Blin Language Registered
in the Unicode Standard
(By Tekie Alibekit)
The ISO 639-2 Joint Advisory Committee, which advises registration
authorities and guides coding rule applications, has some established criterion, supplemented
by its resolutions, for defining new languages in ISO 639-2. One of the main criteria for defining
new languages in ISO 639-2 is presenting evidence, which proves that one agency holds at
least 50 different documents in that language.
The Blin Language has fulfilled the criteria for defining new languages in ISO 639-2. The acting
chairman of the ISO 639 Registration Authority’s Joint Advisory Committee, Mr. Håvard Hjulstad,
confirmed the approval of Blin, on his letter of October 27, 2003 to the different organs of the ISO
639, to include Blin on their lists.
This is a great victory for the Blin language, because it has gained recognition as one of the
interesting languages of the world, which deserves support by computer software. It is also very
good news for all
Blin language speakers and others who are interested in the develop- ment of Blin and its
writing system.
In addition to achieving recognition of Blin language in an international standard, recognition
and support has also been accomplished for the Blin writing system. The Blin letters, or two
characters of the Ge’ez alphabet, which are very crucial for the writing of distinct Blin sounds,
are now included in the International Unicode Standard System. The Unicode Standard is a
character coding system designed to support the worldwide interchange, processing and
display of the written texts of diverse languages and technical disciplines of the modern world.
The two Blin letters of Ge’ez alphabet, which are now registered at the Unicode Standard, are
the velar nasal stop “nge” (which has 7 forms) and its labialized sibling “ngwe” (which has 5
forms). In English, the sound of the nasal stop [ŋ] is written by combining two letters, n and g as
in bang, sing, long etc. These two Blin letters were well documented as part of the Ge’ez
alphabet in Leo Reinisch’s 1882-1887 Blin books, and the present computer designed letters
are copied from these old Blin documents. The regular “nge” letters were included in the
Unicode 3.0 standard, but had the wrong shapes. The “ngwe” letters were not included
however, so we undertook the effort to include the labialized letters and correct the shapes of
the others.
The draft work for proposing and submitting Blin to be encoded in the Unicode Standard has
started at the beginning of 2001, and the final proposal was submitted to the ISO 10646
Working Group in May 2004.
The results we can now expect to see in the Unicode 4.1 standard coming early next year.
Parallel with the drafting of the proposal, the work of computer design of the Blin letters
according to their original shapes has been going on, and the letters are now perfectly
designed as the original ones.
I would like to express my deep gratitude to Mr. Daniel Yacob, who is a devoted researcher with
the objective, as he put it, “to get Ge’ez on as many computers as possible, before the lack of
Ge’ez causes English and other languages to corrode language and culture”. The computer
design of the Blin letters was carried out by Daniel, who did it with my close co-operation,
whereby I helped him by providing the original shapes of the Blin letters, from old Blin
documents, and from time to time recommended to him to make the necessary changes until
the letters were at last refined and polished to their original shape. Daniel also contributed
greatly on drafting the proposal for encoding Blin for which we were both co-authors.
I would also like to thank Dr. Kiflemariam Hamde, for his encourage-
ment of our work of designing the Blin letters, and joining us to submit
the proposal for encoding Blin in the Unicode Standard.
The success of Blin, in fulfilling the criteria for defining new languages primarily depended on
the availability of over 50 Blin documents. These Blin documents were collections of Blin
literature, starting from the year 1857 up to 2001. Thus, my praise and admiration goes to
everybody, who contributed to producing Blin literature. Especially I would like to mention the
name of Professor Leo Reinisch, who laid the foundation of pioneering works in Blin literature,
by writing four Blin books, including a Blin dictionary, from 1882 up to 1887. I would also like to
mention the name of Fr. Kiflemariam Fadega, who initially inspired and encouraged
the present Blin generation, to be aware in developing their own language, even though his
poor health condition did not give him the opportunity to put his ambitious plans about Blin in
action.
Blin is now registered on the Register of codes for Representation of names of languages
(library of Congress). The registry of codes can be viewed at the following web address: -
http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/englangn.html#ab
A Blin translation of “What Is Unicode?”, “Unicode Wreni Gin?” is available at the Unicode
Home Page, at the following web address:-
(Present Blin translation may be updated for some corrections.)
http://www.unicode.org/standard/translations/blin.html
Hopefully, the Blin letters will gradually be included in many Ge’ez software programs, and until
that time, I will be at the disposal of every
one who wants to write in Blin. Please, contact me by the following
e-mail address:- tekie.al@online.no
in the Unicode Standard
(By Tekie Alibekit)
The ISO 639-2 Joint Advisory Committee, which advises registration
authorities and guides coding rule applications, has some established criterion, supplemented
by its resolutions, for defining new languages in ISO 639-2. One of the main criteria for defining
new languages in ISO 639-2 is presenting evidence, which proves that one agency holds at
least 50 different documents in that language.
The Blin Language has fulfilled the criteria for defining new languages in ISO 639-2. The acting
chairman of the ISO 639 Registration Authority’s Joint Advisory Committee, Mr. Håvard Hjulstad,
confirmed the approval of Blin, on his letter of October 27, 2003 to the different organs of the ISO
639, to include Blin on their lists.
This is a great victory for the Blin language, because it has gained recognition as one of the
interesting languages of the world, which deserves support by computer software. It is also very
good news for all
Blin language speakers and others who are interested in the develop- ment of Blin and its
writing system.
In addition to achieving recognition of Blin language in an international standard, recognition
and support has also been accomplished for the Blin writing system. The Blin letters, or two
characters of the Ge’ez alphabet, which are very crucial for the writing of distinct Blin sounds,
are now included in the International Unicode Standard System. The Unicode Standard is a
character coding system designed to support the worldwide interchange, processing and
display of the written texts of diverse languages and technical disciplines of the modern world.
The two Blin letters of Ge’ez alphabet, which are now registered at the Unicode Standard, are
the velar nasal stop “nge” (which has 7 forms) and its labialized sibling “ngwe” (which has 5
forms). In English, the sound of the nasal stop [ŋ] is written by combining two letters, n and g as
in bang, sing, long etc. These two Blin letters were well documented as part of the Ge’ez
alphabet in Leo Reinisch’s 1882-1887 Blin books, and the present computer designed letters
are copied from these old Blin documents. The regular “nge” letters were included in the
Unicode 3.0 standard, but had the wrong shapes. The “ngwe” letters were not included
however, so we undertook the effort to include the labialized letters and correct the shapes of
the others.
The draft work for proposing and submitting Blin to be encoded in the Unicode Standard has
started at the beginning of 2001, and the final proposal was submitted to the ISO 10646
Working Group in May 2004.
The results we can now expect to see in the Unicode 4.1 standard coming early next year.
Parallel with the drafting of the proposal, the work of computer design of the Blin letters
according to their original shapes has been going on, and the letters are now perfectly
designed as the original ones.
I would like to express my deep gratitude to Mr. Daniel Yacob, who is a devoted researcher with
the objective, as he put it, “to get Ge’ez on as many computers as possible, before the lack of
Ge’ez causes English and other languages to corrode language and culture”. The computer
design of the Blin letters was carried out by Daniel, who did it with my close co-operation,
whereby I helped him by providing the original shapes of the Blin letters, from old Blin
documents, and from time to time recommended to him to make the necessary changes until
the letters were at last refined and polished to their original shape. Daniel also contributed
greatly on drafting the proposal for encoding Blin for which we were both co-authors.
I would also like to thank Dr. Kiflemariam Hamde, for his encourage-
ment of our work of designing the Blin letters, and joining us to submit
the proposal for encoding Blin in the Unicode Standard.
