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Hear Our Voices -
Eritrea
Freweini wants to cope on her own
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My name is Freweini Habtom. I am 30 years old and a mother
of two children. I lost my left eye and wounded my right hand, which is now
useless and painful. It happened during a bombing raid at the height of the
Ethiopian-Eritrea border war in February 1999. The bombings killed my
two-year old daughter and injured my eight-year old daughter. I am now
disabled. I cannot fetch water or collect wood or do ordinary household
things. Nor can I afford to buy water or wood. I do not have grown up
children who could help me; and my husband is away in the army under the
National Service Programme. I get assistance from relatives and neighbours
when I am in trouble. Previously, we had cattle, but now we’ve none, as all
were looted during the war or starved to death due to drought. Therefore, my
children and I are making our living on food aid only. We have no other
means of living.
Freweini and her family live in Kotobia, one of the IDP and Expellees Camps
in Eritrea. They were expelled at the beginning of the war between the
Eritrea and Ethiopia from their home, Bagony-Tigray (Ethiopia), a place
where they had lived all their lives. Having lost everything, Freweine is
grateful for the food and other assistance she is receiving. But her fervent
wish is to be independent and able to provide for her own family. She hopes
for some support to start a small income-generating project. That’s what
would make her most happy, if as she says herself, “we could get some small
credit or grant to stand on our own.”
Photo: OCHA |
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