Eritrea

Eritreans believe in cooperation and friendliness. Self-sufficiency is also valued. Love of country is important.

The forms of greeting vary by region and ethnic groups. Highlanders greet with a handshake. Nudging right shoulders during a handshake is a custom for villagers. Urban dwellers shake hands and 'kiss the air' while touching cheeks three times. Verbal greetings always involve inquiring about one's well being. A general greeting is Salaam. Muslims grasp and kiss each other's right hands, asking Kefelhal? While friends use nicknames, Eritreans call people by surname. The use of second-person plural shows respect. Boys and men often hold hands in friendship.

Eritreans use the right hand for gesturing and eating. When beckoning, one waves all fingers with palm facing out. Pointing at people is considered impolite. Young girls keep their knees together uncrossed, elbows on their knees to show respect. A hand held high is a greeting, while a hand waved back and forth is a negative signal. If one is in agreement with another they may snap their fingers.

Visiting among friends and relatives is common without invitation. Guest are often asked to join the family in a meal. Guests are always served tea or coffee. Eritreans enjoy the prolonged conversation offered by the tea and coffee ceremony. When visiting on special occasions, townspeople often take villagers a gift of tea or coffee. Villagers take gifts of local produce or firewood. For some events, men and women socialize separately. A heavy, barley porridge ga'at is served at gatherings to welcome new babies. When someone dies, friends and relatives gather for the burial, and cook for the grieving family for twenty one days.

Eritreans wear Western-style clothing. Pants are worn by women and girls. Highland Christian women often wear white cotton dresses, or embroidery on the bodice and skirt, with a matching shawl.

Hair is often braided in narrow rows up front, but hanging free behind. Highland men wear a long-sleeved knee-length white shirt over white pants. Work clothing is less decorated, made of heavy duty off-white cotton.

Muslim men wear long gowns and caps. Women cover their dresses with black or colorful cloth called luiet.

The Eritrean diet is traditionally varied. However, the war affected availability of certain foods. The preferred meal is meat (chicken, goat, mutton, or beef) cooked with onion, garlic and pepper, spices and butter. Shuro is a typical meal of garbanzo bean flour and spices. Lentils and other vegetables are spiced, and eaten for lunch or dinner. Breakfast may be tea served with unleavened bread k'itcha and honey. Orthodox Christians eat no animal products on Wednesdays and Fridays. Ingera, also know as taitah, is used to accompany spicy dishes

In the highlanders, children and adults eat separately. Other Eritrean families eat together, though when guests are present, children may eat separately. The hostess serves the guests and eats later with the children. Before the meal begins, the oldest man takes a piece of bread, blesses it and offers some to each person. Diners eat at a low table from a communal tray, taking only the portion in front of them, and using the right hand.

The Eritrean diet is traditionally varied. However, the war affected availability of certain foods. The preferred meal is meat (chicken, goat, mutton, or beef) cooked with onion, garlic and pepper, spices and butter. Shuro is a typical meal of garbanzo bean flour and spices. Lentils and other vegetables are spiced, and eaten for lunch or dinner. Breakfast may be tea served with unleavened bread k'itcha and honey. Orthodox Christians eat no animal products on Wednesdays and Fridays. Ingera, also know as taitah, is used to accompany spicy dishes

A family includes grand-parents, parents and four or more children. After marrying, a son and his wife generally live with his parents for a couple of years. The family is regarded as more important than any of the individuals within it. Family members will sacrifice for the good of the group or future generations.

Nomadic people have portable homes, while villagers have stone, mud or cement homes with thatched or metal roofs. The homes are always kept clean and neat.

In Eritrea, almost all marriages are arranged. The couple however, usually makes the final decision whether to marry or not. In the cities, the bride will have normally completed secondary school before marrying. The bride in rural areas are often much younger than the groom.

The practice of multiple wives is declining. Among Muslims, wedding tradition include the bride's arrival by camel, and guests sit on mats to eat from bowls.

