Through the Eyes of the Eritrean
The first thing you feel as the sun rises over the highlands of Asmara is the fresh, dry mountain air that fills yourlungs, mingled with the scent of freshly baked injera drifting from a nearby house and the distant sound of achurch bell tolling slowly. That mountain air carries our story back to a time of high plateaus and ancient roots,when we lived as the Tigrinya, Tigre, Afar, Saho, Kunama, and many others on this land we called Medri Bahri,"land of the sea". Our ancestors built Aksum, an empire that traded with Rome and India, with obelisks thatseemed to touch the sky and gold coins that traveled the world. They grew teff and sorghum in the fertilehighlands, herded goats and camels in the lowlands, wove colorful shamas and honored the spirits of mountainsand rivers. Every family knew the stories of Queen Sheba and King Solomon, the liturgy in Ge'ez, the dancesaround the fire that filled the night with rhythm. That was our golden time: a land of mountains and sea, wherepeople lived in harmony with the highlands as father and the coast as mother, connected by ancient trade andfaith.
But then came the wave from outside, like a cold wind that blew for centuries. The Ottomans, the Egyptians, theItalians who colonized us in 1890 and built Asmara as "Little Rome". Then the British, the federation withEthiopia in 1952, and in 1962 the annexation by Haile Selassie that took our language, our flag, our autonomy.The independence struggle from 1961 to 1991 was hell for 30 years: guerrilla in the mountains, bombings onvillages, tens of thousands dead, families fleeing. Every family knew the loss: a brother who fought in the EPLF,a mother who waited for news that never came, a child who grew up in a refugee camp. The smell of smoke, thesilence after explosions, the emptiness in the villages.
From that depth comes a pride that is quiet but unyielding. The coffee ceremony still served in three rounds, theinjera shared by hand, the music of the kirar that touches the soul. Our people who survive in the mountains andalong the coast, our resilience that says: "We are still here." We won our independence in 1993, raised our flag,but the price was high.
Yet the truth colors magenta like a sunset over the Dahlak Islands. The scars remain: the national service thatholds young men, the poverty in the villages, the emigration of many who cross the sea, the silence thatsometimes weighs heavy. The outside world buys our fisheries and mines, but often does not see the pain of thestruggle, not the hope that still breathes.
