Eritrea Profile 31012015

Vol 21. No. 96 Saturday, 31st of january, 2015 Pages 8, Price 2.00 NFA

The National Union of Eritrean Youths and Students (NUEYS) has adopted Action Program for 2015 following a review of last years work accomplishments at a meet-ing conducted in the Eritrean Cen-tre of Professional Excellence in

The Ministry of Education has conducted annual meeting of de-partments, regional branches and offices on January 29 and 30 at Em-basoira Hotel.

In opening remarks, Mr. Semere Rusom, Minister of Education, explained that the meeting aimed at assessing accomplishments reg-istered in the planning and man-agement of education programs, as well as the experience gained thereof and called on participants to make due contribution in mapping out effective action plan. Moreover, the Minister pointed out that the Government is exerting persistent efforts, coupled with the required financial and skilled manpower

Dr. Kesetebirhan Solomon, head of the Health Ministrys branch in Anseba region, said that the branch office would be given priority atten-tion to the task of expanding health service in remote areas this year. He made the disclosure at a meeting in Keren in which Ms. Amina Nur-Hus-ien, Minister of Health took part. He further pointed out that as part of the endeavors made towards expanding health services, new health stations were put in place in 2014 in the Ad-ministrative areas of Amalait and

The Micro Credit and Savings Program branch in the Central region indicated that over 48 mil-lion Nakfa has been distributed in 2014 with a view to improv-ing the beneficiaries livelihood and that satisfactory outcome has been registered thereof.

Mr. Tafla Asmerom, Acting Manager of Micro Credit and Savings Program Office, said that the scheme was launched in 1996 under the umbrella of the Minis-try of Local Government, and that currently it has 604 Village Banks benefiting 56 thousand individu-als through distributing credit amounting 332 million Nakfa.

Likewise, Mr. Barnabas Abraha, head of the branch office, stated that 16 sub-zones in the Central

Embatkala. Reports indicated that some 300 cadres and youth repre-sentatives took part in the meeting.

The participants adopted reso-lutions pertaining to the nurturing of competent youths and reinforce active participation of the youth in

the nation-building process, among others.

At a seminar he conducted for the participants of the meeting, the Head of Political Affairs at the PFDj, Mr. Yemane Gebreab, un-derlined the need for the NUEYS to enhance its endeavors towards the strengthening of concerted ac-tion to realize the goal of building a nation in which the citizenry enjoy the benefits of progress and social justice.

Also in remarks he made on the occasion, the Chairman of the NU-EYS, Mr. Saleh Ahmedin, called on partners to collaborate with the Union in the realization of its wide-ranging Action Programs.

NUEYS adoptS actioN program for 2015

Tahira. Dr. Kesetebirhan went on to indicate that there are plans to open health centers in Adi-Tekelezan Ge-leb and Halhal sub-zones.

The Ministrys regional head ex-plained that studies and follow-up were undertaken pertaining to blood pressure and Diabetics, coupled with VCT service on pregnant mothers.

In the course of the meeting, Min-ister Amina Nur-Husien pointed out that the Ministry is working on priority basis towards promoting quality service on the basis of mak-

ing available the necessary facilities, among other provisions.

She noted that that thanks to the enhanced public awareness and ac-tive participation of partners, grati-fying outcome was registered in various domains, and that there exist about 400 health institutions nation-wide.

Speaking at the closing session, Mr. Ali Mahmud, Administrator of Anseba region, called on govern-ment institutions to exert more effort so as to attain the set goals.

HEaltH miNiStrYS braNcH iN aNSEba rEgioN to givE prioritY attENtioN to rEmotE arEaS

resources so as to upgrade human resource capacity and educational facilities.

In this respect, the nation stands on promising ground at regional and international level through en-suring educational opportunities to citizens, Mr. Semere also indicated that due attention is being given to the task of promoting quality edu-cation.

Report was presented at the meeting regarding accomplish-ments in 2014 in connection with the Student Summer Work Program (SWP), cultural affairs, Boarding schools and activities undertaken in collaboration with partners, besides charting action plan for 2015.

miNiStrY of EdUcatioN coNdUctS aSSESSmENt mEEtiNg rEgardiNg

laSt YEarS accompliSHmENtS

region and Logo-Anseba sub-zone witnessed effective work program through the scheme.

Also in related news, the Micro Credit and Savings Program in the Southern region has extended over 160 million Nakfa to over 21 thousand customers in 2014 re-ports indicate.

The head of the office, Mr. Ge-brehiwet Woldai, pointed out that the agency has opened 50 Village Banks in all the regions sub-zones, thus rendering loan service to members of the public.

The The Micro Credit and Sav-ings Program in the Southern re-gion was established in 1993 and has a membership of more than 75 thousand clients, 60% of whom are females.

cENtral rEgioN: micro crEdit aNd SaviNgS program braNcH

StriviNg to improvE bENEfi-ciariES livEliHood

2Eritrea Profile, Saturday 31st of january, 2015

Published Every Saturday & WednesdayManaging Director Azzazi Zeremariam

Acting EditorAmanuel Mesfun

[email protected]

P.O.Box: 247Tel: 11-41-14Fax: 12-77-49

E-mail:profile@ zena.gov.er

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Solomon Mengsteab

Overcoming Procrasti-nation: Donts

The idea and practice of putting off, re-planning and rescheduling things designed to be done at some point of time to some other time in the future is an ordinary phenom-enon in the human world. The rea-sons behind any kind of postpone-ment are widely varied but, rough-ly, they all fall into two categories, mainly; deliberate, made after rational analysis and calculation, and impulsive, made without any significant forethought. In any case, both Procrastination, postponement mainly linked with impulsiveness, and rational rescheduling are com-monly observable facts in life. It is scarcely possible to find anyone who does not engage in procrasti-nation whatsoever, someone who never ever immersed oneself in the extravagance of basic laziness in ones entire life whatsoever. How-ever, as common and widespread as procrastination is, its aftermath of is not so insignificant that it would be overlooked and trivialized.

