Eritrean Western USA Festival concluded
successfully Eritrean Western USA Festival that was held
from August 17 - 19 in San Jose, CA concluded successfully on Sunday August 19.
Here is the report of these three
days:
Friday Under the
motto of "Investment today: Prosperity tomorrow", the three day Eritrean Western
USA festival opened officially Friday August 17, 2007 in San Jose, CA. After the
VIP dinner, festival chairman Ato Yohannes Kahsai officially opened the
festival. At the opening ceremony Eritrea’s Minister of Health, H.E. Saleh
Meky, invited guests, and many Eritreans from different locations were present.
Seattle youth group led the crowd with a moment of
silence in remembrance of the many who have sacrificed their lives for Eritrea’s
independence and in defense of Eritrea’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
They then performed cultural shows to the delight of the festival
participants. The rest of the night, the crowd was entertained marvelously
by various artists and singers with non stop
music.
Basketball competition among 20 junior and adults teams was
played in the day time activities that was held at City College of San Jose.
Over 20 vendor tables were setup to display their merchandise. Cultural and
American foods were served inside tents.
Saturday As usual Saturday was the
busiest day. Soccer and seminars were scheduled to start on this day. Youth
seminar was conducted and Robel Kidane's seminar on stress management and
relationship attracted over 500 participants inside three tents at the soccer
field.
While over 2000 attended the evening activities at Santa
Clara Convention center, about 500 had to wait in the corridor due to over
capacity. Youth group from Seattle, Oakland, San Jose, and Santa Rosa performed
cultural shows followed by professional performers.
Sunday Sunday was the
day for the long awaited seminar on the current Eritrean issues by H.E. Saleh
Meki. Mr. Saleh gave briefings about the situation in Eritrea, neighboring
states, and international issues. He explained that the opening of colleges and
vocational institutes in various places in Eritrea is designed to guarantee a
collective and equal educational opportunity for all Eritreans regardless of
location. The strong progress made in providing health services to remote areas
coupled with infrastructure development is a foundation upon which the next
generation can capitalize to build a prosperous Eritrea. Mr. Saleh concluded his
briefing by calling on nationals in the Diaspora to enhance their active
participation in the nation-building process and by answering questions from the
audience.
Cup ceremony was conducted following cultural shows by
San Francisco youth. Mr. Saleh Meki handed trophies to this year's championship
teams. Oakland was the champion of this year's soccer competition after
beating team San Francisco. Adult basketball is won by team Shida from Fresno
and 2nd place winner is San Francisco. Junior basketball champion is Santa Rosa.
San Jose team South and Balers won 2nd and 3rd places.
To see
festival pictures please click this link"
http://ertra.com/Gallery/westusafest2007 or
go to
www.ertra.com