A short tribute to Aya Fesseha Habte. An exemplary family man in our DMV community.
Posted by: Michael SeiumDate: Wednesday, 11 April 2018
A short tribute to Aya Fesseha Habte. An exemplary family man in our
DMV community.
It has been over a week since we Eritreans and especially the DMV
area community lost an Eritrean patriot, father, husband and a person
who cared so much about his community. He was an elegant and
articulate man who also used his wisdom to share knowledge among
people who did not agree with each other. He stood his ground when it
came to Eritrea and was one of its staunchest supporters. He was one
of the early participants of our Dehai Eritrean forum. He encouraged
many of us younger activists and gave us many insights from his year
of experience as a UN peace keeper. He wrote well and made sure that
his message was clear for everyone to see. Aya Fisseha was an
accomplished and peaceful man who enjoyed and respected the values of
our society. He was kind and giving but even more a fair individual. I
had a chance to visit him this summer after a long time and he was so
positive about his full recovery from his illness and gave me so much
hope that he would be with us even longer. I was shocked and couldn’t
comprehend when I heard of his passing. Almost 80 years after he was
born, the man upstairs decided to call him.
But nonetheless he gives inspiration to people like me as we have been
blessed to learn about his great deeds and his contributions to our
Eritrean community. He is a classic example of a good man. I
encourage young men to learn from his respectful way of life. He was
blessed as a father of eight and as a role model to his entire family
and community. He loved and cherished his wife Selamawit and treated
her with the utmost love and respect. What we can learn from Aya
Fesseha’s healthy relationship at home is that loving your family can
go a long way with the rest of the world. His children are all
successful and are contributing members of our society. In speaking to
a close member of his family, one of the things he told everyone of
his children before he said good bye is to continue his legacy by
unconditionally loving Eritrea, its people and its culture. I also
want to share that on many occasions, I was blessed to work with him
in community activities. He encouraged and always gave me a thumbs up
on many topics that we discussed during the early days of Dehai. In
some cases he would intervene and share wisdom amongst our group
discussions. Thank you Aya Fesseha, you will be missed. You may be
gone but your spirit will forever remain with us.
Rest in Peace and Awet n’ hafash.
Mike Seium
Picture shows Aya Fesseha at a Mekete meeting! He was one of us.