Urban kids have more recreation time than rural farm children and some spend their evenings dancing at clubs while rural people listen to folktales and sing and dance. Among those who have time for sports, soccer is the most popular, volleyball is also liked by a proportion of Eritrean children. Eritrean children in rural areas mostly practice sports on streets in their neighborhood. However, urban children can have access to many clubs where they can practice their favorite sport. Children and adolescents love their national football (soccer) team and whenever they’re playing, they gather by thousands in Asmaraa Stadium to support their beloved team.

A traditional game among the Afar, is Kwosso. The object of the game is to keep a ball made of goatskins away from the opposing team. Feres gugs is another game which is played on horseback and involves striking one another with sticks and avoiding getting hit. Gabata is a board game that uses seeds for pieces and has rules about the capture of the seeds.

Most Eritrean games are simple and make use of materials that are cheap and accessible to poor children. “Arimando” is liked by most Eritrean children. “Arimando” is a traditional marble race that is adored by most children in the countryside. “Inkil” is another game that is liked by many Eritrean children. “Inkil” is a game that is played using old car tires. However, many parents ban their children from playing “Inkil” as they consider it an unsophisticated game. Moreover, Eitrean children like playing many traditional games such as blabburo, cucinetti and kib-kib.

Most Eritrean children would eat breakfast before going to school. Meals include milk, cheese, eggs and beans. In rural areas, kids’ favorite breakfast is Rama. Rama is a famous Eritrean food that is a mixture of kitcha, Eritrean bread and a hot spice named berbere. Most Eritrean children usually sit at the table for breakfast with all their family members.

Some Eritrean children go to their schools on foot, while others ride local buses to their schools. Cycling is a common sport in Eritrea and some students ride their bikes to school. A smaller percentage of Eritrean parents drive their children to school; however, this is uncommon as most Eritrean families can’t afford buying a car.

Ten years after the independence of Eritrea, the government started investing enormously in the educational sector. Recent surveys have concluded that school enrollment in Eritrea has increased to more than 200% as compared to the rate of enrollment 5 years ago. Although many schools in the countryside are below average level, most urban schools are of modern architecture and provide students with reasonable environments for learning. However, most Eritrean schools lack modern scientific laboratories and other experimental tools that are the cornerstone of a successful education process. Moreover, a high percentage of Eritrean schools don’t have adequate computers to serve their students’ needs. A few schools across Eritrea offer their students Internet access on campus. Eritrean students have to wear school uniforms that differ according to the level of education.

Education in Eritrea is divided into Pre-Primary, Primary, Middle and Secondary sectors. Starting from grade 5, all subjects are studied in the English language. Education programs accept children at the age of five and start with two years of behavioral and social adjustment that are usually preparing for the upcoming years of elementary education. During the 5 year period of elementary education, students study mathematics, history, geography, biography, music, art and physical education. Thereafter, students will attend 2 years of middle school during which they will study the same elementary school subjects, but in more details. Finally, students will have to go secondary school for 4 years. During secondary school, Eritrean students study English, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Civics, Biology, History and Geography. Although boys and girls got to schools in Eritrea, boys usually receive more care than girls do. Most girls don’t finish their secondary education as they are usually married before they reach the age of 15.

Most Eritrean children who go to school do some after-school work for their families. Boys are supposed to help their fathers especially those who are farmers. Girls, however, are assigned to domestic indoor activities such as washing, cooking, cleaning and babysitting their younger brothers and sisters.

Most children who go to school would spend most of the time at home studying; otherwise they would prefer playing outdoors with their peers. Most kids study alone at home. However, some Eritrean parents would help their children with their studies. Moreover, some Eritrean children would prefer to study in groups at one of their peer’s home. Most Eritreans love Bollywood movies. If an Indian movie is on the television, usually all members of an Eritrean family would gather around it for an enjoyable evening.