Vol 22. No. 26 Saturday, 30th of May, 2015 Pages 8, Price 1.50 NFA

Eritrean citizens living in cities of New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Oslo, Uppsala, Helsinki, Bei-rut Berlin, Toronto, Ottawa, Guten-berg, Denver, San Bernardino, Santa Rosa, Seattle, South Dakota, Co-lumbus, Portland, Washington DC, Manheim, London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, New Castle, Copenhagen and Rome, in addition to Holland have celebrated the 24th Independence anniversary.

The celebrations were marked with expressions of ardent patriotism and commitment to enhance all-rounded interaction and participation in the country’s affairs. The participants also reiterated readiness to continue backing the development drive in the

Queen Elis-abeth of the United King-dom and Kings Hammed Bin Issa Al-Khelifa of Bahrain, Ab-dala II of Jordan and Presidents Sergio Mat-tarella of Italy, Beji Caid Es-sebsi of Tuni-sia, Arthur Peter Mutharkika of Malawi, Proko-plos Pavalpoulos of Greece, Has-san Rouhani of Iran, Maithripala Sirisena of Sri Lanka, Kim Yong Nam of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Anibal Ka-vaco Silva of Portugal, Kolinada Grabar-Kitarovic of Croatia and Kings Felipe of Spain and Willem

Sibrit cultural troupe currently participating at the International Milan Expo 2015 has staged im-pressive performance at Milan Square. The performances high-lighted the tradition and culture of the Eritrean people.

Reporters from the Ministry of

The Ministry of Education has organized a workshop on legislation pertaining to cultural and natural heritage. The Administration of the Central region and UNESCO col-laborated in the venture.

The Minister of Education, Mr. Semere Russom, said that the pres-

Eritreans living in South Sudan have asserted readiness to enhance resistance against anti-Eritrea conspiracy on the part of enemy quarters. They made the pledge in connection with celebration of Independence anniversary in Juba

Workshop on legislation of cultural and natural heritage

ervation of cultural and natural heri-tage is a task deserving due atten-tion. Likewise, the Administrator of the Central region, Maj. General Ramadan Osman Awliyai, noted that the nation possesses rich cultural and natural heritage of international significance, and that the necessary

efforts are being exerted to ensure their conservation.

Also speaking on the occasion, Mr. Silverse Anami, UNESCO rep-resentative, stressed the need to pro-mote enhanced community aware-ness regarding preservation of such heritage.

Homeland, as well as staunch resis-tance against anti-Eritrea agendas.

Addressing celebration partici-pants from New York, Connecticut and New Jersey, Mr. Girma Asmer-om, Eritrea’s Permanent Represen-tative to the United Nations, elabo-rated on current developments in the home country as well as achieve-ments in Eritrea’s diplomatic en-gagements.

Likewise, Eritrean nationals liv-ing in Gedarif and its environs, Re-public of Sudan, have celebrated the momentous Day in a colorful man-ner. Sudanese government officials and Sudanese brothers took part in the event.

Moreover, Eritrean nationals liv-

ing in the cities of Nairobi, Frank-furt, Stuttgart, Adelaide, Auckland, Wellington and Kampala, as well as in the Republic of South Africa and other countries in the Southern African region have colorfully cel-ebrated the event.

The observances witnessed the staging of performances highlight-ing the nation’s cultural diversity and the people’s harmony.

Similarly, folk dances, seminars focusing on the objective situation in the Homeland and the pace of development drive, coupled with the staunch resistance against ex-ternal anti-Eritrea conspiracies also featured prominently in the celebra-tions.

eritrean nationals abroad continue to celebrate independence anniversary in patriotic spirit

city.Mr. YohannesTeklemichael,

Eritrea’s Ambassador to South Sudan, underlined that the Eri-trean people emerged victorious over hostile conspiracies thanks to their unity and steadfastness.

eritrean nationals in south sudan assert readiness to enhance resistance against external conspiracy

Information said that the Eritrean com-munity members in the city and its en-virons demonstrated active participa-tion in the event.

Meanwhile, individuals taking part in the Eritrean Pavilion stated that the Eritrean people attach top importance to the preservation of the nation’s lofty values.

sibrit cultural troupe stages performance at milan square

Alexander of the Netherlands, as well as Pope Francis of the Vatican have sent messages of congratula-tions in connection with the 24th Independence anniversary.

In their respective messages, they wished peace and prosperity to the Eritrean people.

more leaders send messages of congratulations

2Eritrea Profile, Saturday 30th of May, 2015

Published Every Saturday & WednesdayManaging Director Azzazi Zeremariam

Acting EditorAmanuel Mesfunamme@zena.gov.er

P.O.Box: 247Tel: 11-41-14Fax: 12-77-49

E-mail:profile@ zena.gov.er

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azieb habtemariam

Reportage Kesete Ghebrehiwet

It is needless to mention that any given society has its own culture- a culture which glows with its own light. Culture, being a unique pos-session of communities and societ-ies at large, needs not be placed un-der a different light rather than that of its own. That is why any culture needs to be preserved in a way that maintains its originality. Thus, it is a prerequisite for any nation to have a law that governs how any cultural asset and generally all sorts of heri-tages should be dealt with and how their very existence should be se-cured. Once preserved, they could be bequeathed to future generations without any lose of vitality that might happen with the elapse of time and due to lack of laws that help for such priceless assets stay alive. Cul-ture and generally heritage is said to be the ‘mother of all sorts of devel-opment’. The depth and intensity of philosophy harbored within cultural heritages and the vital importance of natural heritages have, therefore, been topics of great concern.

It is, thus, taking in to account the very importance of such priceless assets that the Ministry of Education organized a two-day “Stakehold-ers Workshop on Eritrean Cultural and Natural Heritage Legislation” in collaboration with Asmara Heri-tage Project and UNESCO. But, why a comprehensive proclamation for Eritrea’s cultural and natural heritages? Why extensive discus-sions in the drafting and finalization of such a legislation? Why such a proclamation is needed at this time? How the reparation and expatriation of cultural items should be handled? How is this latest legislation differ-ent from the preceding ones? Who is entitled to the ownership of cultural heritages (tangible and intangible)? These and other topics were raised to be discussed in the workshop

held at Central Region’s Adminis-tration Hall from 26-27 May 2015.

