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Mr. Osman Saleh, Minister of Foreign Affairs, delivered a statement at the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on 29 September.

In his statement, Minister Osman Saleh said that Eritrea and Ethiopia have recently signed a historic agreement that brings to an end the dark, two-decades-old chapter of war, constant tension, and strife, and that the historic accord will allow both countries to funnel their

Elections for area administrators, managing directors, and village co-ordinators, which have been taking place for the past month in Emni Haili sub-zone, Southern Region, have successfully been completed,

According to the administrator of the Emni Haili sub-zone, Mr. Abra-ham Mekonnen, there was an encouraging participation of residents dur-ing the elections, conducted from 4-29 September, in 16 administrative areas. He also noted that campaigns conducted in July had significant contribution in the success of the election.

Similar elections have been conducted in Dekemhare, Mendefera, Dubarwa, and other sub-zones of the Southern region recently.

Mr. Saleh Ahmedin, Chairman of the National Union of Eritrean Youth and Students (NUEYS), said that the nation-building process is limitless homework for youth at any stage and that youth should relentlessly work for the development and prosperity of their country. Mr. Saleh made the comment at a seminar he conducted to members of the 32nd round of the national service in Sawa on 29 and 30 September.

At the seminar, conducted under the theme “Role of the Youth in Nation-Building”, Mr. Saleh pointed out that political knowledge and physical infrastructure is fundamental to building a developed national identity and economy.

Mr. Saleh indicated that building

A training program for trainers on business development and management was provided to staff members of the Ministry of Labor and Human Welfare, Ministry of Education, National Union of Eritrean Women, and National Confederation of Eritrean Workers, here in the capital Asmara.

The two-week training program covered the meaning and significance of business management, types of businesses, planning and production, leadership and administration, market management, financial management and sustainability, and market competition.

At the graduation ceremony, conducted on 28 September, one of the trainers, Dr. Gebreab Fessehaye, Director of the Micro-Credit and Savings Program, stated that training program aimed to upgrade the capacity of the staff of the institutions.

The Director General of Administration and Finances in the Ministry of Labor and Human Welfare, Mr. Emiha Kidane stated that the training program was the first of its kind and that it would make a significant contribution in transferring knowledge and information about business transactions.

Program participants noted the importance of the training program and called for further training in the future.

Minister OsMan saleh delivers speech at 73rd sessiOn Of UnGa

eMni haili: electiOn Of area adMinis-tratOrs sUccessfUlly cOMpleted

traininG prOGraM On bUsiness ManaGeMentseMinar fOr MeMbers Of 32nd rOUnd natiOnal service

resources, potential, and positive energy towards much needed development.

Minister Osman went on to say that the recent development attests to the new frameworks of all-rounded cooperation that have been set in motion in the past two months or that are in the offing at the regional level. He added that Eritrea wishes to express its gratitude to various countries that contributed in different ways

and that have demonstrated their political goodwill to the success of the process underway.

Regarding the unjust sanctions imposed on Eritrea, Minister Osman reiterated that Eritrea cannot and will not plead for clemency or magnanimity, and that the people and government of Eritrea will continue to stand up for their rights until justice is ascertained and the wrongs meted to them are redressed.

Minister Osman also pointed out that during the past six decades, the Eritrean people have waged long and difficult struggles to advance the cause of justice and to foster a climate that is conducive for mutual security and stability in the region. He also stated that robust convictions and legacy have enabled them to withstand the wrongs and scars wrought by the unfair sanctions.

Concluding his statement, Minister Osman Saleh said that the people of Eritrea have not committed a crime or transgression that impels them to seek clemency and, as such, they are not only calling for the immediate rescinding of the sanctions but they are also asking, and deserve, amends for the damages incurred and opportunities forfeited. (Full text of the Minister Osman’s statement is on page 2)

A seminar aimed at raising societal awareness of communicable and non-communicable diseases was conducted on 26 September in Hagaz town.

The head of health services in Hagaz sub-zone, Mr. Gebremeskel Ge-brehiwet called on residents to ensure environmental sanitation, while providing an extensive briefing on water-borne, eye, ear, and skin dis-eases, as well as diarrhea and malaria,

Mr. Gebremeskel also discussed the introduction of environmental sanitation activities and noted that due to the popular campaign to ensure mother and child safety, 855 pregnant women had deliveries in health institutions during the past 9 months.

Additionally, the head of environmental health of the sub-zone, Mr. Musie Gebrehiwet called on residents to properly use impregnated mos-quito nets and area administrators to play due role in the success of the program.

physical infrastructure requires extended efforts of generations and called for persistent engagement in order to realize the needs and desires of generations.

Indicating that the training provided in Sawa is part of the process to nurture healthy, productive, and skilled youth, Mr. Saleh called on attendees to be familiar with their history and develop creativity.

Mr. Saleh also called on attendees to remain committed to nationalism, unity, perseverance, persistence, and self-reliance, which are the noble values of the Eritrean people.

Indicating that such seminars make a significant contribution in developing their awareness and understanding, participants called on the NUEYS for establishing libraries with adequate books in Sawa.

neWs brief

seMinar On raisinG sOci-etal health aWareness

2 Vol. 25 No. 62 Eritrea Profile, Wednesday, October 03, 2018

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Aida Johar

Madam President,Honourable Heads of

Delegation,Ladies and Gentlemen,Let me join previous speakers

to convey our congratulations for your election as President of the 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly.

