Eritrea

Count down to the day we meet for the 4th time.... 20/march/2008
http://www.timeanddate.com/counters/customcounter.html?day=20&month=03&year=2008&hour=&min=&sec=&p0=0

The safety Issue

The Eri Tv Interveiw broadcasted on the 1st of july 2007 describes the humble idea of introducing Hi Viz jackets into Eritrea and learn as you go to work with different aspects of the project....and one of the hardest thing is to try to reach to many people involved in the project and at some point the dishttp://www.shabait.com/upload/newspapers/Aug-07/haddas_ertra_17082007.pdftance involved can allow for minor mistakes of getting the names of the organisations involved and their role...and would like to re etterate that ERA had the greatest role of buying, communicating , shipping and supporting other organisation like AGE and EYAUK in their effort to ship books for eritrea, in this project. And like wise AGE and EYAUK jointly managed to ship a conrtainer full of books and like wise the Hi viz jackets must have been labelled as AGE and EYAUK donations, hence the jounalist assuming them being donated by AGE and EYAUK, the programme broadcasting "Asmera abzi semun Ezzi" and laterit was on teh News in all eritrean languages to generaly put as "concerned Eritreans from London has donated the safety jackets!".....

http://www.meadna.com/business%20page/Commentary%20pages/Yonatan%20page.htm

Check Page two for the National paper entry of teh hi viz Jacket in action!

http://www.shabait.com/upload/newspapers/Aug-07/haddas_ertra_17082007.pdf




The hi viz jacket project that has taken a lot people by surprise has come a long way from it's conception till its practical application.
Please follow link for more of what goes on else where!
http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/about/international/africa/africa.htm