It is worth mentioning that the draft legislation has been prepared in a way that could be easily under-stood not only by experts but also by laypersons. The stakeholders present in the workshop and all the audience made extensive discus-sions about the linguistic aspect of the legislation and particularly on word selection (diction).

Efforts have been made to make this new legislation which compris-es 40 articles and a number of sub articles a comprehensive one which incorporates tangible and intangible heritages as well as natural heri-tages. As regards what is the visible difference between the new legisla-tion and that of preceding ones and why is being prepared at this very moment, Mr. Senai Weldeab, the writer of the legislation said as fol-lows:

I had a chance to refer a couple of drafts prepared before the one we have been discussing for the last two days. What makes the final draft visibly different from the previous ones is its comprehensiveness. The previous drafts were prepared at a time when Eritrea did not accept to the 2003 intangible cultural heritage convention. This draft legislation we have now is more comprehen-sive. The immediate previous draft was limited to material cultural her-itage. The suggestion of the com-mittee was then to come up with a legislation that is comprehensive and that touches up on the three types of heritage items: material, cultural, and natural heritage. The urgency to have this legislation has always been there. But, there were a number of reasons why this was not moved forward. Asmara is one step away from being put in the world heritage list. A condition for put-ting Asmara in world heritage list is that we should have legislation on heritage. The main reason why we need to have such legislation is not only to have Asmara registered in the world heritage list but cultural heritages (tangible and intangible) and natural heritages should to be protected.

Mr. Senai has also made it clear that this legislation needs coopera-tion of national and international stakeholders. As regards UNES-

CO’s contribution he said: “UNES-CO has been sending experts in as-sisting people working in heritage. We expect more from UNESCO because we are moving to the real phase of heritage. We will have a proclamation. We will have not only Asmara but possibly other cities in-cluding a number of intangible and natural heritage items that would be put in a world heritage protection list. We expect a lot from UNESCO not only financial but mainly pro-fessional assistance.”

It is worth motioning that the leg-islation draft was thoroughly dis-cussed line by line. Asked whether he finds the procedure satisfying or not Mr. Silverse Anami said: “The most satisfying phenomenon in this process is inclusiveness. The mix of experts that was present here in the panel was consistently evolved and was very focused in its making.”

Mr. Anami reiterated the fact that a lot of good work have been done in the background, it has now been possible to do this work here in a few days which otherwise would have been done elsewhere in years. “I could confidently say, the dis-cussion we had in here were qual-ity discussions and coming from experts whose ideas injected in the legislation should produce the best legislation.” He said.

What the newly drafted legisla-tion shows is that members of the board yet to be established should comprise a panel of experts while interested individuals who have been working in the preservation of heritages could be invited as non-members to share the experiences they have.

The issue of repatriating and ex-patriating cultural items was among the topics which evoked deep dis-cussions. The drafted legislation suggests that the appointed party should endeavor to repatriate by all means and in line with interna-tional norms any cultural heritage resource unlawfully taken from Eri-trea and have been found in other countries. The repartition part of the legislation is also applicable to cultural heritage resources brought in to Eritrea unlawfully.

As regards legitimate export of cultural heritage resources, it is stated in the legislation that a cul-tural heritage may be temporally

taken out of Eritrea for scientific study, cultural exchange or exhibi-tion up on expert permit by autho-rized body. “Every cultural item is unique and irreplaceable and thus needs to be preserved in the place of its origin,” was the dominant view shared by the participants of the workshop.

Mr. Anami is of the idea that the major aspect here is the apprecia-tion that culture has not become but is created-created by communities and these communities need to be central in planning and even in the preparation of legislation concern-ing culture. Communities having involved in this legislation, I think, this will be the best legislation.

Responding to how the Kenyan experience would be injected into Eritrean context, Mr. Senai said: “Whatever experience Kenya had that we heard from Honorable Mr. Anami, we definitely are going to make use of it particularly on mat-ters related to community and cul-ture.”

Suggestions forwarded in the workshop pinpointed concerns about private and state interests with regards to ownership of heri-tages and that of encouraging inter-ested individuals who have already been engaged in relics and antiques collection. It was made clear in this legislation that private ownership issue has not been overlooked but is rather balanced, as much as pos-sible, and alike to that of the state and international interests.

As regards what UNESCO’s ex-pectation from Eritrea would be Mr. Anami Said as follows:

The expectation of UNESCO is that development of an instrument like the one we are working on. This will provide guidance and inspira-tion to the members of this society and to the Government and the peo-ple of Eritrea and indeed to the larg-er UNESCO family. UNESCO’s ex-pectations are met by the interaction we had here through sharing of ideas and experiences. We are able to es-tablish a policy to which UNESCO is interested-inclusive policies that inspire sustainable development and that create a platform where ev-eryone contributes towards sustain-able development. The richness of our cultural heritages and our cul-

tural expressions in their diversity is so fundamental. It is a source of inspiration in the creation of peace around the world and in inspiring sustainable development. So, leg-islation like the one we have gone through today is a very instrumental tool. It gives us the momentum; it sets the pace and gives us the confi-dence to move forward holistically. When we have a tool like this one which defines and articulates what this heritage is and which protects it, now we are left with a time to in-ject it in the fast moving technologi-cal world otherwise the world will move ahead of us.

Mr. Solomon Tsehaye, head of cultural Affairs at the Ministry of Education, has been keenly work-ing in the preservation of cultural heritage. He has already extensively worked and published a book that deals with intangible cultural heri-tage and particularly in the pres-ervation of oral tradition. His well researched book has now lit a flame of life to the oral traditions that were at the verge of extinction.

Mr. Solomon has shared his views as regards the impact of the discus-sions held at the workshop. “If a community, a country or people respect its cultural and natural heri-tage, it has to come up with a legis-lation that protects it. If there is no law that protects heritage you love, the heritage will be lost forever. That is the main point why we have been working hard to have this draft legislation come to this workshop and then have it later proclaimed. So, people would be bound by the heritage law.” He said.