This forum provides, annually, a congenial platform for the Member States to broach critical issues of international peace and security and their ramifications on national and human development. In this spirit, allow me to bring to the attention of this august assembly key matters of paramount importance to my country and our region as a whole.

As you are all aware, Eritrea and Ethiopia have recently signed a historic Peace Agreement that brings to an end the dark, two-decades-old, chapter of war, constant tension, and strife.

This historic achievement - even if belated by almost 16 years - will allow both countries to funnel their resources, potential and positive energy solely towards much-needed development. It has already infused hope and optimism on the peoples of both countries.

Its positive dividend for regional peace and security is too palpable to merit emphasis. This is indeed attested by new frameworks of all-rounded cooperation that have

STATEMENT BY HIS EXCELLENCY, MR. OSMAN SALEH MOHAMMED, MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE

STATE OF ERITREA, AT THE GENERAL DEBATE OF THE 73RD SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY

been set in motion in the past two months or that are on the offing at the regional level.

Eritrea wishes to express its gratitude to various countries that contributed in different ways, and that have demonstrated their political goodwill, to the success of the historical process underway.

Madam President,Distinguished Delegates,Let me now revert to a perplexing

injustice that has afflicted my country for almost a decade. I am referring to the unwarranted sanctions that were imposed on Eritrea in December 2009 and 2011 respectively.

With positive winds of peace flowing in our region, several UNSC member States are these days calling for the immediate lifting of the deplorable sanctions. The diplomatic discourse is not however fully coherent.

As it happens, some countries are looking for procedural and other pretexts and preconditions. The apparent aim is to move the goalpost and maintain the illegal sanctions on Eritrea.

As an aggrieved party, which has stood for nine long years on the receiving end of the miscarriage of justice, Eritrea cannot and will not plead for clemency or magnanimity. The people and government of Eritrea will continue to stand up for their rights until justice is ascertained and wrongs meted to them are redressed.

Madam President,Distinguished Delegates,The transgressions perpetrated

against Eritrea are, in many ways, symptomatic of the hubris and perverse power games that have primarily governed international relations in our contemporary times. The spiraling crises, instability, wars, and conflicts

that have, and continue to rage, in various parts of the world are inevitable consequences of the absence of justice; the attendant outcomes of international power imbalance. When the rule of law is suppressed and supplanted by the logic of force; when the global power balance is compromised, the inevitable outcomes are intractable crises and escalating wars.

It is against this disconcerting global backdrop that Eritrea was first victimized and targeted for unlawful and unfair sanctions on 23 December 2009. I will not bore you with details of the incontrovertible facts; of how and why this act was imposed; as all relevant information - including confidential communications, (Wikileaks and all) - have since long been available in the public domain.

However, to sum up, the interplay of forces and factors that brought about the sanctions were the following:

1. The principal architects of the sanctions were previous US Administrations who felt that they could use their unassailable power, and raw coercion, to ram through the UNSC, punitive measures against a small country and people to advance their misguided regional agenda. It is worth remembering here that certain officials in the US Administration had mulled imposing similar sanctions on Eritrea in 1999-2000, at the height of the border war with Ethiopia, in order to impose asymmetric arrangements through coercive means. The fabricated charges peddled in 2009 were, in fact, suitable improvisations to implement a prevalent agenda.

2. The second cause for the imposition of the sanctions was the inability of the UN system to prevent such wrongs from happening as well as systemic flaws and political horse-trading in

the operations of the UN Security Council. Here again, one must remember that the UNSC had failed to take any meaningful action against Ethiopia. This was despite the fact that previous Ethiopian regimes had flagrantly violated the UN Charter and the Algiers Peace Agreement guaranteed by the same UNSC when they refused to abide by the final and binding decisions of April 13, 2002 of the Eritrea- Ethiopia Boundary Commission, (the EEBC).

3. The third factor in the imposition of the sanctions was the existence of governments that served the agenda of major powers. In the case of the sanctions on Eritrea, the principal architects resorted to regional Trojan Horses to imbue an African face to their resolutions.

Madam President,Distinguished Delegates,The sanctions imposed on

Eritrea for the last nine years have entailed considerable economic damage to the country and unnecessary hardships on its people. The related campaigns of smear and defamation have inculcated immeasurable damage to the reputation of the country and to the prospects and potential of investment. Perhaps, the biggest damage was the regional instability and insecurity that this state of affairs bred and exacerbated. The actual cost incurred and the

opportunities forfeited - both at the national and regional levels - are thus huge.

In the event and in light of the widely acclaimed peace and cooperation that has broken in the region, certain countries to choose to ignore the stark truth and to prolong the sanctions regime in Eritrea is astounding.

In the past six decades, the Eritrean people have waged long and difficult struggles to advance the cause of justice and to foster a climate that is conducive for mutual security and stability in the region. These robust convictions and legacy have indeed enabled them to withstand all the wrongs and scars inculcated by the unfair sanctions. Through characteristic resilience and hard toil, they have now vanquished the injustices perpetrated on them.

