No. 32 Wednesday, September 23, 2020 Pages 4

Speci

al Ed

ition

In its 13th commencement, Mendefera School of Assistant Nurses graduated 117 students on 19 September.

During the graduation ceremony, the director of the school, Mr. Bereket Fissehaye, commended the graduates for their contribution in combating the spread of Corona Virus, and called on them to serve the people and Government with diligence.

Coordinator of Schools for Assistant Nurses at the Ministry of Health, Sister Alganesh Teklegergish, on her part stated that the schools of assistant nurses that were established in

Mendefera School of aSSiStant nurSeS

A meeting aimed at strengthening popular participation in the implementation of development programs as well as increasing access to social services is being conducted in various locations of the Gash Barka Region.

At the meetings organized by the Western Command Development Front in Kuluku, Kona, Kerkash, Sosona and Koyta, Mr. Franko Kubaba, Director General of Social Services in the Region called on the public in cooperation with the EDF units to strengthen participation in the construction and renovation of dams, micro-dams, and roads as well as in soil and water conservation activities, and combat desert locust swarm infestation and the corona virus pandemic among others.

Mr. Franko further underlined the significance of reinforcing awareness raising campaigns and increased participation with the objective of strengthening school enrolment, eradicating harmful practices and supporting disadvantaged nationals.

At the meetings, call was made to alleviate challengesencountered in the utilization of social service provision institutions and lack of access tothe institutions.

Similar meetings will be conducted in other sub zones and administrative areas, the report added.

The Ministry of Agriculture branch in Golij sub-zone, Gash Barka Region stated that crops and sesame in the locality are in good condition thanks to this year’s abundant rainfall.

Stating that about 95 thousand hectares of farmland has been cultivated this year in Golij sub-zone, Head of the branch, Mr. Gebrehiwet Beyene, said that starting August the rainy season started with vast coverage across the sub-zone and that most of the crops are in good condition.

Noting that most of the crop being cultivated is sorghum, Mr. Gebrehiwet indicated that the late start of the rainfall had created some concern for sesame cultivation that it is been cultivated in small scale only.

Mr. Gebrehiwet further stated that early preparation and soil and water conservation activities conducted by farmers in coordination with government institutions as well as assistance of machinery particularly tractors have contributed to the success of the efforts.

The report also indicated that anti-pest drags and spraying materials are ready in case of pest infestation and that routine follow up is being conducted.

The desert locust infestation that appeared in Araeta sub-zone, Southern Red Sea Region, has been put under control with minimal damage to crops and vegetation.

Stating that the first appearance of the locust swarm was on 31 August in Bihayta administrative area and stretched to over 4 administrative areas and 6 villages in just few days, Mr. Tesfamariam Berhane, head of seed development in Araeta sub zone said that early preparation, timely and integrated response has significantly contributed in the

deSert locuSt SwarM infeStation

cropS in Golij in Good condition

participation in developMent activitieS

2003 in Gindae, Barentu and Mendeferaare are playing leading role in meeting national health goals by graduating thousands of health professionals.

Sister Alganesh went on to say that this year alone, the three schools have graduated a total of 310 students of which 62% are females.

Dr. Berhane Debru, Acting Director General of Policy, Planning and Human Development at the Ministry of Health, on his part pointed out that Eritrea is working to meet the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, and added that human resources

development is a priority.

In its 17 years of establishment, Mendefera School of Assistant Nurses have graduated a total of 1,434 students.

effort to control the locust swarm.

Noting that mostly cloudy and rainy weather since October has created conducive atmosphere for locusts to lay eggs and hatch, Mr. Tesfamariam stated that effective controlling measures were taken before the locust could fly.

Mr. Habteab Gebreab, administrator of Araeta sub-zone on his part, commending the Ministry of Agriculture, administrations, Eritrean Defense Forces units and local communities for their

contribution called for constant follow up and reinforcement of organizational capacity as the upsurge of desert locust infestation remain critical.

In related news, effort is underway in the Northern Red Sea Region to put under control hatching locusts before they could fly.

Accordingly, effective control measures are being taken to put under control the small roaming bands of desert locust that continue to infest some localities in the Foro and Gelalo sub-zones.

