“Suffering is by no means a privilege, a sign of nobility, a reminder of God. Suffering is a fierce, bestial thing, commonplace, uncalled for, natural as air. It is intangible; no one can grasp it or fight against it; it dwells in time / is the same thing as time; if it comes in fits and starts, that is only so as to leave the sufferer more defenseless during the moments that follow, those long moments when one relives the last bout of torture and waits for the next.” Cesare Pavese Quotes
The Name
Before the Italian invasion and imminent
capture of Eritrea the highland had many names but local historians
always disagreed on those names. Some historians said the name was Mereb Milash, “This side of river Mereb”, a river that now divides Eritrea and Ethiopia. Others said the name was Midri Hamasien, “the land of the Hams”.
The Italians did not bother to consult
the people when they named their colony, Eritrea, though to their credit
they named the new capital city they intended to build, and eventually
did splendidly, Asmara, a word taken from the four villages that
existed in that area when the Italians arrived. The villages were
collectively known as Arbate Asmara.
The Italians took the name Eritrea
from the Bible [some say from the Greeks], the biblical name of the Red
Sea. Its effect on the monks and the women was immediate: they liked
and adored the name and did not waste time using it.
In the highland if the monks and the
women did not mind, every one else would not mind. The problem was with
the sounding of the name. The pronunciation came in all varieties and
forms of sounds: Eltra, Eritra, Elitrea; Eritrea; Ertra. But
people didn’t mind, they just said what came to their mouth and said it
proudly. It was unconscious, so no shame was attached with the sounding
of what they said.
The monks liked the name Eritrea because
it was in the Bible and referred to the very important event they
preached and cherished: the crossing of the Jews through the middle of
the Red Sea led by Moses to Mount Sinai and to freedom from slavery.
Arms Length Acceptance
At the beginning it was not the look of
the Italians that bothered the monks and thus the women. In Eritrea
there were Eritreans with very pale skin, pale faces, straight noses,
thin lips and soft hairs so the white skin was not absolutely something
new or strange. So was the hair. The language was also not a concern for
the Monks and the women who literally believed in the story of the
tower of Babel, that God gave people different tongues. It was also good
for the monks who did not want any rapport between the Italians and the
people, because they knew direct communication always leads to
understanding that leads to tolerance and eventually influence. No
communication meant every one kept his own values. In a nutshell, it was
the religion of the Italians that bothered the monks: the Italians were
Christians but not “real” Christians.
Out of many the two fundamental values
the monks wanted the people to watch out were the dietary rules and the
printed (revised) Bible. In due faith diligence the Monks dictated their
followers not to eat anything the Italians touched or handed, even in
time of scarcity, and not to touch any printed Bible lest they face
excommunication exactly as they did with the Swedish missionaries.
Special warning was also handed
specifically to the women concerning sugar, sweets and bleached wheat
flour which the people call fino. The Monks said the Italians
might use the power of sweets and bleached flour to woo first little
kids and then eventually the women.
The monks knew the women were the
pillars of the faith. A convinced woman was an iron curtain. But they
also knew women fight for survival. What would the women do if draught
or locusts destroyed their yields and the Italians offered something?
Would they say no and forgo survival? Or would they succumb to their
survival instinct and diminish their faith?
The monks were wise and creative. Like
they allowed the woman to have coffee, sensing the hardy highland woman
had her share of weaknesses, they also allowed her to take flour from
the Italians but only if she was in dire need. But to the surprise of
the monks and more to the Italians she refused to touch the flour and
instead she asked for grain to grind herself which the Italians happily
provided.
As for the sugar, against the advice of
the monks, the woman did not refuse the opportunity to take if the
Italians offered and started using it to sweeten her bitter coffee.
The monks were not worried with the
flour or sugar, for they knew they were harmless. Their biggest worry
was the Italians might use those as baits for conversion or worse
influence new eating habits that transgressed the Church rules. So when
the woman stuck with her faith and values albeit using sugar, the monks
celebrated like nothing before and their trust towards the woman was
cemented forever.
The men were not of too much concern for
the monks because they knew men would err, but would eventually come
back to their faith, the faith of the woman that raised them in her back
and her lap.
Italian Attitude To Women
Italians of now and Italians of then,
loved and respected women. Though they came as colonizers, they never
went out of their way to harm or upset the women. Actually the Italians
found the women of Eritrea resembled their mothers back home in
character and behavior.
Those few Eritrean girls who were hired
as maids, quickly adapted to their new surrounding and to the amazement
of the Italians quickly mastered the language and were also quick
learners to any task showed and assigned to them but initially they
would not touch the Italian food; would not sleep in the house and the
only things they willingly took if given were sugar, soap and fabric.
There were three things the Italians
brought that made the hardy woman always remember and remain grateful to
them: the flour mill, soap, and shoes.
The introduction of the mill signified
her emancipation from manual grinding, a tedious, painful and non-ending
back breaker. Because manual grinding was time consuming, the mill also
freed up time for her to rest or do tasks that otherwise was set aside
due to scarcity of time.
Soap not only made cleaning clothes
easier but also for the first time it enabled her to look after herself.
As for the shoe, she took it as something that came from heaven like
Manna to save her from that dreadful thorn of curse.
The women used to use Shibti as
detergent, a very fine white seed from a plant that grew along side
streams. But due to its scarcity and seasonal availability she could not
use it through out the year. When the Italians introduced soap which
they call “sapone” the women took the word literally and called it Samna. Everything that cleans became samna, even the powdered detergent called Omo
became a universal detergent and not a brand name. Until today the
woman, whether in Eritrea or abroad calls any detergent Omo. That was
how she was attached to it.
Women of the highland loved white fabric, and would die for it if it was emblazoned with flowers. They had special word for it: tsada mdru ms inbaba.
Knowing this, the Italians started importing fabrics so the women could
buy them for clothes. Until recently, the first item a bride-to-be
orders her groom-to-be is a white fabric with flower design.
Italian Character
For the Italians, Eritrea was their
first colony. So as soon as the colony was established many civilian
Italians, some volunteering, some adventurous and some who were forced
because of their political tendencies came to Eritrea. All of those
civilians had some kind of skill they brought with them from Italy and
immediately ventured working in their field of expertise.
Italians are compulsive and sentimental
people. If given the opportunity, they prefer to stay in their home
country until death. If not, they would emulate everything they know to
their new surroundings; in other words, they recreate little Italy
everywhere they go. If they did this as immigrants, imagine what they
did as colonizers. readmore
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