NEW ZEALAND & AUSTRALIA
Part IV(FINAL)
In the final article of “Adventures Of The Diaspora” we have reached the fourth and fifth events that were planned by NUEYS for the Eritrean Diasporas who had come to Eritrea during mid—December. These events were planned with the intent of exposing these diaspora youth to firsthand experiences of their nations culture and history.
The first stop of the day was a visit to the Martyrs Cemetery found in Asmara. The purpose of this visit was so that the Diaspora could pay their respects to the fallen heroes who had fought for the independence of Eritrea, and after independence had defended the sovereignty of Eritrea.
This was a very emotional day, especially for the individuals who had loved ones who had sacrificed the ultimate price of their lives for the safety and future good of the nation. During this event the keepers of the cemetery gave a walk-around throughout the cemetery while talking about the history of the cemetery and the martyrs that lay to rest within its walls. Once they had reached the center of the cemetery where the martyrs’ shrine can be found everyone paused in front of the shrine for a moment of silence for the fallen heroes.
After the moment of silence, the groups took turns taking photos at the foot of the martyrs’ shrine, while others walked around looking for loved ones who had been laid to rest in the cemetery. Parents showed their children where their relatives were buried and they took a moment to pay their respects. Once this was over we thanked the keepers of the cemetery for taking care of the fallen heroes and once again paused for a final moment of \silence.
Later on the second place that they visited was the national museum of tanks. This was another very interesting venture because the museum is an outdoor onsite museum which has an innumerable amount of vehicles used during the revolutionary era.
The youth and parents were seen during this event taking many photos with the old machines by climbing on top and getting inside of them. They were also very intrigued by the different vehicles that were found, such as tanks, military trucks, trains and train carts, and even scrapped planes from the warring days. The Diaspora groups went around looking at the various artifacts amazed at the amount and variety of vehicles that had been captured by our side during the revolutionary period.
At the end of this final voyage the Eritrean Diaspora thanked NUEYS for taking the groups to places that held so much meaning in Eritrean history, and they once again asked if these types of activities would continue until they departed to their residing countries. NUEYS on its part express its readiness to push for more events to be planned. These events are a continuation of the many events NUEYS has been planning for many years. Whenever diaspora come to Eritrea from abroad, NUEYS is always prepared a number of different activities.
This is the last article of the events that had taken place for the diaspora that came from New Zealand and Australia; NUEYS will continue to write pieces on the adventures of the diaspora as they come.