An Eritrean from Beit Mekhaa in Asmara who fell deeply in love with Fatin Hamama A Fatin Ha

 An Eritrean from Beit Mekhaa in Asmara who fell deeply in love with Fatin Hamama

A Fatin Hamama film that shaped the destiny of an Eritrean from Beit Mekhaa in Asmara.

قصة الارتري من اسمرا , مساعد سائق اللوري الذى وقع في حب فاتن حمامة عندما شاهد احد افلامها في كسلا في اواخر الاربعينات وترك كل شئ وذهب الي القاهرة علي امل ان يتزوجها

Thousands loved Fatin Hamama (1931 – 2015), the famous Egyptian and Arab icon who passed away three days ago. Mesfun Maare, the Eritrean truck-driver assistant from Beit Mekhaa in Asmara was no exception. He fell in deeply love with Fatin Hamama; and travelled all the way to Cairo to see her.

Mesfun used to work as an assistant with an Italian truck driver. This was during the late forties or early fifties. They used to go from Asmara to Kassala. When they reach the city, Mesfun was allowed to do whatever he wanted, but had to come back late in the evenings and sleep in the car to guard it. He used to go the to the cinema and watch Arabic films. It was in one of those films that he saw Fatin Hamama and fell deeply in love with her. He was not only obsessed with her love, but he wanted to marry her. He thought he would die if he did not meet her. So, one day, he went back to the driver, asked for all his savings and told him that he will go to Cairo to meet Fatin. The driver tried to persuade him to stay and showed him the task was impossible. Every body else whom Mefun shared the story with laughed at him but he was determined to fulfil his wish.

He started his journey from Kassala and reached Wadi Halfa after a lot of difficulties. He was told there that to be able to go to Egypt, he needed a passport. He went to the immigration office and applied for Sudanese citizenship. He claimed he was a Sudanese from the Shukria tribe. The immigration officer questioned him, but at last he said he was suspicious that Mesfun was either a Habashi (Abyssinian) or Somali and did not approve the application. He asked for witnesses. Mesfun was very upset, went to a tea shop and asked for tea and was smoking heavily. The tea shop owner observed that Mesfun seemed disturbed and asked what the problem was. Mesfun told his story and the owner broke into laughter. Upon the insistence of Mefun that he would die if he did not meet Fatin, the owner said he will help him and arranged with a relative of his to smuggle him to Egypt. He arrived in Cairo after many difficulties. In Cairo he stayed in a small hotel that was owned by an Armenian woman. He gave her all he money he had. He used to tell his story to every one he met and they all laughed at him. After staying for about 2 weeks the lady told him that he has consumed all his money and told him to leave the hotel, penny less.

He left the hotel wandering what he would. Later he came near a garden and while he was praying, ‘St. Michael help me’ he heard voices in Tigrinya and moved towards the source. He found two young guys who turned out to be Safi Imam Musa and Imam Osman Aberra. He was so happy and told them his story. They were also surprised to meet him and astonished about his story. They told him that he can stay with them and took him home. They were students and he used to prepare food for them.  He found a Sudanese friend afterwards and they used to walk long distances on foot. One day while walking they saw a crowd at a Cinema in Roxy neighbourhood and went there. There he saw his dream woman, Fatin. She was coming to open one of her films. He immediately went to her and told her that he came all the way from Abyssinian to see her. She was touched, thought he was one of her fans and gave him a card with her signature on it. That was a treasure that he rounded in plastic and kept for years and showed it to everyone he met.

Months later he came across a company with a placard ‘Fiat’ on it. He went there and met the Italian manager who gave him money and told him to come back after 3 months. The Italian manger arranged for him to work with an Italian company in Sinai and in 1967 during the Arab-Israeli war he was forced to go back to Asmara and later worked in Massawa. He worked there until 1974 when things deteriorated due to the liberation war. He left for Sudan in the hope of going to Saudi Arabia, but he was caught by the EPLF and enrolled in the liberation army. He was not a man born to fight and kill and tried several times to escape. He was imprisoned several times, but later they realised he was a hopeless case and  was allowed to go to Sudan where he stayed in Port Sudan in the late seventies. He used to tell his story to everyone he met, and my friend Jelal Aberra was one of them. source   https://hedgait.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/an-eritrean-from-beit-mekhaa-in-asmara.html