ADI
AWISHA
CRF Project:
construction of a bridge.
Village:
Adi Awisha.
Awaraja:
Hamasien.
District:
Seharti.
Population:321
residing families for a total of 1,022 inhabitants.
Ethnical composition:
Tigrygna.
Religious influences:
Christian-Coptic.
Position: the village is about 11 km away from Asmara and it
is situated on the left side of the road carrying to Decamehare. Situated
on a hill, it is separated from the road by a deep escarpment.
CRF intervention:
At the end of May 1994 , the construction of the bridge's reinforced
concrete works results to be finished. However, still to be completed,
is the filling of the bridge's arches.
Hydric resources:
Water is perennial and abundant all the year.
Economical activities:
- Agriculture: the sown products are barley, wheat, taff, sorghum
and legumes. The soil's property system is the Dessa.
The number of Tsimdi assigned to each family depends on the number
of the family's components. Moreover greens are cultivated
in areas called giardino, situated in the proximity of
the irrigation basin. Three owners use pumps. The principle of Wereda,
that is the periodical rotation of the soils, is not applied to the
property of the giardini.
- Livestock breeding: due to the drought, the number of families possessing
oxen has decreased; at least 200 families state that they do
not own oxen for ploughing.
Health Services:
In the village a medical post is present to which the village's inhabitants
refer to.
Education:
The school service reaches the V grade. The students, of provenance
of two neighbouring villages, are 270. The school is unprovided with
equipment such as desks and benches; the teachers on duty are 6.
New comers:
Of numerical insignificance are the families returned from Sudan.
Transportations:
Some private motor vehicles are present.
Market:
The nearest market is at Asmara.
Alimentary aids:
Problems:
Presence of locusts and parasites which damaged the harvest.
Advanced proposals:
- Agricultural assistance.
ADI BIDEL
CRF project: rehabilitation and enlargement of an elementary
school.
Village: Adi Bidel.
Awaraja: Hamasien.
District: Tzahda Christian.
Population; the resident families are 380, for a total of 2,480
inhabitants. Native of the village, 120 families reside in Asmara.
Ethnical composition: Tigrygna.
Religious influences: Christian-Coptic.
Position:
At the end of 1993, the construction works of a large church in the
village were terminated. Already proposed by the village 25 years ago,
the building of the church was deferred because it was retained too
large by the population. The works, hence only recently started, in
financial terms have greatly engaged the population: it is indeed declared
that the contribute by the residents (gathered in the form of animals,
currency, cereals, etc.) has been equivalent 150,000 Birr.
In 1993 as well a mill has been built in the village: for workmanship
10 masons of the village have been employed, whose work has been lent
gratuituosly, that is, in Mahatot. With this system of collective
work, during the last years 30 new houses have been built, as well as
a dwelling for a fighter returned to the village; with Mahatot also
the road leading to the village has been repaired and the fields of
some families who lost their members during the war have been ploughed,
as well as also 80 Tsimdi of property of the school have been
worked out.
CRF intervention:
Initially the intervention anticipated by the CRF concerned the construction
of a new edifice to be used as elementary school and the rehabilitation
of a nearby edifice built about forty years ago. Such rehabilitation
foresaw the partial demolition of the surrounding walls, damaged by
deep cracks. However, in the course of the works, it has been deemed
more suitable to completely demolish such edifice and to build it anew
from the foundations. During the survey carried out on 22 April 1994,
the good proceeding of the works, whose conclusion is foreseen for the
end of May, has been verified. However this term will not be liable
to be respected also because of the delays in the forwarding of the
building materials.
The population's contribution, amounting to 31,000 Birr, has been
advanced by some traders, natives of the village, but residing in Asmara.
This amount, already deposited in the bank at the beginning of December
1993, will have to be paid back by the families residing in the village.
It is calculated that on the average each family should pay 100 Birr.
Hydric resources
A single well is present in the village, supplied with a hand-operated
pump. The water, usually not sufficient, exausts itself in May. The
animal's watering site instead is two hours walk away from the village.
Economical activities
- Agriculture: no problem of land scarcity is lamented, neither for
agricultural nor for pastures' use. If manured, before May's rains,
the land is considered fertile. The land property is based on the Dessa
system: the land rotation among the families takes place every seven
years.
Livestock breeding: most of the inhabitants do not own oxen: for ploughing,
they recur to renting them in exchange for the harvest's part agreed
upon, or they are freely borrowed during the holidays. The pastures'
land is in the village's neighbourhood. There is not the habit of transhumance
to the lowlands.
Health services
The nearest clinic is at Tzahda Christian, that is 20 km far
off. No traditional medical doctors operate in the village.
Education
243 students, among which 113 females, attend the school lessons in
the village . The professors are eight. The desks are 18: hence the
rest of the students seat on rocks. The didactic material too is not
sufficient: a school text is utilized by four students.
The boys who cannot frequent the lessons for want of school halls
are 275, taking into account the inhabitants of the nearby zones.
New comers:
At the beginning
of 1994, about 10 person returned from Sudan.
Transportations:
Alimentary aids:
Market:
Some shops exist
in the village. However the principal market is in Asmara.
Problems:
Insufficiency of
the hydric availability,
Advanced proposals:
Digging of new wells.
DERESENAI
CRF project:
rehabilitation and enlargement of the elementary school.
Village:
Deresenai.
Awraja: Hamasien.
District:
Magarca.
Population: according to a 1991 census, the families residing
in the district and in the neighbourhood are 218.
Ethnical composition:
Tigrygna.
Religious influences:
Christian-Coptic.
During the independence war the village was a training seat of the
EPLF militants; due to this it has been levelled down. Also, because
of the recruiting of conscripts, the juvenile population of Deresenai
is extremely exiguous. Relatively numerous are the individuals who settled,
during the war, in the Barka region, where traditionally the seasonal
livestock's transhumance is practiced.