8 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The objective of this study was to analyse existing data and information on the road safety situation in Sub-Saharan Africa in order to identify the data gaps and priority needs. Based on the poor response received from an earlier survey distributed by the ECA, a shorter survey (restricted to crash data only) was sent to each of the 42 countries. Unfortunately, this too had a low response with less than 20 per cent providing the data requested. Accordingly, the data analysis was based on published sources such as the IRF statistics, and data identified in the literature review and project reports.
The calculations for the current estimate of the road fatalities in Sub-Saharan Africa are shown in Chapter 3. Between 68 and 82 thousand lives are estimated to be lost in road crashes in Africa in 2000. After adjusting for reporting definitions (+15%) and under-reporting (+25-+50%), this estimate is 40-65 per cent higher than that officially reported by the countries. The use of official road crash casualty statistics thus underestimates the true extent of the health burden, especially that of injuries, of which only a fraction are believed to be reported by the police.
Africa as a whole was found to have about 10 per cent of global road deaths in 1999 but contained only 4 per cent of global motor vehicles. Fatality rates (expressed as annual road deaths per 10,000 vehicles licensed) in a number of African countries are amongst the world's highest with some (Tanzania, Ethiopia, Uganda, Malawi and Ghana) in excess of 100. (In comparison, fatality rates in OECD countries are of the order of 1.5-4.5 road deaths per 10,000 licensed vehicles per annum).
The average growth in road deaths over the period 1985/86 to 1995/96 (excluding the two dominant countries of Nigeria and South Africa) was found to be over 40 per cent indicating the continued increase in road deaths over time. In comparison, road fatalities in Western Europe and North America fell over the same time period by about 20 per cent.
In the absence of a detailed sectoral review and few questionnaires completed by respondents, the amount of detailed information on road crash patterns available in the review was clearly limited. Nevertheless enough information was available to identify a number of key issues relating to different classes of road users.
An analysis of crash patterns showed that pedestrians are the largest category of road users involved in six out of the eight countries for which detailed information was available. In five of the countries, vulnerable road users (i.e. pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists) accounted for over 50 per cent of all persons killed (the equivalent value in USA, Germany and France for example is about 13 per cent). As might be expected, pedestrian involvement is even greater in urban areas. Thus in Addis Ababa for example over 85 per cent of both fatalities and casualties were pedestrians.
Results of the analysis of types of vehicles involved in crashes showed that the involvement rate of buses was, in some countries, almost four times that of their fleet share. Thus in Kenya, for example almost 30 per cent of all crashes involved a bus or minibus whilst the equivalent value in most Western countries is less than 2 per cent. Research on public transport safety undertaken by TRL has shown that public transport vehicles in Africa (and Asian) countries are frequently poorly maintained, often overloaded whilst the drivers themselves receive inadequate training. Public transport in many African cities is provided not only by the conventional bus but by 'paratransit' vehicles such as mammy wagons (converted trucks), and Matatu (converted vans etc). Such forms of public transport are poorly regulated and controlled with many operating illegally. These vehicles now have a reputation of being particularly dangerous.
It should be noted that the fatality range presented here (68-82 thousand) is less than half that previously predicted by the WHO (WHO, 1998). Even the higher WHO road fatality estimate was only one-tenth that predicted for HIV/AIDS and one-fifth that expected to be lost to malaria. Africa's road safety record is the worst in the world in terms of deaths on a per vehicle basis, but the region has other much greater causes of premature mortality. Road safety is unlikely to become a top medical or political priority in Africa and limited resources can be expected to be available for road safety improvements. Maximum use should be made of the limited resources and lessons should be shared. The recommendations listed below pertain to the perceived priority areas where needs are greatest and opportunities are being missed.
8.1 Sectoral Needs Analysis
As mentioned previously, this study was the first comprehensive review of road safety in Sub-Saharan Africa. It was primarily a desk exercise whereas other regional reviews of the Asia-pacific region, Eastern Europe and Latin America-Caribbean included country visits with local data collection a priority. In order to have a better understanding of the current constraints and capabilities within Africa, consideration should be given to the following:
A sectoral needs analysis should be undertaken by local counterparts in Sub-Saharan Africa. Standardised sector surveys should be developed by a coordinating organisation who will oversee the data collection and be responsible for the data analysis. This approach would provide a much better understanding of local needs and priorities which could be used for guiding future technical assistance. The recommended needs analysis should cover all key road safety related sectors including crash data systems, traffic law enforcement and regulations, road safety engineering, road safety coordination and funding, driver training and testing, vehicle testing, traffic safety education and publicity, motor insurance system, and medical services
8.2 Crash data
The situational analysis has been limited by the data available. The crash data survey response was very low and the summary presented here was collected from published reports and donor projects. This problem is not unique to Africa and plagued the previous regional reviews. The establishment of a regional centre for crash data is a frequent recommendation in cases such as this, where data is difficult to obtain. Intended to raise the status of crash data, this step is not believed to address the key problems, which include insufficient location details and lack of application. Priority instead should be given to the following:
Crash location details should be standardised and monitored. Road authorities should provide traffic police with road maps, including strip maps from rehabilitation projects, to help document locations. The coding of locations and subsequent identification of hazardous locations should be one of the first objectives of a crash data system.