Published Every Saturday & Wednesday

Acting EditorAmanuel Mesfunamme@zena.gov.er

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

E-mail:profile@ zena.gov.er

Advertisement: 12-50-13

Layout

Azmera BerhaneSara Alem

Published Every Saturday & Wednesday

Acting Editor Amanuel Mesfunamme@zena.gov.er

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

E-mail:profile@zena.gov.er

Advertisement: 12-50-13

LayoutAzmera Berhane

Sara Alem

Published Every Saturday & Wednesday

Acting Editor Amanuel Mesfunamme@zena.gov.er

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

E-mail:profile@zena.gov.er

Advertisement: 12-50-13

LayoutAzmera Berhane

Sara Alem

Published Every Wednesday & Saturday

Acting Editor Amanuel Mesfun

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

E-mail:eritreaprofilenews@gmail.comAdvertisement: 12-50-13

LayoutAzmera Berhane

Aida Johar

2 No.32Eritrea Profile, Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Simon Weldemichael

Fueled by climate change and the ever-increasing demands for water, the growing scarcity and variability in water resource has made water conservation a top priority for countries. Although Eritrea is not blessed with abundant water resources, the availability of surface and ground water has increased in recent years because of the government’s considerable efforts and investments.

Water conservation has gained in priority in the development efforts undertaken by the government of Eritrea. In Eritrea, the rainfall tends to be torrential, unpredictable and lasts a short season. The low amount of rain and the absence of rivers that flow throughout the year have made the construction of dams and other means of water conservation techniques a necessity in order to ensure sustainable water supply and food security.

Securing sufficient water is a basic requirement to improve productive economic activities. The small, medium and big dams constructed in the three development zones of the country are expected to meet the country’s present and future needs of water. But as the construction of the dams alone does not meet the development needs of the nation,

Water conservation projects in Eritrea

various development projects -- such as farming, animal husbandry, fishing, solar power installation and electrification of the villages surrounding the dams -- are being carried out around the dams.

Although the purpose of the newly built dams is diverse, the development of agriculture is the major rationale for their construction. The water in dams gives farmers confidence to invest in agriculture and increase the productivity of farms.

For many years the main challenge facing the agriculture sector in Eritrea has been shortage of water due to recurrent droughts and poor water conservation structures. Having realized this from the outset, the government of Eritrea has been implementing strategies to harness the seasonal water flows and direct them to where they are needed.

The government has issued the Interim Poverty Reduction Paper (I-PRSP) that provides an overview of the nature of poverty in Eritrea and the strategy adopted to reduce poverty. The document identified water scarcity as a major constraint to development. To overcome the constraint and achieve the goal of national food security, the government has been demonstrating its commitment to increase the availability of water. The objective is “to augment water storage capacity by constructing water reservoirs, small dams, diversion canals and wells and new irrigation schemes” (Eritrea I-PRSP 2004;30).

After a careful examination of the Millennium Development Goals, world leaders renewed their commitment by adopting the

Sustainable Development Goals with the objective to end poverty and hunger by 2030. This ambitious project has 17 goals aiming at a future that is free from poverty and

hunger. Eritrea is, quietly and without fanfare, engaged in implementing development projects to facilitate growth and empower its people. Concrete measures have been taken in laying the ground for equitable and sustainable development, and water is playing a pivotal role to

end poverty in all its forms and achieve food security and improved nutrition by increasing agricultural productivity. Urbanization and industrialization are also closely

interconnected with the availability of water. Water is a precious resource and a key driver of poverty reduction and sustainable growth.

The life of the majority of the Eritrean population is associated with farming, and poverty is concentrated

in rural areas. Recognizing this and the importance of agriculture to reduce poverty, the Government has made vital intervention to enhance the productive capacity of farmers by launching water conservation projects. Therefore, the effectiveness of the poverty reduction strategy can be measured by what has been done in rural areas.

The various dams that are built across Eritrea are supplying water to many villages. Hundreds of thousands of people living in villages located around Mslam and Teqera dams are a case in point. There is no doubt that the numerous water conservation structures constructed by the government will transform the economic, social and environmental conditions of Eritrea. They will boost the country’s performance in ensuring food security, providing health care and education and overall balanced development.