CRF intervention:
The works for a school edifice composed of two halls were started
in 1992, however, due to lack of funds, the works for the new school
have been interrupted before completing the supplying of windows, doors,
and the laying down of the floor. For the new school's construction
the village's community took charge of the expenses' weight: in accordance
to the financial possibilities, each family contributed from 30 to 40
Birr. The costs sustained in 1993 are the following: 10,000 Birr for
the galvanized sheet iron covering and for the cement; 5,500 Birr for
workmanship; 3,500 Birr for the chiseler' service. Hence, due to these
recently sustained expenses, the community declares itself in difficulty
for the completion of the above mentioned school.
On 7 April 1994 the construction works of the two edifices foreseen
in the ambit of the C.R.F. program have been started.
On May 6th, date of the visit, a slowing down of the works has been
noticed due to the delay in the forwarding of the building materials.
Besides 7 masons of the contracting firm, many workers recruited in
the village lend their service.
The community's contribution, besides having been paid down as currency,
has been calculated in accordance to the collected material (205 m3
of rocks and 61 m3 of sand).
Hydric resources:
A well dug four years ago is present, with sufficient water for the
whole year.
Economical activities:
- Agriculture: the soil has been declared as not being very fertile,
and more suitable for pasture. The cultivated products are mainly maize,
barley, various legumes and snap beans. Although the land property system
is the Dessa, the last rotation of the soils among the population
goes back to around twenty years ago. Each family on the average has
an availability of three tsimdi, situated in two different zones.
- Cattle breeding: the families not owning animals are numerous. There
are, altogether, 30 oxen in the village. The greatest number of animals
owned by the village's most wealthy individual is of about 10 cows and
30 goats. During the rainy season (from July to September), transhumance
of the livestock to Gula', in the Barka region, is practiced.
Health services:
For the simpler interventions, recourse is made to the nearest medical
post, which is at Addi-Namen, 10 km away.
Education:
The imparted school education covers the IV grade. The students are
320 of which at least about eighty above fourteen years of age. Most
of them come from 5 neighbouring villages, the further away of which
(Mitrat) is at about two hours walk. The eight teachers on duty come
from Asmara. The school is made up of four halls. The spoiled roof is
not waterproof and hence needing repairing works. The didactic material
is insufficient (on the average a book for two pupils is utilized) and
there are no desks.
New comers:
About 5 families, coming from Sudan, returned to the village in 1993.
Their dwellings having been levelled down, the new comers are actually
guests of relatives.
Collective works:
Through the constitution of several Maharot (collective works),
ultimately 100 dwellings have been built.
Transportations:
The village is not linked to any major centre by any transportation
means, either public or private. For medical urgencies, the patients
are carried on shoulders.
Alimentary aids:
Their distribution is not regular: the last alimentary aids go back
to January 1994, while the previous to September 1993.
Market:
Only a small shop exists in the village, where sugar, coffee and tea
are available. A better supplied market is at Ate Klesa (at a distance
of about 20 km away) and at Magarca (25 km). For livestock's buying
and selling, as well as not-daily consume commodities and clothing,
the most important commercial site is in Asmara. On the average, a family's
leader betakes himself thereto about five times yearly.
Problems:
- Impassable road,
especially during the rainy season.
- Lack of an Health
Centre.
- Scarcity of young
people.
- High presence
of parasites attacking the cultivations.
- Lack of alimentary
commodities.
- Inadequacy of
the school edifices, as related to the number of the students.
Advanced proposals:
- Construction of
a dam which should allow the irrigation of 100 tsimdi.
- Promotion of a
reforestation project.
LIBAN
CRF project:
rehabilitation of a well.
Village:
Liban.
Awaraja:
Hamasien.
District:
Population: 979 families, taking into consideration the 7 agglomerates
depending on Liban.
Ethnical composition:
Tigrygna.
Religious influences:
Christian-Coptic.
Position:
Liban is at a distance of 38 km from Asmara.
About 50 years ago, following a migration toward the lowland of some
of Liban's inhabitants, an homonymous village was founded in the Barka
region. Such migration came about from the research of more fertile
pastures. Around Liban situated in the Barka, two more villages gravitate.
Notwithstanding that it is in another region, it falls under the Hamasien's
administration. At the beginning of May 1994 in the village of Hamasien
the building of many dwellings was started; the works, which for the
time being concern 50 houses, should notably extend (a Baito's representative
affirms that 1,200 houses will be built in the proximal future), as
the settlement in the village of younger inhabitants who actually reside
in the neighbouring areas and in the Barka region is expected. Hence
given the noticeable increase of the population, the actual hydric availability
is insufficient.
Hydric resources:
There are two wells, each 20 m deep, drawing in the same water creek.
CRF intervention:
A hand-operated water pump has been supplied to one of the wells in
the first week of March, since the one previously installed was not
utilizable. The second well, instead, will not be supplied with any
pump: the intervention will limit itself to occlude its opening with
a cement platform.
In the same period, from the Water Resource, two excavations have
been carried out in lower zones of the village, that is, where the rain
waters unite, so as to augment the village's hydric availability. However
the results have been negative, as no water has been found notwithstanding
that depths of respectively 36 and 38 m have been reached. The population's
financial contribute amounts to 4,000 Birr. Initially deposited in the
bank, this amount has successively been utilized for the payment of
the rocks' transportation (40 trips), now piled up in the vicinity of
the two wells (this is the situation so as it appears at 21 April 1994).
Economical activities:
- Agriculture: due to the hills surrounding the village, a scarcity
of soils suitable for agriculture is lamented. Taking into account also
the Barka's Liban, it is referred that many are the individuals deprived
of land. They belong principally to the category of young people and
of the ex-fighters. The sown cereals are sorghum, maize, wheat, barley
and taff. Also some leguminous plants are cultivated (beans and chickpeas)
, flax and the neghig oily seeds. The land property is based
on the Dessa system: generally, 5 tsimdi are allotted
to each family.
- Livestock breeding: due to the territory's characteristics, scarce
is also the pasture's land. Due to the recent droughts, it is stated
that not even a fourth of the inhabitants owns any oxen to plough the
land.
Health services:
No medical service is existing in the village. The nearest clinic
is at Himbirti, at a distance of 7 km.
