Thread by @BeqaYiakl

For this special March 8 #WomensDay edition of #Yiakl #SundaySpotlight, we have chosen a very special person – a living heroine who embodies everything that is inspiring about #Eritrea's women: Mama Abeba Tesfagiorgis Baatai.

Mama Abeba’s awe-inspiring activism and work of more than six decades, starting from the rebellious Asmarino young school-girl of the 1960s to the exiled gracefully greying grandma of today, provides a much-needed inspiration for all #Eritrean girls & women.

In the following thread, we will attempt to do the impossible by focusing on a few milestones taken out of the impressive fat dossier of Mama Abeba.

#Yiakl #SundaySpotlight #WeAreComingHome #Eritrea
#Eritrea2020

And, in so doing, we hope to shed some light on the life-time engagement of this living legend, to commemorate her unbroken dedication to Eritrea & its people, and to praise a focused and uplifting struggle that, come what may, has been defined by the following...

principled ethical and moral codes of conduct:
✅A preoccupation devoted towards the just cause of the Eritrean woman, her family & children
✅An untiring voice that tries to bridge the gulf across 3 generations of Eritrean women

✅A ceaseless yearning for knowledge, understanding & perspective
✅Wise words that are a salve to the festering wounds of a nation
✅An unwavering integrity for the cause of human dignity
✅Love & kindness for the Eritrean people
✅Humbling honesty & humility
✅Amazing grace!

Abeba Tesfagiorgis Baatai is an author and commentator of Eritrean social and political issues. She was always active socially and politically since she was young in high school.
bbc.com/tigrinya/news-…

Some of her prominent activities include:

Co-founder and two terms president of the Eritrean YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Association), 1996-1970

Co-Founder & 1st President of the Relief & Rehabilitation Association of Eritrea – 1974-75. This was the only one that provided relief & rehabilitation for Eritreans affected by drought run by civil society & indigenous Eritrean org outside of Gov't (Derg) & religious institution

Co-founder and Deputy Director of the Regional Center for Human Rights and Development, Asmara, February 1993-December 1994. The only ever human rights organization of and in Eritrea so far.

Abeba has authored two books in Tigrigna and one in English፡

“ዋይ ኣነ ደቀይ ሰኣን ምምልካት’ዶ” 1969

“ንመን’የ ዝነግሮ” 1972 and

One in English – “A Painful Season and A Stubborn Hope- The Odyssey of an Eritrean Mother” – 1992.

africaworldpressbooks.com/a-painful-seas…

Abeba continues to actively participate in the Eritrean affairs and inspires #Eritreans to be active agents of change. She's written several articles on Eritrean websites & many radio presentations.
Follow her work on Asmarino.com & @AtvAsena

Thank you, Mama Abeba for your compassionate, inspiring and unwavering activism. We love you!

#Yiakl #SundaySpotlight #Eritrea2020 #WeAreComingHome #Eritrea