Mr. Solomon went on to say that law alone is not sufficient. The law has to be well known and under-stood by the people. If people are aware of the value of their heritage they will not destroy it once they know it is their identity. Hence, people’s awareness needs to be con-tinuously raised.”

All matters related to heritages preservation have been thoroughly reflected in this new legislation. Culture is indeed life and making it stay alive is securing sustainable de-velopment. Extensive discussions and consultations have now been carried out and the new legislation is just to be publicized very soon.

Eritrean Cultural and Natural Heritage Legislation: Stakeholders’ Workshop

3Eritrea Profile, Saturday 30th of May, 2015

Teklehaimanot yemane

The primary purpose of re-search is to solve new or exist-ing problems in the society based on the knowledge searched or the established new facts found by researchers. It applies systematic investigation to prove new ideas, or develop new theories. Scoping research activities in educational institutions creates a wider op-portunity both for learning and for solving social problems. Keeping this in mind the Eritrea Institute of Technology (EIT) took the ini-tiative to conduct a wide and an inclusive workshop that engaged three colleges and a number of al-lied stakeholders. The workshop which was conducted in EIT from 7 to 8 May, 2015 reflected the po-tential of educational institutions and scholars in contributing to the global research activities and in solving critical local issues.

Prof. Tesfamichael Haile, Vice President of EIT, after welcom-ing the participants of the work-shop, highlighted that the research topics selected for that particular workshop would have an indis-pensable role in the nation devel-opment activities and at the same time in broadening the mindset of students.

Although strict research proto-cols may not be fully applied in all the research agendas, the need for research in the real life is crucial. As a result, most of the research topics discussed during the work-shop was in an open discussion nature amongst the stakeholders with regard to their relevance, fea-sibility and their continuity for the future.

Dr. MhreteabTsegu, Director of

Research and Postgraduate Stud-ies, in EIT, presented the back-ground of the department and its future plans in relevance to the research needs of our nation. Dr. Mhreteab mentioned thirty three students who have completed their postgraduate studies success-

fully since the commencement of MSc Programme in January 2011. Moreover in accordance to the agreement reached between EIT and the Ministry of Education, the majority of the graduates have been recruited by EIT as lectur-ers. These lecturers have made indispensable research works in their areas by identifying the wide research domains available in our nation. The opening of postgradu-ate study in the college of science, especially in the departments of Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics has motivated post graduate students in to promote the culture of research activities in the institute. As a result, at pres-ent, quite substantial preparation works have been already done to open master’s programme in the College of Education. Likewise in the immediate future, Postgradu-ate Studies will also be initiated in the College of Engineering and Technology. Furthermore, master’s Programme will be initiated in the remaining departments of the Col-lege of Sciences. These and related progress in ground has motivated EIT to conduct a broad workshop, so as to invite stakeholders to par-ticipate in the research initiatives taken by the institute. The institute invited stakeholders for two main purposes. The first one is to high-

light the potential of the institute in upgrading the academic and professional skill sets of the stake-holders and their employees by engaging them in the opportunities brought by the opening of the De-partment of the Research and Post-graduate Studies. And the second purpose is to show off the readi-ness of EIT in solving problems in the workspace of stakeholders by applying scientific and research principles.

The colleges in EIT, in connec-tion with the preparation for the Research Scoping Workshop, had the opportunity to discuss with their respective stakeholders and came up with research agendas that were jointly discussed during the workshop. The jointly identi-fied research areas were presented by the Deans of the colleges.

Looking in depth: the college of Education presented more than six thematic research areas which include Access and equity in edu-cation, Educational Management which emphasized on teacher man-agement, Teacher education and development; School children’s upbringing, attitudes, and behav-ior; Curriculum studies, Econom-ics of education, and Adult and continuing education.

The college of Engineering and Technology presented more than

seventeen thematic research areas most of them inclined in solving critical problems in the society. These include: Environment Waste Treatment; application of electro-magnetic field on human health; Renewable and or alternative

energy; Hybrid Electricity; De-salination and Production of Chlo-rine from sea water; Research on Adapting National Civil Engineer-ing Codes of Practice; Research on various types of Mining Methods and significance of full life-cycle of mining; Research on National Ground Water Potential and Man-agement; Research on Enterprise Computing, Network Infrastruc-ture and Software Development;

The college of Science presented variety of research topics that cov-ers but not limited to Biodiversity

EIT: Scoping Its Research Paradigm to Firmly Connect with Its Stakeholders

and conservation; Infectious and Non infectious Diseases and Drug Resistance; population Genetics and Bioinformatics; Medicinal Plants and Drug Discovery; Waste Disposal and Management; Spring Water Healing; Underground water analysis; Petrography, Geochem-istry, and Chronology of Granitoid rocks; Remote Sensing and Geo-Information system (GIS) applica-tion in Hydrogeology/ground and slope instability; Earthquake haz-ard assessment in Eritrea; Infor-mation management; Mathemati-cal Modeling; Coding theory and Cryptography and more.

The ICT and Tele-Education Center at EIT also presented re-search agendas that could be po-tentially applied in automating some of the port activities and re-garding to implementation of na-tional backbone network that con-nects major cities and regions.

Generally speaking, the themat-ic research topics and agendas dis-cussed in the workshop organized by EIT, reflects the potential of Ed-ucational institutions in research and national development. For this initiative to thrive the close collab-oration of stakeholders. This joint connection, if firmly continued, will result in tremendous progress in the national development activi-ties in ground.

4Eritrea Profile, Saturday 30th of May, 2015 ADS

PROJECT “Support to the Community Courts in Eritrea”

CORRIGENDUM No: 1to theCONTRACT NOTICE Publication Ref: Europe Aid/136-902/ID/WKS/ER

Subject: Extension of deadline for the submission of the tender application of the Contract Works for Solar installation PV Standalone System

THE STATE OF ERITREAMINISTRY OF JUSTICE

EUROPEANDEVELOPMENT FUND

Location – Asmara Eritrea

The contract notice is corrected or modified as follow:

Point n°19:

Instead of:Deadline for submission of tenders3rd June 2015, at 3:00 pm local time. Any tender received by the Contracting Authority after this deadline will not be con-

sidered.