Education:
The imparted school education covers the VI grade. The students are
460. The professors are 11, of which 4 coming from Asmara. Recently,
two additional halls have been added to the already existing school
composed of 5 halls, built thanks to the funds sent by a village's emigrant
resident abroad. The boys attending this school pay a monthly installment
of 3 Birr with which the salary of a teacher, native of Liban, is assured.
New comers:
Following Eritrea's independence, the families returned from Sudan
and above all from Tigray are about thirty.
Transportations:
Since June 1993 a daily transportation service between the village
and Asmara has been established: the cost to cover this route is of
4.30 Birr. Notwithstanding the annual maintenance given to the road
by the population, it becomes rather damaged following each rainy season
.
Alimentary aids:
There have been two distributions of cereals in 1994: the first in
March, while the second in May.
Problems:
- Scantiness of alimentary aids.
- A high rate of
juvenile unemployment.
Advanced proposals:
- To launch projects, such as reforestation and diversion terraces,
utilizing the "food for work" formula.
- Development of
the agriculture through the construction of small dams.
TA'ARESHI
CRF project:
construction of an elementary school.
Village:
Ta'areshi.
Awraja: Hamasien.
District:
Dembezan.
Population: the resident families are 295, totalling about
900 individuals. About 200 natives reside in Asmara.
Ethnical composition:
Tigrygna.
Religious influences:
Christian-Coptic.
Position:
CRF intervention:
During September 1993 the village's inhabitants initiated the enlarging
works of a previously built edifice used as a school. However this works
halted around December 1993 for the opportunity offered by the CRF to
contribute to the construction of a larger edifice. The population's
contribution, amounting to about 29,000 Birr, has been anticipated by
seven natives of the village residing in Asmara. The paid quota will
be reimbursed by the village's families, calculating around 70 Birr
per family. Besides the monetary contribution, the population pledged
for the gathering of 200 m3 of rocks and 61 m3 of
sand.
The works for the construction of the foundations of the two edifices
to be used as a school were begun on 28 April 1994, date of the last
survey. A delay in the forwarding of the building materials is lamented
by the masons of the contracting firm.
Hydric resources:
The available water is gathered into two basins to which indistinctly
men and animals get their supply.
Economical activities:
- Agriculture: regardless of the members' number, each family owns
three cultivated plots of land and cereals (Zrati) measuring
two Tsimdi. Besides these plots, each family cultivates a giardino
where agriculture under irrigation is performed.
There tomatoes, potatoes, onions and various greens are sown. For
the fields and the cereals the Dessa system is in force. Every
seven years rotation, or wereda, of the diverse plats among the
inhabitants, is resorted to.
- Cattle breeding: according to the 1986 census in the village there
are 700 goats, 80 oxen, and about 30 cows. The village's wealthiest
individual owns 20 cows and 3 oxen. In the two summertime months, the
village's inhabitants transfer themselves to the eastern declivities,
namely in the Semhar, in the demesne area called Bahari, in search
of good pastures. In the Bahari zone about 50 Ta'hareshi
families possess a plat of one Tsimdi cultivated only with maize.
Health services:
The nearest health post is at Shemanegus Teclai, at about one
and half hour walk away. Four villages, with a population of about 2,000
families, refer to this centre. For grave cases the population betakes
itself to Asmara.
Education:
The school service includes the IV grade of education. The attending
students are 190, of which 116 males and 74 females. The professors
are five. On the average, each text-book is utilized by two students.
In the school there are no desks or benches. For want of an edifice,
it is reported that 49 students are not set in the condition to attend
the lessons.
New comers:
During the last year about 30 individuals returned from the Barka
region. Instead in 1992 about 20 families returned from Sudan.
Transportations:
Alimentary aids:
The last distribution
goes back to September 1993.
Market:
Problems:
- Presence of rats which damage the crops (it is necessary to sow
three times) and consequently reduce the quantity of cereals stored
in the dwellings.
- Lack of an health service.
- Insufficiency of the hydric availability.
ADI-SHUMA
CRF project: construction of an health centre.
Village: Adi Shuma.
Awraja: Semhar.
District: Gahtelay.
Population: actually there are about 60 resident families,
but two hundred more are spread upon the neighbouring territory. They
might settle in the village during the rainy season.
Ethnical composition: Tigre'; the main tribe is constituted
by the Ashuma.
Religious influences: Moslem.
Position:
Before January 1994, the village was at about 5 km from where it will
actually develop itself. The new location has been chosen on the basis
of the following motives:
a) Proximity to the main road, which will be built between the village
and the Massawa-Asmara roadway.
b) Proximity to the springs of mineral water.
c) Proximity to the agricultural scheme of the Ministry of Agriculture,
actually under construction. While in the past an existence of a semi-nomadic
type was practiced, for the motives above exposed and so as to enjoy
the health and school services, the population is leaning towards a
sort of more sedentary life. Instead of the typical round Tigre',
to the extent compatible with the economical availability, in the village
rectangular dwellings with a wooden frame are being built.
CRF intervention:
At the beginning of January 1994 the construction works were not yet
started.
Hydric resources:
Thermal water, outflowing at an hour walk's away from the village,
is abundant.
Economical activities:
- Agriculture: generally the sown cultivation is maize, however for
the past years a very scanty harvest has been declared due to the scarcity
of rains. At the beginning of 1994, in a plain not too far away from
the village, the Ministry of Agriculture has given way to the construction
of an agricultural scheme. Such area's irrigation is foreseen by utilizing
the water gathered by a dam whose construction is under way. At the
end of the works each inhabitant of the Adi Shuma village, as
well as the population of other five Tigre' villages nearby,
will receive a parcel from within the agricultural scheme. For the construction
of the banks of the scheme and of the dam, the Adi Shuma inhabitants
lend their work in accordance with the formula "food for work". Instead,
the soil's ploughing and cleansing from rocks and shrubs activities
are freely carried out by the community.
- Livestock breeding: on the average each family owns 20 cows. Traditionally,
at the beginning of October, livestock's transhumance is practiced toward
the Senhit highlands.
- Artisanship: ceramic pots and colored mats are manufactured by women;
also practiced is hides' tanning.
Health services:
The nearest clinic is at Gahtelay.
Education:
No school is present in the village.