The degree of the intensity and the severity of the aftermaths of procrastination are subject to the intensity and frequency of the act of procrastination. Procrastination has several consequences on peoples lives that are manifested in psy-chological, social and economic as-pects of life. And especially when it becomes impulsively chronic and impedes doing ones day to day job and carrying out ones responsibil-ity on regular bases, it would be-come a problem that would requires therapy. Seeking professional help however, is mainly for those with uncontrollably impulsive chronic procrastinators, even for them it would be the last resort. For, pro-crastination could be conquered thorough simple strategies of alter-

ing patterns in routines. However, if one is to emerge victor in the battle against procrastination one needs to know these strategies, the dos and donts in the battlefield.

When people realize that pro-crastination is interfering with the in accomplishing the goals they set in one and/or another aspect of their lives they often respond to the situ-ation with the intention of solving the problem. The strategies people assume in facing their demon of procrastination is different. Basical-ly some people attempt to deal with their procrastinatory habit impul-sively; with responses that are not necessarily related to dealing with the problem effectively. Others take on their handicapping habit by as-suming systematic problem-solving methodologies. And others would seek professional help by consult-ing medical practitioners specializ-ing in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. Seeking profes-sional help, as I mentioned earlier, is however, the last resort as one ought to first, at least, try to solve ones problem by oneself.

In the process of writing this, rather, lengthy, article I have re-ferred several sources dealing with the topic. There, I have found several strategies, dos and donts, which are pertinent in tackling the problem. I would like to share some of these strategies and I shall be-gin with the donts, responses that are not helpful in dealing with the problem of procrastination.

Individual coping responses to procrastination are often emo-tional or avoidant oriented rather than task or problem-solving ori-ented. Emotion oriented coping is designed to reduce stress (and cog-nitive dissonance) associated with putting off intended and impor-tant personal goals, an option that provides immediate pleasure and is consequently very attractive to impulsive procrastinators. There

are several identified emotion ori-ented strategies, similar to Freud-ian defence mechanisms, coping styles and self-handicapping. These coping responses that one ought to avoid, if one seriously in-tends to get rid of procrastination include following:

Avoidance: We avoid the locale or situation where the task takes place (e.g., a graduate student avoiding going to university). Avoiding doesnt solve anything, therefore, if we tend to avoid the work environment then that is the first thing we need to avoid if we are to conquer procrastination.

Distraction: We engage or immerse ourselves in other be-haviours or actions to prevent awareness of the task (e.g., inten-sive videogame playing or Inter-net surfing). These probably can be solved by distancing ourselves

from the things that tantalize us and distract us from doing what we are supposed to do. If there are too many videos and games on your computer, delete them. If your friends distract you by calling you to chitchat, make a point of not meeting them or communicating with them during working hours.

Trivialization: We re-frame the intended but procrastinat-ed task as being not that important (e.g., Im putting off going to the dentist, but you know what? Teeth arent that important.). This is a tricky one. When we are feeling particularly lazy our mind plays tricks on us. We would find a way to convince ourselves to trivialize important tasks. To tackle this we should make a to-do-list and stick to it no matter what.

Downward counterfac-tuals: We compare our situation

with those even worse (e.g., Yes, I procrastinated and got a B- in the course, but I didnt fail like one other student did.). Upward counterfactual is considering what would have happened if we didnt procrastinate. Downward counter-factuals, they say, is the indulgence of failure. And here also when we fail to complete our job on time, instead of making serous inquiry, we may tend to make ourselves feel better by making downward coun-terfactuals. And so, in the fight to overcome procrastination the motto should always be upward counter-factual.

Humour: Making a joke of ones procrastination, that the slapstick or slipshod quality of ones aspirational goal striving is funny. The habit of procrastination is not an amusing one as its consequences would not probably be particularly pleasant. And so be serious about this problem, being amused is the last thing you we should feel about this habit.

External attributions: That the cause of procrastination is due to external forces beyond our control (e.g., Im procrastinat-ing because the assignment isnt fair). True, sometimes the cause for postponement might be out of our control and there could barely be anything we could do about it. However, on many other occasions this is just excuse.

Reframing: Pretend-ing that getting an early start on a project is harmful to ones perfor-mance and leaving the work to the last moment will produce better results (e.g., Im most creative at

If Not Now Then When?Part VI

continued on page 8


Dear readers On the Table always welcomes your outlooks on any of the issues raised on this column. Please mail us your comments opinions and views; we will entertain them.

On the Table: http://www.profile.gov.er Daniel Semre - [email protected] Solomon Mengsteab [email protected]

Solomon Mengsteab

Craving success is probably one of the as-pirations shared by all humans alike. The things that people would desire to be success-ful at might be widely vary in size, degree or nature, yet still, the existence of ambition of success is a common denominator of the for mankind. All the while, however, the path to success is never definite and it is not always found by everyone seeking it. And the million gold coins question here is How do success-ful people find the secret path to success? Is it just by sheer smile of fortune casted upon the chosen ones without rhyme or reason? Or, is it due to skill, hard work and persistence of the ones who have become so? However, even the most important question here is the definition of success in the first place. For the very pro-cess of clearing the cloud in the quest to the mysterious path of success begins with having a vivid understanding of the core concept of success.