The success of Blin, in fulfilling the criteria for defining new languages primarily depended on
the availability of over 50 Blin documents. These Blin documents were collections of Blin
literature, starting from the year 1857 up to 2001. Thus, my praise and admiration goes to
everybody, who contributed to producing Blin literature. Especially I would like to mention the
name of Professor Leo Reinisch, who laid the foundation of pioneering works in Blin literature,
by writing four Blin books, including a Blin dictionary, from 1882 up to 1887. I would also like to
mention the name of Fr. Kiflemariam Fadega, who initially inspired and encouraged
the present Blin generation, to be aware in developing their own language, even though his
poor health condition did not give him the opportunity to put his ambitious plans about Blin in
action.
Blin is now registered on the Register of codes for Representation of names of languages
(library of Congress). The registry of codes can be viewed at the following web address: -
http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/englangn.html#ab
A Blin translation of “What Is Unicode?”, “Unicode Wreni Gin?” is available at the Unicode
Home Page, at the following web address:-
(Present Blin translation may be updated for some corrections.)
http://www.unicode.org/standard/translations/blin.html
Hopefully, the Blin letters will gradually be included in many Ge’ez software programs, and until
that time, I will be at the disposal of every
one who wants to write in Blin. Please, contact me by the following
e-mail address:- tekie.al@online.no
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Debanma Blin Bibiliography
First Conference on Blin Language & Culture
London, 14 - 16 July 2005
London, 14 - 16 July 2005
Pre-Conference Working Notes
Welcome
To the First Conference on Blin Language and Culture in London, July 2005.
Thank you very much indeed for accepting out invitation and coming to attend
this conference. It is such a great pleasure to have you here in this conference,
which is first of its kind here in UK and all over the world. With your participation,
we are committed to make it entraining and more importantly educational.
Debanma Heritage Forum (a registered Charity based in London which is non-
political and non-religious Association) in association with the Blin Community
Association in Sweden (MeqriH) and in partnership with some prominent members
of our community spearheaded this conference. We hope this Conference will be
a success and pave a way for future endeavours.
There are some good programmes including the music & dance, exhibition and
some Eritrean cuisine. Regarding the themes and workshops, initially, we had four
themes planned for the workshops, but after looking at all the papers sent to us
by the presenters, we had two reshape the themes and now there only three
themes. If this change meant that what you wanted is not there, please let us
know. Enjoy the conference and please give us your feedback regardless how
small or big. It will help us to make future programmes better.
Background
Blin is one of the nine languages spoken in Eritrea. The Blin speaking people
inhabit in the central areas of the country, in and around Keren, 90 km north of
Asmara, the capital. Despite, their being surrounded by other languages, the Blin
people have kept their language and culture intact. However, the inhabitants of
Keren and environs have experienced some of the devastating experiences
during the war of liberation (1961-1991). Consequently, there has been a
massive displacement and migration. Today, like the rest of the people of Eritrea,
Blin speaking people find themselves scattered all over the world. They effectively
have migrated to the Middle East, Europe, North America and Australia. Tens of
thousands still live in refugee camps, the cities and towns in the Sudan. The
displacement and migration has resulted in enormous challenges in their
settlement and keeping their language and culture alive.
The first generation migrants feel that they bear the responsibility of keeping the
language, traditions and the folktales of the Blin Speaking people alive and also
passing it to the younger generation. The efforts of the Blin speaking immigrants
in realising this responsibility varies from direct assimilation into different societies
to one of actively developing and transmitting the language to their children.
The main purpose of the conference is therefore, to share experiences in the
Diaspora and in keeping the language, traditions and culture, explore ways of
writing Blin language in Europe, explore how best children could learn Blin and
emerge with some valuable recommendations or reference material.
Themes to explore include:
The condition of Blin language - general features and background.
Blin literature in the last 150+ years.
Mother tongue education in the Diaspora.
Being a Blin in Europe- Blin culture as a form of keeping Blin and Eritrean
Identity.
Towards standardisation of Blin writing
The Role of Blin songs as a medium of history, a political tool during the
war of liberation.
For more details see the conference schedule. However, there will be more
information on the themes once all conference presentation papers and
contributors are finalised. So far, there are seven professional contributors who
have already committed with great passion and who have decided what to
present. They include: scholars, writers, educators and artists. Details will be
released shortly.
Please note that this conference is more than just a conference. It is also a
festival because it comprises: not only the workshops, but also two evenings of
cultural music, dance, and other activities. We encourage those coming from
overseas to bring their families. So lets make London feel the Blin vibrations
during this summer. Especially those from Europe, it's a good opportunity for
summer holidays.
Participations
There will be invited guests in the conference.
Participants will be from all over Europe, the USA, Canada and hopefully
Australia. All the Blin speaking people and others with interest in the Blin people's
history and/or culture are encouraged to attend. Papers will be presented by
people of various backgrounds including experienced, scholars and others who
are working in the subject.
Participants from all backgrounds are welcome. Criteria for participation is having
interest and commitment to positively contribute in any way you can.
Presentations
If you wish to present please refer to the workshop themes or the above
bullet points and let us know your preferred theme and how you wish to deliver
your presentation.
We welcome presentations in Blin and/or English but we would like to know
in advance your preferred language so we can arrange interpreters and
translators.
All presenters: we will need your biography so, please send us a brief
biography before 1 May 2005
For Presentations please remember to check (√) equipments you require
in the Registration Form
Dress Code
It is essential that all participants wear Blin traditional clothes throughout the
conference and cultural evenings. This is simply to reflect part of the Blin culture
through what we wear. Those participants who are not Blin are also encouraged
to wear their own traditional clothes, which will reflect the diversity and supportive
interests amongst traditions and cultures.
Conference Costs/charges
The conference is not funded by any organisation therefore it is self-financing.
For those travelling from Europe, Canada, the USA, Australia and other parts of
the world, the total cost of the conference if registered in advance is £30.00 and
£40.00 at the time of the conference. This cost covers, Tea, coffee and lunch
during the day of the workshops on Friday 15th and opening day Thursday
evening 14th July.
For Londoners and the UK residents the cost of the Conference is the same as
above and there will be further in kind contributions.
Confirming Attendance:
The above dates are set for all participants and presenters to confirm their
attendance early to ensure that we make the necessary arrangements.
Therefore, we would be extremely grateful if, upon receiving this message you
could immediately e-mail me back confirming your attendance. In doing so you will
be helping us to organise things as early as possible.
Contact Details:
Address: Debanma Heritage Forum
P O BOX: 43872 Fax: 00 44 (0)20 8960 7180
London NW6 1 UQ e-mail: blinconference@aol.com
England
Entertainment:
Guess who is going to entertain us at this historic Blin Conference? They are the
stars of our culture, the voice of our traditions, history, and are the living legends
at home and in the Diaspora:
• The top female singer the one and only Mihret Derehans from the USA.
1. The maestro of Europe - Alamin Hasabala from Sweden
2. The young and dynamic singer - Meharzghi Menadr from Germany.
3. The young hotshot, first ever UK Blin artist - Solomon Yohannes from the
United Kingdom
4. The future potential young lady - Mihret Arbed from London
5. Musicians: the master Salah Omar accompanied by the young dynamics -
Kalate Raki & Henok Tesfalidet.
There will also be small exhibition and Blin resources stalls of books, leaflets and
bulletins.
Food & Dietary requirements
There will be variety of Eritrean dishes available throughout the Conference and
the cultural evenings. Participants are asked to inform the organisers if there are
any special dietary requirements. Most of Eritrean food does not consider special
vegetarian food for instance. However, there are vegetable portions made along
with meat dishes. We hope to have kala (type of porridge) the main Blin food for
breakfast on Friday or Saturday.