New comers:
Numerically insignificant
the families of refugees.
Transportations:
The village is not linked to the important centres by any means of
transportation, either private or public.
Market:
The nearest market is at Gahtelay.
Problems:
- High frequency of diseases, such as malaria, and of deceases due
to sun strokes, snakes and scorpions' bites. Relatively high as well
are also deaths due to postpartum hemorhages.
- Communication difficulties.
Advanced proposals:
- Construction of a mosque.
- Construction of a medical post.
FORO
CRF project:
construction of an Health Centre.
Village:
Foro.
Awraja: Semhar.
District:
Zula.
Population:
318 resident families for a total of 1,050 individuals.
Ethnical composition: in accordance with a decreasing order,
the existent ethnic groups are the following: Tigre', Saho, Tigrygna,
Afar.
Religious influences:
Moslem and Christian-Coptic.
Position:
The village has been administered for 15 years by the EPLF. Flourishing
in the past the illegal trade with the arabian coast, lately its market
was less lively, due to the recent custom's restrictions. However, a
high standard of life of the population is noticed above all for the
presence of numerous traders. Frequent also the remittances of natives
actually resident in Saudi Arabia.
CRF intervention:
During the visit of 13 January 1994 the construction works of the
Health Centre were not yet begun, nor had the forwarding of the building
materials commenced.
Hydric resources:
The population satisfies its own hydric requirements by utilizing
the water coming from two wells dug during the italian colonial period.
These wells are connected to the town through a pipeline network which
needs maintenance.
Economical activities:
- Agriculture: the cultivated products are: maize, three qualities
of sorghum, water melons, taff, cotton, peanuts, tomatoes, okra,
pepper. The soil's measuring standard is the hectare. The land property
still follows the standards introduced by the italians, that is, it
is based on the granting of concessions. Numerous are the families resident
in Foro possessing property land, based on the resti property
system, in the bordering region of the Akele Guzai.
Livestock breeding: every family owns at least one oxen. During
the summer, transhumance of the herds to the highlands of the Akele
Guzai, as far as Hosomo, takes place.
- Commerce: flourishing with Asmara and Massawa. Overall during the
past years, Foro was the distribution centre of the commodities
coming from Saudi Arabia and directed to Eritrea's most important centres.
- Artisanship: introduced by the EPLF, embroidery and tailoring courses.
Nowadays those activities have been lost due to the lack of equipment.
Numerous, instead, are the tailor shops remained in the village, exclusively
of male competence.
- Fishing: it is not practiced. Although fish is appreciated, above
all by the Afar people, in the village transportation means linking
with the coast are lacking. Although fishing is indeed practiced in
the nearby Zula, on the way until Foro the fished stuff
deteriorates. Some fishermen of Zula as well sell their fishing's
products in the village, but frequently during its transportation
it deteriorates.
Health services:
For the Health Service recently an edifice of two rooms has been built,
which however, with the forthcoming construction of an Health Centre,
will be used as pharmacy or as a dwelling for the medical personnel.
In the village actually operate one medical doctor and two nurses.
Education:
At the beginning of January 1994, the building of a school edifice
due to reach the IV grade of education, was under way.
New Comers:
Transportations:
Alimentary aids:
Market:
In the village there are at least about 30 shops.
Problems:
- Burial of the vast basin of the dam built during the italian period
( ?? *** nota traduttore: la diga di Foro e' stata costruita
dall'impresa Costa [ 1959/60 ] durante il periodo imperiale etiopico
***).
- Difficulties in the connections with Massawa.
Proposals:
- Rehabilitation of the road linking with Massawa.
- To carry on the maintenance work to the dam and to the conduits
of the potable water.
WEDDI - ILO
CRF project:
construction of an elementary school.
Village:
Weddi-ilo.
Awraja: Semhar.
District: Wekiro.
Population: it is maintained that 3,700 families live in the
village. However, this number does not appear to correspond to what
visibly appears; it probably is inclusive of the Rashaida dislocated
in other areas.
Ethnical composition: Rashaida.
Religious influences: Moslem.
Position:
The village constituted itself as from the referendum's date. Before
then, the Rashaida lived as nomads along the Eritrean coast. So as to
be enabled to enjoy the primary services, such as education and health,
it is referred that the authorization has been requested to the eritrean
Authorities in order to lay the village's foundations. This area's choice
derives from its "belonging to the Rashaida people since the
times of the italians".
A village's expansion is expected, brought about by the returning
of many Rashaida now scattered both in the north as well as in
the south (up to Foro) of Massawa and its periphery as well.
The private dwellings are made of the typical Rashaida tents:
that is, the covering is made up of woollen blankets or of cotton-quilted
materials. The shops, instead, of a rectangular form, are made up of
wooden planks.
CRF intervention:
The works for the construction of the edifice to be used as school
started in April 1994.
Hydric resources:
A single well, 26 metres deep, is present in the village; supporting
both human as well as animal needs, it is not considered as sufficient.
Economical activities:
- Agriculture: each family cultivates lots of different dimensions.
The soil's measuring unit is called Nocus, and it is corresponding
to one half Tsimdi. The maximum extension of a family's land
property corresponds to 10 Nocus, while the least is of 2 Nocus.
- Livestock breeding: the owned animals are sheep, goats and camels.
- Commerce: quite alive the trade of commodities with Saudi Arabia
and Sudan, through Eritrea. The acquisition of goats from the Barka
region which are re-sold in Saudi Arabia, is performed.
- Artisanship: along with the female artisanship, limited to the manufacturing
of mats, in the village there are two tailor shops.
Health services:
No ambulatory exists in the village. The nearest medical post is at
Wekiro, at a distance of 6 km from the village.
Education:
In the village the inhabitants have built three rectangular huts,
where three teachers lend their service. The students are about 270,
but 600 more would be of school age if there existed an adequate edifice.
New comers:
No individuals of
diverse ethnic groups than the Rashaida are present.
Transportations:
Some pick-up vehicles
of private property are present in the village.
Alimentary aids:
Market:
In the village there are some shops supplied with alimentary and voluptuary
commodities.
Problems:
- Insufficiency
of the hydric availability.