Joint training of police and engineers should improve the understanding of their roles and the development of crash data transferral procedures (from police to road authorities) should be included in any crash data system upgrading. The road authorities should be involved in the improvement of crash data reporting as they are expected to be the main users. The end objective is the application of crash data and not just its computerisation.
Examples of best practice would help others understand what is involved and how it can be achieved. Case studies of successful systems should be documented and shared with other countries.
Regional databases should be considered after the crash data has received more priority at the national and local level and the data quality has improved from local usage.
Investment in hospital reporting systems would produce better estimates of the number being injured in road crashes.
8.3 Road Sector Development Programmes
The World Bank led Road Maintenance Initiative (RMI) in Africa resulted in countries adopting a coordinated approach to donor financing of road rehabilitation projects while increasing their self-financing capability through the use of a fuel levy. Road Fund Boards were established with private sector participation. Road safety appears to have been bypassed in this process with only one of the five Road Funds even mentioning safety measures (Ethiopia). While environmental impact assessments and relocation policies have been addressed, road safety concerns have too often been forgotten. This is partially due to a short term focus on maintenance needs by the highway authorities and a multi-sectoral approach to road safety which has focused on the linkages between the sectors instead of highlighting the individual sectoral responsibility. Accordingly, it is proposed that:
All Road Sector Development Programmes should reconsider the need for incorporating a traffic safety policy which would ensure a minimum standard of road safety in all road projects. An example of a model traffic safety policy is shown in Table 7.1.
8.4 Road safety engineering
As noted previously, many African countries are currently undertaking national road rehabilitation and maintenance programmes. This is a prime opportunity to review and improve the road safety situation of the national and regional highways. At present, road safety is assumed to be addressed through adherence to geometric design standards and few road safety audits are being conducted. Safety audits are needed as they consider the safety of all road users (including roadside dwellers).
Safety audits should be a basic requirement of all major road rehabilitation projects with donor-financed projects containing demonstration audits and training programme on road safety audits.
Lessons learned from safety audits and any resulting changes should be centrally coordinated and shared with other countries in the region. This should be initiated by the donors who should request copies of all references and materials produced be shared with neighbouring countries.
Road safety engineering recommendations from national road safety plans should be integrated into the existing road authorities' 5 year plan and work programmes. Road safety engineering funding requirements should be integrated into road authorities planning and budgeting process.
Road safety engineering unit guidelines (suggested organisational structure, work programme, job descriptions, training progammes) should be developed as a key reference for the Institutional Strengthening projects which have often neglected safety in the past.
8.5 Funding
Whereas road maintenance has benefited from the use of dedicated user charges, i.e. fuel levies, funding for road safety interventions has been limited primarily to general revenue and donor assistance. User charges for safety programmes need to also be considered. A safety surcharge on motor vehicle insurance premiums, has been considered by several countries and is believed to be in place in Mali. The advantages of this approach are limited by the low insurance compliance found in many countries. South Africa and a few other African countries have avoided this problem by collecting third party insurance through the fuel levy. A simple proposal - in terms of practical application but not necessarily political or public acceptability-would be to increase the fuel levy to provide a dedicated road safety source of funding. As the existing road funds have been designed with maintenance needs in mind and not road safety, this could involve an actual increase in the fuel levy, as opposed to a share of any existing road fund revenue.
More priority should be given to financing road safety measures from user charges and that the most practical and appropriate measure would be to apply, (if not increase) fuel levy to pay for road safety interventions.
User charges should also be considered as means of paying for safety measures in other sectors, such as a safety levy on a driving license to pay for more or better trained driving examiners.
8.6 Community Participation
Experience from both higher income countries as well as Africa has shown 'top-down' approaches to have limited effect and lack sustainability. Local participation is required to maintain political support as well as ensure the approach adopted, both in terms of problem analysis as well as remedial measure identification, is appropriate and compatible with local priorities.
Community participation should be a basic component of any road safety programme, with involvement of both service organisations, NGOs, CBOs and the business community a priority. Local road safety initiatives should be incorporated in national road safety programmes with bottom-up efforts co-inciding instead of following national level action.
Priority should be given to sharing the experience gained from community traffic safety programmes in motorised countries, including the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Norway.
Road rehabilitation projects should include publicity campaigns in villages adversely affected by road improvements with the local community involved in both the identification of the problem and the development of the remedial measures.
8.7 Collaborations and Partnerships
As highlighted by the earlier review of WHO figures, there are many other causes of death (HIV/AIDS, malaria, etc) which will rightfully absorb the health sector's attention. The health impact of road crashes will be overshadowed by other causes of death, especially at the national level. Whether it is injury prevention or AIDS related, partnerships with similar causes which require changes in behaviour and social responsibility should be sought. This wider approach has already begun in South Africa where CSIR have a safety education unit (instead of traffic safety). The WHO's recent initiative applies to all trauma victims with the Addis Ababa Emergency Medical Services Committee campaigning for increased trauma management skills and resources not only for road casualties but also for other trauma victims, such as from natural disasters such as earthquakes or floods.