Food costs;
• Thursday Evening dinner, Saturday morning breakfast, lunch and break
time refreshments are included in the Conference fees.
• Thursday evening and Saturday evening will be separate charges for food
• TO CALL ALL MEMBERS OF TO CONFIRM ATTENDANCE.
• RECOGNITION – WHAT’S THE PRICE?
• DRUMS (KELENFUT) – YOAHANNES
• COFFEE CEREMONY
• KALA – SATURDAY BREAKFAST
• Vdieo CDs’ nearly ready.
Welcome
To the First Conference on Blin Language and Culture in London, July 2005.
Thank you very much indeed for accepting out invitation and coming to attend
this conference. It is such a great pleasure to have you here in this conference,
which is first of its kind here in UK and all over the world. With your participation,
we are committed to make it entraining and more importantly educational.
Debanma Heritage Forum (a registered Charity based in London which is non-
political and non-religious Association) in association with the Blin Community
Association in Sweden (MeqriH) and in partnership with some prominent members
of our community spearheaded this conference. We hope this Conference will be
a success and pave a way for future endeavours.
There are some good programmes including the music & dance, exhibition and
some Eritrean cuisine. Regarding the themes and workshops, initially, we had four
themes planned for the workshops, but after looking at all the papers sent to us
by the presenters, we had two reshape the themes and now there only three
themes. If this change meant that what you wanted is not there, please let us
know. Enjoy the conference and please give us your feedback regardless how
small or big. It will help us to make future programmes better.
Background
Blin is one of the nine languages spoken in Eritrea. The Blin speaking people
inhabit in the central areas of the country, in and around Keren, 90 km north of
Asmara, the capital. Despite, their being surrounded by other languages, the Blin
people have kept their language and culture intact. However, the inhabitants of
Keren and environs have experienced some of the devastating experiences
during the war of liberation (1961-1991). Consequently, there has been a
massive displacement and migration. Today, like the rest of the people of Eritrea,
Blin speaking people find themselves scattered all over the world. They effectively
have migrated to the Middle East, Europe, North America and Australia. Tens of
thousands still live in refugee camps, the cities and towns in the Sudan. The
displacement and migration has resulted in enormous challenges in their
settlement and keeping their language and culture alive.
The first generation migrants feel that they bear the responsibility of keeping the
language, traditions and the folktales of the Blin Speaking people alive and also
passing it to the younger generation. The efforts of the Blin speaking immigrants
in realising this responsibility varies from direct assimilation into different societies
to one of actively developing and transmitting the language to their children.
The main purpose of the conference is therefore, to share experiences in the
Diaspora and in keeping the language, traditions and culture, explore ways of
writing Blin language in Europe, explore how best children could learn Blin and
emerge with some valuable recommendations or reference material.
Themes to explore include:
The condition of Blin language - general features and background.
Blin literature in the last 150+ years.
Mother tongue education in the Diaspora.
Being a Blin in Europe- Blin culture as a form of keeping Blin and Eritrean
Identity.
Towards standardisation of Blin writing
The Role of Blin songs as a medium of history, a political tool during the
war of liberation.
For more details see the conference schedule. However, there will be more
information on the themes once all conference presentation papers and
contributors are finalised. So far, there are seven professional contributors who
have already committed with great passion and who have decided what to
present. They include: scholars, writers, educators and artists. Details will be
released shortly.
Please note that this conference is more than just a conference. It is also a
festival because it comprises: not only the workshops, but also two evenings of
cultural music, dance, and other activities. We encourage those coming from
overseas to bring their families. So lets make London feel the Blin vibrations
during this summer. Especially those from Europe, it's a good opportunity for
summer holidays.
Participations
There will be invited guests in the conference.
Participants will be from all over Europe, the USA, Canada and hopefully
Australia. All the Blin speaking people and others with interest in the Blin people's
history and/or culture are encouraged to attend. Papers will be presented by
people of various backgrounds including experienced, scholars and others who
are working in the subject.
Participants from all backgrounds are welcome. Criteria for participation is having
interest and commitment to positively contribute in any way you can.
Presentations
If you wish to present please refer to the workshop themes or the above
bullet points and let us know your preferred theme and how you wish to deliver
your presentation.
We welcome presentations in Blin and/or English but we would like to know
in advance your preferred language so we can arrange interpreters and
translators.
All presenters: we will need your biography so, please send us a brief
biography before 1 May 2005
For Presentations please remember to check (√) equipments you require
in the Registration Form
Dress Code
It is essential that all participants wear Blin traditional clothes throughout the
conference and cultural evenings. This is simply to reflect part of the Blin culture
through what we wear. Those participants who are not Blin are also encouraged
to wear their own traditional clothes, which will reflect the diversity and supportive
interests amongst traditions and cultures.
Conference Costs/charges
The conference is not funded by any organisation therefore it is self-financing.
For those travelling from Europe, Canada, the USA, Australia and other parts of
the world, the total cost of the conference if registered in advance is £30.00 and
£40.00 at the time of the conference. This cost covers, Tea, coffee and lunch
during the day of the workshops on Friday 15th and opening day Thursday
evening 14th July.
For Londoners and the UK residents the cost of the Conference is the same as
above and there will be further in kind contributions.
Confirming Attendance:
The above dates are set for all participants and presenters to confirm their
attendance early to ensure that we make the necessary arrangements.
Therefore, we would be extremely grateful if, upon receiving this message you
could immediately e-mail me back confirming your attendance. In doing so you will
be helping us to organise things as early as possible.
Contact Details:
Address: Debanma Heritage Forum
P O BOX: 43872 Fax: 00 44 (0)20 8960 7180
London NW6 1 UQ e-mail: blinconference@aol.com
England
Entertainment:
Guess who is going to entertain us at this historic Blin Conference? They are the
stars of our culture, the voice of our traditions, history, and are the living legends
at home and in the Diaspora:
• The top female singer the one and only Mihret Derehans from the USA.
1. The maestro of Europe - Alamin Hasabala from Sweden
2. The young and dynamic singer - Meharzghi Menadr from Germany.
3. The young hotshot, first ever UK Blin artist - Solomon Yohannes from the
United Kingdom
4. The future potential young lady - Mihret Arbed from London
5. Musicians: the master Salah Omar accompanied by the young dynamics -
Kalate Raki & Henok Tesfalidet.
There will also be small exhibition and Blin resources stalls of books, leaflets and
bulletins.
Food & Dietary requirements
There will be variety of Eritrean dishes available throughout the Conference and
the cultural evenings. Participants are asked to inform the organisers if there are
any special dietary requirements. Most of Eritrean food does not consider special
vegetarian food for instance. However, there are vegetable portions made along
with meat dishes. We hope to have kala (type of porridge) the main Blin food for
breakfast on Friday or Saturday.
Food costs;
• Thursday Evening dinner, Saturday morning breakfast, lunch and break
time refreshments are included in the Conference fees.
• Thursday evening and Saturday evening will be separate charges for food
• TO CALL ALL MEMBERS OF TO CONFIRM ATTENDANCE.
• RECOGNITION – WHAT’S THE PRICE?
• DRUMS (KELENFUT) – YOAHANNES
• COFFEE CEREMONY
• KALA – SATURDAY BREAKFAST
• Vdieo CDs’ nearly ready.
Biographies and list of contributors of the conference
Administration team
Administration team
|
Support Team:
Idris Daud Omer- Adviser
Mohamed Tahir Debesay- with tremendous Multimedia equipment provision, technical support
and photography.
