From: Essey A. (essey001@gmail.com)
Date: Fri Jun 04 2010 - 11:43:58 EDT
Eritreans in Minnesota celebrated Eritrea's 19th anniversary of independence
with unparalleled passion and patriotism. The organizing committee planned
two events to commemorate the day, with a picnic in the day for the whole
family and an unbelievable night of cultural music with an awesome band
consisting of Isaak Simon, Tedros Berhane and MEbrahtu Woldeghiorgis.
The picnic drew close to a thousand participants including adults, children
and invited guests. The day started with the Eritrean tradition of zekre
semaetat (a moment of silence for our fallen heroes); followed by the
national anthem sang by Eritrean children to open the celebration of the
picnic program.
Afterwards, honored guests and Eritrean leaders addressed the participants
in honor of Eritrea's Independence Day. Among the invited guests that took
to the stage were, leaders of the Gambela community who showed their
unwavering support for Eritrea; The office of senator Amy Klobuchar <
http://klobuchar.senate.gov> who congratulated Eritreans on this great day
and voiced her commitment to working for peace in the horn of Africa, and
gubernatorial candidate Matt Entenza <http://entenza.com> who said that if
he was elected governor of Minnesota, he would make May 24th Eritrean day in
Minnesota.
Eritrean religious leaders, community Elders, and ordinary Eritreans also
took to the stage to voice their unwavering support for the Eritrean people,
the government and its unflinching leadership.
The mothers added color to the event by making coffee, Swa, Qolo, and
Hmbasha. They also led a beautiful Tehambele event circling the park. On
this day however, the cooking was done by the men, about a dozen men took to
the grills and cooked various types of food that fed close to a thousand
guests in an all you can eat traditional Eritrean buffet and various other
children food.
The highlight of the day though was the children program of fashion show.
Eritrean youth dressed in cultural dresses highlighted Eritrea’s rich
cultural heritage to decorate the day.
Meanwhile, the MeKete group in Minnesota setup a table at the picnic to
educate everyone on the illegal and unjust sanctions resolution imposed on
Eritrea, and collected signatures in order to reverse this travesty of
justice sponsored by special interest groups in the US and Africa.
At the end, Eritreans in Minnesota sent a clear and loud message of their
steadfastness and undaunted patriotism to their enemies at this pivotal
moment of our history.
The event concluded on a happy note with music, dances and without a single
incident, thanks to all those who participated and worked for the event to
be a success.
Follow link below for pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Kriqre/Eritrean19thIndependenceDayMay292010#
Happy Independence Day to all Eritreans and friends
Glory to our martyrs,
National Holiday Coordinating Committee in Minnesota
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