Most people think that success is the owner-ship of the abundance of the glamorous flaunts of the material world. As Tracey Chapman satirically put it, although she might not nec-essarily meant to define success, in one of her beautiful songs:

...To have a big expensive carDrag my fur on the ground

Have a maid I can tellTo bring me anything

Everyone would look at meWith envy and with greed ...

But, is success really all about having mon-ey and fame? Is it not a common happenstance to see the children personages of esteemed successes, with all the money and fame they happen to have by mere effect of inheritance, the lowest of degenerates? Would such people be called successful for the mare fact of being rich and famous?

Success, by definition, is the accomplish-ment of an aim or purpose. And the concept of accomplishment inheritably entails a desirable end result of the combination of several inputs into an endeavour. Indeed, accomplishment is achievement, the triumph of bringing about any given goal by effort, skill, determination and/or courage, qualities that are all, for the

Todays issue of on the table shall discuss about how much luck play a role in the success of a per-son; and how intentional effort always produce the best result.

Luck or Effort

Daniel Semere

People always say they got lucky when something good happens to them. Some even tend to totally correlate everything with luck. But some people argue that to the most part luck has nothing to do with anything. They say that unlike animals that are meant to live an ordained life and have no say on what will happen to them, human beings have been blessed with the power of controlling their own destiny and decide their fate. Whether we like it or not we are what we make of and to ourselves. If there is any message this conveys is that we can-not afford to base wholly the providence of outcomes either on luck or the lack of it and must take adequate steps to ensure their attainment. Because if we leave it up to luck; today might be fortune but tomor-row might be doon for both are equal in the eyes of luck. Sure enough nothing is for granted as far as luck is concerned and hence if it is a giver, it is equally a taker.

Nonetheless, many times we see things or phenomena that are totally out of our control changing the outcome of things. For instance many of the people who were pioneers of software technology and the likes are people of the same genera-tion. And being born at a particular time in point gave those people unprecedented

opportunity to do more in their field than people from any other generations. Here we see the effect of sheer luck of coinci-dence in influencing the fate of peoples life. The simple reason is that no one can have a control over when and where that person should be born.

The structure of things can also be of great reason for luck to play significant role in some people. For instance if we take certain sports like hockey, it has been proved right that most of the games great-est players were born around a particular month in a year. And since the academy of the sport have a criteria of age in their enrolment of people, certain people have advantage of being readily enrolled. For instance people born in the month january, the beginning of the year, have an advan-tage over a person born around May, who has to wait for another whole year to be enrolled as the person cannot join in the middle of the year. Hence the prior have a whole year advantage by the time the latter joined the academy.

A person can control its destiny to the most part. However we cannot downplay the effect luck or providence can have in how the persons life will turn out to be. So I say take control of your life and your destiny, but you can hope to be lucky as well. What do you say?

Hoping to Be Luckymost part, acquired, not innate. Thus, even if being rich and famous is considered as suc-cess, it would only be for those who yearned for it and got it through their own merits not for those who just happen to be ones by sheer happenstance.

I have seen this film once, kind of documen-tary, made based on a book with the same title. The film generally suggests that if one wishes and truly believes to have, accomplish, and/or become something or someone, one can have his wishes realised by some sort of mys-terious power of the universe. The argument there seem to have some fundamental truth as the most crucial factor in accomplishing something is wishing and believing. However, wishing and believing are only the beginning in the journey to achieve something which should be followed by hard work, determina-tion and skilful planning and carrying out. For, it is hardly possible to believe that wishing and believing and then simply sitting around for the wish to be materialised magically would make the wishes come true.

The idea of fate and freewill is a classic philosophical point of deliberation. Person-ally I dont believe in luck and coincidence I believe there is a reason for everything that happens and that there is; whether we are able to perceive and comprehend it, is an entirely different question. There is a reason why the earth is round, there is a reason for the illu-mination of the stars, there is a reason why we walk with two limbs but not four, there is a reason for the colourlessness of water etc. Some logics are clear to us some are not, some were not clear for our ancestors, but are vivid to us now and some others without a doubt will be crystal for our children. I believe my fate, my success, is on my hands, not fortune. To borrow the expression of Amy Winehouse; They are trying to tell me my fate is written, and I say, No! No! No! What do you say?

Theyre Trying To Tell Me My Fate Is Written; I Say, No! No! No!

4Eritrea Profile, Saturday 31st of january, 2015 ADSVacancy Announcement

Bisha Mining Share Company PLC is inviting interested applicants for the positions of;

Bartender (03)1. Major Duties and responsibilities:-

Become familiar and adhere to the project health, safety and environmental regulations/proceduresTo attend safety meetings and other announced staff meetings.To maintain full supply of dishes, glasses, mugs, etc.To deliver friendly, efficient customer service and to create a warm and welcoming atmosphere to all of our customer.To serve and present beverages, quickly and efficiently, meeting hygiene standards To assist in keeping the bar and toilets clean and tidy , at all times.To keep up to date with current prices and happenings.To make customers aware of snack and drink range To ensure that customers are satisfied with their beverages.To maintain knowledge about beverages and snacks on offerTo always adhere to all company polices and producersTo perform any other task when asked by supervisor and superior.

Profile: Qualifications and Experience

Formal Education, Certifications or Equivalents

School leaving certificate and job specific training

Working Experience Nature & Length

Minimum 01 03 years experience as a bartender in a hotel/bar environment.

Leadership Experience Nature & length of time

Demonstrate leadership ability to organize tasks.

Strong knowledge of hygiene and different beverages

Teamworks is essential

Other skills and abilities Communication skills-English ability for daily communication and reporting.Able to work independently.

