Day 346 - A Sunday Afternoon in Asmara

boys in my living room

I was a little intimidated by the larger number of boys that Sunday afternoon, but I decided to invite them all home anyway since I had told the security guard to expect me to return with a group. Only Dawit Ababe, the smallest of the boys, spoke enough English to talk with me as we walked along. He explained that the boys had just practiced at the Expo Center, a space I had seen from a car window, but had no idea of what was inside.

The boys all found seats on sofas and chairs in my house. They were so small that two boys fit into most chairs and I think four or five sat across each sofa. I took a photograph of each boy in the order they were seated around my living room and wrote down their names, ages, and the school they attended. They said they all attended the same school, even Habtom, the oldest of the boys. He was 14. The rest ranged from 9 to 12.

Daniel

Dawit translated for me. After 30 minutes, I had a list of all their names and the photos I could match up their names and faces. There were Dawit Ababe (the smallest one and translator) and Dawit Eyob, Tekelu (whose face had captured me the previous Sunday; the reason perhaps became clear a few weeks later), Yohanna, Henok, Ermias, Medhani, Robl the elder, Robl the younger, Daniel, Samsom, Samuel, Philemon the elder, Philemon the younger, and Isaias Afewerki who shared his name with the President of the country. My mention of the President's name brought a huge smile to Isaias' face. Habtom, a full two years older than any of the other boys, was their coach.

Four of the boys had white and red uniforms, purchased with the money I had given them. Since I expected my 300 nakfa to purchase just three uniforms, I didn't know if they had overstated their need or if they had succeeded in finding someone else to "help" them the previous Sunday on their rounds with the T-shirt. I didn't ask. In the meantime, I had learned from Daniel, the Human Resources Assistant at the embassy, that groups of neighborhood boys frequently made pitches for donations by carrying around a T-shirt as if it were to catch coins tossed at them. That was the clue I was missing the previous week.

Henok

The boys told me they hoped they would be able to get their team to be part of the Denden soccer program. I learned much later that this program was set up by a Norwegian man who accepted a position in Asmara, probably with the U.N. or another aid organization. He set up the program because his own children said they would agree to live in Eritrea only if they could play soccer there. He promised there would be soccer, even if he had to do something to make it happen. What he did was to arrange for members of the Norwegian national soccer team to come to Asmara each year to provide soccer clinics for Eritrean children. For good measure, the Norwegian soccer players took part in a separate program for disabled players. Because of the 30-year-long civil war, there were many children and adults with missing limbs or who were deaf or blind. 

Those injured and disabled during the civil war, or from later explosions of ordnance that lay hidden in fields or wrecks of buildings, were considered martyrs and received praise as well as financial support from the government. Those with similar disabilities resulting from other causes, such as blindness or deafness from birth or as a result of illnesses, received neither. On the surface, Eritrea seemed progressive in the accommodations made for those with disabilities. For example, instead of bicycle lanes, there were wheelchair lanes in the major roads. But the impact of the distinction between martyrs and simple disabled was under the surface. I learned much more about that later.

Isaias

The Norwegian program was held at Denden Secondary School. I don't know how the children were selected for the Denden soccer program, so I don't know what possibility there was of a neighborhood team being included, but the boys were determined.

After an hour, I had been invited by the boys to attend their practice the following Saturday. We agreed to meet at 1 p.m. at the same grocery store so they could walk with me to the Expo. But before they left my house, they pointed out that only four of them had uniforms. They asked if I wouldn't help them get the rest of the uniforms. I asked how much they needed and willingly handed over the required amount in nakfa. After all, I was making far much more than I needed, and I knew there was some reason for me to take this assignment in Africa. These boys looked like they were it.