Collaborations should be promoted between road safety initiatives and other health organisations and advocacy groups, ie. HIV/AIDS, trauma services, AIDS, community policing, urban development. Traffic safety education should be designed to complement awareness programmes on HIV/AIDS, as the overwhelming scale of the latter must take priority.
8.8 Monitoring and Evaluation
With limited resources available, it is easy to appreciate the need for proof of effectiveness and efficiency. Yet few evaluations were identified and the focus was on casualty reduction. The lack of complete and accurate crash data will handicap the use of casualty/crash reduction targets. Casualty reduction targets are also criticised for not adequately reflecting risk, as roads which are perceived to be dangerous may discourage use but this will not be reflected in the crash record. At this stage, skills and systems need to be introduced and implemented before any impacts will be seen and post-evaluations, which should be standard features of any project, should measure the change in capability, if not the impact on casualty levels.
Performance targets should be identified and agreed within each sector as proxies for effectiveness In many cases, casualty reduction targets will be premature given the uncertainty of the casualty data.
8.9 Central Road Safety Reference System
The literature review confirmed two suspicions: information on road safety practices/situation could not be found for many African countries, and secondly, where information was found, it was often contained in unpublished project reports from donor assisted projects. The latter has a very limited circulation list and the information collected is not being used to its full potential (both inside and outside the country). Reports are often shared on an informal basis by interested parties trying to build on previous work, instead of "re-inventing the wheel". With the move towards a global approach to road safety as seen by the establishment of the GSRP, it is recommended that
All donors agree to share their work and make project documents available to other donors and those organisations concerned with the promotion of road safety. Priority should be given to publishing recent project reports to allow greater dissemination and use whereas future reports should expect to be on general release.
There should be a central coordinating referral body identified for each country and one worldwide, preferably the GRSP. Inside a country, one organisation should have a copy of all road safety reports and within GRSP, all donor financed projects should provide abstracts if not copies of their reports in electronic format. Full copies of reports should be able to be downloaded from either donor websites or the GRSP website.
Consideration be given to converting the literature review contained in Technical Appendix C into a database with a standardised format so that additional references can be added. The African road safety literature database should be accessible via the internet (possibly GRSP or VTI's RETSNET) and updated on a regular basis.
8.10 Vulnerable road user safety
As a general observation it can be said that pedestrians are the neglected road users throughout much of Africa. Relatively few pedestrian crossing facilities exist in most major cities such as foot bridges, under passes, signal controlled crossings etc. Features that assist pedestrian safety, for example, guard rails or central reservations are also infrequently used. Many African countries are also characterized by quite heavy pedestrian activity along rural roads as people move from village to village but most people are obliged to walk in the road itself as few sidewalks or even paths are made available for pedestrians.
It has been the general experience of high income countries to overlook the safety of vulnerable road users during motorisation. Greater priority has begun to be given to the vulnerable modes of cycling and walking in motorised countries in recent years but the focus at present in low income countries is on vehicle operating costs and the efficiency of motorised transport.
Vulnerable road user safety should be a priority area, and pedestrian safety in particular. Training programmes should be undertaken to raise the awareness with engineers and police. Greater use should be made of CSIR's experience in pedestrian safety and consideration given to conducting regional training programme of CSIR's pedestrian facilities management and traffic calming courses. Donor funded road projects should specify vulnerable road user safety to be addressed.
Programmes and measures intended to promote vulnerable road user safety in motorised countries should be publicised in low income countries, i.e. speed reduction zones, traffic calming, home zones.
8.11 Professional drivers
With such low motorisation in the region and the reliance of freight and passenger transport on road, the priority should be on reducing the crash risk of professional drivers and commercial vehicles. Results of the analysis of types of vehicles involved in crashes showed that the involvement rate of buses was, in some countries, almost four times that of their fleet share. Much needs to be done to improve public transport safety in most countries of Africa, including improved vehicle condition and maintenance, greater central or local government control and perhaps above all, improved driver behaviour. Research on public transport safety undertaken by TRL has shown that public transport vehicles in Africa (and Asian) countries are frequently poorly maintained, often overloaded whilst the drivers themselves receive inadequate training. Action has begun in several countries, including South Africa which has targeted minibus and taxi driving and Zimbabwe which is believed to require defensive driver training for all its public service vehicle drivers.
Driver training and testing improvements and initiatives should target professional drivers. These should include extended on road tests with hazard perception checks, and defensive driver training. Refresher training should also be promoted along with close monitoring of drivers working conditions and crash involvement.
Driver training and risk management programmes should be proposed as a priority area for the newly established GRSP. Good practice code of risk management for fleet operators should be published.