Cook (02)2. Major Duties and responsibilities:-

Become familiar and adhere to the project health, safety and environmental regulations/procedures.To attend safety meetings and other announced staff meetings.To be responsible for cooking a wide range dishes, both local and international.To measure ingredients requires for specific food items being prepared To be able to perform his work independently or as part of a close-knit team.To verify that prepared food meets requirements for quality and quantityPrepared in advance items that are needed for the following days consumption.Keep working area in good sanitary order and rotate both stock and semi-finished goods to achieve the highest quality products.To assure and maintain proper and safe use of all kitchen equipment, materials and food products and follow weekly and daily cleaning schedules.( includes cleaning and sanitizing of whole area so that there will be no bacterial problems)To assist in keeping all areas of kitchen and dining room clean, swept and washed.TO perform any other task when asked by supervisor or superior.



BSc. Degree ( preferably in Engineering)


Minimum 02 years mine planning experience (preferred).

Leadership Experience Nature & length of time

Demonstrated ability to organize staff and tasks.Strong planning and time management skillsTeamwork is essential.

Other skills and abilities

Required Valid Eritrean drivers License.Communication skills- English ability for reportingProficiency in Microsoft office. Excel and graphing skills are criticalProficiency / experience in mining planning software, surpac, and whittle would be preferred.

General Information and other requirements:Place of Work : Bisha.Type of contract: Indefinite period Salary: As per Company salary scale.Additional requirement for Nationals: Having fulfilled his/her National Service obligation and provide evidence of release paper from theMinistry of Defense. Present clearance paper from current/last employer.Testimonial documents to be attached (CV, work experience credentials, a copy of your NationalIdentity Card etc.).Only shortlisted applicants would be considered as potential candidates for an interview.Application documents will not be returned to sender.All applications should be sent through the post office.Deadline for application: 10 days from the day of publication in the Newspaper.Address: Please mail your applications to;

Bisha Mining Share Company P. O. Box 4276 Asmara, Eritrea

Note to Eritrean applicants: Please send a copy of your application to Aliens Employment Permit Affairs, P. O. Box 7940 Asmara, Eritrea

Vacancy AnnouncementBisha Mining Share Company is inviting applicantsforthefollowingpositions forits Bisha Site Project.

Position:- Supply Training Officer Trainee1. Major Duties and responsibilities:-

Assist I the translation of trining materials in to Tigrigna languageUpdate direct supervision and guidance of the supply training officer will be actively in-

volved in development and umplementation of a functional specific training program for the supply department at Bisha Mining.

Assist in designing training materials that meets indiciduallearnings needs and company requirements.

Assist the supply team in ensuring KPIs and other department and company targets are met. Assist staff in achieving their full potential by gaining new skills through effective training and mentoring.

Work in accordance with the Bisha core values at all times.Promote a safety culture within the department and company encourageing the use of risk

mitigation methods and tools when developing operational and training plans.Work in accordance with the Bisha core at all times.Promote a safety culture with the department and company encouraging the use of risk miti-

gation methods and tools when developing operational and training plans.Actively participate in and provide leadership i safety meetings and discussion.Under the guidance of the supply training officer provide both theoretical training progamsActively Participate in conducting high quality internal supply staff training covering all

areas of warehousing cataloguing, inventory control, procurement and general logistics.Assist in development of training systems, conducting training needs analysis, research top-

ics and develop training materials.Assist in controlling the use of common standardized policies , processes and procedures to

ensure that all potential synergies are leveraged.Assist designing supply procedures for the department including manuals, tutorials and both

written and practical assessments.To work with colleagues in the training team to consistently internal practices, procedures

and procedures to provide an efficient and effectiveservice.Asssist in audinting policies and procedures to ensure compliance with Bisharequiremetns

in all supply related areas.Monitor compliance of supply policies, procedures and processes.Maintain training records and prepare regular reports and assesments.Daily and month end reporting to the supply superintendent and supply manager.Take initiatives to develop him/her self to become a competent supply training officer.



Diploma in materials management, Accounting , Management or related qualifications.

Working Experience Nature & LengthMinimum 3 years in supply chain roles. Experience in mining environment is ans advantage.

Leadership Experience Nature & length of time High level of interpersonal skills.


Presentation and communication skills.Demonstrated skills in planning, analysis and problem solving.Good interpersonal skills together with effective communication skills.Excellent skills in the use of computing software and ERP systems.

General Information and other requirements:Place of Work : Bisha.Type of contract: Indefinite period Salary: As per Company salary scale.Additional requirement for Nationals: Having fulfilled his/her National Service obligation and provide evidence of release paper from

the Ministry of Defense. Present clearance paper from current/last employer.Testimonial documents to be attached (CV, work experience credentials, a copy of your National

Identity Card etc.).Only shortlisted applicants would be considered as potential candidates for an interview. Application documents will not be returned to sender. All applications should be sent through the post office.Deadline for application: 10 days from the day of publication in the Newspaper.Address: Please mail your applications to;

Bisha Mining Share Company, P. O. Box 4276 Asmara, Eritrea

Note to Eritrean applicants: Please send a copy of your application toAliens Employment Permit Affairs , P. O. Box 7940 Asmara, Eritrea


Vacancy AnnouncementBisha Mining Share Company is inviting ap-

plicants for the following position for its Bisha Site Project.