- Lack of a clinic.
Advanced proposals:
Construction of
dams, which creating basins, might increase the agriculture.
KENCHUWA
CRF Project:
construction of an Health Centre.
Village:
Kenchuwa.
Awraja: Sahel.
District:
Population:
the families residing in the village and in the neighbourhood are about
500.
Ethnical composition: Tigre'; main tribes: Asfada', Almada',
Nabab, Gurita, Dagher, Bet at Sheik, Assaorta, Bet Assegheda.
Religious influences: Moslem.
Location: the village is situated in a vast valley, at about
............... km from Kub Kub, on the road stretch Afabet-Nakfa.
The Kenchuwa settlement, even if referred to as to the Turks' epoch,
is presumed to have acquired its actual configuration only recently:
indeed, if the structures used as school and for the administration'
seat, whose building goes back to the past year are excluded, in the
area no other masonry edifices are existing. All the dwellings are made
up of the typical tigre' tents. Badly hit by the ethiopians in 1967,
the Kenchuwa's population dispersed itself in the neigborhood and only
recently a centripetal tendency has been observed. The motives which
induce to concentrate in a more populous agglomerate are to be found
in the desire to enjoy the sanitary and school services and the alimentary
aids as well.
CRF intervention:
The works for the rocks' gathering have started on May 10, 1994.
The population's contribute amounts to about 25,000 Birr, 14,000 of
which have already been paid down.
Hydric resources:
A well of a depth of about 4 metres is extant, with sweet and abundant
water. For its own hydric needs, the population also betakes itself
to a river not far away from the village.
Economical activities:
- Agriculture: two types of agriculture are practiced: dry and under
irrigation; the last mentioned avails itself of small traditional dams
(agm). While the standard for measuring the soil under irrigation
is the feddam, for the dry cultivation it is measured with the
traditional system named salloka. The products principally cultivated
are taff, sorghum, water-melons and cotton. The latter is cultivated
on a small scale by an exiguous number of individuals and it is sold
to traders at Keren and Asmara.
- Cattle breeding: grave were the consequences of the recent droughts
on the zootechnical patrimony. During the rains' season (from July to
September), livestock's transhumance is practiced toward the coast (Mersa
Gullub e Mersa Teclay) and toward Agra, in the zone of Nakfa.
Health services
For medical assistance, this area's population is forced to go to
Afabet and to Zabra (close to Nakfa). The most recurrent illnesses are
malaria and respiratory and intestinal ailments. Quite high is the percentage
of women died for parturition.
Education
The imparted school education reaches the IV grade. The students are
250, while the teachers are 10. The two masonry buildings, which comprise
six class-rooms, have been built in 1993 by the Ministry of Education,
in accordance with a standard drawing.
New comers:
The settlement of refugees in the village does not appear as relevant.
Transportations:
The village is not linked to major centres by any transportation's
means, either public or private.
Alimentary aids:
Their distribution is not regular: the last alimentary aids go back
to April 1994, while the former to June 1993.
Market:
The nearest market is in Afabet.
Problems:
Lack of an Health Centre.
Suggestions:
Developing the agriculture.
BEKLA
CRF project: construction of an Health Station.
Village: Bekla.
Awraja: Sahel.
District: Rora Abab.
Population: the individuals residing in the whole district
( formed by the three villages of Rora Bekla, Rora Masahal and Rora
Meret) amount to about 20,000.
Ethnical composition: Tigre'. Starting from the XVII century,
the Asghede' coming from Hamasien took over versus the original Asfada'
and Almada'. To the former, numerically more important, are presently
associated the Rigbat, the Dobbat, the Assaorta, the Loghir, the Nabab.
Religious influences: originally Christians, also the tigrygna
nuclei coming from the highlands, on assimilating to the Tigre', converted
themselves to Islam.
Location: the village is situated at 2,350 m above the sea
level, at about 57 km away from Nakfa. Linked to the latter by a dirt
road, which for half of the way follows a stream's bed and which for
the last 7 km too rapidly rises to an altitude of 2,350 m, the village
remains completely isolated during the rains' season and too rarely
frequented also during the other periods of the year.
CRF intervention:
The works for the construction of the Health Station were started
toward the half of April. Although, as per contract, 72 days were agreed
upon, the period necessary to complete the works will of necessity be
not inferior to four months: this is due to the enormous transportation
difficulties concerning the construction materials and for the scarcity
of specialized workmanship to be found in the site. To solve the huge
transportation's problem, the M.U. (*** M.U. abbreviazione per
?? ***) of the C.R.F. has henceforth decided to substitute the cement
blocks with materials to be found on site (construction's rocks). Insofar
as it concerns the workmanship, actually 3 masons coming from Asmara
and 12 workers, natives of Bekla, are on service. The latter however
appear to be scarcely prepared to carry out an activity where a greater
exactness is requested (like, for example, squaring the rocks or erecting
the partition walls). To this fact, it must be added the will, by part
of the whole community, to participate in the works, so as to increase
its own income (it needs to be considered that a worker's daily wage,
actually of 9 Birr, is held to be insufficient by the population and
the wage's matching to that of a finished mason, that is 40 Birr daily,
is claimed). However the continuous rotation of the workers among all
the dwellers brings about a slowing of the works and hinders the setting
up of an effectively able work-team.
To progress in the works more quickly, besides limiting the workers'
rotation, it would be necessary to increase the number of masons (from
three to eight) and that of the workers (considering two of the latter
per mason).
The population's contribution, calculated as amounting to 25,000 Birr,
has already been deposited in the bank.
Hydric resources:
For human consumption, the water gathered into two artificial basins
is utilized: the first, built during the colonial period, is however
actually buried. The second, built in 1989 by the EPLF, is still reliable.
For livestock's watering, small natural cavities on the streams' beds
are utilized.
Economical activities
- Agriculture: the prevailing agricultural cultivations are: barley,
wheat and taff. Of a more recent introduction are onions, potatoes,
maize, kidney-beans and pease. The land property is based on the Resti
system. The unit of land measurement is equivalent to the tsimdi
and is called zemet in tigre' language. The maximum extent of
land owned by a family is of 7 zemet. However there are families
which do not own any land and that therefore dedicate themselves exclusively
to livestock breeding. Ploughing with oxen is practiced. Women too participate
to the agricultural works, above all in the activities of rooting out
the weeds and gathering the crops.
