Last Saturday, August 28, 2010, marked an important day in the history of Eritrean football. It was the final day of the CECAFA U-20 Championship Tournament and host country Eritrea faced Uganda for the coveted cup.
Tickets for the game were all sold out by Friday morning. I happened to pass by Bar Royal just before noon Friday and there were still huge crowds of people gathered in search of the tickets. I couldn’t recall any stadium ticket ever being in such demand before.

Prosperity, as desirable as it is, when too much tends to spoil. Some African countries, driven by either their abundant natural resources or foreign influx, are seen to cause turmoil for the black continent. But this is never the concern for Eritrea, which has long been sporting the slogan. And this carries a significant message to the young generation.

The Eritrean National Festival is always an event where one can get to know about the remote areas in the country without having to go there. At the expo grounds this year, I had the opportunity to see the traditional way of living of the five ethnic groups that live in the Northern Red Sea Region: Saho, Afar, Hidareb, Rashaida and Tigre.

July 4th was a historical day for the EriAm sisters in that they have opened a new chapter in their music careers. The sisters took off to Africa and Europe on a limited summer tour that allowed them to meet with thousands of their international fans. Their trip took them to Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Dubai, Asmara, Sawa, Stockholm, DC, Salt Lake City and Oakland. With 12 concerts and over 10 TV/radio/newspaper interviews, the sisters have managed to make their presence felt wherever they set foot.

Starting from Tesseney in Eritrea, you would immediately arrive at the city of Kessela, Sudan. No matter how long you travelled across borders, you hardly find any thing that differentiates the two people. Everything you left behind stays in front of you: the people, their way of living, their culture and their behaviour.

All past week long, and especially this last weekend, all roads leading to the Expo grounds have been busy as a beehive with people, cars, and most public transportation all making their way to where the Eritrea Festival 2010 was fervently taking place.