In Memoriam: The Late Memher Tekeste Habte
By Dr. Gebre Hiwet Tesfagiorgis (one of his former student)
It was with a heavy heart that I learned of the passing away of my elementary-school teacher, Memher Tekeste Habte. He died on Friday, March 10, 2017 in New Jersey (USA) at the age of 85.
In the course of one’s personal and educational development, everyone can single out an individual who made the most significant impact on his/her life. For me, it was the late Memher Tekeste Habte. He was my teacher during the formative years of my elementary education (first through fourth grade). Memher Tekeste was a stern disciplinarian, yet kind and caring. He was well versed especially in the lexicon and grammar of the Tigrinya language, which was evident not only in his normal conversation and general demeanor, but also in the way he departed that knowledge to his students. He was dedicated to his teaching profession and committed to his students. A former classmate of the time, who now lives in Seattle, Washington, upon my sharing with him the sad news, reminded me that we were in the morning shift of classes and that Memher Tekeste some days forced us to stay on the school grounds so that we could study and also take Arabic lessons in the afternoon. He knew that parental desire for helping hands on the farm will leave little time for studying. Such was his dedication and commitment and his desire for his students to excel.
Memher’s contributions can perhaps be best understood and appreciated in the context of the broader turbulent socio-political situation of the 1950s that resulted in the federation of Eritrea with Ethiopia. At the time, there was a distinct group of young Eritreans whose formal education in the colonial educational system was barely high school level. Many from the group became teachers. Tigrinya was the medium of instruction at the elementary level, later replaced by Amharic, the Ethiopian national language. This group of teachers compensated the shortage in formal education with enrichment of knowledge through correspondence, zeal, hard work and dedication to their profession and students. In addition to teaching, they assumed the role of in loco parentis for their students. Disillusioned by the colonial intrigues and betrayals of the emerging politicians at the time, they dedicated their lives to teaching. Particularly important was the emphasis they placed on the Tigrinya language, suspecting its termination was eminent. It is as if they had a mission; that is, to ensure the survival of Tigrinya by effectively transmitting their knowledge to their students in the best way they knew how. And they succeeded. Despite its replacement by Amharic and the deliberate suppression, Tigrinya survived and
was eventually revived. The revival fell to the independence struggle organizations in which many of the former students of that group participated. The rest of course is history! I don’t know how many of the teachers of that era are still alive. They are the unsung heroes, the chapter on whose contribution is yet to be written.
Coming back my hero, Memher Tekeste, he represented the best of that group; now he has departed. There is a saying in Arabic (eli Khelef mamat), which approximately translates to: He who has offspring never dies. Memher Tekeste is survived by his loving wife Haregu Gebremedhin, six daughters (Asmeret, Gebriela, Almaz, Kidusan, Senait and Eden), two sons (Abel and Temesgen; another son, Fesehaie, was martyred during the armed struggle for independence), and fourteen grandchildren. And of course, his legacy as a life-time educator will live forever.
May Memher Tekeste’s soul rest in peace! My heart-felt condolences to the family.
Alan’s Tribute to Tekeste Habte
Our family had the wonderful opportunity to meet Abel’s parents in October of 2016. Tekeste Habte, Haregue Ghebrmedhin and Abel came to visit our farm in Southern Minnesota during harvest season which is a beautiful time of the year. Tekeste, Haregue, and Abel were introduced to my parents, Royce and Sharon Doering to discuss the farm and the harvesting process in the United States.
Tekeste had many questions during the short time we spent with him which was not surprising due to his background focused on education and the desire to learn. One of my greatest memories from that day is when Tekeste picked up an ear of corn in the field and carried it around the entire afternoon.
Working with Abel is a great experience and I continue to learn more about his father. Tekeste was a great man that focused his life on helping others and persuading his family to achieve high goals. It was an honor to meet him. Secondly, as many of us know, mothers are the heart of the family. Haregue has done an amazing job raising a son that cares about people and is independent; I’m sure this is true for all of her children.
God bless.
Alan Doering
ኣብይ’ዩ ዓድኻ?