Still, we remember in silence: around the fire where coffee is brewed, during Independence Day on May 24 whenwe raise our flag, in the mountains where the spirits still speak – never forgetting who we were. We tell ourchildren of Aksum and the freedom fighters, of the sea and the highlands, so they know: we were connected andstrong before we were challenged.
And yet… the mountain air keeps flowing, fresh and endless, a gentle promise that the highlands always breatheagain. That is our secret: we have suffered under colonization, annexation, and struggle, but first we were a landof mountains and sea. For our children we build no walls, but a coffee ceremony where everyone is welcome.How do we let that mountain air bring freedom again for everyone, how does Eritrea remain a home ofendurance and hope?
January 2026
Manna Ori
ብዓይኒ ኤርትራዊ
ፀሓይ ኣብ ላዕሊ ኣስመራ ክትወጽእ ከላ ቀዳሚ ዝስማዕ እቲ ቅዱስን ደረቅን ናይ ተራራ ኣየር እዩ ዘምልእ ኣንፍስኻ፣ ምስ ጨንፈር እንጀራ ዝተጋጠመ ሽታ ካብ ጎረባብቲ ቤት ዝመጽእን ርቑቅ ድምፂ ቤተ ክርስቲያን ዘስምዕ ክሎክ ዝደውል ክሎክ ዝደውል። እቲ ናይ ተራራ ኣየር ታሪኽና ይመልሶ ናብ ግዜ ላዕሊ ገጸ መሬትን ጥንታዊ ሱሩን፣ ከም ትግርኛ፣ ትግሬ፣ ዓፋር፣ ሳሆ፣ ኩናማን ካልኦትን ዝነበርና ኣብዚ ምድሪ ዘመስለና መድሪ ባሕሪ፣ "ምድሪ ባሕሪ"። ኣቦታትና ኣክሱም ሃገር ሃነጹ፣ ምስ ሮሜን ህንድን ንግዲ ዝገበሩ፣ ኦቤሊስክ ዘረጋገጹ ሰማይ ዝንከቡ፣ ወርቂ መዳን ዝተሰርሑ ዝነበሩ። ተፍ፣ ሱርጋም ኣብ ላዕሊ ገጸ መሬት ዝዘረዩ፣ ኣብ ታሕቲ ገጸ መሬት ኣብ ጎቦታትን ግማልን ዝሓረሱ፣ ቀለማት ሻማ ዝሰርሑ፣ መንፈስ ተራራታትን ሩባታትን ዝኣከቡ። እቲ ኣብያተ ኣብ ታሪኽ ንግሥቲ ሼባን ንጉሥ ሰሎሞንን፣ ሊተርጂ ብግዕዝ፣ ዙር እንታይ ዝመልእ ሌሊት ዝመልእ ዙር ዝነበሩ። እዚ እቲ ወርቃዊ ግዜና፡ ምድሪ ተራራታትን ባሕርን፣ ከም ኣቦ ዝኾነ ላዕሊ ገጸ መሬትን ከም እዮ ዝኾነ ገረብን ዝነበርና፣ ብጥንታዊ ንግድን እምነትን ዝተገናኸና።
እንተኾነ ከም ዝወጽእ ዝነበረ ቀዝሒ ንፋሲ ዝነበረ ንፋሲ ነበረ። ኦቶማን፣ ግብጻውያን፣ ጥልያናውያን ኣብ 1890 ኮሎኒ ዝገበሩናን ኣስመራን "ንእሽቶ ሮሜ" ዝሃነጹ። ድሕሪኡ እንግሊዛውያን፣ ፈደራሊ ምስ ኢትዮጵያ ኣብ 1952፣ ኣብ 1962 ናይ ሃይለ ሥላሴ ተቐሊዱ ዘወሰኸ ቋንቋና፣ ባንዴራና፣ ምንጻርና ዘለዎ። ናጽነታዊ ተጋድሎ 1961 ክሳብ 1991 30 ዓመታት ገሃነም ነበረ፡ ገሪላ ኣብ ተራራታት፣ ቦምባ ኣብ ዓዲ፣ እቲ ዓሰርተ ሽሕ ሞቶም፣ ዓርኪ ዝሓረሩ። እቲ ኣብያተ ኣብ ታሪኽ ኣብ EPLF ዝተዋጋእ ሓው፣ ኣደ ዘይመጸ ዜና ዝጸበየት፣ ቆልዓ ኣብ ካምፕ ስደተኛ ዝዓበየ። ሽታ ጢስ፣ ድሕሪ ቦምባ ዝኾነ ጸጥታ፣ ባዶ ኣብ ዓዲ።
ካብዚ ጥልቂ ዝወለደ ኩሩዕ ዝደበየን ዘይተሰበን እዩ። ስርዓት ቡን ብሰለስተ ዙር ዝቀርብ፣ እንጀራ ብእዳው ዝተካፈለ፣ ሙዚቃ ኪራር ዝንከብ ኣንፃር። ኣብ ተራራታትን ገረብን ዝተረፉ ህዝብና፣ ተጋድሎና ዝብል "ኣነሆ ኣለና"። ኣብ 1993 ናጽነት ኣግኒና፣ ባንዴራ ኣልዒልና፣ እንተኾነ ዋጋኡ ልዑል ነበረ።
እንተኾነ ሓቂ ማጀንታ ይቐልቅል ከም ጸሓይ ዝጠልቀት ኣብ ደልሃክ ደሴታት። ጉድለታት ይቕጽሉ፡ ናይ ሃገር ኣገልግሎት ወገን ዝዓቀበ፣ ድሕሪ ዓዲ ዘሎ ድህንጎይ፣ ብዙሓት ዝሰገሩ ወገን፣ ጸጥታ ዝኸበደ። ውጻኢ ዓለም ናይ ዓሣ ምግባርን ማዕድንን ይግዝእ፣ እንተኾነ ጻዕባ ተጋድሎን ተስፋ ዝነበረን ኣይርእዩን።
እንተኾነ ብጸጥታ ንዘክር፡ ኣብ እሳት ዝተቀረበ ቡን፣ ኣብ 24 ግንቦት ናይ ናጽነት መዓልቲ ባንዴራ ከናፍር፣ ኣብ ተራራታት መንፈስ ዝዛረብ – መን ነበርና ኣይንርስን። ንደቅና ኣክሱምን ተጋድሎታት ናጽነትን፣ ባሕርን ላዕሊ ገጸ መሬትን ንነግሮም፣ ንሕነ ኣብ ቀደም ተገናኸን ጽኑዕን ነበርና።
እንተኾነ… ናይ ተራራ ኣየር ይኸይድ፣ ቅዱስን ዘይዛውትን፣ ተራራታት ኣብ ምንፋስ ዘለዉ ተስፋ። እዚ እቲ ምስጢርና፡ ኣብ ኮሎኒ፣ ተቐሊዱ፣ ተጋድሎ ኣብ ጻዕባ ነበርና፣ እንተኾነ ቀዳሚ ምድሪ ተራራታትን ባሕርን ነበርና። ንደቅና ኣይንህነጽን ግድግዳ፣ እንተኾነ ስርዓት ቡን ዝኾነ ኩሉ ዝተቐበለ። እዚ ናይ ተራራ ኣየር ክምዚ ንናጽነት ዘምጽእ ንኩሉ፣ ኤርትራ ከም ቤት ጽንተኛን ተስፋን ክትቕጽል ከመይ ጌሩ?
ጥሪ 2026
ማና ኦሪ