1. Position:Heavy Mobile Equipment Training Officer (01).

Major Duties and responsibilities:-

Perform Training needs analysis Develop and update training materials to suit the companys

approved training programs. Train HME engineering artisans as outlined in the training

programPerform competency assessments Evaluate and communicate outcomes of training to line

management and traineesEnsures that appropriate training records are maintainedPrepares suitable reports for managementFollow up on training provided to trainees



High or Technical School Certificate with a minimum HME mechanical trade or related qualificationMust be in possess of a workplace assessors certificate


At least 5 - 7 years experience as a HME trainer

Leadership Experience-Nature & length of time

Ability to coordinate, supervise and train a group of at least 8 or more people.

Good presentation skills.


Excellent computer skill (MS word, excel & power point)Proficient in EnglishGood practical demonstration skills

General Information and other requirements:Place of Work: Bisha.Contract Type: IndefiniteSalary: As per Company salary scale.

Additional requirement for Nationals: Having fulfilled his/her National Service obligation and provide evi-

dence of release paper from the Ministry of Defense. Present clearance paper from current/last employer.Testimonial documents to be attached (CV, work experience creden-

tials, a copy of your National Identity Card etc.).Only shortlisted applicants would be considered as potential candi-

dates for an interview. Application documents will not be returned to sender.

All applications should be sent through the post office.Deadline for application: 10 days from the day of publication in

the Newspaper.

Address: Please mail your applications to;Bisha Mining Share Company P. O. Box 4276 Asmara, Eritrea

Note to Eritrean applicants: Please send a copy of your application to Aliens Employment Permit Affairs, P. O. Box 7940 Asmara, Eritrea

the road one can see mountains spotted with shrubbery and scat-tered vegetation, a sign of rain. There are few farm areas and you can see a large mass of maize and different type of crops. Massawa city the harbor of the future of the 22nd century is a sea side city that will soon be functioning as a major international port. The old Ottoman buildings being renovat-ed has added to the beauty of the city. The new skyline is covered in soaring trees of metal and glass, frames and twisted boughs bare for all to see a towering creation of human civilization. Pass Mas-sawa airport headed to Emberemy villages you see the Rashadia man plowing his field and planting his milt and watermelon.

As we reached the beach ho-tel Gergousome it was a clear evening, the sky has no traces of cloud and the moon is out in her full beauty. It is a little chill than the summer warm evening but

once you acclimatize self the chill goes away. The brilliant orange mass of the sun had just cleared the horizon I prefer the warmth of the bed until day break. But, look-ing at the beach of the Red Sea I couldnt defy my innersole; had to go for early morning swim. Cruis-ing back to Asmara was spectacu-lar the mountains were covered with green forest trees. The twin towns of Dongolos were showing sign of the rainy season with their vegetation starting to grow. Ginda town covered with green grazing fields and citrus trees all over the town for one to admire. Fur-ther down few kilometers and you meet the imposing Nefasit Moun-tains covered with fog showing the beauty of two skies and mak-ing you fill as if you are flying rather than driving. That is what the Bahrie rainy season presented us to enjoy. A gift from Mother Nature for the Holidays and the New Year.

Sources: www.shabait.com

The Rain In Bahrie ...their time taking care of the house-hold, the major entertainment they have is the usual coffee ceremony in the company of neighbors and relatives in a bright day, or when they meet in a mahber (traditional get together). There, they can have the enjoyment of knowing what is new. How refreshed do they look when they will talk, laugh, argue and gossip? They embrace that moment most out of the whole month. Coffee in this case is not a luxury but rather a necessity.

I have heard short stories of peo-ple who attempted and committed suicide. Gossip can kill and make the person feel neglected and aban-doned; after all, over 90% of sui-cide results from depression. The terrible thing about gossip is that the story can and cannot be true and worse; there are always exag-gerations to make the story inter-esting... Somehow, rumor is never about good thing but rather about the target person; they are com-monly negative. I fear that deep inside, human beings are sadists. It is funny how mischievousness and the misery of others can entertain us. In my positive mind attitude, I dont want to believe that human beings have the potential of doing both good and evil.

Once, my best friend told me this witty line: to make a mistake is nature but to forgive is culture. It might be natural for us to backstab and enjoy it every second. How-

ever, human beings are learning beings; we can develop the culture of openness to those who are close to us and restrain from making negative remarks about people. We can develop the culture of ap-

preciating and taking perspective while at the same time remaining non-judgmental. After all, positive mind means positive life.

Misgana D.

Rumors: Depreciative...

continued from page 6


A new micro dam in Shimanigus Tahtai, Seregeqa sub-zone, con-structed at 13 million Nakfa has been inaugurated. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Mr. Zerit Tewoldeberhan, Managing head in

the Central region, said that the fa-cility was put in place in line with the Governments policy of mak-ing available social services in re-mote areas.

Mr. Tesfu Fisehatsion, Adminis-

trator of Seregeqa sub-zone, indi-cated on his part that there exist 12 micro dams, 5 water ponds and 54 wells in the sub-zone enabling 68% of the local population to have ac-cess to potable water supply.

NEwlY coNStrUctEd micro dam iN SHimaNigUS taHtai iNaUgUratEd


Berhane Woldu

Eritrea has two rainy seasons the one most visible and talked about is the rainy seasons that starts in late May and lasts until mid September which covers the Southern, Central, Gash Barka, Anseba and some part of the Red Sea region. The second one that is not much talked about is the one that is called the rain of Bahrie which starts in mid October and lasts until March. Bahrie rainy season covers the geographical area starting from the mountains of Nefasit which is 18 Kilometers out of Asmara through Dengolo all the way to the Red Sea also known as Semhar. The area has vast amount of meadow land for farming.

What one needs to understand is that the Bahrie region is not just for the rain it afforded but for the long view to the north and west fertile plains. People from differ-ent parts of Eritrea go to Bahrie to prepare the land for farming. They go early in October and return to their respected villages to retrieve their cattle for grazing starting in November and wont return until May when they finish gathering their harvest. The mountains and vales are wild life reserve. The Semenawe Keyeh Bahrie area is a reserved national park. It is a place of many wonders and an ex-hilarating sight to drive through.

