking to Washington DC area from all over USA and Canada. Since the of
struggle for independence, Eritrean festivals have been the sign of Eritrea,
where the unity in diversity of this unique nation is presented to the world.
Tigre, Kunama, Arabic, Tigrigna and Bilen was the songs that were entertaining thousands
of Eritreans who enjoyed one of the electrifying Eritrean festival weekends.
During the fantastic three days, I had the opportunity of meeting many friends
and family members I have not seen for many years.
Eritrea
was abandoned and ignored by most of the outside world, but through
unconditional love and support of Eritrean people, the strong and visionary
leadership brought independence that was perceived as a dream by many observers
and preserved it. Eritreans have developed a spirit of confidence and
self-reliance. The secret of this success is unity. Tribal division and sectarian
wars have destroyed many parts of the world, but Eritrea has refused to be
dragged into that nightmare. To the contrary, regional harmony and cooperation
is being advocated by Eritrea. Only united and self-reliant Africa can bring
peace and prosperity for the African people.
Sheraton Hotel- Arlington
We
arrived at the venue around 8:00 pm and the place had lively and festive
atmosphere. Eritreans and friends of Eritrea were making their way in and the
venue was filling up slowly. We got our drinks from the bar and secured a table
around the middle of the hall. After about an hour or so, the festival was
officially opened by Eritrea's ambassador in UK, Mr. Tesfa-Michael Gerahtu with
a ribbon cutting ceremony. The Ambasador was accompanied by permanent
representative of Eritrea to UN ambassador Araya Desta and charge d'affaires at
the Eritrean Embassy Washington, DC Mr
Berhane G Solomon. The master of ceremonies Haile-Michael (Lingo) welcomed the
guests and opened the night with a minute silence in remembrance of the
Eritrean martyrs followed by Eritrean national anthem. The audience then were
treated to the beautiful show that started with a stage drama titled
"Bahlna' which was about respecting Eritrean cultures. Then Kunama
cultural group from South Dakota took the floor to the delight of the audience
who joined the beautiful dance. Eritrean Festival Washington-DC is underway.
Then came the beautiful Zainab Bashir who made the audience flood the dance
floor with her beautiful Tigre song 'Sabrki'. That was followed by Yewhannes
Tukabo with his Tigrigna song 'TsibbLaliE' which kept the dance floor flooded.
Came then Melekin Atombes with his Bilen and Arabic songs and that was followed
by Dawit Shilan and his Krar. People kept on dancing nonstop until 2 AM. The
festival continued at the Eritrean
Cultural & Civic Center in Washington-DC until dawn.
Saturday August 3
The
days began with sport competitions which involved basketball, soccer and golf. These
competitions were being held as part of the festival at the Trinidad recreation
center, Washington DC. In parallel to this, Washington Convention Center was
hosting exhibitions which had inspirational exhibitors and entrepreneurs. I
wanted to attend the panel
discussion about 'human rights' and how it's used as a political ploy to destabilize
nations and the case of Eritrea. The scheduled time for this was 11:00 AM and
made my way to north west Washington, DC. When I got there, the has house was
already full and as I was a little late, the program was already underway. Panelists
talked about how 'human right' is being
used for geopolitical agendas. The sketchy blood-soaked realities of
the so called superpower nations and consequences of their lethal hypocrisyis turning this world into a war
zone. In the name of 'human rights' nations are targeted and puppets are
installed to cater for those who are exploiting nations with natural resources.
After a few minutes break, the day continued with public seminar by the guest
of honor ambassador Tesfa-Michael Gerahtu. He talked about current affairs of
Eritrea, the developments, achievements, shortcomings, challenges and the way
forward. The eloquent ambassador said, "our promise to the sacred Eritrean
martyrs is under any circumstances, we will never compromise Eritrea's security
and interests". After the questions and answers the seminar concluded with
a standing ovation.
The invited guests and attendees of
the festival then made their way to the exhibitions. Artists, entrepreneurs,
PFDJ youth, Eritrean women's association, investors, etc exhibited their
inspiring work to the invited guests and attendees. Eritrean artifacts, music
instruments, cultural clothing, CDs and DVDs were on sale. Washington
Convention Centre turned to little Eritrea where Eritrean songs were echoing and
Eritreanism was being displayed. It was a very well organized even that showed
the dedication and unity of Eritreans. As the evening approached, thousands
flocked to the venue. And I had the opportunity of witnessing one of the best
Eritrean events in America. 'Hade Lbna' cultural troupe literally shook the
venue.
Sunday August 4
After
the electrifying previous night, last day of the festival began with final
sport competitions in the morning and youth meeting in the afternoon. Around
4:00 pm I arrived at the convention center where I had the opportunity to
briefly attend the youth meeting. There were young women and men having an open
discussion with ambassador Tesfa-Michael Gerahtu. The topic was Eritrean
culture and festivals. "Why are we here?" the ambassador asked. A
young lady replied "Because we are Eritreans." Ambassador continued
with his question, "Why do we care about being Eritreans?" A young
man replied, "Because Eritrea is our root and if we don't look after the
root, then we can't have a healthy tree." Indeed. The reason we Eritreans
nurture our root is because, we want to have healthy future generations with confident,
self-reliant and progressive Eritrean attitude. What we sow now, we will reap
later. Because the youth in the 1950 were courageous enough to fight against
the monsters that were colonizing Eritrea, we now have perhaps the best opportunity
in the world. As Eritreans we can decide, speak and think for ourselves. We
have our destiny in our hands.
Big
thanks to those who organized this beautiful & historic festival and I look
forward to the better next year. We should all be very grateful for the time
and dedication of the organizers. One of the positives of the festival was the
involvement of many youth during seminars, workshops, exhibitions, stage dramas
and all the organization. Overall, the experience of the festival weekend was a
real pleasure. Congratulations to all those who worked hard so that we could
have a weekend to remember. Your good work will be engraved in the history
books.
God/Allah bless the Eritrean
Martyrs.
Wetru Awet N'Hafash.
Samson Negassi,
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Received on Sun Aug 11 2013 - 00:46:24 EDT