[NEWS] Debriefing on a meeting with People to People: Ethiopian and Eritrean Friendship Forum
Selam Habebo
Hi Everyone,
I hope your winter break is going wonderfully and you’re enjoying every minute of it. I know this message is lengthy, but we’re on break so please take your time to read it and be on the same page.
I wanted to debrief you all about a local organization I met up with yesterday called People to People, which is an Ethiopian and Eritrean Friendship Forum. Their main vision is to “create an environment for ordinary Ethiopians and Eritreans where honest people-to-people dialogue based on trust and mutual respect can take place with the aim of healing past wounds and facilitating harmonious relationships.” This group is not political but rather an assembly of individuals who are trying to stir up a peaceful change on a grassroots level. As expected, it is made up of and co-chaired by both Ethiopians and Eritreans. Outside of monthly board meetings they have annual conferences which are held in March/April. They also just hosted a discussion forum in Washington DC and outreached to the masses of Habeshas in that area which consequently led to the establishment of a chapter there; which is all to say that this group is catching wildfire across the Habesha diaspora as well as catching heated conversation on EthioTube (largest Ethiopian internet broadcasting site).
I was called to the meeting because they recently established a chapter at UCLA and they are trying to outreach more universities, like Cal and San Jose State. I think this group is unique because it humanizes the stories behind the wars and battles for independence with balanced voices from both sides and different angels without negating the sovereignty of each cultural groups. Furthermore they want to democratize the relations across the border rather than rely on the temperate interactions of the dictators/government leaders. Additionally, they want the youth to be the vanguard of, what I see as, this movement.
Establishing an allyship with this organization aligns well with our efforts to foster collaboration between ESA & ESU as well as our non-political agenda to increase interactions between the two groups, as was demonstrated at the last cultural show (spring 2012). This group is also very instrumental for those who are curious to understand the layers of entangled history between the two nations. The group members are more than willing to come speak to us once the semester starts and they are also very willing to send academics and experts to speak to us about the different accounts of history.
With the access to space and finance that we have available to us and with the privilege of being a student group at UC Berkeley, I believe it’s time for us to mobilize our resources and engage more with the larger community of Habeshas. People to People offers a platform for us to become involved.
We will decide as a group whether or not we want to become involved with this organization on a group level, but for now think about what I’ve said and investigate the group by following the links:
FBOOK PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/abegelagay
METRO DC CONFERENCE: http://www.ethiotube.net/video/24068/Ethiopian--Eritrean-Friendship-Forum-in-Virgina--December-30-2012
MAIN SITE: http://ethioeritrea.org/
Best,
Fikreselam