Semenawe Keyeh Bahrie Na-tional commons beholds stun-ning beauty with very bright sky with lovely dark blue color. The hill sloping down to the valley is covered in rockers and remains analogous to places like the great canon. There is little vegetation on one side of the valley, but in a short distance one could see an

end to the expanse of the valley in the direction we were driv-ing. The North side of the valley is heavily wooded down to the meadow edge and over the East side the valley was also covered in dense scattered forest. Along the grazing land the earth starts to fall down more steeply and the road follows the higher ground becoming a cliff of some 50 me-ters; goats and camels climbing up to feed and the road follows closely the edge of this precipice looking down to the meadow one could see that the valley is quite deep littered with goats and cattle. Lunch was at Sabur resort restau-rant located 54 kilometer out of Asmara. After lunch the sun has dropped low now that only spo-radic shift of light penetrate low shading strange shadows which appear to dart almost out of vision

melting into forest cover. The sun reached its height, there was a fast flowing river bound on the far side forest covering two thirds of the rising ground before us. Reach-ing the higher ground gasped as the panorama before us spout into view. The earth dropped steeply down to a fast flowing river be-low. That is where one meets the mammoth river with its majestic easy flow the Felfl-Selemuna River as you interlace the bridge the earth starts to rise slowly it is covered with citrus trees impos-sible to see what lay upfront. We see the sun through the canopy of papaya trees and judge that it has passed its mid-day yet its hot even on the bridge. As we pass-es over the large Fegret river there is a village hidden deep in the low lands on the bank of the

The Rain In Bahrie Region Of Eritrea

river; the view of the pass below is spectacular; river zigzagging in and out of sight like a brown-gray snake vanishing and reappearing among the heavily wooded slop below. When we rounded a twist in the path ahead we saw several houses and timber built houses, nesting among trees far from the river. It is a beautiful and peaceful looking place.

Dark clouds loomed to the South West the rain began as a thin, insistent drizzle then, as is its habit the great South West morphed into a relentless down-pour and showered the parched earth. It cleansed and removed the dust from the trees lined by the roads like the cleansing of mans sin. It cooled the baked pavement and produced a sultry fog. The red parched ditches absorbed the water carrying tiny streams down wards. We arrived at Gahtelaye semi-urban a frequented stop over for traditional coffee on the way to Massawa. The lady who served us has an intelligent face, attrac-tive as hell. When she spoke her eyes fixed, unblinking it emits a soft wrath. She has small pointed nose, when she smiles, her lips spread wonderfully and folds her cheeks into neat, ephemeral, sunk-en dimples. The smiles are confi-dent, exigent and secretive. We asked her how she was copping with the weather. She said happy as one can be and looking for a re-warding farming seasons and es-pecially for sweat watermelon at the harvest season. As we drove to Massawa the landscape takes a different shape. Gone are the fer-tile plains and meadows far from

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continued on page 5

Do you find it strange how ev-eryone blames people gossiping them? How ironic is that we actu-ally enjoy talking about people on a hot coffee and heated discussion, but when the ball bounces back we burn with anger and hatred. For me if it comes to universal rule, the first rule should be: dont do to others what you dont want oth-ers to do to you.

There may be something enjoy-able talking about someone you know with people who also know him or her. It is even more enjoy-able when you all come up to a common suggestion and everyone adds up to your comment with ad-ditional information you didnt know and nodding with agreement to whatever you say. But lets face it; when you are the one being talked about, the stone hits hard; you act like you are a guest to such enterprise, as if you were not part of this circle. Gossip causes much disturbance to our inner peace when it develops to rumors. Ox-ford Dictionary defines rumor as a circulation of story or report of un-verified or doubtful truth. As I see it, rumor is when gossip spreads like wild fire on a social circle.

The weird thing about a rumor is that it never escapes the target person. No matter how secre-tive the rumor can be, it reaches the targets ears through different ways. If you happen to be the tar-get, people would murmur about you, and they dont like it when you happen to be around, because you cut off their talk show with your sudden presence; and there is the fake smile and strange at-titude they demonstrate to you af- terwards. The truth is that at one

time or another, it happened to all of us. You would walk into a room where people are engaged in a panel discussion laughing aloud; upon your arrival, things fall to an awkward silence and everyone gets tongue-tied. It is worse when this happens in ones own house. It is really ghastly when you feel homeless while you have a roof over your head and a family on your side.

At times, there are people who were nice to you once upon a time, and suddenly uttering the words: you are not worth talking to. This attitude is usually preceded by obvious ignorance. What is strange is that they are not will-ing to talk to you about the reason for their voluntary withdrawal; they are not ready to listen to your defense either. However, most of the time, words about your gossip would come to you through an-other main derogatory ones. (Is an individual who has a deep passion talking about other peoples pri-vate life?) Who was in the circle of the rumor, probably the begin-ner of such rumor? These are the people whom I usually refer to as voluntary informers!

When a person is the object of gossip, it could probably be some-thing ridiculous, unbelievable and fictional or imaginary. I find it fun-ny when once I somehow heard something untrue about someone I know and when I challenge the gossip with evidence, there hap-pens to be a sense of disappoint-ment on the part of the people who would like to see the reputation of the person doomed. I am pretty sure you might have witnessed this

yourself. Lets not be scared to admit the truth about our feelings. When we find ourselves lagging behind our counterparts or friends, we would like to hear the failure of others and would envy with a feeling of hatred on hearing some-bodys success. There is someone in our life we somehow feel intim-idated to be around with: probably the sweetheart of the family, our long rival in High School days, and the school beauty. Some-times, everything is right when everyone is equal. By nature, we would hate our neighbor dancing to happy drums amid our grief and melancholy. How about people you havent witnessed your happy days? They would visit you on your sad times. How strange! We dont feel small any more when we find someone smaller.