As I stressed earlier, the people of Eritrea have not committed a crime or transgression that impels them to seek clemency. As such, they are not only calling for the immediate rescinding of the sanctions but they are also asking, and deserve, amends for the damages incurred and opportunities forfeited.

I thank you!

NEW YORK, 29 SEPTEMBER 2018

LOCAL NEwS

A seminar on raising the awareness of the public on the causes, consequences and means of controlling the prevalence of malaria was held in Foro sub-zone.

The three-day seminar touched on the symptoms and consequences of malaria, the proper use of bed nets, and treatment of the disease.

Ms. Rahel Kiros, head of the Foro health center, said that the objective of the seminar was to enhance the understanding of the village health representatives on the cause and consequence of malaria, as well as increase their participation in efforts to prevent its prevalence.

Ms. Rahel also called on the public to clear malaria breeding areas, conduct sustainable environmental sanitation activities, appropriately use mosquito bed nets, and to quickly take patients to health facilities.

There are 40 village health representatives within the 15 administrative areas of the Foro sub-zone.

seMinar On Malaria cOntrOl


Aerial imagery of East African Rift Valley (Photo by Christoph Hormann)

Human Evolution in the Context of Climate Change

Volcanic eruption

Stone tool technology and its making techniques The Buia cranium dated to about one million years

continued on page 5

Tsegai Medin

Scientists have proposed a variety of ideas about how environmental conditions may have stimulated important developments in human origins. Diverse species have emerged over the course of human evolution and a suite of adaptations have accumulated over time, including upright walking, the capacity to make tools, brain enlargement, prolonged maturation, the emergence of complex mental and social behavior, and dependence on technology.

Human evolution has coincided with environmental change, including cooling, drying, and wider climate fluctuations. How did environmental change shape the evolution of new adaptations, the origin and extinction of early hominin species, and the emergence of our species, Homo Sapiens? How do we know the Earth’s climate has changed? How quickly and how much has climate changed?

One important line of evidence is the record of oxygen isotopes through time, which comes from measuring oxygen in the microscopic skeletons of foraminifera that lived on the sea floor. It can be used as an indicator of changing temperature and glacial ice over time. There are two main trends: an overall decrease in temperature and a larger degree of climate fluctuation over time. The amount of variability in environmental conditions was greater in the later stages of human evolution than in earlier stages.

All organisms encounter environmental change. Some changes occur over a short time, and may be cyclical, such as daily or seasonal variations in temperature, light, and precipitation. On longer time scales, hominins experienced

large-scale shifts in temperature and precipitation that, in turn, caused vast changes in vegetation – shifts from grasslands and shrub lands to woodlands and forests, and also from cold to warm climates. Hominin environments were also altered by tectonics – earthquakes and uplift. Tectonic activity can change the location and size of lakes and rivers. Volcanic eruptions and forest fires also altered the availability of food, water, shelter, and other resources. Unlike seasonal or daily shifts, the effects of many of these changes lasted for many years and were unexpected to hominins and other organisms, raising the level of instability and uncertainty in their survival conditions.

Many organisms have habitat preferences such as particular types of vegetation or preferred temperature and precipitation ranges. When there’s a change in an animal’s preferred habitat, they can either move and track their favored habitat or adapt by genetic change to the new habitat. Otherwise, they become extinct. Another possibility is for the adaptability of a population to increase – that is, the potential to adjust to new and changing environments. The ability to adjust to a variety of different habitats and environments is a characteristic of humans.

Volcanic eruptionThere are many ideas about

the role of the environment in human evolution. Some views such as the savanna hypothesis assume that certain adaptations, including upright walking or tool-making, were associated with drier habitat and the spread of grasslands. According to this long-held view, many important human

adaptations arose in the African savanna or were influenced by the environmental pressure of an expanding dry grassland.

If key human adaptations evolved in response to selection pressure by a specific environment, we would expect those adaptations to be especially suited to that habitat. Hominin fossils would be found in those environments and not present in diverse types of habitat.

A different hypothesis is that the key events in human evolution were shaped not by any single type of habitat or environmental trend but rather by environmental instability. This hypothesis calls attention to the variability observed in all environmental records and to the fact that the genus Homo was not limited to a single type of environment. Over the course of human evolution, human ancestors increased their ability to cope with changing habitats rather than specializing in a single type of

environment. One way organisms can cope

with environmental fluctuation is through genetic adaptation, where several alleles or different versions of genes are present in the population at different frequencies. As conditions change, natural selection favors one allele or genetic variant over another. Genes that can facilitate a range of different forms under different environments (phenotypic plasticity) can also help an organism to adapt to changing conditions. If environmental instability was the key factor favoring human adaptations, new adaptations would be expected to occur during periods of increased environmental variability, and these adaptations would have improved the ability of early human ancestors to deal with habitat change and environmental diversity.

Overall, the hominin fossil

record and the environmental record show that hominins evolved during an environmentally variable time. Higher variability occurred as changes in seasonality produced large-scale environmental fluctuations over periods that often lasted tens of thousands of years. The variability selection hypothesis implies that human traits evolved over time because they enabled human ancestors to

adjust to environmental uncertainty and change.