- Livestock breeding: the owned animals are bovines, camels and goats.
Due to the recent droughts, the latter are overall more numerous. For
initiative of the Ministry of the Agriculture, present in the village
with an own extensionist, between 1992 and 1993 in the district
217 oxen have been distributed, 57 of which freely, while the remaining
with an extended payment.
During the rainy season, transhumance of the livestock toward Mahimet
and beyond the sudanese frontier (Tocher and Cililenti) is carried out.
Health services:
Three nurses work in the village, which however are considered, by
the population, to be scarcely qualified to face complex occurrences
and inadequately supplied with medicines. For a true and real medical
assistance, patients have to recur to the Zabra hospital, to be reached
by a seven hours walk. The most recurrent diseases are malaria, respiratory
disorders (bronchial pneumonia and tuberculosis) and diarrhea.
Education
The school, built in 1974 by the ethiopian government, has successively
been enlarged by the EPLF. The conferred education reaches the VI grade.
The students are 180, while the teachers on duty are 8. There are no
desks and benches and by now the teachers' seats are old.
New comers
The refugees's settling in the village does not appear as remarkable.
Transportations
The village is not linked to Nakfa by any transportation means, either
public or private.
Alimentary aids
The last distribution goes back to April1994, while the previous one
to June 1993.
Market
A small weekly market is set up in the open, on the sides of the road
leading to the village: above all clothing, salt, spices and voluptuary
goods of sudanese provenance are thereby sold. For more important purchases
the population reverts to the Nakfa market.
Problems
Isolation: the impervious road which links the Rora Abab highland
and Nakfa results as being effectively dangerous in normal conditions,
namely during lack of rains. When the latter begin, it becomes absolutely
unpracticable. As a matter of fact its way goes along through a narrow
steam's bed and afterward rises a steep of a decidedly daring inclination.
Advanced proposals
To create, or if possible to improve, the roadway link between the
village and Nakfa.
KARORA
CRF project: construction of an Health Station.
Village: Karora.
Awaraja: Sahel.
District: Karora.
Population: the families residing in the village are
about 300.
Ethnical composition: Tigre'. Principal tribes: Almada', Asfada',
Bet Mahala, Degdeghe', Reghebat.
Religious influences: Moslem.
Location: Karora is situated on the border with Sudan (57km
away from Mahimet) in a sandy plain spotted by acacia trees. The plain,
subject to inundations during particularly abundant rains, can result
as being not particularly suitable to a permanent settling.
The village of Karora assumed its actual appearance very recently.
As a matter of fact it is prevailingly inhabited by family nuclei residing
in Sudan. A zone of cotton cultivation already during the italian period
(some buildings used as warehouses and built by the Barattolo enterprise
are still present), in the past it displayed a type of scattered population.
CRF Intervention:
The works for the construction of an Health Station, although proceeding
fast at the beginning, have been interrupted during May's first fortnight
due to the exhaustion of building materials. As a matter of fact the
road which links Karora to Asmara (from which all the building materials
are sent) is long, tortuous and in some stretches impracticable by heavy
trucks. The alternative choice to send the materials by sea to Hasmet's
landing place (about 60 km from Mahimet) and hence from the latter to
Karora (57 km of sandy roadway), although being more convenient, however
brings forth some inconveniences. Of these, the first is that, lacking
private maritime transport services, Military Navy vessels are to be
recurred to, hence undergoing to their time schedules and availability.
So as it happened during the period of our visit (middle May), a month
can go by before the material to be sent reaches its own destination.
The second difficulty resides in the fact that from Hasmet's landing
site to Karora it is necessary to rent some sudanese trucks, which,
due to the road's difficulties - and to the fact that they travel empty
of cargo the stretch to Hasmet and that of return to Karora - are not
always available. The contractor's masons (coming from the highlands)
are 6; those recruited in the village, with experience acquired in Sudan,
are as many. The workers are 24.
The contribute of 10% of the work's value has been paid down in cash
by the population residing in both of the two zones across the eritrean-sudanese
frontier, into which the city of Karora divides itself.
Hydric resources:
Four wells with the walls overlaid with cement have been dug in the
village. Of these, two have sweet water, while the others have salty
water. However, due to the fact that all the manually-actioned water
pumps are broken down, Karora's population supplies itself at the wells
dug in the bed of the Karora river, in sudanese territory and 1 km away
from the village.
Economical activities:
- Agriculture: the prevailing agricultural cultivations are taff
and cotton. Only about fifty families dedicate themselves to the cultivation
of the latter, and they sell their product to traders coming from Keren
and Asmara. Due to the lack of means of transportation, the dependency
on the latter is total: as an example: this year's crop would indeed
be ready to be traded, but lacking the village vehicles for its transportation,
it has not yet been sold. The unit of measure of the soil is the feddan
and, for the cotton, the Habel-elf, corresponding to two hectare.
The soil's property depends on each family's capability of exploiting
the land; however, conforming also to the number of the persons in the
family's nucleus, the maximum amount of owned feddan corresponds
to 10.
Women too participate to the agricultural works, especially in the
activity of taff and cotton harvesting.
- Livestock breeding: the owned animals are camels, goats, sheep and,
in a reduced measure, bovines. The maximum number of animals owned by
a family is of 30 goats and 3 camels.
During the rainy season, livestock's transhumance beyond the sudanese
border (Tocher) is practiced.
- Gathered and sold in Sudan at interesting prices are the mother-of-pearl
shells (*** probalilmente come addietro a Massawa, "trocas"
- conchiglie coniche di madreperla localmente conosciute come trocas
- ***) utilized to manufacture buttons. Also traded are the shells'
operculums, from which a perfume appreciated by women is obtained.
Health services:
The nearest medical post is at Mahimet. The most recurrent diseases
are malaria, respiratory disturbances (bronchial pneumonia and tuberculosis)
and sun-stroke ailments.