Rumors can be more believable

and look more rational than mere speculation when they come from someone who is close to you by blood. Could there be a more hurt-ful situation than someone you think of being great would lose the decency to speak to you in person of what he/she think about you, but rather choose to ridicule you along with others? Of course, this is more than hard to handle. But it is worse when you happen to share a secret that aches your heart and disturb your peace to someone you consider closer to you; and you hear your own secret on the street from people that dont even remotely concern them.

Once again, lets not forget our first golden rule of ethics: dont do others what you dont want others to do to you. All of these things being done by us are more l i k e l y to be done to us. If

life is a movie, it is always

better to be the audi-

ence rath-er than the ac-

tor. H a v e y o u e v e r noticed t h a t t h e firs t

people who wouldnt care about the feeling of others when back-stabbing are the last ones who would handle when they hear a rumor about them. Once I had a friend who was a voluntary in-former on what is going on around the campus. She would tell me laughing about someone she thinks has done a ridiculous thing; some-times, she would whisper with a serious frowned face about some-ones misfortune. It was funny how she reacted when she heard people talking about her. She even wanted to kill herself.

The truth is that no matter how much we try to act so strong about it and come up with a song and a quote that would imply to never care about what people may say about us, as part of the society we are in we all have a reputation to uphold. We want to be accepted and appreciated; we want to be for-given for our mistakes. As much as we have the right to feel all of these things, we have the duty to accept and appreciate others, and be ready to forgive and listen to people as much as we want to be heard.

Upon taking perspectives, gossip cannot only be backstabbing but also back patting. By back patting, I mean appreciating someones achievement and giving the morale to go ahead. Gossip can be quite a therapy at times when you hear and learn how people get along with the same problem that you have. It can be therapeutic when you hear and learn that others fail too. If we give it close attention, our traditional mothers who spend

Rumors: Depreciative Habits


Context: http://www.profile.gov.er Daniel Semre - [email protected] Solomon Mengsteab [email protected]

Many a time important events in the global arena are not presented in their entirety in mainstream media as there is lack of context in most of the information they cover. In response, this column sets out to question this trend by presenting diverse perspectives from as many sources as possible with the underlying aim of bringing to fore context that is culturally, historically, politically and economically relevant to any given topic.

Dear readers, should you have any opinion on the column Context and suggestions of articles you think should be printed here please do not hesitate to contact us. We shall welcome, value and entertain them.


Saudi Arabias King Abdul-lah died last week during what some saw as the height of his kingdoms resurgence in a volatile region. As turmoil has engulfed governments across the Middle East since the Arab uprisings, Sau-di Arabia has seemed to remain a potent pillar of stability. [F]ar from undermining the Saudi dynasty, wrote David Kirkpat-rick of The New York Times on Sunday, chaos across the region appears instead to have lifted the monarchy to unrivaled power and influence.

But as King Salman assumes the throne, is he really taking the reins of an ascendant regional player? Recent evidence, at least in the realm of Saudi foreign policy, sug-gests the opposite. The final years of Abdullahs reign were in many ways also years in which the king-dom struggled to retain its histori-cal levels of influence. And with his death, the last of the regionally dominant Saudi monarchs may have passed from the scene. When President Obama lands in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, he will be vis-iting a declining power.

In its heyday in the 1980s and early 1990s, Saudi Arabia, through organizations like the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council, was able to use its oil wealth and diplomatic weight to get other governments behind its priorities on issues like opposing Iraqs 1990 invasion of Kuwait and contain-ing Iran. Saudi-led negotiations resulted in the Taif Agreement, which ended nearly a decade and a half of civil war in Lebanon. But today, as Middle Eastern countries have split up into smaller political camps due to rising sectarianism and the collapse of governments, Saudi Arabia has scrambled to maintain friendships and shape events. As an anonymous Arab diplomat told the Times: If every-body around you is going wrong, then your influence around your borders is decreased.

The Dangers of Saudi Succes-sion

The kingdom, of course, re-mains enormously wealthy and influential in international energy markets. Even the recent drop in oil priceswhich have plum-

meted by more than half in the last yearis in large part due to Saudi Arabias moves to maintain market share at a time when global oil supplies have grown and de-mand has dropped. But this makes it all the more conspicuous that the country has been failing for at least a decade, coinciding with Abdullahs tenure on the throne, to achieve its most important foreign-policy goals.

Chief among these has been limiting Irans regional influence. Since the 1979 Iranian revolution brought Shiite theocrats to power in Tehran, the leaders of Sunni-led Saudi Arabia have looked warily across the Gulf and worried about Irans role in the region. But it was the U.S.one of Saudi Ara-bias top partnersthat ended up boosting Irans influence in the Middle East by invading Iraq in 2003. In ousting Sunni strongman Saddam Hussein, the war brought to power Iraqi Shiite leaders who were more favorable to Iran. This has allowed Tehran to work with actors inside Iraq to strengthen its proxies, including Lebanons Hez-bollah, and to extend support to Syrias Bashar al-Assad, which has proven a major factor in his ability to remain in power. More recently, Saudi Arabia has com-plained about U.S. efforts to strike a deal with Iran over its nuclear program, which the Obama admin-istration has made a top priority.