The following names are going to be frequent :

Hi -Viz...

The Hi-Viz Jacket!!
[Part of [Having Safe Transport is Great Thing] project]
It is a Jacket especially made so that it illuminates.
It reflects light.
In UK It is worn by any one and everyone who uses the road.
The police wear it all the time.
Cyclists wear it a lot
Motorbike riders wear it a lot.
Athletes wear it when running on roads and cross country
It is worn by mechanics who normally wear greasy and dark Overalls [Komblasieny]
It is worn by Bus Drivers especially when they walk around their Garages.
It is compulsory at work place [Bus driver job, Police, Factory Workers, Cleaners, security officers, cyclists, Motor bike riders, Construction workers, Farmers] to wear Hi-Viz.
The Hi-Viz being the collective name given to many versions and shades, It varies from the simple four lines jacket that you can be worn over your jacket, to a body warmer full colour jacket, to over alls with stripes of Hi –Viz lines around the leg and arms for mechanics, and so on.
It cuts accidents dramatically, by simply being visible and following this Health and Safety procedure.
It is so important that companies are obliged to provide their staff with Free Hi-Viz jackets.

So why are we not using this life saving jacket on the roads and work places of Eritrea?
Is it lack of Money? , Is it lack of Initiatives? , Is it lack of awareness? , Is it Ignorance?
Life is too precious to waste if it can be saved by this GREAT Jacket, which should be brought up in every topic of our conversation.
So what can we do individually? What can we do collectively? , what can we all do to achieve this dream of great road safety applied in our home land.
Those of us who are good at writing letters, should put a standard letter of request for help in this mater and get it ready,
Those of us, who are good in design aspects, put one that can reflect this great Idea across, this educational material can be used permanently on all notice boards for Eritreans to take notice of!!
Those of us who are travelling back home, to take that thought with them and illuminate people with this idea, and also with a jacket or so to go with it.
May this be a donation that can be given to all of the above users or a compulsory that can be enforced by a body back home will be decided by the body that can handle this.
Individually shall we all explore and talk to many and tell them about this and if their help is needed in raising funds and/or increasing awareness.
We can tell all Eritreans all over the world and get the message and do their bit from all angels.
Collectively we can get coordinated and achieve this dream and get ready for future projects which we can only do if we join up and help each other.
Hawikum
Yonathan okbamichael Haile

ERA...

Progress Report
20-SEPTEMBER 2006
I am writing to inform you about the progress the Hi-VIZ [Safety] Jacket introduction into Eritrea has gone so far.
Besides The shipment of 2055 Safety Jackets so far here is more development with the project that was initiated to introduce safety in Eritrea.
As the first company to donate Safety Jackets, Metro line [a member of Comfort Delgro] has done so much to help the project. Besides the constant communication with myself and ERA, they have spent time asking what sizes might be needed, dropped their Metro line Logo from the back of the Safety Jackets, they have given us the market value quote so as to facilitate the taxation at the port or airports when the jackets are shipped to Eritrea.
And above all they have gone further to print this important project and the country it is destined to in the MetLife [a monthly magazine for all Metro line staff-please see magazine attached]. On the MetLife they have dedicated a whole page to introduce Eritrea to many people and promote the safety Issue and advantages of the safety jackets to every reader. Many thank you to Metroline and their communication department.
So the next step is to get more awareness of this Jacket and allow ERA to follow up any more and everything to make this project a success.
ERA would need your help to raise fund [their Bank details will be given at the end], ERA can supply you with letters of request of Donation as well as Jackets for your nominated company. ERA is also looking for dedicated volunteers to collect donations and present receipts to donors either individually or at a company level.
If you happen to be residing [living] abroad and wanted to help the project you can do so in many ways. You can approach companies in your respective host countries, or send your donations to ERA uk who has taken the process on board and do your best to publicize the project and create better awareness. Please make your cheques payable to Eritrean Relief Association, with a note stating that it is donated for purchase and shipment of Hi-Viz Jackets. If you are sending your cheques to ERA and you are a tax payer [For UK donors], we will ask you to fill a form so that ERA can make the Gift Aid Savings.
You can post your cheque to:ERA, Robin House, 2A Iverson Road, London, NW6 2HE

Thank you in advance.
For more information please contact Hiwinnet
Jona_hiwinnet12@yahoo.co.uk



AGE... Action Group Eritrea http://www.eritrea.co.uk/ mahber Eritrawiyan bgibri





EYAUK... http://www.eyauk.co.uk/ Eritrean Youth Asosciation UK

Hi All:
Tes Great leadership you are showing is very very commendable. I am sure you are spending as good time running as you are replyin to E-mails. Please be rest assured you will be able to fullfil your dream.
I am now pledging £70 altogether at £10 each for every volunteer who put their tally and progress on this forum.
That means you Tes will get another £10 from me. Simon too and so on.
As in the sunday Jogging I will be at Hide park this sunday.
Have a great weekend.

To save you time my only advice is to take your forms [and /or leaflets describing your cause] with you when ever you know you are to meet a group of ERITREANS or other nationals in one place.

Hawikum JONATHAN




.



