Students’ of Warsay Yikalo Secondary School and their Impression on March 8, Women’s day
Warsay Yikealo Secondary School is one of the famous national high schools where students from all over the country assemble to persue their 12th grade education and sit for the national matriculation examination. It’s located in Sawa, 130 Km west of Akordet, Gash Barka region. Since its inception, the school has hosted more than 273 thousand students from all over the nation, from the 16th round up to 36th round of the national service. In this academic year the school is enrolling about 17 thousand students with an almost equal gender representation. I met some to ask them to express their impression on March 8, women’s Day.
International Women’s day is celebrated on March 8 every year. It observed to honor Women’s struggle for equal rights. March 8 was adopted as an international women’s day in 1975 by the United Nations.
On March 8, Women’s day, I deeply dive in to the ocean of the Eritrean struggle for independence, parallel to women’s struggle for equality. I remember my mother telling me how much it was difficult for women to go out for work and also walk to school, except being a house wife. She also told me women were married under age and harmful practices like FGM were exercised, dominantly, unlike today. Today in Sawa, when I see myself and my sisters among my brothers with the right to education and freedom to decide for our future, I feel deep respect and appreciation for our mothers’ struggle and sacrifice. I understand change is a life journey that entails sacrifice that I would like to say “rest in peace to those who sacrificed their life for the peace we are breathing and rights we are accessing”. On this special occasion, I would like to recommend Eritrean youths to learn our national norms and values and make history in the process of nation building.
On my personal opinion March 8, is a day that reminds us all the struggle our mothers sacrificed for their emancipation in particular and national independence in general. In the Eritrean armed struggle our mothers sacrificed along the side of our fathers. Even in the protection for our sovereignty their participation was so decisive. I believe without women’s equality we may not be independent and can’t achieve national development. Here, in Sawa, when I see our sisters academically shine over my brothers, a feeling of hope and pride to be an Eritrean flows over me. For other societies, I feel like the concept of equality is nominal, but for Eritreans it is so true in which our mothers realized it with sacrifice. Thus, I would like to promise on this special day to work parallel to my sisters and mothers in building our nation.
Most significantly I feel courage and dignity when I see women hold a special place and actively participate in all national development programs. When it comes to March 8 it took me back to the heroic deeds of our mothers in the Eritrean struggle for women’s equality and independence. In the Eritrean history books I read that Eritrean women were above 30% in the armed struggle. Now in Sawa we are almost 50%. This proves to us, how much women’s participation was significant in the war of liberation. Also, it further proves the significance of women in nation building. We all know that education is the key to development; therefore, I would like to remind all Eritrean youth to strive in attaining knowledge and skills, so as to build our beautiful nation.
March 8, women’s day is the day that specially makes me feel proud of myself for being a woman because of the equal rights we share with men. Unlike women of other nations we Eritrean women are equally treated in all basic human rights like educational enrollment. But here we shouldn’t forget the sacrifice our mothers paid to emancipate the Eritrean women from the socio-economic and cultural barriers. I have read as well as heard the stories and saying of our patriotic mother adey Zeyneb-Yassin, it is so inspiring that it fueled me and others to remain committed to our academic performance and other aspects. Harmful practices and under age marriage has been a dominant trend for decades, but now with the rise of literacy and women’s educational enrollment, we can see big changes. Therefore, to entirely eradicate it we must educate and work hard hand in hand with men.
When I think about March 8 I remember the determined Eritrean women who contributed so many for the resilience of the nation. I see my grand mothers who believed that the sovereignty of our country as their offspring, the ones who sacrificed everything to give us this peaceful air we are able to breath freely, the ones who fought equally along men not afraid of anything, filled with courage and bravery; still thinking of what more can they offer to this country sitting in wheel chairs, holding sight assistance sticks in their hands, working on every national sector despite every other limitations looking forward to the brightest future of their offspring the one and the only Eritrea. March 8 for Eritrean Women holds a much greater value and this makes me proud to have the blood of such heroic mothers deep inside. Thus, I would like to advice Eritrean youths to remain conscious, organized and skilled to realize the dream of building a developed nation.
Written by Kidane Shmendi