Ancient hominin remains have been found in a variety of different habitats, including wooded habitats and in diverse types of vegetation within a small geographic area. In general, the fossil animals represent several different habitats such as open floodplains, gallery forests, and dry bushlands. By about 4 million years ago, the genus Aus t ra lop i thecus had evolved a skeletal form that enabled adjustment to changes in moisture and vegetation. The best current example of adaptability in Australopithecus is apparent in the skeleton. Australopithecus afarensis’s 3.18-million-year-old skeleton has a humanlike hip bone and knee joints coupled with long apelike arms, longer grasping fingers than in humans, and flexible feet for walking or climbing. This combination of features, which appears to have characterized Australopithecus for nearly 2 million years and possibly older hominins, afforded an ability to move around in diverse habitats by changing the degree of reliance on terrestrial walking and arboreal climbing. This flexibility may also have characterized earlier hominins (e.g., Ardipithecus ramidus).

The first known stone tools date to around 2.6 million years ago. Making and using stone tools also conferred versatility in how hominin tool-makers interacted with and adjusted to their surroundings. Simple tool-making by stone-on-stone fracturing of rock conferred a selective advantage in that these hominin toolmakers possessed sharp flakes for cutting and hammer-stones that were useful in pounding and crushing foods. Basic stone tools greatly enhanced the functions of


To Have Coffee with Imaginary Saints

continued on page 5

Natnael Yebio W.

In one of my articles last year I introduced you to a certain Adey Gu’ey (completely made up), a lone wolf in her declining years. She hates small kids and is quick to lash out at any kids who dare enter her house uninvited. What she does like, though, is her coffee, which she happens to make at any hour of the day. In her “unique” mind she doesn’t drink coffee alone. For the sane witnessing her, however, there is nobody in the room with her. Adey Gu’ey is a very superstitious old lady - her coffee hours, per her beliefs, are accompanied by Saints.

Most of the time, Adey Gu’ey loved to drink coffee early in the morning after attending mass. She trusted St. Michael but distrusted her neighbors. She loved God and hated people. She was, to put it mildly, a loner.

Anyway, Adey Gu’ey’s coffee ceremony, which was held at seven in the morning every day, was a lonely and gloomy event. She sipped her steaming coffee alone and in a pensive mood. The cat, sitting by her side, played with its tail while waiting for crumbs of bread that might fall from Adey Gu’ey’s hands.

On the tray there are four handle-less porcelain cups: one for her, the rest for the spirits who come to pay her a visit. Close encounters of the coffee kind. Adey Gu’ey’s invisible guests adore the swirling smock of incense and cherish the colorful tray, including the bright colors in her traditional dress. Adey Gu’ey, like I said, is a superstitious woman.

Addey Gu’ey is also a traditional psychiatrist, with infinite nonsensical wisdom.

Biniam’s relation with his wife is ice cold. The ice gets broken from time to time, however, when one of them raises hell, an infernal concerto accompanied by the bawling of toddlers and the swearing and curses of the youngsters, not to mention the nervous barking of Lupo, the dog.

“I know why you don’t have a single cent on you when it comes to buying exercise books and pencils for the kids, because you

are bent on ruining the family….”

“Well, to tell you frankly, I am tired of you……”

Biniam is in need of medical help. If he continues like this he will probably crack up and that’s very dangerous for his already crumbling health.

Adey Gu’ey lives a stone’s throw from the already broken family. And she has heard and seen a lot during her long and lonely life as a widow.

When young and beautiful, she married a Sicilian named Signor

Trombetti and had it nice until he died of a heart attack, a result of too much pasta, vino, formaggio, and anger! He swore like a sailor, blaspheming the Madonna and hurling his working tools into the sky to probably strike his Dio che l’ha inganato (the God who cheated him). This could have accelerated his departure from this world.

“Good morning, Adey Gu’ey,” intones Biniam.

“What good wind brings you here?” chimes Adey Gu’ey.

“I have to talk to you. It is a secret,” whispers Biniam as he seats himself on the hard wooden bench resting by the side of the squeaking bed. The cat, named Lilly, sneaks out of the room.

And then Biniam pours out his heart to Adey Gu’ey and by doing so purges his soul of its impurities. Adey Gu’ey gets the

message and prescribes the proper medicine which includes buying a white bleating sheep for the wife and giving the lady a piece of his mind.

Biniam didn’t have to go to the psychiatrist to get cured of his ‘mental illnesses’. He didn’t have to send his problems to the Mr.-X–Replies-to-Your-Questions corner of a magazine or a newspaper. He found his psychiatrist in Adey Gu’ey, and he didn’t have to pay a penny for the medical visit. On the contrary, he had a traditional coffee served to him for free!

During the lonely coffee time,

Adey Gu’ey never forgot to place a knife and menkerker (tongs for poking the glowing charcoal in the brazier) near the open door in order to keep the evil spirits away and the good spirits in. Once during the time of the Derg, a relative jokingly told her to put a hammer and sickle instead. The idea was to ward off the evil spirit of communism from her house and from the country once and for all.

