By E!
I wanted to write about MY take on the 10th ESAI summit a while ago. But I am going through some serious life changes, which kind of led into a serious soul searching. So, I thought I should wait until my head clears up, but I now realize that might take a super long time, so I will write about my ESAI summit experience even if my head is cluttered with so many thoughts. So, this is an informal disclaimer that my ideas might not be coherent and I might unexpectedly divert from the issue at hand. But bear with me and I will make my point at some point.
Normally, I thoroughly research events before I decide to attend them but I figured that no such background checking was necessary for the ESAI Toronto Summit. Of course, things always turn out good when there are conscious, fun loving, young, fabulous Ethiopians around, right? Wrong. I wish I had at least read a bit about ESAI and the projects they have worked on. I wish I had asked about previous summits because if I had done that, I would not have been a victim of high expectations. I now realize that my expectation for the ESAI Toronto summit was high up in the sky, compared to what it actually turned out to be.
I can almost imagine the organizers thinking…Yeman nech yechi mesgana biss? Ableten, ateteten, aznaneten endi ije sebara enhun? I realize that organizing an event is a VERY demanding task so I can only imagine the level of anxiety you, the summit organizers endured. I know u guys poured your heart to it. And it showed. The events were well planed. The party on Saturday was great, except for the fact that the place had a horrible air circulation. The Selam Art show was smashing and lunch on Saturday was also great….
But overall the summit was weak.
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by featured senduQ blogger tsepeaces (originally published on March 19th, 2009)
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from silence emerges the invisible hero.
cast in a supporting role
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with her calloused hands that grip flaming coals…
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“አንበሳና፡ነብር፡ ባንድ፡ ዱር፡ አደሩ
ቢቸግር፡ ነዉ፡ እንጂ፡ መች፡ ወዳጅ፡ ነበሩ?”
ብሏል፡ ያገሬ፡ ሰዉ፡ ተረቱን፡ ሲተርት
አልገባኝ፡ ነበር፡ ለካስ፡ ሆኗል፡ እዉነት።
እኔም፡ በማላዉቀዉ፡ ሀገር፡ ተሰድጄ፡
ከሰዉ፡ ተራ፡ ለመሆን
በፍላጎት፡ ሳይሆን፡እንደዉ፡ ተገድጄ
ይህዉ፡ እኖራለዉ፡ ቀኑን፡ እየቆጠርኩ፡ ዉስጥ፡ ዉስጤን፡ ነድጄ።
ጓደኛ፡ ማጣቴ፡ አንገት፡ ቢያስደፋኝም
ተመላሽ፡ ነኝና፡ ብዙም፡ አይከፋኝም።
ይብላኝለት፡ እንጂ፡ የዚህን፡ አገር፡ ሰዉ
ኢትዮጵያን፡ ሳያዉቃት፡ ምዕራባዊ፡ የሆነዉ..
የሰዉ፡ ለዛዉ፡ ጠፍቶ፡ ከጨካኞች፡ ተራ
ተሰልፎ፡ ይኖራል፡ ከማይሆን፡ ሰዉ፡ ጋራ።
አይ፡ ያገሬ፡ ሰዎች፡ ቢያዩዋቹህ፡ በዉነት
እንዴት፡ ቢገረሙ፡ እንዴት፡ ባዘኑት
እኔስ፡ ተመላሽ፡ ነኝ፡ ከመጣሁበት
አልቀርም፡ ከደጋዉ፤ ከዉሸቱ፡ ቤት።
“አገሬን፡ አገሬን፡ አይልም፡ ወይ፡ ሰዉ
ክፉ፡ ሲናገሩት፡ ሆድ፡ እየባሰዉ?"
እያልኩ፡ እኖራለሁ፡ እስክመለስ፡ ድረስ
መከፋቴን፡ ትቼ፡ እያለኝም፡ ደስ፡ ደስ።
የምወደዉም፡ ህዝብም፡ ጠብቀኝ፡ አደራ
ሳትለወጥ፡ ቆየኝ፡ ደሞ፡ እንዳይለኝ፡ ግራ፡
ጓዶቼም፡ ጠብቁኝ፡ እመጣለሁ፡ ቶሎ
መኖር፡ ሰልችቶኛል፡ ካለናንተ፡ ዉሎ።
በአመርቲ: ለማ
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(Originally written on April 2, 2010)
For those of you that don’t know (or who are not Ethiopian/Eritrean), I attended the 10th Annual Ethiopian Student Association International Summit this past weekend in Toronto, ON, Canada. It was my first visit to Toronto, but more importantly, my first trip to Canada period. For those of you that are not aware of it, this summit is usually a 3-4 day conference consisting of guest speakers, seminars, round table discussion, and a mixture of social events all together wrapped up into one amazing weekend.
Since it takes place in a different city every year, it’s always a new group of students playing host to this monstrous of a task to take on as students, or recent grads (trust me, we[ATL] had to do it in 2007)! Nevertheless, all the sleepless nights, hard work, and dedications is all worth it when you see the lasting connections and memories that are shared with good friends and even complete strangers in this miraculous 72 hour time period.
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First, came the announcement.
It was September when I found out that Toronto would be hosting the 10th Annual ESAI summit. I couldn't wait to get involved. Although I had never been to any of the summits before, I remember hearing so many great things about it back when I was in high school. From what I had heard, it was an annual conference that brought young Ethiopians together to a city where they could be empowered and build lasting connections. I loved the thought of it - I mean, how often do you get the chance to witness the country's people in such a beautiful light? Not on this side of the hemsiphere, any way.
Perfect. Ethiopian culture fused onto a Toronto backdrop - the best of both my worlds.
Then, came the doubt...
"Do you guys really think people are going to come?"
"People are not coming if they have to cross a border!"
"No one will come because it's in Canada! They think we live in igloos."
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