http://www.ottawacitizen.com/shoe+freedom+fighter/6428887/story.html
A shoe for a freedom fighter
April 9, 2012
By Miliete Selemon, Ottawa Citizen
One day I went to visit my aunt who lives in a rural area of Eritrea.
I saw a black plastic sandal hanging on the wall of her house. The
shoe was old and the front of it was badly damaged. It was a man's
shoe, probably size 40. I don't know why, but it got my attention. So
I asked my aunt about it. She stared at it and said, "This shoe has a
long story." She spoke almost for three hours.
Twenty years ago my aunt was travelling from Asmara to her village on
foot. Suddenly, she heard an exchange of gunfire in the mountains. It
was a battle between a few Eritrean fighters and thousands of
Ethiopian soldiers. She hid in a cave until the battle was over. Even
though she was used to hearing gunfire, it was very scary for her.
When it became quiet, she started her journey, and on her way, she saw
the Ethiopian soldiers dragging an Eritrean fighter.
He was bleeding and his one shoe had slipped off his foot. She felt
terrible for not being able to help him, but she found the courage to
save his shoe. After two hours, she came back and picked it up. Then
she hung it in her house in memory of all fighters who were killed in
the war at that time.
My aunt does not know the name of the owner of the shoe, but she is
attached to him emotionally and psychologically. Sometimes, she feels
that it is one of her sons' shoes, because three of her sons were
members of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front. She has not seen
them since they joined the movement. Unfortunately, all three of them
were sacrificed during the 30-yearlong war of independence.
Eritrea has seen far more war than peace. Italy colonized it from 1890
to 1941, then Britain from 1941 to 1952. Without the desire of the
Eritrean people, Eritrea was forced to federate with Ethiopia in 1952.
Finally, Ethiopia violated the federation and annexed Eritrea in 1962.
It was a turning point for Eritreans, who started an armed struggle to
set the country free. Until they won their independence in 1991, most
fighters wore plastic sandals.
Those plastic shoes had many benefits in the sweltering heat of the
lowland region. They were inexpensive and allowed air to circulate
around the feet. They were easy to fix when they got torn. They can be
quickly repaired with a small flame to melt the plastic.
A number of poems were written about these shoes. A number of songs
have been sung to describe their incomparable role. Recognizing the
importance of the shida, the government built a huge shoe statue in a
small park of Asmara, the capital city of Eritrea. Made of metal and
five metres long, the statue was built on the occasion of Eritrea's
10th Independence Day to serve as a symbol for all the martyred.
My aunt may not have published the story of the plastic shoe she holds
as a souvenir, but I remember it more than any story I have been told
since my childhood. The same as my aunt, that story is still etched in
my mind. Her memory has become my memory.
Miliete Selemon is a teacher from Eritrea. She came to Canada a year
and half ago with her three children to reunite with her husband who
was forced to flee the country due to his journalistic work. She works
in Toronto as assistant editor of a newspaper for Eritrean Canadians.
She is a participant in The Shoe Project.
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Received on Mon Apr 09 2012 - 08:32:45 EDT