Read: Deadline for submission of tenders15th June 2015, at 3:00 pm local time. Any tender received by the Contracting Authority after this deadline will not be con-

sidered.

Point n°20: Instead of:Tender opening session3rd June 2015, at 3:30 pm local time in the Ministry of Justice.

Read: Tender opening session15th June 2015, at 3:30 pm local time in the Ministry of Justice.

All other terms and conditions of the contract notice remain unchanged. The above alterations and /or corrections to the contract notice are integral part of the contract no-tice.

5Eritrea Profile, Saturday 30th of May, 2015

PROJECT “Support to the Community Courts in Eritrea”

Solar Installation PV standalone system tender dossierTender No.: EuropeAid/136-902/ID/WKS/ER

Clarifications and responses to potential tenderers’queries Question 1Can a Chinese company participate in this tender?AnswerPlease refer to article 3 of the instruction to tenderers. In particular art 3.1 states “Participation in the call for tender is open on equal terms to natural and legal persons (participating either individually or in a grouping (consortium) of tenderers) established in one of the Member States of the European Union, ACP States or in a country or territory authorised by the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement under which the contract is financed. Participation is also open to international organisations”.

Question 2In the work contract notice, it is stated that the procedure is “Local open tender”, does it mean that only local companies (Eritrean Companies) can submit an offer for this procedure? Please clarify.AnswerThe tender is open to natural and legal persons as indicated in the tender dossier and, with reference to the nationality to article 3 of the instruction to tenderers. Please also refer to question 1.

Question 3Please specify what kind of companies can participate to this tender.AnswerPlease refer to the answer to questions 1 and 2.

Question 4We would like to request the tender dossier of the publication reference No. EuropeAid /136/902/ID WKS/ER.AnswerPease note that you can collect the tender dossier from the office of Ministry or Justice in Asmara or download from the website https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/europeaid/online-services/index.cfm?do=publi.welcome

Question 5In reference to the tender Europe Aid /136-902/ID/WKS/ER we would like to know if it is possible to propose a different system instead of the stand-alone charger and inverters provided in annex I of volume 5.AnswerThe solar PV standalone system equipment have already been procured and stored in our ware house and therefore, there is no way to consider a different system.

Question 6Considering the geographical constraint of personally reviewing the document, I request you to provide us the following details before we buy the document:

List of items, schedule of requirements, scope of work, terms of reference, bill 1. of materials required.Soft copy of the tender document through the E-mail2. Names of countries that will be eligible to participate in this tender3. Information about the tendering procedure and guide lines4. Estimated budget for the purchase5. Any extension of bidding deadline?6. Anny addendum or pre bid meeting minutes?7.

AnswerPlease note that the complete tender dossier including all the relevant information can be collected from the office of Ministry or Justice in Asmara or download from the website https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/europeaid/online-services/index.cfm?do=publi.welcome

Question 7Can a company not having a licence from the Ministry of Energy and Mining of the State of Eritrea participate in the tender?AnswerPlease refer to point 16 of the contract notice – letter b) stating that each tenderer “must be certified by a recognized accreditation agency, ISO 9001:2008 or equivalent or be certified by the Ministry of Energy and Mines of the State of Eritrea with licence of energy of category C or above” .

Question 8Will the Contracting Authority provide some support for the fuel allocation?AnswerThe Contracting authority has no responsibility for the provision of the logistics of fuel. It is the tenderer’s responsibility for all logistics concerning the installation activity.

Question 9Who will be in charge of the transport of the equipment? Can the Ministry of Justice take this responsibility?Answer

EUROPEANDEVELOPMENT FUND

THE STATE OF ERITREAMINISTRY OF JUSTICE

NOTICENotice is hereby given to the public that The National Insurance Corporation of Eritrea

Share Company will hold its 11th Ordinary Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on the 6th of June 2015 at HOTEL ASMARA PALACE - (SELAM CONFERENCE HALL)

Time: 7:45 a.m. Registration of participants 8:30 a.m. Commencement of the meeting

Draft Agenda

Adoption of the Agenda1. To formally adopt this agenda of the meeting

Appointment of the Resolutions Committee2. To appoint two shareholders to draft and report the resolutions of the General Meeting

along with the Secretary of the Board

Approval of the Minutes of the 103. thOrdinary Annual General Meeting To confirm Minutes of the 9th Annual General Meeting held on 7th June 2014

Matters Arising from the 104. th Ordinary Annual General MeetingTo discuss on the issues that arose at the previous General Meetings.

Management’s Report on the Activities of the Corporation5. To consider and note the management’s report as stated on page 6 to 10 in the Annual

Report & Financial Statement of 2014

Report of the Board of Directors6. To consider and note the Board of Director’s report as stated on page 11 to 13 in the An-

nual Report & Financial Statement of 2014

Report on the 2014 Accounts and the Appropriation of Profits7. To consider and note the external auditors’ report as stated on page 15 in the Annual

Report & Financial Statement of 2014

Appointment of External Auditors8. To appoint external auditors to audit the accounts of the Company for the financial year

of 2015

Any Other Business9. To consider any other business not specifically covered on the Agenda

Date and Venue of the 1210. th Ordinary Annual General Meeting To agree on the date and venue of the next Annual General Meeting (which is normally

the first Saturday of June)

All shareholders including new subscribers are called upon to attend the meeting. Docu-ments relevant to the meeting may be collected from our Head office starting from3 rd June 2015.

Shareholders who cannot attend the meeting in person can collect their instrument of proxy from our head office or from our website www.nice-eritrea.com and shall submit the completed form not later than 12:00 hrs on 5th of June, 2015.

National Insurance Corporation of Eritrea Share CoBy the order of the Board of Directors

The tenderer has the responsibility to cover all the transportation cost of the equipments and any incidence costs like loading and unloading from our warehouse in Adi-abeito at the suburb of Asmara. Therefore, the Contracting authority has no responsibility.

Question 10In what currency the financial offer and the guarantees have to be present?Answer

Please refer to art 13.1 of the instruction to tender stating that “the currency of the tender is Euro”.