The construction of dams in remote areas of Eritrea will help the country to address its socio-economic challenges. They will help prevent migration of people to the cities by giving them a higher standard of living in their native areas. As the construction of dams is accompanied by the mechanization of agriculture, the introduction of commercial crops, electrification of villages and the provision of transportation and other social services, many villages are benefitting from the investment in and around the dams and many people are moving to settle in those locations. In short, the dams, which have been constructed and are under construction, are true manifestations of Eritrea’s development strategy guided by social justice and balanced development.

Natnael Yebio W.

Some people think the easiest way to make money quickly is to steal it, and the simplest way to get poor is to get robbed. These individuals apparently kept the fundamentals of Marxism under their pillow for a deeper study of this principle.

It is believed, rather idiotically I might add, that honest people rarely get rich and poverty was after all a

divine virtue. But poverty becomes a problem when it is equated with virtue that guarantees everlasting life. The poor are said to be nearer to God than the rich as if man was created to remain destitute on this planet. The poor will always be in your midst, says the Good Book. Who are these poor people? How do they become poor? Are they predestined to remain poor or are they poor because they wish it?

Medieval Europe gave its blessings to poverty and outright pauperism and out of its magnificent and wealthy cathedrals stepped out professional paupers such as the Franciscan Order who begged for their meals and walked barefoot in this world for a better life in the next. Monasteries became institutions for practicing austerity and self-mortification. Wealth, which was associated with mammon, was to be shunned. Better to be a pauper in

Poverty is not a virtue!

3

heaven than a prince in hell.

It was probably the advent of the Protestant movement in the 16th century that made the shift in thinking. Work was made equal with prayer. That meant that the more you prayed (worked) the richer you got. So wealth became the wages of work and not the wages of sin.

The emergence of the bourgeoisie vice with its adherents was classified

as failures in this life and hereafter.

Have you ever been to the semi-slum areas of Asmara? Look into the defiant eyes of the children there. You can see poverty reflected deep inside, material poverty, but you can also see a wealth of non-material type. It consists of hope against despair, and fortitude in the face of adversity.

These people did not seem to me to have accepted their poverty. They knew something was amiss and they had to do something to remedy the problem. I found those children to be more mature than those who live in downtown Asmara. Even more optimistic.

I think poverty should be defined as the state of being subdued by material and spiritual forces. It comes as a result of giving in to psychological and physical

vicissitudes followed by the feeling of satisfaction in this new mental state where destitution becomes bliss and poverty is accepted as one’s earthly lot.

Poverty and wealth may also be described as states of mind that rise and fall in accordance with the material success or failures of our acquaintances. Your neighbor suddenly buys a new car, and you feel poorer all of a sudden. The same

neighbor gets bankrupt and sells his house, and you feel a bit richer than before.

But, generally s p e a k i n g , poverty is not alien to our culture. We have even institutionalized it by founding monasteries and convents and enshrining it in our folktales, proverbs and songs. The rich are not c o n s i d e r e d s u c c e s s f u l b u s i n e s s m e n but robbers even if they get the money by legal means.

R e l i g i o n and the traditional culture of poverty play a great role in obstructing any sort of positive mental shift. Eritreans are very frugal and prefer to stay lean. A big belly and a strong appetite for food and drinks are frowned upon by society. “Live frugally and remember your God” is the motto. Eating too much makes one forget his Maker so much so that those who get rich all of a sudden have some sort of guilty feelings. That may be one of the reasons why they have churches and mosques built in their names or in the names of their favorite saint in their home villages.

In some ways, those who exalt poverty may be right if by poverty they mean the lack of material things alone.

Diogenes of Sinope preferred

morning sunlight to the might of an

No.32Eritrea Profile, Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Alexander the G r e a t ,

who

w h e n he met the

philosopher opened the conversation with, “I am Alexander the Great’; the philosopher answered, “And I am Diogenes the Cynic.” Alexander then asked him in what way he could serve him. “You can step out of my sunlight,” the philosopher replied. Alexander is said to have been so struck with the Cynic’s confidence that he went away remarking, “If I were not Alexander, I should wish to be Diogenes.”

It seems that some people voluntarily wish for spiritual wealth. The choice to suppress the one in favor of the other is also everybody’s right. Everyone has the right to remain poor (in its mystic sense) if one so wishes.

What is unacceptable, however, is the philosophy that preaches that poverty is a virtue that leads to Nirvana based on the divine assertion that it is easier for a male to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go to heaven.