HIWINNET.... ቀዳምነት

ሰላም ክቡራት ኣሕዋት፣
ናይ ኩላትና ግዱሳት ኤርትራውያን ተሳታፍነት ዝሓትት ብ ቐዳምነት ንድሕነት ዝብል ቴማ ዝግበር ጎስኃስ ምትእትታው ናይ ድሕነት ጃኬት ናብ ኤርትራ ድሮ ተጀሚሩስ ኣተባባዒ ምዕባለታት ተምዝጊቡ ኣሎ፣
እዚ ጃኬት ጥቕሙ ኩሉ መራሒ ሞቶ። ሰብ ብሽግለታ ኮታ ኩሉ ኣብ ጎደናታት ሃገርና ዚንቀሳቐስ በዓል ሞያ ይኹን ኣኽባሪ ሕጊ ኩሉ ምስ ዝወድዮ ውሕስነት ድሕነት ብ ኣንጻባራቒ ጃኬት(ርኣዩኒ-ጃኬት) ይረክብ።

እዚ ቐጻልነት ዘድልዮ ስርሒት ናይ ኩላትና ተገዳስነትን ወፈያታትን ዝሓትት ክነሱ። እቲ ዝከኣለና ክንገብር ጻውዒት ነቕርብ ፣
ነዚ ብዕቱብ ዝተተሓሓዘቶ ኤራ-UK (ማሕበር ረድኤት ኤርትራ-UK Charity No.800543) ሓገዝ ህዝቢ ስለ ዘድሊያ ንመሸመቲ ከምኡውን መስደዲኡ ነቲ ጃኬት ናይ ገንዘብ ሓገዝ ትሓትት!!
ቼክ ናብ ቤት ጽሕፈት ኤራ
ኣድራሻ። Robin House, 2A Iverson Road, London NW6 2HE Tel 02073287888
ወይ ክኣ ናብ ሕሳብ ባንኪ ኤራ-UK
ናይ ባንኪ ሕሳብ A/C No. 01031341 National Westminster bank

ነዚ ቕዱስ ተግባር ኣድላይነቱን ህጹጽነቱን ግዜ ዝሓትት ስለ ዘይኮነ ተወሳኺ ሓበሬታ ምስ እትደልዩ ኣብ መርበብ መኣድና ኮም www.hiwinnet.com ተወከሱ፣ ሓገዝኩም ኣይፈለየና፣
ከምኡ ድማ ተወሳኺ ሓጋዚ ሓሳባት ንኸነማእኽል ቁሩባት ኢና ቁ.ስ. (+44)07931149285 hiwinnet@hotmail.com

hiwinnet_jona@yahoo.co.uk
Thank you
ግዱሳት መንእሰያት ኣብ ስደት [Donation Appeal by volunteers 2006/07]

ንድሕነት



HABEN ERE.... Haben ere[haben'na erena]= Eritrean pride wrist band was the brain child of blen from canada. He owns the design and can supply you how ever many items you need.
Dear All
Many thanks to all who have purchased the Wrist band, HABEN ERE’ [Eritrean Pride]! But also donated the change, as it is for good cause.
Above all big thank you to all who encourage and support the projects of Hi-Viz Jacket introduction into Eritrea, Books for Eritrea.[All EYAUK, AGE and ERA].

Haben Ere’s sale and initial donation being the brain child of kubur **** **** and the relentless publicity by ****** [website] and recently published Haben Ere Poster by Kubur ***** *****.[see attachment]
And as witnessed on national TV, officials of transport were wearing the safety jackets at work.

The wrist bands are available on sale and more info will be available in due time.

Thank you


METROLINE.... a bus company http://www.metroline.co.uk/
which operates routes in London from TFL http://www.tfl.gov.uk/

METLIFE.... a monthly magazine by metroline for staff






ERITV....


The programme called medeb Kolahta --which brings educational and informative entertainment, interviews and reveiws. Has done the first ever broadcast of the safety jackets and their initiation..wanderfull journalism by asmerom berhe and the camera man. Here is a transcript of the interveiw of Jonathan Okabamichael Haile on the project...