In-Kind contributors:
Haysi Sofia Hamde
Haysi Libabet Ukubansie
Haysi Amete Tesfasion
Haysi Letenegus
Haysi Senait Adem
Family of Abdu Jimie
Haysi Tsige
Haysi Amete Habte
Haysi Amete Ghebrai
Haysi Medhnu Gaim
Fessehazion Nair Zemicael examines the difficulties and opportunities that confront teaching
mother tongue in Sweden and in order to promote such initiative, the school is not enough but
need the support of the parents and institution if available. He discusses the teaching process
from three roles: the parent, the institution, and the school. Although his examples were taken
from Sweden, his finings are of general phenomenon nowadays in the Blin society regarding
teaching in their mother tongue.
Fessehazion Nair born in Ashera (Senhit Provence) completed his elementary school in
Ashera Parish School and his junior school at the Catholic Seminary Keren and Asmara. He
completed his secondary school in Keren. He earned his teaching certificate in 1973 from
Teacher’s Training Institute in Asmara. He worked three years as a teacher in Barentu and
Agordat from 1973-1975. When he came to Sweden, he continued his studies at Stockholm
University and earned his diploma in economics in 1997 and in 1999 he earned his BA in
economics and specialised in trade policies in 1999.
Dr. Paul D. Fallon received his PH.D. from the Ohio State University (USA) in 1998, and his
dissertaion, The synchrome and diachronic phonology of ejectives, was published by
Routledge in 2002. As assistant professor at Howard University in Washington DC, USA, Dr.
Fallon developed an interest in Blin by first working with Blin speakers in Washington, later, by
conducting fieldwork in Asmara and Keren in 2002. He has published academic articles on
Blin Phonology (its sound system) and role of Blin in contributing to Linguistic theory. He has
also presented papers at national and international conferences on Blin writing system,
frequentative verbs, and noun plurals. He is working on one project to collect oral narratives in
Blin, originally funded by the (U.S.) national Endowment for the Humanities, and another to
conduct the first Phonetic study of Blin speech Sounds. In August 2005 he will join the faculty at
the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia, USA.
Rita Cainri: presenter of oral history and a facilitator.
Dr Kiflemariam Hamde was born in Eritrea and taught management and organisation studies
at the university of Asmara (1984-1990) Kiflemariam Hamde hold a PHD in organisation theory
from Stockholm University, Sweden (2000). His doctoral thesis, “Shifting identities” examines
the changing nature of work life. He is currently an assistant professor at the department of
Business Administration. Umea University, Sweden. Dr Kiflemariam Lectures both at the
postgraduate and undergraduate level programmes, with special focus on the human side of
organising that includes issues on identity, diversity, gender, power, ethics, and emotions.
Another stream of research Kiflemariam Hamd has been interested in is sociolinguistics, with
special focus on Blin language and culture. He has produced several works in this stream of
research, these include ‘The origin and development of Blin language’ (1986), Blin proverbs
(1989), traditional customs (1990), production member of ‘Blin Dictionary’, published by
Stockholm-based Blin L&C in 1992, ‘Recent developments in Blin writing (1995), the role of
education on societal development with a special focus on situation of Blin language- First
National conference on Eritrean languages, Asmara 1996, co-author of ‘some standardization
of Blin writing (1994). Amongst other research papers he presented: language, identity and
ethnicity among immigrants in Sweden, cultural diversity for the ‘good life’: four ways of
‘making’ identity among the Blin Culture community in Stockholm (forthcoming as a book
chapter), ‘The hypocrisy of a tradition: making women in the hard way in Blin society, (2004),
‘Mind in Africa, Body in Europe-Stockholm (2003), ‘Being and becoming ‘Eritrean in Sweden:
the case of Blin language speakers’ (2002).
Mowes Ghebre Adem: an artist, playwright, writer, a poet, storyteller and a modest performer.
At present, he is the managing and artistic director of Horn Reflections Ltd - Arts Company,
promoting African arts, especially of the horn of Africa. He is also a part time lecturer at
Kensington & Chelsea College, in London. As a practicing artist and educator, he has written
and produced plays and documentary films depicting lives of people in exile and the
challenges of integration. He has now extended his interest in contributing to develop the Blin
language and culture. In 2004, he published his first book tilted ‘Learning Blin’ to assist
parents and children in mother tongue education.
Although unpublished he has accumulated a number of poems through the years. He was
also instrumental in establishing a charitable Blin Association, Debanma Heritage Forum, that
has organised this conference. Prior to this Conference, he assisted in organising two cultural
events in London.
Hewit Hagos Nashih: discusses the usefulness of organisation for preserving and promoting
your ethic rights. She argues that cultural development needs planning and programme of
activities that can increase participation of all Blin natives in that area of their residence. She
also draws attention to the problems that can hinder development and opportunities that
favour the survival of your culture.
Hewit Hagos, was born in Glas, Senhit province in Eritrea. She has completed her elementary
and secondary studies in Keren. She has studied nursing and worked as assistant nurse in
Swedish Medicare in Stockholm. She later studied business economics and now is employed
as an economic assistant in the municipality of Stockholm’s suburb. She is also head of the
Blin Culture Association in Sweden.
Leon Beachy: was born into a traditional Amish family. Along with Pennsylvania German being
his first language, Leon grew up aware of the culture and language differences between his
Amish community and the surrounding English-speaking Americans.
In 1987 Leon and his wife Robyn went to Kenya for inter-cultural training. While there they
came into contact with the Eritrean community for the first time and soon began plans for
moving their family to Eritrea. Leon and his family lived in Eritrea from 1994 –1996 and again
from 1998-2000. from 1997-1998 Leon lived in England where he gained a masters degree in
Social Anthropology.
Leon and his wife have four children. They lived in Thame, England since leaving Eritrea in
2000. Leon is currently the coordinator for anthropology and inter-cultural communication at
the European training programme near High Wycombe. His current plans are to begin a
research programme on Blin identity formation, negotiation and change in the Diaspora.
Selim Debasy: is a dedicated individual in promoting Blin language and culture. He is the first
person who developed an interactive – video-learning tape for teaching and learning Blin
mother tongue for children. He relentlessly worked to develop a beginner’s book and has been
contributing in various occasions in organisational and culture development for Blin
community organisations.
Tekie Albekit: many years of teaching experience. Now he lives in Norway. He is an
enthusiastic collector of Blin literature and arts, poems, reference books and publications.
Tekie, is a published author of one of the first ever Blin grammar books ‘ Blin language
introductory phonetics & grammar’, now found in every Blin house hold and a consistent
producer of Blin learning materials to support parents and children in mother tongue
education.
He is also a co-author with Daniel Yacob for the design and application to register ‘Blin
language in to the Unicode standard system. Tekie also supported Daniel Yacob in the
development of the Blin software in Geez.
Daniel Yacob: a member of the Geez foundation is an enthusiastic and committed in the
development of Geez. He has designed and produced Blin software in Geez and is also a co-
author with Tekie Albekit for the design and application to register ‘Blin Language in to the
Unicode Standard System’.
Mihret Derehans: at her early ages (in her teens), her talent in singing was recognised at
national level and she joined the national music group during the war of liberation. She
continued her singing and soon became a professional singer. During these years, Mihret
took the Blin culture right into the heart of Eritrea and neighbouring countries. As an artist and
now at her peak, she tours the whole world. She is a committed promoter of Blin culture and
language. She is the voice of the Blin culture. She has CDs and tapes, which already exist in
every Blin household.
Idris Hassan was born in Keren and studied in Sudan. He was a refugee in Sudan for several
years. He came to Sweden in 1992.he studied Swedish language and studied political
science- peace and conflict. Idris speaks Blin, Tigre, Tigrinia, Amharic, Arabic, English and
Swedish.