Superstition is everywhere in this small world of ours. From the Maori tribes of New Zealand to the staff members of mission control in Kennedy Space Center, to the soccer players we watch on television every weekend, the minds of people are never safe from its grips. Even great scientists such as Isaac Newton and Lavoisier were superstitious.

Superstition is sometimes described as the direct product of ignorance and the absence of strict scientific discipline. No scientific

analysis can satisfy the rational mind, for example, as to why Adey Gu’ey thinks that the slaying of a red rooster can alleviate her mental torture or stop her nightmares. But it helps Adey Gu’ey and her likes as any faith healing practised by Gospel slingers in Texas and everywhere. It is all simply a matter of pure faith, mind over matter, a placebo effect.

During the armed struggle for our country’s liberation, Eritrea was cleansed of various types of superstition thanks to the EPLF leadership which brooked no cultural backsliding in its politicization program. People were taught that colonization was a reality and that the only way to drive the enemy away was by using real guns and bullets and not by black magic. No one could stop a bullet except by another bullet or through diplomacy.

Italians, Sicilians in particular, who arrived en masse in Eritrea in the 1920s, contributed a lot to the rise of superstition in this country. The population of ghosts (fantasma), phantoms, and witches increased significantly during the Italian period. Porca miseria!

My uncle, who lived in Asmara a long time ago, kept on turning back home from Dongolo on his way to Massawa for vacation, just because a black cat kept crossing his path. After several spoiled holidays, he found out to his dismay that the black thing that crossed his path was none else than a frightened squirrel scurrying off to safety. The reason why he turned back was due to the Italian superstition that a black cat crossing your path meant disaster. Quando un gatto nero attravesa la strada, torna indientro e scapa via! (When a black cat crosses your path, turn back and run for dear life!

If you saw a funeral hearse passing by, it was Tocca Ferro! Or touch wood! I have been doing this as recently as a few years back for fear of being struck by lightning and dying on the spot. When I couldn’t find any metal object to touch I reached for the buckle on my belt. What else could I do?

You are traveling by bus or by plane and you suddenly realize that nuns or padres are part of the passengers. According to Italian

superstition you will have no guarantee of arriving safely home because of these special guests. The bus may fall down into a river and you may end inside crocodiles’ stomachs or perhaps the pilot may try to force land the plane on a tennis court or a crowded beach. Why? Priests and monks are prone to attract God’s attention. Eager to take His own to paradise, the Good Lord may provoke a crash inviting in the process all passengers to a heavenly reunion.

Neighboring countries did also contribute in spreading superstitious beliefs in Eritrea, bringing fresh supply of demons, magic, and sorcery.

When my friend was an 8th grade teacher in a remote rural area, Stehaye, a seventh grader and probably in the devil’s possession, entered the body of Stehaytu, an eighth grader.

One day the teacher as usual called the roll and he shouted:

“Stehaytu”

“She is absent, Sir.”

“What happened?”

“She is being exorcised, Sir.”

“Exorcised!? You mean…”

“She had been possessed, Sir.”

After a week had elapsed, Stehaytu reappeared in class once again. She had been “absolved” by the evil spirit. As for poor Stehaye, my friend was told that he was in chains awaiting further interrogation.

“Sir,” said the students by way of advice,” don’t look directly into Stehaye’s eyes when he comes back to school.”

He told them not to worry. “I don’t believe in the Evil Eye.”

Rural and to a certain extent urban Eritrea has also its share of superstitious beliefs. For example, whistling in the house in the evening is believed to attract snakes or the devil himself. A windy day is a sign of ongoing

5Eritrea Profile, Wednesday, October 03, 2018 Vol. 25 No. 62

Glacial environment of Europe

Human Evolution in the Context. . .teeth in a way that allowed access to an enormous variety of foods. These foods included meat from large animals, which was sliced from carcasses using sharp edges of flakes. Bones were broken open using stones to access the marrow inside. Other tools could be used to grind plants or to sharpen sticks to dig for tubers. Tool use would have made it easier for hominins to obtain food from a variety of different sources that would have widened their diet.

Although simple tool-making may have developed originally in one type of environment, the carrying of stone tools over considerable distances – and becoming reliant on stone technology – may have arisen due to the benefits of altering the diet as environments changed. The oldest known stone technology, Oldowan tool-making, involved carrying rock several kilometers and is associated with a variety of ancient habitats. Redistributing stone and other resources such as parts of animal carcasses by transporting them may have helped hominins cope with variable habitats.

As predicted by the variability selection hypothesis, hominins were found in a variety of habitats. A major signal of the ability to tolerate different environments was the dispersal of the genus early Homo beyond Africa into Asian environments. By 1.9 million years ago, the genus Homo is found in a variety of locations in Asia, including some relatively far north.

Environmental instability and variability may have been a factor not only in shaping adaptations but also in contributing to the extinction of some lineages. For example, at the Buia deposits (Eritrea), where numerous environmental shifts are recorded, sediments, stone artifacts, and animal faunal span most of the past million years.

The pattern of climatic turnover in the fauna and archeological sites in eastern Africa show that several large mammal species that had previously dominated the fauna of this region went extinct between about 700,000 and 300,000 years ago, during a period of repeated environmental instability. These species were replaced by modern relatives, which tended to be smaller and had a less specialized diet or habitat.

