http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/10/04/slain_nahom_tsehaie_berhane_honoured_by_thousands.html
Slain Eritrean community leader Nahom Berhane honoured by thousands
Thousands of Eritreans gathered to honour the life of young civic leader
Nahom Tsehaie Berhane who was stabbed to death last week.
By: Olivia Carville Staff Reporter, Published on Sat Oct 04 2014
Hundreds of members of Toronto’s Eritrean community chanted in grief for
more than an hour as they honoured the life of slain civic leader Nahom
Tsehaie Berhane on Saturday.
The women, wearing traditional white head scarves, wept during the service.
The men, in black suits, bowed their heads.
Berhane, 34, was stabbed to death as he was walking with friends along
Danforth Ave. near Greenwood Ave., on Sept. 27.
The father of two was well-known in the city’s Eritrean community and the
Medhane Alem Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church, near Dufferin St. and
Eglinton Ave. W., was overflowing with mourners Saturday morning.
Every pew was full, leaving some of Berhane’s closest friends and relatives
sitting on the floor beside his casket during the service. Those who could
not fit into the church watched the ceremony on screens in the basement or
a tent pitched in the backyard.
The mourners chanted in Tigrigna as six red-robed priests circled Berhane’s
decorated casket, swinging incense and praying.
Berhane’s mother, Mebrat Gerezgiher, rocked back and forth, with her head
in her hands. As the chanting drew to a close, she knelt on the ground
beside the casket and draped her arms across it, sobbing.
Berhane was remembered as a “beloved child, brother, friend and mentor.”
“Everybody was touched by his life,” the priest who delivered the sermon
said.
Rick Madonik/Toronto Star
Nahom Berhane was stabbed to death as he was walking with friends along the
Danforth near Greenwood Ave. Sept. 27.
After the service, a crowd of at least one thousand blocked the road
outside the church as they waited for Berhane’s casket to be loaded into
the hearse.
Gerezgiher wailed in Tigrigna.
A woman from the crowd translated her words as: “My son, my son, my son. I
have lost my son. Please help me find my son.”
For the past five years, Berhane had worked as a health promoter at Access
Alliance, helping individuals and families across the city.
Amanuel Melles, president of the Eritrean Canadian Community Centre and the
Couchiching Institute on Public Affairs, told the Star Berhane was “a
connector, a navigator, a civic leader and a youth mentor.”
The large number of mourners who attended the funeral “speaks to who he
was,” he said.
Family and friends were still waiting to find out exactly what had happened
on the night Berhane died, Melles said.
Police allege Berhane was stabbed following an altercation with another
man, who fled when confronted by Berhane’s friends. Osama Abdulaziz Filli,
23, has been charged with second-degree murder.
Berhane, who was born in Eritrea, came to Canada on his 10th birthday and
grew up in the east end with an older brother and two younger sisters. He
attended the University of Windsor, where he became the Eritrean Students
Association president.
Berhane graduated in 2005 with majors in communications and sociology and
then went on to graduate from United Way Toronto’s CITY Leaders program.
“Nahom dedicated his life as a youth worker, city leader and most recently
a health promoter at Access Alliance,” the funeral service sheet read.
“He was a charismatic leader and role model amongst his peers and family.”
With files from Jacques Gallant
Received on Sun Oct 05 2014 - 16:03:45 EDT