He studied the history of ideas in the University of Umea in Umea, Sweden and he is still a
student of political science at the university of Umea. He is also a teacher of Blin language in
Umea, Sweden and some times works in prehistoric museum in Umea.
Mike and Keturah Maurice are aged 58 and live in Newcastle On Tyne North Eastern UK. In
June 2004 we began to look after asylum seekers who had been removed from state hostels.
My grandparents on both sides were refugees fled from prosecution in Lithuania and Poland;
those of our people not fleeing prosecution from the Russians were entirely wiped out by the
nazis. Our first houseguest was a young Blin lady with a very Hebraic name and in the course
of her stay with us, which was about twelve months we discussed many aspects of Blin
culture, which we realised, had their origins in the Hebrew people.
We developed friendships with the Blin friends our guest, both Christian and Muslim. We have
written a few minor booklets on spiritual topics such as: Israel replaced or restored, a meeting
with the Elohim of Israel, The lost Highway and also are in a minor way singer songwriters and
practice Hebrew circle dancing. We support Muslims as well as Christian asylum seekers in
our home and have built strong links with them.
Other Contributors:
CONFERENCE ON BLIN LANGUAGE AND CULTURE
14-16 July 2005
Please note that there were rumours going round leading to the conference that it was a
politically and/or religiously motivated. We would like to inform all our readers that neither
Debanma nor the Conference has any relation or affiliation to any political or religious group.
We would like to reiterate that Debanma is a registered charity governed by the laws of the
Charity Commissions of England and Wales. It is a non-political and non-religious and non-
profit making Organisation. For details, please see our constitution and refer to our activities
reports reflected in our websites. Therefore, we do not appreciate of those people (very few)
who spend sleepless nights to divert the purpose and objective of our genuine and charitable
activities and the Conference, to fit their ill-equipped campaigns of all sorts.
London has recorded a historic moment by holding the first Conference on Blin language and
culture in 14-16 July 2005. The event was overwhelmed by scholarly contributions
accompanied by vibrant cultural activities. It opened on Thursday 14th July 2005 in the
afternoon. Following an opening speech by Habtezion Tewelday –Lijam, chairman of
Debanma Heritage Forum, The Conference kicked off with a panel discussion, comprising:
Mihret Derehans (Singer), Rita Cairnri and Dr Kiflemariam Hamde. Panel members
introduced themselves and spoke of their experiences and their contributions to the Blin
language and culture followed by questions from the audience and the other conference
members. Then dinner and networking continued until 21:00 hours and the opening of the
conference was concluded looking forward to the next big day, 15th Friday.
Day 2, the main day of the conference was packed with high-level presentations on language
and culture. It was a long and quite lively event seeing details of presenters and topics on the
table on the following pages. It explored the Blin language and culture in all dimensions,
historically (past and present state in comparison), resources, language use, learning, poetry,
lyrics, literature, narrations and so forth. The presentations were extremely informative,
educational and inspiring.
Although, everyone was tired, people were excited about the scheduled cultural evening, which
followed dinner. It started with dancing (ses'it), goliya, chefera and wesomiya. Although
everyone sang, danced and jumped up, down and leaned in all four directions, it was Miret,
Solomon and Kiflemariam who stole the show. They shined throughout and especially
Solomon rocked the hall with his lyrics. There was also another quite man broke loose earlier
in the afternoon. That was Tekie Albekit who hit the stage with his absolutely nostalgic,
sensational and thought-provoking poems. With his poems the audience wandered back and
forth in time travel.
Day 3, Saturday the 16th, was focussed on conclusion, recommendations and recognition,
which are listed at the end of this report and the highlight of the conference ending, cultural
music and dance.
Artists lined up to entertain were: Singers: Mihret Derehans, Solomon Yohannes and Mihret
Arbed and unscheduled entry Yohannes Solomon. Musicians: Salah Omar, Kalat Raki and
Henok Tesfalidet and the Sound system: Tesfalidet Kidane.
We had Alamin Hasabala and Merharzghi Menadr whom where scheduled to take part in the
conference but unfortunately could not make it due to change in personal circumstances, both
theses did apologise and wished the conference success, especially Merharzghi who had to
cancel his trip having his bought his ticket.
Idris Daud Omer- Adviser
Mohamed Tahir Debesay- with tremendous Multimedia equipment provision, technical support
and photography.
In-Kind contributors:
Haysi Sofia Hamde
Haysi Libabet Ukubansie
Haysi Amete Tesfasion
Haysi Letenegus
Haysi Senait Adem
Family of Abdu Jimie
Haysi Tsige
Haysi Amete Habte
Haysi Amete Ghebrai
Haysi Medhnu Gaim
Fessehazion Nair Zemicael examines the difficulties and opportunities that confront teaching
mother tongue in Sweden and in order to promote such initiative, the school is not enough but
need the support of the parents and institution if available. He discusses the teaching process
from three roles: the parent, the institution, and the school. Although his examples were taken
from Sweden, his finings are of general phenomenon nowadays in the Blin society regarding
teaching in their mother tongue.
Fessehazion Nair born in Ashera (Senhit Provence) completed his elementary school in
Ashera Parish School and his junior school at the Catholic Seminary Keren and Asmara. He
completed his secondary school in Keren. He earned his teaching certificate in 1973 from
Teacher’s Training Institute in Asmara. He worked three years as a teacher in Barentu and
Agordat from 1973-1975. When he came to Sweden, he continued his studies at Stockholm
University and earned his diploma in economics in 1997 and in 1999 he earned his BA in
economics and specialised in trade policies in 1999.
Dr. Paul D. Fallon received his PH.D. from the Ohio State University (USA) in 1998, and his
dissertaion, The synchrome and diachronic phonology of ejectives, was published by
Routledge in 2002. As assistant professor at Howard University in Washington DC, USA, Dr.
Fallon developed an interest in Blin by first working with Blin speakers in Washington, later, by
conducting fieldwork in Asmara and Keren in 2002. He has published academic articles on
Blin Phonology (its sound system) and role of Blin in contributing to Linguistic theory. He has
also presented papers at national and international conferences on Blin writing system,
frequentative verbs, and noun plurals. He is working on one project to collect oral narratives in
Blin, originally funded by the (U.S.) national Endowment for the Humanities, and another to
conduct the first Phonetic study of Blin speech Sounds. In August 2005 he will join the faculty at
the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia, USA.
Rita Cainri: presenter of oral history and a facilitator.
Dr Kiflemariam Hamde was born in Eritrea and taught management and organisation studies
at the university of Asmara (1984-1990) Kiflemariam Hamde hold a PHD in organisation theory
from Stockholm University, Sweden (2000). His doctoral thesis, “Shifting identities” examines
the changing nature of work life. He is currently an assistant professor at the department of
Business Administration. Umea University, Sweden. Dr Kiflemariam Lectures both at the
postgraduate and undergraduate level programmes, with special focus on the human side of
organising that includes issues on identity, diversity, gender, power, ethics, and emotions.
Another stream of research Kiflemariam Hamd has been interested in is sociolinguistics, with
special focus on Blin language and culture. He has produced several works in this stream of
research, these include ‘The origin and development of Blin language’ (1986), Blin proverbs
(1989), traditional customs (1990), production member of ‘Blin Dictionary’, published by
Stockholm-based Blin L&C in 1992, ‘Recent developments in Blin writing (1995), the role of
education on societal development with a special focus on situation of Blin language- First
National conference on Eritrean languages, Asmara 1996, co-author of ‘some standardization
of Blin writing (1994). Amongst other research papers he presented: language, identity and
ethnicity among immigrants in Sweden, cultural diversity for the ‘good life’: four ways of
‘making’ identity among the Blin Culture community in Stockholm (forthcoming as a book
chapter), ‘The hypocrisy of a tradition: making women in the hard way in Blin society, (2004),
‘Mind in Africa, Body in Europe-Stockholm (2003), ‘Being and becoming ‘Eritrean in Sweden:
the case of Blin language speakers’ (2002).