The replacement of the specialized species by closely related animals that possessed

continued from page 3

continued from page 4

To Have Coffee . . .

more flexible adaptations during a time of wide fluctuation in climate was a key piece of initial evidence that led to the variability selection hypothesis. Although Acheulean tool-making hominins were able to cope with changing habitats in Africa, the Acheulean way of life disappeared from the region between 500,000 and 300,000 years ago, perhaps also a casualty of strong environmental uncertainty and changing circumstances.

By 400,000 years ago, hominins found new ways of coping with the environment by creating a variety of different tools. In some parts of Africa, a shift occurred in which a technology dominated by large cutting tools was replaced by smaller, more diverse toolkits. Technological innovations began to appear during the Middle Stone Age in Africa, with some early examples dating prior to 280,000 years ago. Some of the new tools provided ways for hominins to access food in new ways. Points were hafted, or attached to handles such as spear or arrow shafts, and were later used as part of projectile weapons, which allowed hominins to hunt fast and dangerous prey without approaching closely. Grindstones were used to process plant foods. Other tools were used to make clothing, important for hominins in cold environments.

Trading between groups to obtain materials and strengthen alliances is a hallmark of modern human behavior. Larger brains and symbolic ability facilitated more complex social interactions. By 130,000 years ago, hominins were exchanging materials over distances of over 300 km. The social bonds forged by exchanging materials between groups may have been critical for survival during times of environmental change when one group relied on the resources or territories of a distant group. Modern foragers use social ties to mitigate the effects of famines and droughts. The exchange of gifts maintains relationships between groups, which may be called upon when one group needs to live

at another’s camp or waterhole, a capacity especially beneficial during times of environmental change and resource uncertainty.

Evidence of the human capacity for communication using symbols is apparent in the archeological record back at least 250,000 years ago, and probably older. The use of color, incised symbols, decorative objects and language are part of this capacity for communication. Language is an essential part of human communication. Communication of ideas and circumstances via language would have made survival in a changing world much easier. However, there is no fossil evidence for words and grammar, the hallmarks of human language.

Symbolic communication may be linked with information storage, and preserved pigment pieces are among the earliest forms of symbolic communication. Ocher and manganese can be used to color objects and skin. Other symbolic objects, such as jewelry, personal adornments, and art, convey information about the owner’s social status, group membership, age, or sex. Paintings and drawings were also used to represent the natural world. Use of symbols is ultimately connected to the human ability to plan, record information, and imagine.

Neanderthal populations in Europe endured many environmental changes while living in a habitat that was colder overall than settings where most other hominin species lived. Some of the environmental shifts they endured involved rapid swings between cold and warm climate. Neanderthals and modern humans had different ways of dealing with environmental fluctuation and the survival challenges it posed. Modern humans, Homo Sapiens, had specialized tools to extract a variety of dietary resources, as well as broad social networks. They used symbols as a means of communicating and storing information. Neanderthals did not

make tools that were as specialized as those of modern humans who moved from Africa to Europe sometime around 46,000 years ago. Neanderthals usually did not exchange materials over so wide a distance as Homo Sapiens, and they occasionally produced symbolic artifacts. Despite many climatic fluctuations, modern humans were able to expand their range over Europe and Asia, and into new areas such as Australia and the Americas. Neanderthals went extinct. This evidence suggests that adaptability to varying environments was one of the key differences between these two evolutionary cousins.

Overall, the evidence shows that hominins were able to adapt to changing environments to different degrees. The genus Homo, to which our species belongs, had the capacity to adjust to a variety of environmental conditions, and Homo Sapiens were able to cope with a range of climatic conditions, hot and cold environments, arid and moist ones, and with all kinds of varying vegetation. We use resources from

a variety of plants and animals and use many specialized tools. We have many social contacts and means of exchanging resources and information to help us survive.

Humans today represent the one species that has survived from the diversity of hominin species. Despite their close relationship with our species and despite the fact that all of them possessed some combination of features that characterize humans today, these earlier species are now extinct. The question is how well will our sources of resilience as a species succeed as our alterations of the landscape, atmosphere, and water interact with the tendency of Earth’s environment to shift on its own. This is an ‘experiment’ just now unfolding, one that has never occurred before. The intensity of environmental change seems likely to create entirely new survival challenges for the lone hominin species on the planet, and many other organisms, as well.

Reference: Smithsonian - National Museum of Natural History

war (this changed after liberation for some mysterious reasons). A howling dog forebodes death. A bee landing on you brings you fame and honor. If it is a preying mantis, you get new clothes. Arriving home in the evening and then going out may entail trouble or even death. Bad comments regarding people or events have to be spit out (literally), lest they come true. A sun coming out and shining while it is still raining causes the female hyena to give birth to puppies. If you remember someone and that someone suddenly appears in front of you, you tell him or her that he or she will live to be very old. “Emrika kinewhi” would go the Eritrean saying; speak of the devil they say in English.