Question 11

Who is responsible in case some of the items installed do not work?AnswerPlease refer to the general conditions Article 61 - Defects liability and Article 16 - Defects liability in special conditions.

ADS

6Eritrea Profile, Saturday 30th of May, 2015

Solomon Mengsteab

Every country possesses one or another kind of resources that it is proud of; something that is in rar-ity in other places. Without a doubt, the countries that are considered to be developed, prospered and power-ful, (be it economically, politically, socially or in military) have had some kind of resource that boosted their journey to the place that they are now. And, every undeveloped and poor countries (in terms of eco-nomic prosperity, social tranquillity, military and political power) that as-pires to whatever version of prosper-ity and development it aspires to has some or another kind of resource/s that it relies up on to realise those dreams. Eritrea, like all other coun-tries, possess resources that it had relied upon to achieve its dreams in the past, resources that it is rely-ing upon today to its progress and resources that it would rely up on in the future to achieve its dreams. Indeed, our country is blessed with various natural resources, and stra-tegical geographical location that should yield more than enough to its citizens. However, the most impor-tant resource that our country pos-sesses is its human resource. Eritrea had, is and will rely upon its human resources in the past at present and in the future as well, more than any of the riches it has had. And, this cannot be a news flash to anyone who is familiar with the past history present condition and future aspira-tions of this country.

The people of Eritrea fought and defeated the largest army of the sub-Saharan Africa and won their inde-pendence without relying on no one and/or nothing but themselves. After independence these resilient popula-tion have been doing everything that is in its sphere of ability to rebuild its country from the scratch, still with-out relying on all but itself. In this new form of struggle for progress and prosperity the population; espe-cially the youth have demonstrated its great potential to achieve a great many things by shining in several sectors of development. And one of the sectors that have made signifi-cant progress after independence is sport. In the past 24 years of inde-pendence Eritrea has been making

steady progress in sports; especially in athletics and cycling. A couple of weeks ago, however, another kind of sport with a concrete potential of higher achievements has been re-vealed in Nyala Hotel, chess.

Chess is has not been among the widely popular sports in Eritrea. Chess which is believed to have originated in Eastern India, c. 280 – 550 CE, in the Gupta Empire, traveled such a long way to find its popularity in our country. Accord-ing to Wikipedia the early form of chess, in the 6th century, was called chaturaṅga (Sanskrit), which literally means “four divisions” (of the mili-tary); namely the infantry, cavalry, elephants, and chariotry, represented by the pieces that would evolve into the modern pawn, knight, bishop, and rook, respectively. Since then, the game made its way westward assuming different names mank-ing slight changes in the rules and the way it is played. The Persians, called it chatrang, in the Muslim world it was named shatranj, the Spanish later called it ajedrez (“al-shatranj”), the Portuguese, xadrez, and the Greek zatrikion. Later on in Europe the game came to be known as chess and around “1200, the rules of shatranj started to be modified in southern Europe, and around 1475, several major changes made the game essentially as it is known today.” Over the centuries that fol-lowed, chess evolved to become one of the most popular board games in the word and became a major com-petition recognized by the Olympic compete. However, chess competi-tions are not held in the Olympics. There is instead a worldwide bien-nial chess competition known as The Chess Olympics. It is believed that chess made its way to Eritrea through colonization. Since then, it has been slowly growing into the society, but still it had mainly been of the educated elite. After inde-pendence, a national chess federa-tion was established and it had been organizing several competitions locally. On the Friday the 15th how-ever the Eritrean chess community witnessed what could be the turning point in the course of this game here in Eritrea.

A couple of months ago the Eri-trean chess federation became a member of the international chess governing body is FIDE (Fédération Internationale des Échecs). Through it Mr. Luis Ncube, the president of the African Chess confederation, came for a work visit to Eritrea. Along with him came Grandmaster Ahmed Adly, the Egyptian chess champion to play with the best of the Eritrean chees players. Grandmaster Ahmed Adly plyed a game against the best 21 chess players in Eritrea on Friday the 15th in Nyala Hotel in front of the Mr. Luis Ncube, officials of the Eritrean Chess Confederation and a large number of chess funs.

The grandmaster defeated all the players who played against him, ex-cept for one, Kibrom Weldegebrel. For a lot of people who are not fa-miliar with chess and Grandmaster Ahmed Adly this one victory out of twenty one might seem unflattering, or may be even insignificant. How-ever, it is certain that when the fact that this very grandmaster played similar game in Lybia with 75 op-ponents and drown only two and de-feated the other seventy three with-out losing to one. Moreover, signifi-cance of the victory of the current Eritrean chess champion, Kibrom Weldegebrel, would be clearer with a glance at the back ground of the chess grand giant he defeated. Let’s take a quick look in to Grandmaster Adly’s profile.

“Grandmaster Adly is the (2005) the first Egyptian GM in history, and the youngest-ever from Africa. He was African U20 champion in 2001 where he obtained his first IM and GM norms, and finished the 2004 World Under-18 Champi-onships in third place. He qualified for the FIDE World Championship Knockout Tournament (2004), but lost the first-round match, after rap-id tiebreaks, to Sergei Rublevsky. In 2005 he won the Arab Junior Cham-pionship and qualified once more for the knockout phase of the FIDE cycle, but he was again eliminated in the first round of the FIDE World Cup (2005), this time by Ruslan Ponomariov. He became the first player from the continent of Africa to win the World Junior Champion-ship (2007). Egyptian champion in 2007 and 2009. He qualified for the World Cup (2011), but was forced to withdraw after the first game due to illness. His misfortune continued at the World Cup (2013), for which he qualified, but was unable to attend due to travel difficulties. He was runner up in the African Continental Championship of 2015, and thereby qualified for the World Cup 2015.”

And this great Egyptian Grand-master was defeated by one of ours, Kibrom, a brilliant young man who once again demonstrated, for all who are concerned that the depth of the potential that the Eritrean youth have to a great many achievements in different areas. The victory of Kibrom created a sensation and curiosity among many spectators including President Luis Ncube and Grandmaster Adly. Who is this young man?