Mowes Ghebre Adem: an artist, playwright, writer, a poet, storyteller and a modest performer.
At present, he is the managing and artistic director of Horn Reflections Ltd - Arts Company,
promoting African arts, especially of the horn of Africa. He is also a part time lecturer at
Kensington & Chelsea College, in London. As a practicing artist and educator, he has written
and produced plays and documentary films depicting lives of people in exile and the
challenges of integration. He has now extended his interest in contributing to develop the Blin
language and culture. In 2004, he published his first book tilted ‘Learning Blin’ to assist
parents and children in mother tongue education.
Although unpublished he has accumulated a number of poems through the years. He was
also instrumental in establishing a charitable Blin Association, Debanma Heritage Forum, that
has organised this conference. Prior to this Conference, he assisted in organising two cultural
events in London.
Hewit Hagos Nashih: discusses the usefulness of organisation for preserving and promoting
your ethic rights. She argues that cultural development needs planning and programme of
activities that can increase participation of all Blin natives in that area of their residence. She
also draws attention to the problems that can hinder development and opportunities that
favour the survival of your culture.
Hewit Hagos, was born in Glas, Senhit province in Eritrea. She has completed her elementary
and secondary studies in Keren. She has studied nursing and worked as assistant nurse in
Swedish Medicare in Stockholm. She later studied business economics and now is employed
as an economic assistant in the municipality of Stockholm’s suburb. She is also head of the
Blin Culture Association in Sweden.
Leon Beachy: was born into a traditional Amish family. Along with Pennsylvania German being
his first language, Leon grew up aware of the culture and language differences between his
Amish community and the surrounding English-speaking Americans.
In 1987 Leon and his wife Robyn went to Kenya for inter-cultural training. While there they
came into contact with the Eritrean community for the first time and soon began plans for
moving their family to Eritrea. Leon and his family lived in Eritrea from 1994 –1996 and again
from 1998-2000. from 1997-1998 Leon lived in England where he gained a masters degree in
Social Anthropology.
Leon and his wife have four children. They lived in Thame, England since leaving Eritrea in
2000. Leon is currently the coordinator for anthropology and inter-cultural communication at
the European training programme near High Wycombe. His current plans are to begin a
research programme on Blin identity formation, negotiation and change in the Diaspora.
Selim Debasy: is a dedicated individual in promoting Blin language and culture. He is the first
person who developed an interactive – video-learning tape for teaching and learning Blin
mother tongue for children. He relentlessly worked to develop a beginner’s book and has been
contributing in various occasions in organisational and culture development for Blin
community organisations.
Tekie Albekit: many years of teaching experience. Now he lives in Norway. He is an
enthusiastic collector of Blin literature and arts, poems, reference books and publications.
Tekie, is a published author of one of the first ever Blin grammar books ‘ Blin language
introductory phonetics & grammar’, now found in every Blin house hold and a consistent
producer of Blin learning materials to support parents and children in mother tongue
education.
He is also a co-author with Daniel Yacob for the design and application to register ‘Blin
language in to the Unicode standard system. Tekie also supported Daniel Yacob in the
development of the Blin software in Geez.
Daniel Yacob: a member of the Geez foundation is an enthusiastic and committed in the
development of Geez. He has designed and produced Blin software in Geez and is also a co-
author with Tekie Albekit for the design and application to register ‘Blin Language in to the
Unicode Standard System’.
Mihret Derehans: at her early ages (in her teens), her talent in singing was recognised at
national level and she joined the national music group during the war of liberation. She
continued her singing and soon became a professional singer. During these years, Mihret
took the Blin culture right into the heart of Eritrea and neighbouring countries. As an artist and
now at her peak, she tours the whole world. She is a committed promoter of Blin culture and
language. She is the voice of the Blin culture. She has CDs and tapes, which already exist in
every Blin household.
Idris Hassan was born in Keren and studied in Sudan. He was a refugee in Sudan for several
years. He came to Sweden in 1992.he studied Swedish language and studied political
science- peace and conflict. Idris speaks Blin, Tigre, Tigrinia, Amharic, Arabic, English and
Swedish.
He studied the history of ideas in the University of Umea in Umea, Sweden and he is still a
student of political science at the university of Umea. He is also a teacher of Blin language in
Umea, Sweden and some times works in prehistoric museum in Umea.
Mike and Keturah Maurice are aged 58 and live in Newcastle On Tyne North Eastern UK. In
June 2004 we began to look after asylum seekers who had been removed from state hostels.
My grandparents on both sides were refugees fled from prosecution in Lithuania and Poland;
those of our people not fleeing prosecution from the Russians were entirely wiped out by the
nazis. Our first houseguest was a young Blin lady with a very Hebraic name and in the course
of her stay with us, which was about twelve months we discussed many aspects of Blin
culture, which we realised, had their origins in the Hebrew people.
We developed friendships with the Blin friends our guest, both Christian and Muslim. We have
written a few minor booklets on spiritual topics such as: Israel replaced or restored, a meeting
with the Elohim of Israel, The lost Highway and also are in a minor way singer songwriters and
practice Hebrew circle dancing. We support Muslims as well as Christian asylum seekers in
our home and have built strong links with them.
Other Contributors:
- Musie Amar from Noerway
- Mohammed Mesoker from London
- Letai Raki from Sweden
- Frenzghi Woldemicheal from Lond
CONFERENCE ON BLIN LANGUAGE AND CULTURE
14-16 July 2005
Please note that there were rumours going round leading to the conference that it was a
politically and/or religiously motivated. We would like to inform all our readers that neither
Debanma nor the Conference has any relation or affiliation to any political or religious group.
We would like to reiterate that Debanma is a registered charity governed by the laws of the
Charity Commissions of England and Wales. It is a non-political and non-religious and non-
profit making Organisation. For details, please see our constitution and refer to our activities
reports reflected in our websites. Therefore, we do not appreciate of those people (very few)
who spend sleepless nights to divert the purpose and objective of our genuine and charitable
activities and the Conference, to fit their ill-equipped campaigns of all sorts.
London has recorded a historic moment by holding the first Conference on Blin language and
culture in 14-16 July 2005. The event was overwhelmed by scholarly contributions
accompanied by vibrant cultural activities. It opened on Thursday 14th July 2005 in the
afternoon. Following an opening speech by Habtezion Tewelday –Lijam, chairman of
Debanma Heritage Forum, The Conference kicked off with a panel discussion, comprising:
Mihret Derehans (Singer), Rita Cairnri and Dr Kiflemariam Hamde. Panel members
introduced themselves and spoke of their experiences and their contributions to the Blin
language and culture followed by questions from the audience and the other conference
members. Then dinner and networking continued until 21:00 hours and the opening of the
conference was concluded looking forward to the next big day, 15th Friday.
Day 2, the main day of the conference was packed with high-level presentations on language
and culture. It was a long and quite lively event seeing details of presenters and topics on the
table on the following pages. It explored the Blin language and culture in all dimensions,
historically (past and present state in comparison), resources, language use, learning, poetry,
lyrics, literature, narrations and so forth. The presentations were extremely informative,
educational and inspiring.
