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Where we do it > Eritrea - Josephine Querido

Josephine Querido lives in London and works for Cancer Research UK. She recently spent two eye-opening weeks in Eritrea visiting her sister Vivian, who is volunteering there with her husband Sankie. Here Josephine describes the ups and downs of letter writing, the café culture in the capital and the welcome she received from Vivian’s Eritrean friends and colleagues.

How much have you and Vivian been in contact since she left the UK last September?

As much as possible! Vivian and Sankie are in Nakfa, a remote town in the far north of Eritrea. They don’t have email or telephone there, so we write letters the good old-fashioned way. A letter takes about two weeks to get there, and Vivian’s reply will take about two weeks too. Then, of course, there are unforeseeable problems - in the beginning there was a petrol shortage, so there was very limited transport going to Nakfa for several weeks…which meant very delayed post!

Vivian’s letters must have inspired you to visit her! So how far did Eritrea live up to your expectations?

Eritrea was wonderful! I was very apprehensive before I went. I wasn’t sure what I would find there, what kind of reception we’d get, how I’d cope with the poverty I would see, and unsure about how safe it was. But I can honestly say it felt like one of the safest countries I’ve travelled in.

Asmara was really quite cosmopolitan, with many locals walking around in Western clothes. You can clearly see the Italian heritage in the buildings. There are also pavement cafes serving coffee and delicious pastries, and you can even get pasta!

But as soon as you get out of the capital, it’s quite a contrast. Housing is much poorer – a mix of concrete brick houses and huts. People generally wear long traditional dress – many men wear the long white jelab, and women wear long colourful clothes and have amazing plaited hair, depending on which tribe they’re from. To the north, the tarmac runs out quite soon, and you see more camels on the roads than cars. Much of the trip to Nakfa is along bumpy dirt roads, winding through mountains and down a dried up river bed. En route you pass burnt out tanks – a poignant reminder of the recent war with Ethiopia.

The Eritreans were the most friendly people I’d ever met. In Asmara, people would come up and talk to you and pass the time of day with you, without wanting anything in return. In Nakfa, few people spoke English, but you were made to feel welcome. I’d expected the market to be a noisy affair with everyone vying for your attention but we had no hassle whatsoever. In Nakfa, we were quite a novelty, and at times we felt a bit like the Pied Piper of Hamlin being followed by a trail of children shouting “how are you?” everywhere we went. Vivian and Sankie’s friends and colleagues were keen to welcome us – family is very important in Eritrea – and we were invited for the traditional coffee ceremony. I don’t drink a lot of coffee back home, and I was worried as I’d heard you had to drink 3 cups to be polite to your host. Luckily, the cups were the size of eggcups, and the coffee was very sweet!

Can you tell me how Vivian and Sankie are adapting to life in Eritrea?

They’re coping really well with pretty basic conditions – I’m very impressed with the way they’re relishing the challenges. They live in a concrete house with 2 rooms and a yard. Because it’s very hot, most of the day they live outdoors in the yard. They don’t have running water - they either collect the water from the well, or it’s delivered by donkey. They cook on a paraffin stove and have electricity three hours a night (which means they don’t have a fridge). The toilet is a hole in the ground, and the shower is a jug of water.

Did you get a chance to see the work your sister is doing?

Vivian is working as a methodologist, which means she helps teachers improve their teaching methods. In Eritrea, teachers don’t get the same kind of training as over here, and they are pretty much thrown in at the deep end. Vivian works in several schools in Nakfa and in the region, and either has to walk (sometimes several hours) to schools that are further away, or, if she’s lucky, she gets a lift. We visited two of the schools and met several teachers. They all really like and respect Vivian and are always pleased to see her!

I’m amazingly impressed with what Vivian and Sankie are doing and how committed they are to their projects. Having seen their work and the challenges they face, I now understand why it’s so important for them to stay for two years, not just one, in order to make a difference. It takes time for communities to get to know you and to trust you, and for you to understand how a country works. If you left after one year, you’d only just be starting to make an impact.

It seems that Vivian is getting a lot out of volunteering in Eritrea. What did you get out of your trip?

Despite being very apprehensive about going to visit, I’m incredibly pleased I did. Now I can imagine where and how they live and what they do day-to-day. It also means that when they come back at the end of their placement, I’ll be able to relate much more to their experience. This is really important, as their time in Eritrea will always be something they’ll look back on – it’ll shape the rest of their lives.

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