Kibrom Weldegebrel was born in Addis Ababa Ethiopia in 1987. Af-ter the independence of Eritrea, Ki-brom’s family returned to their free country along with their children in 1993. Kibrom attended his elemen-tary education at Finnish Mission Elementary and Junior School. He attended high school at Lim’at and Semaetat Secondary Schools. In 2005, Kibrom joined the Eritrean Institute of Technology. There, he

studied computer science for four years and graduated in 2010 after a year internship at Warsay Yke’alo Seconday School in Sawa. After he finished his internship and his com-munity service there, Kibrom was assigned at Denden Commercial College as an IT teacher and served there for about three years and was reassigned to Halay Technical School where he is serving now.

“As a kid,” Kibrom said, “I started playing chess with my father, broth-ers and sisters.” He said that his father Mr. Weldegebrel, who was a chess champion once in Ethiopia has been a great influence, motiva-tion and inspiration to him. When he got to high school Kibrom took the game that used to be only a family pastime to another level. Chess be-came his favorite hobby; he even be-gan to take part in local chess com-petitions. The first competition he took part in was a chess competition organized by the Netherland Em-bassy at the former Intercontinental Hotel which is now called Asmera Palace. In the competition, where a number of local and foreign (espe-cially UNMEE officers and diplo-mats) players were participants, Ki-brom won 2 of the games he played while drawing 1 and loosing 3. “A Cuban doctor,” Kibrom remembers, “won the competition.”

From that day on Kibrom had par-ticipated in a number of local chess competitions and won several cham-pionships. In a number of games he came out second and third best and in many others the first. Some of the completions he came on top in-clude, the Independence Day Chess Championship, twice in 2012 and 2013. Again in 2012 in a team com-petition held among subzones at the Expo Festival. In this competition, although Kibrom’s subzone didn’t win the completion Kibrom became the individual champion with the highest points personally. Kibrom is also an undisputed champion of the Eritrean 2014 chess competitions, winning in all the three kinds of competitions; namely Blitz, Rapid and Normal/Classic. Once more, Kibrom is also the current Eritrean chess champion by winning the 2015 Blitz competition.

Kibrom believes he has been making a constant progress in the game of chess. And this game with

Grandmaster Adly was, for him, a test for his real potential and abil-ity. In fact, before the game I had a chance to speak with some of the chess players. In my conversation with him, Kibrom said, “This game is very important not only for me but for the overall image of Eritrean chess community. If we are to dem-onstrate that we got the potential to compete chess in higher level, some of us need to win this game; I have to win this game.” For some reason the players were informed of the up-coming game with the Grandmas-ter on the eleventh hour. Kibrom heard of the game three days prior to match day. Thus, there wasn’t much time to prepare himself against this Egyptian chess giant. “We tried to study his style form his games that we could find in the database of chess-master but the games of Grandmaster Adly on the software we managed to find were very old. They were the games he played when he was young. We didn’t have the chance to study his latest games; there just wasn’t enough time and resource.”

Kibrom had the chance to share experience with Grandmaster Adly in and off the board. After the game the two of them spent two evenings together, and Kibrom believes that it was a remarkable experience. “It is amazing” Kibrom said, “Ahmed is young and old at the same time. He is just 28 years old but well ex-perienced, both in life and chess. He had played a lot of games with the top chess elites of the world. And his brilliance in chess has also made him sharp in life.” Kibrom confessed that the game that he had played with the Grandmaster was the toughest game in his life. “Ahmed got an exceptional imagination, and he is so persistent. He fought to the last move; he definitely is no quitter. He is a persistent guy who tries to make something out of nothing.”

The atmosphere at Nyala hotel, after the after the victory of Kibrom, was sensational. Every Eritrean fun there was very happy; even those who were there by sheer coincidence and are not that into chess were very happy. I particularly remember one of the waitresses. After he defeated every competitor Grandmaster Adly signed the record papers of every

Chess in Eritrea: New Beginning

continued on page 7

7Eritrea Profile, Saturday 30th of May, 2015

continued from page 6

Efrem Habtezion

Anyone who visits the city of Keren (which means mountain in one of the local languages) the first thing he would repeatedly hear be-ing mentioned is ‘Mariam Dearit’

and specially the Baobab tree. Mar-iam Dearit for Keren is more or less like Eiffel Tower is for Paris or the Great Wall for Beijing or the Col-osseum for Rome or the Statue of Liberty for New York...

Driving about two kilometers north east of the city, crossing the Italians’ cemetery, you reach a green area located on a river bank

covered by big trees of different types but mainly mim. Looking straight forward, when you reach the gate, you see a huge tree most of the time with a number of visi-tors.

The Baobab Tree! That is the most interesting part of the story of Mariam Dearit.

A writer, trying to describe this giant tree once wrote: “If there was a leader of the trees of the Savan-nah, it would be the great Baobab

tree; in most parts of Africa, this is the social center. If in America, the Baobab tree would be called ‘Capi-tol Hill’ for under its shades, social issues are discussed, negotiations are carried-out and pacts made. The great tree is so stubborn. Like a camel, its trunks, which can grow to be 15 meters in diameter, act like a sponge and stores a huge volume

of water…”The Tree is believed to have

lived for over 500 years majestical-ly standing about 23 meters high. According to people who lived there for long time, Kerenians are

attached to the tree that symbolizes patience, perseverance and strength that defies nature. At times of hard-ship, and all the time, believers go there to pray and ask their Mary for mercy.

It is the symbol of their strength: it gets thirst but never dies. “It ages but never gets old. It stands majesti-cally competing against the moun-tains of Ziban, Lalmba, Senkil and Et’Aber that surround the city from where it derived its name.”

It is one of the most visited places of the city by both local and foreign visitors, according to the Ministry of Tourism Anseba Region Branch office’s report.

Tourists, or any visitors for that matter, that come to Eritrea during the month of May get to experience the fervent celebrations that Eri-treans hold to commemorate their independence anniversary (May 24). Just a few days later, On May

29 each year, there is a pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Mariam Dearit.

The sacred place shelters the statue of the Virgin Mary that has its residence inside the trunk of an ancient baobab tree, standing over 20 meters, out in an open field.