ጋዜጠኛ ኣስመሮም በርሀ ዘዳለዎ መደብ ቆላሕታ ኣብ ሞዛይክ ቲቪ-ኤረ
ኣስመሮም በርሀ :-
መግለጺ ሰብ ካብ ዝብሃሉ ሓደ መንነት እዩ፣ኣብ ዝሃለወ ሃልዩ እንታይነቱ ዘይርስዕን ኣማጻጽእኡ ዝነግርን እምበኣር በቲ ናይ ተፈጥሮ ሕጊ ዝኣምንን መን ምኻኑ ዘየሕፍሮን ክባሃል ይኽእል፣
ዝበዝሑ መን ምዃኖም ዝሕፍሮም ሰባት ካብ ከባቢኦምን ሃገሮምን ምስ ረሓቑ ሓድሽ ነቲ ክቕየር ዘይካኣል ነቲ ኣብ ደሞም ዝሰረጸ መንነቶም ከይተረፈ ከጥፍኡ ጻዕሪ የካይዱ፣
ዘይከምዚኦም ኣብ ስደት ዝርከቡ ዝበዝሑ ኤርትራውያን ብፍላይ መንእሰያት መንነቶም ንምንጋርን ሓገዝ ንሃገሮም ምብርካትን ካብቲ ኣዝዩ ዘኹርዖም ንጥፈታት እዩ፣
(ዮ.ዑ.ሃ.)
እዚኣ ከም ቡዙሕ ኣበርክቶ ኽትቁጸር ኣንድሕር ኮይና ደሓን ካልእ ሕቶ እዩ። ብዓይነይ ግን ዓቢ ኽብሎ ኣይኽእልን እየ ። እንድሕር ጠቒማ ግን ልዕሊ ኹሉ ነገር ሃገርካ እንድሕር ዘይትብል ኮይንካ ኣብ ዘለኻዮ ኮይንካ : ንስኻ የለኻን ማለት እዩ፣ ሕጂ ሃገርካ ኽኣኒ ንእሽቶይ እያ : ሕጂ እያ ትምዕብል ዘላ : ኣብ ዘለኻዮ ቦታታት ደሎ ጸጋታት ድዩ ትምህርቲ ኽኣ መዝሚዝካ ንሃገርካ ከተብሎ እንድሕር ዘይከኣልካ የለኻን ማለት እዩ፣ ስለዚስ እቲ ግቡአይ እየ ኽኣ ዝገብር ዘለኹ እምበር ሓለፋ ኣይገበርኩን ማለተይ እየ፣

ኣስመሮም በርሀ :-
ዮናታን ሃይለ ዑቕባሚካኤል (ዮ.ዑ.ሃ.) ኣብ ኤርትራ ተወሊዱ ዝዓበየን ኣብዚ እዋን ኣብ ዓዲ እንግሊዝ ዝቕመጥን ሜካኒካል ኢንጂነሪንግ ተማሂሩ ኣብ ሓደ ናይ መጓዓዝያ ትካል እዩ ዝሰርሕ ዘሎ፣ በዚ ምኽንያት ድሕነት ቀዳምነት ምዃኑ ብምርዳእ ንድሕነት ዝጠቕሙ ከም ሃይ ቪዚቢሊቲ ሴፍቲ ኽዳውንቲ ብሓገዝ ንሃገሩ ከበርክት ሓሳብ መጾ፣
(ዮ.ዑ.ሃ.)
እቲ ኣበጋግሳ መጀመርያ ኣብ ሕቶ ዝነበረ ።

