I am writing this to plead with you to issue a declaration through
newspapers, radio, and television asking all E.P.L.F. fighters who
were in the base area and behind enemy lines (from private fighters
to commanders) to write at least one comprehensive book about the
liberation struggle immediately. Each Keyih Embaba and Hafash Wudub
should also write a book.
If there are, let's say, 60,000 E.P.L.F. fighters alive, each one of
them should write a book about the liberation struggle. Even 60,000
books of the Eritrean struggle for independence is only a spoonful of
water from the oceans. It is very very very sad and concerning that
many fighters with rich experiences and memories are passing away.
For those who have been martyred, their family members should write
everything they told them about the struggle before they passed away.
For those who are still alive, praise to be to God, this is their
best chance to carve the incomparable, unprecedented, rich, and
glorious Eritrean revolution for eternity. Tegadelti, Keyahti Embaba,
and Hafash Wudubat should write everything without leaving a single
thing. They should write everything that is in their memory.
Everything that happened to them and everything that they heard
happened to others should be written. To help them rekindle their
memories, they could get together with their comrades regularly and
talk about their past experiences.
Every human being has the ability to tell their stories/experiences
to other people in conversations, and therefore, by that same logic,
anyone can write a book, especially about things that actually
happened. That is, anyone can at least report and document facts. The
fighters don't need to worry about embellishing their writings or
using literary devices. Eritrean history is not about wishy-washy
literary fiction. They also don't have to worry about the order of
incidences. Let them write whatever comes to their mind. They could
also use tape recorders and camcorders to record their memories.
Nothing should be left; they should write even about a bee-sting
incidence.
The people and government of Eritrea should cover the cost of
publishing the books. The government could increase the income tax
by, let's say, 5% for a specific time to help fund the publishing
costs. The diaspora communities could also be asked to help fund the
publishing of the books. I, for one, am ready to give whatever it
takes to document and preserve the Eritrean revolution. To help lower
the costs of publishing, the number of copies each fighter is allowed
to publish could be limited for now.
Soft copies of the books could also be made available on online
outlets such as Amazon, iTunes, and Barnes & Noble. One copy from
each book could be kept with the Research and Documentation Center of
Eritrea.
I have included a sample pamphlet below to help the fighters start
the writing process.
Zel'alemawi Zkhri Nswu'atna!
Awet Nhafash!
Ermias Tewelde
distribute pamphlets containing instructions/leads. The pamphlet
could look like this:
Dear E.P.L.F. fighters, here are a few starting points to help you
begin writing. Write as much as possible without leaving any detail
about the following and any other areas/aspects not mentioned below.
Since the list is not exhaustive, the areas are in no particular order.
1. Your national, patriotic fervour before you joined the struggle.
2. How you joined the struggle.
3. Your impressions of the E.P.L.F. fighters when you saw them for
the first time in person.
3. The training camp.
4. Your first days as a new E.P.L.F. fighter.
5. Your impressions about the fighters in the forefront.
6. The food, the water, their type and quality, how often you ate and
drank, how you cooked and fetched water, the jokes about "migibina",
and any vomit, diarrhea, and constipation jokes/stories.
7. The clothes (uniforms, linens) and the shoes (shida). How you made
them, washed them, and repaired them.
8. Shower: How you took shower, how often, where, any incidence you
remember.
9. Shelters: How you dug the trenches, how you constructed them, the
sweat you had to break, the exhaustion and pain you had to endure
fetching the huge tree logs from very far and treacherous terrain.
How you dug into/bored igneous mountains for tens of kilometers for
hospitals, weapons depot, and other important facilities and offices.
10. The elements: Hunger, thirst, cold, heat, wind, rain, dirt, wild
animals, .... How you felt and endured the elements.
11. Jokes: All the jokes you remember that happened in the trenches,
the base area, and behind enemy lines. All the jokes you witnessed
and you heard happened somewhere else.
12. The relationship you had with each other. The camaraderie
(bitsaynet), love, care, .... The relationships between the private
fighters, between the private fighters and the commanders, and
between the commanders. Who the private fighters were and their
characters. Who the commanders were and their characters. How every
private fighter was a qualified commander ready to take
responsibility if called upon. How the commanders lead by example.
All stories you know. The romantic relationships (zimdina). Your
story and others' stories. How unofficial relationships were not
approved of, how the relationships were made official, how those in
zimdina visited each other.
13. The heroic deeds in the trenches and in operations. Write
everything you witnessed and heard about. They could be stories that
happened in other places/units or that happened before you joined the
struggle.
14. Political, cultural, and economic education. What they were,
where you took them, how you took them, who taught them.
15. Self-criticism and criticism. All your experiences and all the
stories you know of.
16. Entertainments: Sports, bahli, guayla, .
17. The civilians that were in your vicinity, their patriotic zeal,
how they helped you, their heroic deeds you witnessed or heard about,
how they joined the struggle (their transition), .
18. Medical service: Your experience with the foot doctors, the
hospitals, and the nurses and doctors there. Your stories and the
stories you know.
19. If you were one of the foot doctors, nurses, or doctors, how you
were trained, how you built the facilities, the difficulties you
faced, and treated the patients, to name a few. It is your special
responsibility to tell the story of your area of specialty.
20. Similarly, if you were in Handesa, Emdad, Kebid Bret, Jemahir,
Bahli, Sileya, Commando, Mogua'azia, Dimtsi Hafash, Ma'ekelay
Committee, or in the other departments, it is your special
responsibility to tell the story of your department because no other
fighter knows your department better than you.
21. Igri Gu'ezo: How often you trekked, for how long you travelled in
terms of the whole journey or the number of hours you travelled in a
day, how fast was the pace, the difficulty and elements you endured,
from where to where you went, was it for operation?
.
.
.
n. Independence: Where were you in the weeks and days leading up to
May 24, 1991? Where were you on May 24, 1991? Your feelings and
celebrations, your impression of the civilians celebrating. How were
the days, weeks, and months that followed the independence day.
Remember again, the list goes on and on. This is just to get you
started. Think about all other areas of the revolution and write the
Eritrean history like it deserves.
Please tell your fellow fighters who have not heard about this and
give them a copy of this pamphlet. Spread the word. Keep writing even
after you publish a book if you remember things that were not
published with your previous book(s). Recording the Eritrean
revolution is fulfilling our martyrs' wishes.
Received on Sat May 18 2013 - 13:30:52 EDT