The Saudi royals have also largely failed in their goal of stop-ping the spread of certain Islamist organizations, ranging from the most extreme terrorist groups like ISIS to various Muslim Brother-hood affiliates now participating in the politics of some countries in the region. Saudi officials Ive spoken with view Islamist groups that support transnational ideas, including ISISs vision of a ca-liphate, as anathema to Saudi in-terests, which primarily involve preserving the monarchy itself and maintaining regional stability. The history of the kingdoms rela-tionship with terrorism is sharply mixedit was late to confronting the terrorist threat generated in no small part by some Saudi nation-als. Some of the leading interna-tional terrorist networks, including al-Qaeda, have roots in and draw

inspiration from Saudi Arabia; Osama bin Laden, for one, was Saudi, as were 15 of the 19 Sep-tember 11 hijackers. The world-views of al-Qaeda and ISIS are not that far apart from each other, and their principles are drawn from the same ideological pool as the ultra-conservative Saudi brand of Salafist Islam, commonly referred to as Wahhabism, which the king-dom has enforced at home and promoted overseas.

But Saudi Arabia got a wakeup call when al-Qaeda attacked com-pounds housing Western workers in Riyadh in 2003. The monarchy has since worked closely with the United States on counterterror-ism in the region, including par-ticipating in the U.S.-led bombing campaign against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Yet the Saudis have under-cut their own efforts by backing extremists in Syria, which argu-ably facilitated the rise of ISIS in the first place. For the most part, Saudi Arabia has been able to pre-vent major terrorist attacks on its territory over the past decade. But in part due to its continuing legiti-mization of Islamic fundamental-ism, it has been unable to halt the terrorist violence and instability roiling the region.

If everybody around you is going wrong, then your influ-ence around your borders is de-creased.

The kingdom has also tried, in some cases successfully, to influ-ence the internal affairs of other Middle Eastern countries, sending security forces into Bahrain to sup-port the government crackdown on protesters there in 2011, and financially underwriting Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. But its clear Saudi muscle and largesse can only go so far. The monarchys strategy to support a peaceful political transition in Ye-men seems in tatters now, and de-spite the kingdoms strong opposi-tion to Assad, the Syrian president remains in power after nearly four years of civil war. In 2013, Saudi Arabia made a show of turning down a seat on the UN Security Councila gesture Saudi intel-ligence chief Bandar bin Sultan reportedly called a message for the U.S., not the UN. The king-dom was motivated in part by the

Obama administrations decision not to strike the Assad regime in retaliation for its use of chemical weapons in the Syrian civil war.

Saudi Arabia has come up empty on Middle East peace as well. In 2002, the kingdom led an effort in the Arab League to present the Arab Peace Initiative, a proposal to broker a comprehensive peace between Israel and the Arab world. Saudi Arabia had presumably hoped to present itself as a regional leader in achieving progress where others had failed, but the plan nev-er drew a responseneither Israel nor various international media-tors picked up on the offer.

Under Abdullah, in other words, the kingdoms regional dominance has receded. But the diminished clout he leaves to his successors is not entirely a consequence of the late kings actions. The Mid-dle East as a whole is fragment-ing as more countries and non-state groups like ISIS compete for power. In addition, technological and demographic changes, such as the rise of anew generation in the Middle Easts current youth bulge (15- to 29-year-oldsconstitut-ed about one-third of the regions population as of 2008), have lim-

ited the ability of traditional insti-tutions to enforce conformity or influence events. These dynamics are not unique to Saudi Arabia, but they are perhaps nowhere more clear than in the kingdom, which has the highest number of active Twitter users in the Arab world, and where a liberal blogger was recently sentenced to a prison term and 1,000 lashes for criticizing the authorities.

It speaks to Saudi Arabias unique assets and continuing pres-tige as the birthplace of Islam that a diverse group of top Arab and Muslim leaders, many of whom are at odds with one another, dropped what they were doing and arrived in Riyadh on Friday, hours after Abdullahs death, to take part in funeral prayers at the Imam Turki Bin Abdullah mosque. Obama, for his part, is making his second trip to the kingdom in less than a year. But in paying their respects to Ab-dullah, world leaders are perhaps marking not just the passing of one of their own, but also the end of an era in the Middle East.

BRIAN KATULIS JAN 27 2015

THEATLANTIC.COM

The Twilight of Saudi Power

4:00 AM in the morning without sleep.). They say, Well began is half done. One of the things that could characterize a beginning as a good beginning is the fact that it has began at the time it is supposed to. So make plans and stick to them.

Denial: Pretending that procrastinatory behaviour is not actually procrastinating, but a task which is more important than the avoided one. Denial basically is the root cause and/or by-product of many behavioural and psycho-logical problems. It is a very com-mon response manifested as coping mechanism with several problems of the mind and psyche. Here also, therefore, as procrastination is mainly a psychological problem, denial is manifested among many procrastinators. Denial could be avoided by making systematic anal-

ysis of ones own effectiveness. Laziness: Procrastinat-

ing simply because one is too lazy to do their desired task.

Valorisation: Pointing out in satisfaction what we achieved in the meantime while we should have been doing something else.

Task or problem-solving orient-ed coping is rarer for the procras-tinator because it is more effective in reducing procrastination. If pur-sued, it is less likely the procrastina-tor would remain a procrastinator. It requires actively changing ones behaviour or situation to prevent a reoccurrence of procrastination. Therefore, if one is seriously con-sidering making changes in ones life by taking all the necessary steps to overcome this handicap-ping habit it is problem solving ori-ented strategy one should assume in dealing with it.

If Not Now Then...

Abdullah leaves his successor in charge of a diminished kingdom

Eritrea Profile 31012015

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