Although, everyone was tired, people were excited about the scheduled cultural evening, which
followed dinner. It started with dancing (ses'it), goliya, chefera and wesomiya. Although
everyone sang, danced and jumped up, down and leaned in all four directions, it was Miret,
Solomon and Kiflemariam who stole the show. They shined throughout and especially
Solomon rocked the hall with his lyrics. There was also another quite man broke loose earlier
in the afternoon. That was Tekie Albekit who hit the stage with his absolutely nostalgic,
sensational and thought-provoking poems. With his poems the audience wandered back and
forth in time travel.
Day 3, Saturday the 16th, was focussed on conclusion, recommendations and recognition,
which are listed at the end of this report and the highlight of the conference ending, cultural
music and dance.
Artists lined up to entertain were: Singers: Mihret Derehans, Solomon Yohannes and Mihret
Arbed and unscheduled entry Yohannes Solomon. Musicians: Salah Omar, Kalat Raki and
Henok Tesfalidet and the Sound system: Tesfalidet Kidane.
We had Alamin Hasabala and Merharzghi Menadr whom where scheduled to take part in the
conference but unfortunately could not make it due to change in personal circumstances, both
theses did apologise and wished the conference success, especially Merharzghi who had to
cancel his trip having his bought his ticket.
The venue
The venue was heaving in and out and it is hard to describe the talent and professionalism of
the artists and the mood they created in the audience. People danced all evening and it all
concluded at about 1am Sunday.
Attendance
In total the conference participants were around 50 people of the expected minimum of 40 and
maximum of 60 people. In the view of the Conference organisers that was a great success.
Conclusion
The remarkable achievement and memorable moments of this conference was bringing
together almost all the scholars, artists and community leaders who actively work in the
development and preservation of Blin language and culture from all over the world. This
unique experience highlighted the beginning of the creation of a platform of network, exchange
of experiences and sharing work for all those committed in the subject of Blin language and
culture. For many scholars who knew each other via e-mail and other means of
correspondence it meant meeting face to face. The beginning of partnerships between
individuals and organisations was established.
Has the conference met its objectives? The overall theme of the Conference was ' To share
experiences in the Diaspora in keeping the language, traditions and culture, to explore ways of
writing Blin language in Europe, explore how best children could learn Blin and emerge with
some valuable recommendations or reference material.
The conference has played a vital role in teaching us about why it is extremely important to
keep our Blin heritage alive for our future generation. This has been a learning and mind
opening experience for everybody from the speakers to the audience.
One and the most teacher and reminder of our culture and language is education. Through
this conference we were trying to pass our background and culture to the future generation.
Therefore, research and presentations are the most useful way in which one can discuss and
get the best out of. The Conference negotiated with various issues including: culture,
traditions, history, heritage language and all of the arts forms and has certainly accomplished
a great deal and has also paved a way for future endeavours.
Concluding Comments
Let's create a platform of working together
Kiflemariam Hamde: Things started working and should continue doing better.
Selim Debesay: to accomplish what has started, the organisers should work to develop
a network.
Idris Omer: This is a successful and excellent event, enriching and focus on language
and culture preservation Academic work, we have learnt a new various things excellent for
future of our language and culture
Hassabela Hadgay: 'nebras kelelewa esenekulu geriwa qanekulu' ' Translation food is
prepared by a few but consumed by many'. Excellent job has been done and we should
continue preparing Blin events.
Idris Abubeker: We need to focus on three things: social development, historical &
cultural development and research on Blin laws and customs.
Mihret Derehans: I had a lot to say but short time. I thank the organisers and everyone
who is here. To further our objectives, we need to work very hard. I like to stress that we need
to work together, encourage and respect one another instead of demeaning each other and
becoming tools of others. It does not matter who is who. Let's keep our culture and that can be
achieved at a required level only by working together and by cooperating respectfully.
Daniel Yacob: Use technology to develop new things to keep culture. Culture and
language will decay if it does not compete well. These are good initiatives. March forward.
Hiwet Hagos: Let's bring all brothers and sisters on board and work to preserve our
language and culture. What makes someone going home scary? Why are people making
nonsense claims that if you entertain your cultural events that you can't go home.
Mohamed Sheifield: So far so good. We need to go on. I believe there is enough
ignorance within the community. We are no less than anyone. Let’s continue the good work
and move forward.
Musie Amar: Our Association in Norway is doing well. We teach our children but need to
improve it more and all Blin organisations has to work hard to face the language and culture
challenges with our younger generation.
Ismail Hadgay: Thank you for coming and invigorating this event 'entet shaќ lari bala'.
Translation: 'since we have you, there is nothing that we don't possess'. We are a small
community but we are diverse in religion, politics and somehow in our up bringing. We need to
set the differences aside and work together to create a strong community that can keep its
language and culture for generations to come.
M Mesoker: We have a rich culture born from old kingdoms and is a it’s a diverse and
able o form compromises. I felt proud by Mihret’s contribution to the Blin culture and arts.
Those born in exile need to keep our culture, and the community has developed a system to
enable us to maintain our culture. This a great opportunity and we must continue doing so.
Mohamed Nor: Welcome and congratulations to all Blin Moslems and Christians. We
have a culture and quite a rich heritage. We always worked together and should continue
working together.
Suleiman: I thank all our guests from the USA, Sweden and Norway and all that are
present here today. Blin have never worked for themselves, so many people get a bit
concerned when we come together but let’s assure people our brothers and sisters that we
are here to develop our culture and that is useful for Eritrea. . Let us continue this good work
Abu Nadir; We can ask people working together to disintegrate abut encourage their
work and unity. Let us put our children as our main priority. Let us debate on how better to
bring them up, educate them. But make no mistake that we are responsible for their future. Let
us draw action plans and enter into some commitment to realise bringing up our children in
the best possible way we know and we can.
Tekie Alibekit: We are here to see what to do what to think. I think it is important to form
groups of people interested in literature, language and culture, artists and take things forward.
M Debesay: I would like to thank Mowes, Yohanes, Hamid, Ismail, Habtezion and
Abdulrahman, for working very hard to make this conference possible. They brought us here
all together. To be someone you have to do something. We also need to work with others. We
need to learn the good culture of our fathers. May I also take this opportunity to propose that
Mihret Derehans – the voice of our culture to become our culture Ambassadress. The
recommendation was put to the members and members agreed for Mihret to nominate the
ambassadress. And those present at the conference elected Mihret as the ambassadress of
Blin culture. Please note that this was an expression of our appreciation of her contribution for
the Blin culture by those who were in the conference and does not include or exclude views of
others who were not in the Conference. Although we have no doubt that all Blin people will
confirm her contribution, we do not want this to be seen as this conference had the powers to
give such titles on behalf of everybody else.
Kifle Hamde: Thank you Debanma group particularly Mowes. In 1999, Mowes, Selus,
Demsas and me discussed…….
Mohamed: Transparency is important for this to work and the Blin should work together
to move forward. More research should commence, there is no a way in which we can fail
because at least it will mean we tried.
Ferezghi: The website needs to be developed because it is one of our main lines of
communication. The more information our website contains, the more useful it is. It is also
crucial for the website to always be up to date and include the latest issues.
Gemena; I am pleased to be with you. This is the birth of the conference, as we did not
know what this conference was going to bring or what to expect from it. Now we know what to
look forward to in the future and how to prepare for the next conference.
Fireshi: Blin, lets be together, when you work as few it can encourage others to follow
you. I wish you all the best and we will be behind you all the way.
Tekie: We have not seen all Londoners here today and I am concerned as to why there
are not more people attending this conference.
Recommendations
1. Community organisations
• Blin Community organisations need to understand the reasons of their establishment
very clearly. They must clearly define their Objects and adhere to the Objects they set to
achieve.
• Community organisations need not confuse their powers of serving provisions with
presentation of people.
• There is an understanding of representing people, which is not in line with the aims and
objectives recorded in their constitutions.