Many phenomena - wars, plagues, sudden audits - have been advanced as evidence for the hidden hand of Satan in the affairs of Man, but whenever students of demonology get together, the M25 London orbital motorway is generally agreed to be among the top contenders for Exhibit A. Where they go wrong,

of course, is in assuming that the wretched road is evil simply because of the incredible carnage and frustration it engenders every day. In fact, very few people on the face of the planet know that the very shape of the M25 forms the sigh odegra in the language of the Black Priesthood of Ancient Mu, and means “Hail the Great Beast, Devourer of Worlds.” The thousands of motorists who daily make their way around its serpentine lengths have the same effect as water on a prayer wheel, grinding out an endless fog of low-grade evil to pollute the metaphysical atmosphere for miles around.

Anyway, what I’m trying to say is superstitions never die but change forms. At present one can see the image of Santa Rita hanging from a modern car’s dashboard. It keeps the driver safe.

With such a mentality, it isn’t surprising to see today images of saints in the form of stickers on computers to save the hard drive from collapsing! Goodbye ESET Anti-Virus!


The African Development Bank intends to recruit a Local 1. Consultant to support the strengthening of Bank engagement with the Government of State of Eritrea as well as following up on the Bank’s portfolio performance issues.

2. The Local Consultant will ensure achievement of the project objectives, which are to (i) coordinate the Bank’s portfolio operations and supervise all matters related to Eritrea; and (ii) provide analytical support to the Eritrea Country Economist. Most of the Consultant’s activities (80%) will focus on Portfolio Management issues while 20% will be on programming duties.

2.1. Duties and responsibilities

The key tasks and responsibilities of the Local Consultant include, but are not limited to the following:

Portfolio Management Tasks In collaboration with the sector departments, ensure active monitoring and management of the Bank’s portfolio in Eritrea

Maintain effective communication with sector departments and •other relevant Bank units to ensure a coordinated approach to the implementation of the Bank’s strategy and lending operations in Eritrea;•

Support and collaborate with sector departments in providing •the necessary information and data for preparing the Eritrea planned projects under the new Interim Country Strategy Paper 2017-19, and; participate in the preparation of Interim Country Strategy Paper completion report, Country Portfolio Performance Review etc.•

Monitor and analyse economic, financial, political, and social •developments in Eritrea using both internal and external sources of information, and determine the implications for the Bank’s operations etc.•

Any other assignment by East Africa Regional Development and •Business Delivery Office (RDGE) management.

2.2. Required qualification and experience

Minimum of a Master’s degree (or equivalent) in •economics, or other economic development-related discipline;

Preferably, a minimum of eight (8) years of relevant •experience, including in the formulation and implementation of policies, country strategies, programs/projects and flagship economic and sector studies in the Bank, or a similar development institution in public service or private sector;

Proven ability to monitor programmes and •

ensure portfolio/programme performance quality;

Ability to solve portfolio management-related problems in •various sectors;

Sound knowledge and experience in the procurement of •goods, works and services within the context of donor financing;

Demonstrated ability to lead and produce portfolio and •economic related knowledge products/flagship reports, country strategy papers, and other economic and sector.

3. The African Development Bank now invites eligible individual consultants to indicate their interest in providing these services. Interested individual consultants must provide information indicating that they are qualified to perform the services (i.e. updated CVs, description of similar assignments, experience in similar conditions, and availability of appropriate skills etc.). The position will be based in Asmara, Eritrea.

4. Eligibility criteria, establishment of the short-list and the selection procedure shall be in accordance with the African Development Bank’s “Rules and Procedures for the use of Consultants” [May 2008 edition, revised in July 2012], which is available on the Bank’s website at http://www.afdb.org.

5. Interested consultants may obtain further information at the address below during office hours 08:00 to 17:00hours.

Expressions of interest must be emailed or delivered to any of the addresses below by 21st October 2018, at 3.00pm [Nairobi local time] and mention “[Local Consultant to the Bank]”.

Attn: African Development Bank

Mr. Nyende Magidu, Senior Country Economist

Nairobi, KenyaAttn: East Africa Regional Development and Business Delivery

OfficeMr. Nyende Magidu, Senior Country EconomistP.O Box 4861-00200, Longonot Avenue, Upper Hill,

Nairobi, Kenya

Tel: +254202712925/6/8Email: [email protected]

Attn: Ministry of Finance, Government of State of EritreaMr. Efrem Tesfai, P.O Box 198-895, Asmara, EritreaTel. +291-1-200404 Fax: +291-1-127947 Email: [email protected]

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST(LOCAL CONSULTANT) [ERITREA]

STRENGTHENING BANK ENGAGEMENT WITH THE GOVERNMENT OF STATE OF ERITREA AND PORTIFOLIO MANAGEMENT


Embassy of the Italian Republic to the State of Eritrea

The Embassy of the Italian Republic to the State of Eritrea invites qualified applicants for the following vacant post:

Post Title: Driver/Clerk/Telephone Operator

General Requirements:

Have accomplished 18 years of age;-

Be medically fit to work;-

Possession of a Primary School Certificate (minimum requirement);-

Driving Licence;-

Non Eritrean nationals should be resident in Eritrea at least since 2 (two) years. -

Evaluation Criteria:

Excellent knowledge of spoken and written languages: Italian, Tigrinya and English;-

Excellent ability in driving;-

Previous work experiences with duties equivalent to those referred to in this notice;-

Possession of higher education qualifications than requested.-

Application Form will be available at the Embassy’s premises or can be directly downloaded at the following website:

www.ambasmara.esteri.it

Detailed information and instructions on this recruitment notice are available on the above-mentioned website.