ቅድሚ ሽዱሽተ ዓመት ኣቢሉ’ዩ። ኣቤል ተከስተ ኣመሪኻ መጺኡስ ክርእዮ ዝከድኩሉ ምሽት። ኣነን ኣቤልን ኣብ ኣስመራ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ኢና ንፋለጥ። ካብቲ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ምስተመረቅና ግን ከምቲ ትፈልጥዎ ከምደቂ ዛግራ ፋሕፋሕ ስለዝበልና ካብ ዘይንራከብ ዳርጋ ሸውዓተ ዓመት ኣሕሊፍና ነበርና። ኣነ ኣቀዲመ’የ ወጺኤ። ኣቤል ዲሒሩ ሲዒቡ። መጀመርያ ንጀርመን፡ ዳሓር ድማ ንኣሜሪኻ መጺኡ። ጽቡቕ ኣጋጣሚ ኮይኑ እቲ ዝኣተወሉ ቦታ ካብቲ ኣነ ዝነበርኩዎ ርሑቅ ስለዘይነበረ ክርእዮ ቀልጢፈ’የ ከይደ። ክርእዮ ምስ ከድኩ ድማ ወለዱ’ውን መጺኦም ስለዝጸንሑኒ ተላየዮም። ኣቡኡ መምህር ተከስተ ሃብተ ሓደ ካብቶም ቀዳሞት መማህራን ኤርትራ ምኻኖም እኻ ኣቀዲመ ይፈልጥ እንተነበርኹ ብኣካል ግን ተራኪብና ኣይንፈልጥን። ሽዑ እዚ ዕድል ምርካበይ ድማ ኣዝዩ ደስ በለኒ። ድሕሪ ሓጺር ምላልይ ድማ ናይ ዓድን ናይ ኣሜሪኻን ኣርእስቲ እንዳሓዋወስና ከነዕልል ጀመርና። መምህር ኣዝዮም ሕዉስን ተጻዋታይን ዝለዝነበሩ ቀልጢፍና ክንዋሃሃድ ግዜ ኣይወሰደልናን።
ኣም መንጎ ዕላልና ድማ ‘ስድራኣበይ ኣለዉ?” ክብሉ ሓተቱኒ።
“ዓዲ” በልክዎም። እታ ዓዲ ትብል ቃል ብልምዲ ‘ኤርትራ’ ንምባል ኣብ ደገ ምስመጻኩ ካብ ብብዝሒ ዘዘውትረን ቃላት’ያ።
“ኣበይ’ዩ ዓድኹም” መምህር ኣስዕቡለይ።
እዛ ሕቶ ድማ ኣሰንበደትኒ። ከምዚ ዓይነት ሕቶ ካብ ዘይሕተት ነዊሕ ኮይኑ ኣሎ። ምናልባት እዛ ሕቶ መጨረሽታ ዝተሓተትኹላ ካላኣይ ደረጃ ትምህርቲ ከይወዳእኹ ኣብቲ ዝዓበኩሉ ከባቢ ክትኸውን ኣለዋ። ቅድሚ 20 ምካኑ’ዩ። ድሕሪኡ ግን ንትምህርቲ ኢለ ኣስመራ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ካብ ዝወጽእ እዛ ሕቶ ዝሓተተኒ ሰብ ኣይዝከረንን። በንጻሩ ከምዚ ዓይነት ሕቶታት ምሕታት ነውሪ ምካኑውን ቀልጢፈ’የ ተገንዚበ። ኣብ ስደት ምስመጻኩ ድማ እቲ ኩነታት ካብኡ ዝፍለ ኣይነበረን። ስደት ካብ ጽመጽእ ዋላእኻ ልዕሊ 10 ዓመት ኣሕሊፈ እንተለኹ ኣበይ’ዩ ዓድኻ ኢሊ ዝሓተተኒ ሰብ ኣይዝከረንን። ኣን’ውን ንዝኮነ ሰብ ‘ኣበይ’ዩ ዓድኻ’ ኢለ ከምዘይሓተኩ ርግጸኛ’የ። ምክንያቱ ዓዲ ምሕታት ኣብ መንጎ ኤርትራውያን ነውሪ ምካኑ ከምቁቡል ወሲደዮ ስለዝነበርኹ። ስለዚ ካኣ መምህር ተከስተ ‘ኣበይ’ዩ ዓድኻ’ ምስበሉኒ ንሓንሳብ ተዳናገርኹ። ኣይደንጎኩን ግን። እዚ ሕቶ ኻብቶም ማይ ደግሚ ገድሊ-ኤርትራ ተነጺጉሎም ዝዓበዩ መሳቶይ ዘይኮነስ ካብ ወዲ 80 ዓመት ኣቦ ምኻኑ ተረዲኤ ዝዓበኩሉ ዓዲ ነገርኹዎም። መምህር ነተን ሰጋእ ዝበልኹለን ውሑዳት ካሊኢታት ዘስተባሃሉለን