Education
No school exists in the village. He who wants access to Education,
imparted up to the IV grade, must betake himself to Kassala, while who
wants to continue up to the XII grade must establish himself in Tocher,
both cities in sudanese territory.
New comers:
All of Karora's population, before the independence, was resident
in Sudan.
Transportations:
Only a pick-up, property of the Administration, is present
in the village. The cost of a trip to Asmara on a truck coming from
Sudan is of 150 Birr (however the traffic on the sudanese frontier in
this period is interrupted), while the cost of renting a camel for Mahimet
is of 50 Birr.
Alimentary aids:
The last distribution goes back to February 1994; is has however taken
the shape of food for work; in exchange rocks for another project
have been gathered and cut. The previous distribution goes back to November
1993.
Market:
Before the recent limitations, Sudan was the seat of the normal commercial
exchanges. However actually the markets of Nakfa have been substituted
to those of Sudan (the round trip by camel takes 10 days) and of Massawa
(16 days).
Problems:
- Isolation: a true and real road connecting Karora to the main eritrean
centres is missing.
- Want of a school.
- Danger of inundation of the village during floods: questioned concerning
this matter, the population declares itself contrary to move the dwellings
in a safer zone, as, lacking transportation means, it prefers to remain
closer to the hydric supply points.
- Lack of health assistance.
- Presence of locusts and parasites, which gravely damage the crops.
Advanced proposals:
- Rehabilitation of the two roadways which link Karora respectively
to Massawa and to Keren.
- Construction of a dam which might deviate the river's course, whose
waters threaten the habitat in case of floods.
- Construction of the school.
- Supplying the wells with working water pumps.
- Increase fishing activities, supplying the population of adequate
tools.
ADOBHA
CRF Project: construction of an Health Station and of an elementary
school.
Village: Adobha.
Awraja: Sahel.
District: Adobha.
Population: the residing individuals are about one thousand.
Ethnical composition: Tigre'. Principal tribes: Almada', Asfada',
Bet Mahala, Hedareb.
Religious influences: Moslem.
Position: Adobha is ...........................................
The village is located on a vast plain, surrounded by rocky mountains,
deprived of trees and, as to what is related, infested with mosquitoes
carriers of malaria of a cerebral type.
Adobha constituted itself in a village as from October 1993, and,
that is, coincidently with the construction of the new edifices used
as seat of the Administration, residence of the Administrator, school
and Health Station: the individuals that as a matter of fact lend service,
as daily workers, in the construction of the mentioned edifices, are
about 150. Before the past month of October, the population, exclusively
given to livestock breeding, lived scattered on the nearby mountains.
Now, drawn by the opportunity of employment in the construction works
and with the hope to impress a new course to their lives, through the
enjoyment of the health and school services, as well as pushed by the
hope to be able to undertake a type of sedentary life based on agriculture,
numerous families are concentrating in the vast sunny plain where the
construction of the Adobha's centre is planned.
CRF intervention:
The works for the construction of the Health Station and the school
have been entrusted to a contractor from Asmara, who employed, in the
site, 19 masons; two more have been recruited in the village.
10% of the cost of the works pertaining to the community has been
paid in advance by the local Administration, as the economical availability
of the Adobha's population is extremely exiguous. In return, it engaged
itself, where of necessity requested, to lend its own labour force in
future social projects.
Hydric resources:
A deep well has been dug in 1986 by the EPLF: it is related that the
boring reached a depth of 125 m. Although water springs out copiously,
it is retained to be insufficient for the whole district's needs. The
mentioned well lacks a structure (of the sort of a catchment area) separating
the zone of the animals' watering from that predisposed to satisfy human
needs.
Economical activities:
- Agriculture: in the plain of Adobha no agriculture of any kind is
carried out. According to what related, agricultural activities where
instead practiced in 1985 by the EPLF at Baden, an area 50 km away from
the plain of Adobha. In those land lots, very limited in extension,
taff and sorghum were cultivated. It does however seem that agriculture
fell in disuse also in Daden, due to the floods which have demolished
the small dams (agm) erected to allow the irrigation of the cultivations.
Moreover, some of the inhabitants of the village declare to possess
land lots in Tocher (Sudan), as tied to some residents of such centre
by parentage bonds.
- Livestock breeding: the owned animals are above all goats. The maximum
number of goats owned by an individual does not exceed 50 units; however,
numerous are the families that state that they do not possess any animal.
- Also practiced is the gathering of wild fruits (hanta') in
the mountains surrounding the plain.
Health services:
The nearest medical post is at Zabra, a short way from Nakfa. The
most recurrent illnesses are malaria, respiratory disturbances (bronchial
pneumonia and tuberculosis) and diarrhea. Also present are cases of
malnutrition.
Education
The building of the school edifices which will reach the IV grade
of education is under way.
New comers:
Numerically insignificant are the families returned from Sudan.
Transportations:
No transportation means, either public or private, are existing.
Alimentary aids:
The last distribution goes back to middle May 1994, while the preceding
to March of the same year. The alimentary aids are more regularly distributed,
as compared to other villages, due to the population's worst economical
condition.
Market:
An area used as market is existing in the village, with about twenty
selling points lined up along a large road. For more conspicuous purchases,
the nearest market is in Nakfa.
Problems:
- Lack of the means and of the knowledge of the methods of farming.
- Want of transportation means.
- Insufficient hydric availability.
Advanced proposals:
- Development of the agriculture, in such a way that the population's
sedentary settling might be realized.
GHELEB
CRF project: construction of an elementary school.
Village: Gheleb.
Awraja: Senhit.
District: Elaberet.
Population: the families residing in the district peopled by
the Mensa (8 villages) are 19,872, while those residing in Gheleb are
250 (1,197 individuals).
Ethnical composition: Main tribes of the Tigre': Rigbat, Sama,
Dobat, Hedareb, Kebbe', Reghelle', Wokein.
Religious influences: Christian (Catholic and Protestant) and
Moslem. Rare are the Coptic Christians.
Position: Gheleb, about 65 km away from Keren, is situated
in a green valley surrounded by the mountains of the eastern highlands.