• Blin Community organisations must be able to establish a network of working together to
further their Objects and support their communities they set to assist in a wider sphere.
• There are visible community groups in Europe and have done well so far and should be
able to progress and learn how to work together to benefit the Blin people, and especially the
younger generation.
• Organisations forming CONSORTIUMS will help them to be able to compete in raising
funds and also forming transactional projects, which can attract more funding including from
the European Union. This type of projects can benefit groups and more importantly the
communities spread across Europe.
• Important recommendation was made to conduct a research on how best to run
organisations and learn not fail as past experiences of creating sustainable organisations
had been quite a challenge.
2. Mother Tongue Education
• There was much debate on how best to teach children about their culture and the Blin
language. it seemed that most of the organisations teaching Blin are using Geez alphabets,
however, point was also raised the use of Latin alphabets at ministry of education in a primary
education/home and how suing different alphabets affect the education system.
• It recommended that groups or mother tongue education groups do agree on how best to
teach the children following their circumstances.
• Majority in the conference favoured use of Geez as most groups are already using it.
Language Standard Unicode Standard additional help for
• It was also recommended that children learn traditions and to keep culture and has to be
practised in various forms: artistically and also traditions ahs to be celebrated as when they
occur. For instance, children can rehearse how traditions are demonstrated at pre and post
weddings ceremonies.
• There were recommendations that children can learn culture even if they miss the
opportunity leaning to speak the language.
• It was strongly recommended to develop teaching materials for children, as there were
limited resources at the moment.
• Recommendations were made for all people wherever they are to teach children Blin and
also practice speaking Blin in their own homes. Exile…diaspora not easy
• Work network with other Eritrean organisations
3. Network of writers, artists and educators
• It was recommended that the above and anyone interested in enhancing the Blin
language and culture should connect effectively and support one another to produce more
relevant and useful documents in the filed of their work.
• Teaching materials are in a great demand and it is of a paramount importance to have to
develop more learning materials in the area.
• Use of Blin artists and especially singers for our weddings and parties was found to be
enormously important. It encourages the artists and above all it helps in keeping the culture
alive.
• The Blin community has appreciated the established and emerging artists and
especially the singers. We have also started inviting them in our weddings and celebrations. It
was emphasized to continue using their talents as the remain as important figures in
transmitting our culture and language development and maintenance. The accomplished
artists such as Mihret Derehans, Alamin Hasaballa, Habtat Zerezghi and young talents, in the
Diaspora can now be reached quite easily.
4. Young people
• The Conference noted the young people born here and those coming from newly arriving
and recommended a proper platform be created that they can connect with each other and
also be assisted develop to inherit their identity.
• Newsletter publication, use of the internet (websites) and meetings were suggested as
ways forward.
• Involvement of young people in the Community organisations to the highest level was
recommended.
• Deeper research should be done on the younger generation and observe the way they
live their lives. A youth report could be produced from this so it will help us understand our
youth and their needs. We need to have meetings for young people. There are many young
people in and outside London.
• I would also like to see an active Debanma website. It would be good to have a team to
work together on these points. (Fesum)
5. Other Recommendations
Selim: A newsletter should be published by Debanma to inform the Blin community of
the different activities that are taking place and keep everyone up to date.
Hasabala; More people should be informed of the conference next time. The event
should be promoted harder so that more people know about it and in a way that will
encourage people to come.
Selim: We are happy to be here. We should form a committee from the USA, UK,
Sweden, and Norway to plan for the future.
Idris: let’s not forget the reality. The Blin have an organisational problem due to lack
understanding reasons of setting up organisations. We lack to understand the sole purpose
as to why we establish organisations. Let us make sure that organisations are established to
serve the Blin people as defined in their constitutions as service users or beneficiaries. There
is no way that these organisations claim that they represent people. I strongly advice those
interested in establishing organisations clearly understand the purpose of the organisations
they are forming. I also feel that it is important to work together to solve this problem. In order
to move forward, we must form consortiums between Blin organisations in the Diaspora and
encourage people to work for the future development.
Individual people who actively work in the field of Blin culture and language to network
and assist and also encourage one another to be able to produce and be more effective.
Teaching Blin to Blin children is so important and parents and those interested must
continue doing so. Language is the most important factor in keeping culture alive. Loosing
language would mean loosing Blin culture. Teach Blin regardless what characters are used
until some kind of consensus is reached.
We must keep using our traditions such in weddings, birth, and many other relevant
rituals, which remind us of the culture and Blinar.
ACTION PLANS;
1. SELECTED COMMITTEE ‘Dildil’: The committee will include representatives including,
Hiwet from Sweden, Musie from Norway and Mowes and Demsas from London. They will be
responsible for deciding where and when the next conference will take place. The facilitating
committee will also study the heading of the next conference and will look into expanding the
activities of the Blin. In addition, they will look for ways to solve the problems that we face in our
organisation.
Rita Cairnri’s Blin mother told her of all the spoken stories which she shares with the
audience. Rita is born in Asmara but Residing in the USA. Her main concern was the Blin
identity Crisis, which she bases her topic on. She tells us that ‘identity is like a river’, because
you pass it down to the next generation. ‘Socially, I do not identify myself, someone else
identifies me’.
Dr Kiflemariam Hamde‘s big issue was the question of “who we are”. The main subject under
discussion was Blin language and the effect of the Blin in exile. Kiflemariam’s interest started
only in the language but gradually widened to other areas. He talks of his experience and how
he got interested in Blin, starting from his early days in Eritrea. He explores whether the blin
are holding to their language or shifting and whether there is a crisis for the second
generation to maintain their identity. There is also a discussion on Immigration, integration,
assimilation and isolation and it’s influence that forces us to learn a completely alien
language e.g. Arabic, English, etc.
Dr Kiflemariam also speaks about his experience in Seminary and the two conflicting
communities: Blin and Tigrigna. ‘We are afraid of being overwhelmed by others, but we must
strive to keep our language alive’. Although Blin are a minority, we have the right to be
respected in terms of our culture, language and feelings.
The Big moments:
Some of the striking and defining phrases in the Conference:
‘Unless we shout about our language, culture etc. we will be patronized by others to tell us
about “us”. It is my responsibility to speak Blin, teach Blin, let others know that I am Blin’.
Kiflemariam
‘Identity is like a river, because you pass it down to the next generation’. Rita Cairnri
‘The challenge of being Blin at home is the same in as in exile’. Fesseha Nair
‘This is the birth of the conference’ Leon Beachy (Gemena)
‘Blin is still viable. It all depends on what this generation does to keep the language alive’. Dr.
Fallon
‘Culture is a distinctive awareness of one’s self engulfed by own understanding, feelings and
interpretation of life in all aspects and reflecting on one’s surroundings. It is the passion that
drives an identity and it is the maintenance of the values, heritages and history as a family, or
group of people, a nation or nations or even as a continent.’ Mowes Adem
‘It is imperative that the language is spoken at home, the classroom is not enough’. Idris
Hassenen
‘We should be optimistic and not fight about the choice of alphabet as improvements and
amendments can come gradually’. Ali
‘I like to stress that we need to work together, encourage and respect one another instead of
demeaning each other and becoming tools of others’. Mihret Derehans
‘We need to learn the good culture of corporation from our fathers’. M Debesay
‘It does not matter who is who’. Mihret Derehans
'Thank you for coming and invigorating this event 'entet shaќ lari bala'. Translation: 'since we
have you, there is nothing that we don't possess'. Ismail Hadgay
Kiflemariam insisted that the difficulty is that unless we put aside our being, from different
parts of (blina beledil), and speak about our identity no one else is going to do it for us.
‘Unless we shout about our language, cul