It is believed that in 1869, a group of French nuns known as ‘deqi feqri (Daughters of Charity) opened an orphanage in the Keren area where they were granted by a French priest a piece of land to grow or-chards. According to legend, one of the nuns, Catherine Labure, dreamt that they established ‘a statue of Virgin Mary’. Then the sisters re-ceived a bronze statue from French Lazarists. The nuns located a huge Baobab tree and curved in its trunk a shrine, where they set the statue. The orchards that the sisters plant-ed still stand.

The legend also says that the statue is black in color because the French Lazarists told the nuns that they would send them black col-ored statues of Mary that looks like them [the residents].

On top of the powers of healing that it’s supposed to have, the stat-ue is also believed to mark the spot from which fertility springs. Leg-end has it that local women brew coffee in the shade of the tree and believe they would be blessed with

Dearit : Keren’s Eiffel Tower

game of every player, but when he lost the game against Kibrom he got up shook hands, with Kibrom and turned around to leave without sign-ing the paper, probably of forgetting. But, this waitress who thought the paper was very important called the Grandmaster and reminded him to sign it. People were congratulating Kibrom; everyone very impressed, including Mr. Luis Ncube. “I was in the ninth cloud” said Kibrom re-membering the sensational feeling he had then.”

Kibrom said that he has learned a lot from the game and from the Grandmaster. He asserted that if he works and practices harder, there is a big chance that he could achieve a lot more in chess. This victory was a

proof for Kibrom and many others that, should the opportunity comes to compete in international stages, Eritrean chess players can make sig-nificant achievement in the game. “I love chess,” said Kibrom, “it enhances imagination, keeps one’s fighting spirit high, and teaches one to plan ahead before making a move in life. For me chess is just a series of puzzles to be solved to achieve the goal; just like in real life.” As for the future, Kibrom hopes to play and win in major international competi-tions. He said that he would give it his best to win titles in international tournaments. He would also love to have the opportunity to teach chess and share his experience with young chess lovers.

Chess in Eritrea...

fertility-wise if a passing traveler accepts a cup.

“Take of your sandals, for the place where you are standing is sa-cred ground,” the notice says.

The Italian styled city of Keren was a strategic importance at dif-ferent periods: for instance, the Second World War in East Africa came to an end following a long

war among the British and Italian forces when the Italians, who had a strong military base, lost the battle of Keren at Tenkuluhas; and the city also faced major battles at dif-ferent times of the war for Eritrea’s liberation.

During the Second World War, for example, a group of Italian sol-diers, who were under attack by British war planes, sought refuge

inside the shrine to avoid bomb-ing. Suddenly, a bomb struck the trunk of the Baobab tree and landed among the soldiers. In 1941 Ital-ian soldiers took refuge in the tree from British Planes. This tree was hit but the Italians and the shrine survived.

Since the planes had targeted the area, a bomb splinter hit the tree making a big whole which can still be witnessed on the sides of the trunk. The tree survived the war, saved the lives of many soldiers and many believers who took refu-gee.

On the spiritual side, May 29 is just like all religious pilgrimages (Nigdet); the day is a colorful event in which tens of thousands visitors join the pilgrimage. With a proces-sion led by the clergy in their vi-brant attires, complete with incense and hymns, followed by flocks of the faithful and other visitors. A travel website, www.Travelad-ventures.org, has put the shrine of Mariam Dearit as one of the 100 must-see sites of the world. Ac-cording to the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP) 2000 – 2020, the shrine is scheduled to undergo restoration and renovation procedures, while service render-ing institutions and other related tourism infrastructures will be put in place.

8Eritrea Profile, Saturday 30th of May, 2015

The U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations

& Members of the United States Senate

423 Dirksen Senate Office Build-ing

Washington, DC 20510-6225 Dear Chairman Bob Corker and

Ranking Member Ben Cardin: I address U.S. Senators and the

U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on the occasion of the 24th Anniversary celebration of In-dependence Day for the Country of Eritrea.

Respectfully, I submit that U.S. foreign policy has ignored or under-mined the Country of Eritrea to the detriment of the interests of peace

G. Damr

More than two decades ago, the area where I was born and grew up, with wreckage of freshly abandoned and destroyed enemy trenches and destroyed civilian houses piled ev-erywhere on its outskirts. That was a typical village that have come out of a thirty-year destructive war. The people, after decades of oppression were scared to silence. Yet as is the case with all revolutionary societies, that have taken their fate and free-dom in to their hands successfully, their faces were reflecting hope and a certain bright future. In their mind they had already started building the country and future they have dreamt to have for too long.

However no one would have guessed that the future will be vis-ible too soon. Two years ago when I went there to see my parents, I was disarmed by how quick things have changed within the four months since my last visit. It is not that something happened dramatically. But what had been done within that short period of time was -the implanting of electric poles and the subsequent distribution of electricity in that remote part of Eritrea, forcefully drags the attention of any one to all the things that has changed for good.

Part of the reason that made me get fascinated by such an obvious thing was of course my failure to read what was going right under my eyes. Truly I have failed to record the important social service providing installations that were put on place rapidly after independence. The main reason how-ever has to do with my information about the realities of many African countries that remained independent for more than a quarter or half a cen-tury and are still struggling to provide their people with the most elementary services.

Quite in a lot of instances the Af-rican state has failed to perform the

basic functions it is ought to do; physical protection of its subjects, sustaining law and order, rendering fundamental services such as health, potable water, education and other basics. Sadly in many other instances the African state has turned itself in to a predatory monster by directing its coercive power against some sections of its constituency. Consequently, be-ginning in the last decade of the 20th century many of the social contracts between the African state and society started to unravel. To the dismay of many it seemed as though the state and its institutions where unsustain-able in the African landmass.

And here I found myself face to face with an inspiring and unique African experience that has easily slipped my attention, simply because I happened to be too close to it to take it as anything but phenomenal. Unique because, seen against the backdrop of the rest of African coun-tries, what the Eritrean people has achieved in between the two decades of their independent existence is worth of admiration. The fact is Eri-trea started from scratch; the Govern-ment of Independent Eritrea inherited a shattered economy, empty banks, completely obliterated infrastructure and an impoverished society.