Interested applicants should submit their application form duly filled, signed and accompanied by a valid identity document not later than 24:00 hours (midnight) of the 2nd of November, 2018:

through e-mail at the following address:-

[email protected]

or

delivered by hand or by postal service at the following address:-

Ambasciata d’Italia in Eritrea

Street 171-1-171 N. 11, P.O. Box 220

Asmara


“The Right to Education Means the Right to a Qualified Teacher”Asmait Futsumbrhan

“Teachers touch tomorrow today”, is a proverb that says a lot about a teacher with just few words. Teachers are dedicated to nurture skilled students who change the world. As teachers around the world prepare to celebrate World Teachers Day on the 5th of October 2018 for the 25th time, the Teachers’ Association of Eritrea (TAE) will be honoring the day for the 22nd time in Eritrea. The universal theme for this year is “The Right to Education Means the Right to a Qualified Teacher”. TAE finds it fitting for all the works and projects it has been focusing on to provide qualified teachers to produce competent students.

On the occasion of Teacher’s Day Q&A invites Mr. Simon Mehari, TAE’s chairperson, to talk about the vision and mission of the organization. Happy Teachers Day for everyone in the profession.

Tell us when Teachers’ Association of Eritrea (TAE) was set up and what visions it had?

The organization was established in 1958. It started with very few interested teachers. The organization first served as a club for teachers at the Etegemenen School which now goes by the name Adulis School. The political situation of the country at the time made it one of the main driving forces for the teachers to start a union. This was indirectly meant to help in the armed struggle for independence. Many of the members ended up joining the struggle. Some of them were martyred, some of them came back with a life time injury and some lucky ones came back well. One of the members, who was the chairperson of the union in 1972 and joined the armed struggle, is the now Minister of Education Mr. Semere Russom.

The teachers fully understood the importance and benefits of uniting politically and they also knew that they could accomplish many things by working together. They got together and discussed problems and found solutions. They also worked to upgrade one another’s skills. With time, as the membership of the organization started to grow in number, the teachers had to keep on renting numerous office spaces until in 1973 they finally bought the building that is now serving as the head office in Asmara.

How did the Association continue working after Eritrea’s

independence?

In 1965, the TAE became a branch of the Teachers’ Association of Ethiopia following Eritrea’s annexation by Ethiopia. However, since Eritrea’s independence, the association has been functioning as an independent organization. As the organization works with the same visions and mission of the Ministry of Education, it has strong connection with the ministry. By the way, I would like to thank and appreciate the Ministry of Education for all the support it gives us. For instance, the ministry relieves people working at the head office from other duties and allows them to focus on the organization. Not only for people at the head office but we now are hoping to do the same for the people who are working at our branches in other regions as well. The organization extends branches in all the six regions of Eritrea. The chain goes all the way to the lowest part of the subzones. Again, I would like

to thank the Mister of Education, Mr. Semere Russom for he works to support this organization in everything he can.

What are the benefits members’ get?

The membership includes teachers and people in high administration positions of the Ministry of Education. Every teacher is a member of the union. The association has around 17,000 members.

The TAE isn’t only a professional organization but a personal one as well. One of the biggest benefits teachers can get is a platform to discuss matters professionally so that they can find solutions to problems. But most of all, they can grow together and upgrade their skills through sharing ideas. Since the final common thing they share amongst them is producing good students, teachers come up with ideas on how to do that. Nonetheless

that is not all our organization offers. We want to support our members financially as well. Our organization gives support to teachers who want to do research. It also provides loans that can be paid in a year or so for teachers who want to get married and start a family. Also for hospital fees, our association pays 1/4th of the transportation payment if one is diagnosed with an illness and is going to get medical treatment in a foreign country. And if one of our members passes away we give some amount of financial support to the family. These are some of the benefits our members are provided with.

What are the future plans of the TAE?

The association has been working towards the visions of ensuring the provision of quality education by organizing campaigns and seminars. The TAE plans to motivate female teachers to play a leading role

in the education. We became a member of the World’s Teachers’ Association after Eritrea’s independence; we are also members of the African Teachers’ Association. However, we want to make connections and work together with neighboring countries’ associations as well as local unions. That way we can expand our experiences and links.

Anything you want to share with us at last?

Few of the key motives of the TAE are to make the association strong and financially capable that benefits its members and the profession, to safeguard its members, to empower teachers ethically and professionally so that they can perform their duties and responsibilities effectively. At the beginning of the school year, I would like to wish every student a good start. Also, with the peace we have these days, I would like to remind our teachers to have a mind that works for the best outcome. The goal is to produce the best students. The government has provided everything it can to the extent that it is even providing students with school materials. Students should fully understand the value of education and use the opportunity wisely. Nothing is possible if parents don’t help out. So I hope parents would be interested enough to look after their children and work hard to see their children get good results. Happy Teachers’ Day for all teachers.

“The Right to Education Means the Right to a Qualified Teacher”

vol 25. no. 62 wednesday, october 03, 2018 pages 8, price...

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