Poverty should only be a choice not a requirement for righteousness. Because if it is taken as a virtue, it assumes a divine proportion and can, therefore, bring about indolence and fatalism along with it and may cause mankind to sink into a level of mendicancy even lower than that of animals. Nay, animals do not beg, except in zoos and in circumstances created by man’s invention. The most abject of men is the one who sits and begs, says a Parisian seer.

The policy of our Government to narrow the gap between the poor and the rich is very commendable. We, Eritreans, have, among other qualities, this good one that we hate to beg. We are rich mentally and spiritually.

4 No.32Eritrea Profile, Wednesday, September 23, 2020

…..There is Always a WaySurviving a bus accident with her calves missing, Zewdi Oqubayes, a teacher, overcame the challenges caused by the accident and made a courageous decision to keep on pursuing her dream of teaching. Here is a translated version of her brief chat she conducted with the Agezo magazine:

Please, introduce yourself to our readers?

Alright, my name is Zewdi Oqubayes. I was born in 1982. My family was big; I was the sixths child among ten siblings. So, with so many siblings, I had so much fun as a child playing and running all the time. When the time for me to go to school came, my parents were worried that I might hate it. But, actually, I was so excited about going to school and loved my teachers so much. I learned elementary school at my hometown, Eilabered, and then went to Adikeih to attend middle school and finished secondary school at my hometown. As all Eritreans do, I went to Sawa where I sat for my matriculation exam. Based on my grades, I joined the teachers training institute and graduated in 2001. In my early twenties I got my first job as a teacher at Bishuka, a village in Gash Barka region.

How was the process of teaching? Was the reality as you expected it?

When I was training to be a teacher, the courses were so captivating that I couldn’t wait for the days to be in class with students. Also the people of Bishuka welcomed me and the other teachers so warmly, leading me to love my job even more. After being there for three years I was assigned to a village called Mekerka; unfortunately, I could not make it because of an accident.

What kind of an accident?

After I was told about my reassignment I packed everything I had and started my journey to Mekerka by bus. After travelling for some kilometers, the bus started to twirl and everything

began to look blurred. Right then I blacked out. When I gained consciousness the doctors told me that I had been in a coma for three days. I underwent different surgeries but my calves could not be saved, leaving me permanently disabled.

How did you cope with the challenges after the accident?

When I was in hospital most of the visitors, including my family members, constantly refreshed and raised my inner strength. I really felt at ease and did not make a big deal about my situation. However, when I was released from the hospital and got home reality

started to hit me. I fell into a long depression and anxiety over the fact that my mother, Negisti, who put so much effort into raising me, was still taking care of me in her old age. I was weak physically and mentally and so could not go back to work. After going back and forth in that mood for over a year, my relentless mind decided to end the misery and start over. I contacted the prosthetic leg manufacturing company in Keren and started practicing to walk in them. Then I decided to master the art of walking in prosthetic leg to be able to get back to my job. Afraid that I might get hurt again my parents were firmly against my decision. But through a lot

of talking and convincing they agreed. So, in 2007, I went to the last region where I was working as a teacher and informed the authorities I was ready to start working. They accepted my application and I was assigned to work at Selam Elementary School in keren.

How about your private life?

After the accident and becoming disabled, the idea of love, marriage and kids vanished from my mind. I solely focused on work, improving myself and helping out my parents.

Now that I am a mother of four I admire my mother, Negisti, for working hard to raise us.

nEwS

The Ministry of Agriculture branch in Foro sub-zone, Northern Red Sea Region distributed select sorghum seeds to farmers with the objective of boosting agricultural productivity.

Mr. Asmerom Shimondi, head of seed development in the sub-zone, stated that the improved sorghum seeds that have been experimented by agro experts and distributed to farmers have the capacity of enduring drought and other crop diseases and that they are able to collect bumper harvest. He further reminded farmers to report in case of pest infestation and other crop disease occurrences.

Mr. Saleh Ibrahim Kakay, head of economic development in Foro sub-zone, on his part said that the select sorghum seed have been introduced for the last three years and its effectiveness have been practically proven. He also called for its sustainability.

Over 8 thousand 300 hectares of land is been cultivated in Foro sub zone.

iMproved SorGhuM SeedS diStributed to farMerS

milka teklom