The Mensa district embraces two morphologically diverse territories:
the Kalakel (lowlands) and the Aulet (highlands), both
endowed of a fertile soil apt to provide optimal conditions in respect
to a diversification of the agricultural cultures and of the economical
activities.
The Gheleb settlement is ancient, it probably goes back to the seventeenth
century. In this settlement the first evangelical mission of the Swedish
missionaries was realized. For its mild climate and the abundance of
rains, during the italian period Gheleb was identified as one of the
areas where to experiment the cultivation of coffee, of the agave and
of fruit trees. However those cultivations, in that period already limited
due to the Mensa's diffidence toward the colonial administration, were
completely abandoned during the years of the conflict opposing the eritreans
to the ethiopians. As a matter of fact Gheleb became the seat of the
EPLF and hence was levelled down by repeated bombings. Since the independence
and up to the present date, the precedent human settling has recomposed
itself and the works of reconstruction of the private edifices have
begun. Some land owners have undertaken again the coffee's cultivation.
Indeed harder is the cultivation of fruit trees, also because missing
a road directly linking the village to Keren, the selling of a commodity
- like fruit, easily perishable - becomes problematic. Besides coffee,
it is therefore preferred the cultivation of peppers (berbere') easily
preservable through drying.
CRF intervention:
The date of the tender fixed for June 7, 1994, the works will start
as from half June. However, the first load of materials has
already been sent to Gheleb on 20 May 1994.
The collectivity's contribute had formerly been deposited in
the bank: since last year the members of the Baito already undertook
to gather the funds among all the Mensa community so as to be enabled
to face the expenses for eventual development projects. A total of 70,000
Birr has been gathered, 20,000 of which derived from the contribution
of natives of the village, but residing at Keren and Asmara, and the
remainder gathered among the families residing throughout the district.
On January 1994, with 12,000 Birr deducted from this fund, the village's
population has contributed to the expenses for the construction of the
road linking Gheleb to Keren, expenses sustained by the Swedish Evangelical
Mission.
Hydric resources:
In the area of property of the (*** Swedish ??? ***) mission
a well has been dug, from which all the population can draw water. Also,
a short way from the habitat, the perennial waters of the Gavana
steam are flowing.
Economical activities:
- Agriculture: the cultivations sown in the lowlands are different
from those sown in the highlands: in the latter (Rora Mensa) wheat,
barley, sorghum, maize, some leguminous plants (beans and lentils),
flax and the nihigh, an oil producing plant akin to sesame, are
sown. In the lowlands (Mahazat), instead, taff, snap beans and
sorghum are cultivated. In a valley on a side of the village in the
Sogo locality (four hours-walk away) there are some coffee and acid-fruits
gardens. They are called ghebena'. Actually the families which
cultivate coffee, however in small lots of lands, are about 7: generally
the yield is traded locally, with the exception of the owner of the
greater plantation, who sells to traders in Keren. Every coffee plant
on the average produces 1 kg of grains at gathering, and a maximum of
4 kg.
Besides dry cultures, about fifty families carry out irrigation cultivations
(garden) availing themselves of water carried from the river
on camel's back, or, like it happens for three families, utilizing motor
water pumps. The sown products are: greens (onions, tomatoes, potatoes,
potherb, small peppers, lettuce, cabbages) and fruit (banana and papaya).
The land distribution system is the Resti. The unit of measure
of the soil is the Zemat. The extension of the largest owned
land lot is of 15 Zemat, while the smallest is of 3 Zemat.
- Livestock breeding: the owned animals are camels, goats, cows and
oxen. In the whole Mensa district 120 camels are declared, of which
about 15 females. As a matter of fact male camels, insofar as utilized
as a transportation mean, are more appreciated. Also, only 10% of the
population declares possession of bovines, among these oxen which are
more appreciated for their service during ploughing.
The maximum number of camels owned by an individual does not exceed
8 units. The largest herd is instead made up of 30 goats, while the
most numerous flock includes 25 bovines.
The fertile pastures are situated in the lowlands, in the localities
of Kerr, Scheed and Sogo. In those areas, at times transhumance also
by herdsmen of the nearby Barka region is performed.
- widespread is the gathering of the fruits of the plentiful plants
of the Opuntia ficus-indica (*** nome scientifico del fico d'india
- corrispondente vocabolo popolare inglese non trovato - pregasi
consultare vs. dizionario oppure Dr. Nastasi ***) (Balas)
which multiply themselves in the valley and on the declivities of the
mountains defending Galeb. From the end of July until the end of September,
period of their ripening, they constitute a remarkable source of subsistence.
Severed from the plant with a more rudimental method as compared to
that used in the Hamasien's eastern declivity, they are mostly gathered
by youngsters of both sexes and consumed while fresh. No process of
the fruit's transformation or preservation is known, like, for example,
the preparation of marmalades.
- From May to September honey is produced and gathered, contained
into a sort of beehives like the kofo, small granaries kept inside
the dwellings.
- Diffused, especially in the past, was male and female artisanship:
utilizing, as materials, mostly goats and bovines' hides and a fibre
obtained through working the agave plant's leaves, containers for water
and cereals, ropes and mats were manufactured.
Health services:
Three nurses operate in the village. However insofar as they
are concerned a lack of experience is lamented as well as for the medicines
at disposition. For urgencies, the nearest medical centre is that of
Keren.
With the funds of the Evangelical Church, the works for the construction
of a medical post have been started, whose structure has been completed
at the end of April 1994.
Education:
At the beginning of 1994, the Swedish Evangelical Church had finished
the building of two school-edifices, however the courses have
not yet started, both because teachers are wanting and because the
population prefers to frequent the public school.
The frequenting students are 270, while the imparted education reaches
the IV degree.
New comers:
Numerically insignificant are the families returned from Sudan.
Transportations:
Two private transportation means are present, which daily link the
village to Keren.
Alimentary aids:
The last distribution goes back to November 1993.
Market:
There are no shops in the village. The nearest market is in Keren.
Problems:
- Impossibility of travelling through the road bearing to Keren during
the rainy season, also due to the landslides which already occurred.
- Lack of a clinic.
Advanced proposals:
Rehabilitation of
the road.
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