The good story is communities that used to share the same spring water with their animals are now drinking potable water from modern water taps almost in 80% of the eight hundred or more villages around the country. This has not only ensured the preven-tion of waterborne communicable disease, but also freed women from one of the most tiresome domestic tasks- fetching water.

Before independence, there were only 126 health facilities throughout the country. The majority of them were located in urban and semi-urban areas where they could not be easily accessed by the neediest. People used to walk more than half a day to get basic health service even for minor injuries.

The health strategy of Eritrea after independence focused on primary health care, and this was ensured through providing basic health sur-vives at the local level to reach more people at a fraction of the real market fees. Even though Eritrea’s health in-dicators show that they are below the level of some countries that share the name LDCs with it, the pace at which they were scored is incredible.

As the 2008 reports of the Ministry of Health has clearly put, now there are 380 public and private health fa-cilities functioning all over the coun-try. And as I can testify people are walking a mere half an hour to get a medical help in almost all the vil-lages around the place I was born and grew up. Definitely the same is true to many Eritreans living in the rural part of the country.

In testifying to this, Eritrea has scored achievements that earned in-ternational admiration and medals in many aspects of the health service provision. It has achieved a great deal in preventing and controlling the four communicable killer diseases, malar-ia, polio, diarrhea and smallpox. Be-sides, infants’ mortality rate was re-duced from 72 per 1000 live births in 1995 to 48 (EDHS: 2002). Maternal mortality rate was also reduced from 998 per 100000 live births (EDHS: 1995) to 630/100000 as per the CCA of 2004. This is the record of just the first decade of independence. This as a base this figures has definitely changed for good during the last de-cade.

The same goes with education. After independence, the number of schools increased impressively when compared with the colonial period. As a result the enrolment of students in to schools, even in the most re-mote parts of the country was more than the expectation of any observer. It increased dramatically during the subsequent years of independence. As the statistics from the Ministry of Education shows, the enrolment for elementary level students, which was

24.8% of the population, of age 7-11, in 1991/92 increased to 54.6% by the year 2005/06.

This was possible due to the uncon-ditional commitment of the Eritrean government toward a “free for all” education which is visible in the in-vestments the government has made to realize it.

What explains the Eritrean excep-tion is the nature of the state that came to represent the organized inter-est of the Eritrean people. A state that was dedicated on principle to provide its constituency an indivisible justice and led by a government that was committed to the development of the state and society from the onset was at a variance to what the African con-tinent, particularly south to the Sahara has seen so far.

Any serious attempt to test those claims should start by studying the background, political and ideological orientation of the organization that led Eritrea’s armed struggle to inde-pendence victoriously. Regardless of its revolutionary confessions, which apparently morphed from radical Marxism to new leftism, the values and norms the EPLF came to stand for defines the organization more than anything else.

Social Justice, the guiding principle

Eritrea pursued after independence was based on the notion that Justice is indivisible and the fact that every citizen is entitled to an equal and fair share of all the privileges the state can afford to provide. The determination of the EPLF & the PFDJ to protect the unity of the Eritrean society at any cost and the distance they were will-ing to go to safeguard Eritrean sover-eignty are testimonies to the commit-ment they have to these principles.

That said the imperative of orga-nizing the Eritrean society according to ideas and rules that were born of historical experience, and the Eritrean revolution substantiates the choice of social justice as a guiding principle. One can tell on sight that in Eritrea social justice is not an ideological tru-ism employed to sustain the rule of an irresponsible elite, as is in many parts of the world not to mention many African countries, nor is it a necessary political altruism pursued by a privileged few to insulate them-selves from the potential outrage of a marginalized majority disgruntled by the abuse of power. Rather it is a policy and principle the Eritrean peo-ple know well from their experience during the armed struggle. And that is why they will take it nor for altruism neither for a truism.

and security in the Horn of Africa. The mythology that Eritrea is a sup-porter of extremist groups in the Horn of Africa has long been debunked. In fact, Eritrea has been a bulwark against extremism in the region. In Eritrea, major religions co-exist peacefully. Extremism in the name of religion has not gained a foothold. Instead of lending moral support to this country which has shunned fundamentalist religious extremism, we have chosen to give tacit support instead to neighboring countries that do not respect the rights of their own citizens or the sovereign borders of their neighbors.

Eritreans around the world are celebrating the 24th Anniversary of

Independence Day. Eritrea deserves to celebrate. The Eritrean people won their Independence at great cost and sacrifice. Unjust economic sanc-tions, invasion of Eritrea’s borders, and a calculated campaign of media misinformation have been used in an effort to undermine the aspirations of the Eritrean people for self-deter-mination. Despite this, the Eritrean path to self-determination is yielding promising outcomes in education, health care and governance. Just this week, Eritrea is publishing civil and criminal codes reflecting the rule of law structured in a way to reflect the cultural and historical values of its people.

The world is taking notice. Em-

bassies and diplomatic missions from other nations are opening in Asmara, Eritrea. Former detractors of Eritrea in the West and especially the European Union are coming to recognize that the cause of Eritrea is just. Eritrean Independence Day 2015 would be a good time for the United States to join the global com-munity that is forging respectful re-lationships with Eritrea. Herman Co-hen, former United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs stated in 2013 that it is “time to bring Eritrea in from the cold.” It is in fact, the United States that will be ‘left out in the cold’ if it fails to move away from supporting dictatorial regimes in the Horn of Africa while ignoring

the emergence of Eritrea as a sign-post of hope for an Africa that must chart its own post-colonial course.

I am a U.S. citizen born and raised in the Country of Eritrea and an advocate for peace. I work closely with Eritrean communities across the United States. I can testify that the predominant national agenda that defines Eritrea is concern for the well-being of its people along with defense of its Independence.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have. I thank you in advance for your response.

Respectfully submitted, Samuel Mahaffy

Samuel Mahaffy, Ph.D.

An Open Letter To The U.S. Senate In Regard To Eritrea

Freedom Seen Through The Prism Of Social Justice

Disclamer: articles published in this column do not reflect the stance or opinion of the Eritrea Profile newspaper