ኣይመስለንን። ምኽንያቱ ‘ኣበይ’ዩ ዓድኻ’ ኢልኻ ምሕታት ንዓይ’ምበር ንዖኦም ነውሪ ስለዘይነበረ። ብዝኮነ ምስ ነገርኹዎም ዋላኻ መምህር ብትውልዲ ካብቲ ኣነ ዝዓበኩሉ ከባቢ እንተዘይኾኑ ንዓድና ጽቡቅ ገይሮም ከምዝፋልጡዎን፡ ኣብ ኣታዊ ውሽጢ ሃገር ይሰርሑሉ ኣብ ዝነበሩ ግዜ ሓደ ካብ መሳርሕቶም ወዲ ዓድና ኣቡኡ መይቶሞ ቀብሪ ከይዶም ከምዝፈልጡን፡ ታሪኽ ናይቲ ከባቢ ጽቡቅ ጌሮም ከምዝፈልጡን ኣብ ዕላልና ተረዲኤ። በዚ ዝጀመረ ዕላልና ድማ ናብ ካልእ ሰጊሩ ጽቡቅ ክንጻወት ኣምሰና።
ኣማስያይ ድማ ንኣቤል ዓርከይን ንመምህርን ተከስተን ተፋንየዮም ንቦታይ ተበግስኩ። ኣብ መንገዲ በቲ ዘጋጠመኒ ብዙሕ ተገረምኹ። ንምንታይ ‘ኣበይ’ዩ ዓድኻ’ ምስተባሃልኹ ሰጋእ ከምዝበልኹ ገረመኒ። ሓቂ’ዩ ብዛዕባ ዓዲ ምዝራብ ኣብዚ ናተና ወለዶ ከምነውሪ ተቁጺሩ’ዩ። ምንጪ ናይዚ ካኣ እቲ ኣብ ህዝባዊ ግንባር ዝማዕበለ ኣብ ኣውራጃ ዝማእከለ ፖለቲኻ ኮይኑ ይስማዓኒ። ኣውራጃካ ከይፍለጥ ድማ ዓዲ ይሕባእ። ዝበዝሕ ሰብ ከምዚ ክገብር ከሎ ካብ ሓልዮትን ምስካፍን ዝተበገስ’ዩ። ብዛዕባ ኣውራጃ ምዝራብ እንድሕር ተኣፋፊ ኮይኑ ዘይምዝራብ እንታይ ጎድኣት ኣለዎ? ብዛዕባ ዓድና እንተዘይተዛረብና እንታይ ይተርፈና? ምእንቲ ርእሱ እዚ ኣውራጃ ወዲ ኣውራጃ ዝብል ጥልያን ንክጥዕሞ ዝፈጠሮ ኣሰራርዓ’ዶ ኣይኮነን? ወዘተ ዝብል ሓልዮት ዘበገሶ’ዩ። ኣነውን ሓደ ካብቶም ነዚ ምጉት ዝተቀበልዎ ሓደ’የ። ይኩን ዳኣምበር እዚ ከምዚ ዝበለ ስክፍታ ሓንሳብ ሓንሳብ ዓቀኑ ስለዝሓልፍ ናቱ ሳዕቤን ኣለዎ። እቲ ብዛዕባ ዓዲ ዘይምዝራብ ናብ ዘይምፍላጥ ኣድሂቡ። ዘይምፍላጥ ካኣ ንናይ ፖለቲኻ ሸቀጥቲ ባይታ ፈጢሩ።
ምስ መምህር ኣብ ዝሰዓባ ዓመታት ኣዚና ስለዝተቃረብና ብዛዕባ ኣብ ከባቢ ዓዲ ዝግበር ፖለቲኳ ካበይ ከምዝጅምርን ንሶም ከመይ ከምዝርእይዎን ሓቲተዮም ኔረ። መምህር ኣብ ሕብረተሰብ ኤርትራ ዓዲ መሰረት መንነት ከምዝኮነን መቀራረቢ እምበር መፈላለዪ ክከውን ከምዘይግባእ ኣጻዊቶምኒ። እቲ ኣብ ኣውራጃታት ኤርትራ ዘሎ ህዝቢ ድማ ብደምን ታሪክን ዝተኣሳሰረ ከምዝኮነ ኣዛካኪሮምኒ። ብርግጽ ነዚ ዝፈልጦ ሎሚ ውሑድ’ዩ ዝመስል። ሕልፍ ክብል ኣብ ገጻት Facebook ብዛዕባ ኣውራጃ ዝተጻሓፍ ከንብብ ከለኩ ይስንብድ እሞ ነዚ ዘረባ መምህር ተከስተ ትዝ ይብለኒ፧ እዞም ሰባት ነቲ ኣብ መንጎ እዘን ኣውራጃታት ዘሎ ታሪክን ወለዶን እንተዝፍለጥዎስ ከምዚ ዶ ምጸሓፉ ይብል። መምህር ተከሰተ ዓሚ ከምዚእዋን ኣብ መበል 86 ዓመቶም ናብ ዓዲ ኩልና ከይዶም። ንመምህር እግዛኣብሄር ኣብ መንግስተ-ሰማዩ ይቀበሎም። ንዓና ድማ ከምቲ ናቶም ልቦናን ቅንዕናን ይሃበና።
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