“ኣብ ሃገርና ኣሎ’ዶ የለን ከምኡ?” ዝብል ሕቶ ክምለስ ኣለዎ፣
“ብቐጻሊ ሓደጋ ዝርከበሉ ቦታ ኣበይ እዩ?” ወይ
“እንታይ ዝኣመሰለ ምጓዓዝያ እዩ ብዙሕ ሓደጋታት ዝርከቦ?”
ዝብል ሕቶታት ክምለስ ኔሩዎ ።። ሕጂ ንሱ ኣብ መጽናዕቲ ኸሎ ማዕረ ማዕሪኡ ኽኣኒ እሞ ንመርኣዪ ዝኸዉን ድዩ ነቲ መበገሲ ዝኸውን ከኒ እንታይ ይገበር ዝብል ሓሳብ ብምቕራብ ነቶም ኣነ ዝሰርሓሎም ካምፓኒ (ትካል) ከም ወፈያ ድዩ ዋላ ኸም ብዝበለጸ ንሳቶም ስለ ምስቶም ንዕኡ ዝሰርሑ ዝዋሰዩ’ሲ ሓበሬታ ንኽህቡኒ ዶማንዳ ድዩ ክባሃል-ሜሞ ኣቕሪበ ማለትዩ ። ንሶም ክኣ ነቲ ሓሳብ ተቐቢሎም ዝያዳ ኽኣ ብዛዕባ ኤርትራ ክትነግረና እሞ እቲ ንገብሮ ንርኢ ገለ ስለ ዝበሉ እቲ ስራሕ ካብኡ እዩ ተጀሚሩ ማለት እዩ፣
ናይ ጎስጓስ ስራሕ ክኣ እቲ ዝዓበየ ክፋሉ እዩ፣ ምኽንያቱ እታ ጃኬት(ሰደርያ) ጥቕማን ኣጠቓቕማኣን እንድሕር ዘይነገርካዮ-ንሓደ ሰብ ኣብ ጥቕማ ስለ ዘይትውዕል ንዑኡውን ጎስጓስ ከመይ ጌርካ ክካየድ ይካኣል ብዝብል ሓሳብ መራኸቢ ብዙሓን ከም መርበብ ወይ ወብሳይት ክኣ ንምዝርጋሕ ተጀሚሩ እቲ ስራሕ ማለት እዩ፣ ማዕረ ማዕሪኡ ኽኣኒ ኣብ ሃገርና ኸኒ መን እዩ ነዚ ስራሕ እዚ ኸተግብሮ ዝግባእ? መን እዩኸ ወኪል ወይ ሓላፍነት ወሲዱ ነቲ ስራሕ ክከታተሎ ዝኽእል? ዝብሉ ሕቶታት ንምምላስ ዓበይቲ ትካላት ኣብ ዓዲ እንግሊዝ ዘለዋ ወይድማኒ ብኤምባሲ ደረጃ ኽኣኒ እንታይ ኣሎ ኣብ ሃገርና ክንራኸቦም ንኽእል ትካላት ድዩ ዋላ ሚኒስትሪታት ዝብል ሕቶታት እውን ማዕረ ማዕሪኡ ንሰርሓሉ ኔርና ማለት እዩ፣
ካብኣቶም ሓንቲ ካብተን ዝተማያየጥናለን ትካላት ማሕበር ረድኤት ኤርትራ (ወይድማ ኤራ) ትባሃል ኮይኑ ወኪል ኤራ ናብ ኤርትራ ይኸይድ ስለ ዝነበረ ደሓን ኣነ እውን ብወገነይ ኽሓትት እየ ዝብል መልሲ-ኣታባባዒ መልሲ መጺኡና ማለት እዩ፣ሕጂ ካብኡ ሽም ንምጥቃስ እንድሕር ኮይኑ ኣደ ወንበር ናይ ኤራ ሰብለ ኤፍረም ትባሃል ነዚ ስራሕ ከም ሓላፍነት ወሲዳ መጺኣ ንኤርትራ መልሲ እውን ሒዛትልና መጺኣ ማለት እዩ፣ሕጂ ማዕረ ማዕረ እቲ መልሲ ናይታ ካምፓኒ ንጽበዮ ዝነበርና ነዚ ውክልና ንምውሳድ እውን ኤራ ጽቡቕ ግብረ መልሲ ረኺብና ኣብ ናይ መጓዓዝያን መራኸብን (ትራንስፖርት ኤንድ ኮሙኒኬሽን) ከምዘድልዮምን ክተሓባበሩና ከም ዝኽእሉን ሓበሬታ ረኺብና ማለት እዩ ፣

ኣስመሮም በርሀ :-
ሃገርካ ማዕረ ማዕረ ምስ ዝማዕበላ ሃገራት ክትወዳደር ካብ ዘኽእላ ሓደ ድሕነት ህዝባ ክትሕልወሉ እትኽእለሉ መገዲ ምጽራግ እዩ ፣ ዮናታን እውን ንኣጠቓቕማ እዚ ዘንጻባርቕ ክዳን ክዳን ናይ ድሕነት መጀመርታ ኣፍልጦ ኣብ ኤርትራ ብዛዕባ እዚ ኽዳን ኽተኣታቶ እዩ ጽዒሩ፣ ኣብ ሎንዶን ንዝቕመጡ ኤርትራውያን እውን ጎስጓስ ጀመረ፣
(ዮ.ዑ.ሃ.)
ጎስጓስ ክኣ ኣብ መራኸቢ ብዙሓን ንኽዝርጋሕ ዝተሓባበሩ ከም መርበብ መኣድና ዶት ኮም ትባሃል ኣጸቢቖም ተሓባቢሮም ስእልታት ድዩ ዋላ እቲ ሪሰርች ዝወጸ እውን ብዛዕባ ሓደጋታት ድዩ ዋላ ጥቕሚ ናይቲ ናይ ድሕነት ጃኬት ተሓባቢሮም ከምኡውን መርበብ መራኸቢ ወይድማ ያሁ ጉሩፕ ዝባሃል ናይ ማሕበር መንእሰያት ኣብ ሎንዶን ዘሎ ነቲ ሓሳብ ናይ ምልውዋጥን ደገፍ ናይ ምሃብን ተሓባቢሮም ፣ ማዕረ ማዕሪኡ እቲ ዝዓበየ ተስፋ ዘውህብን ደገፍን ናይ ንዋት ደገፍ ዝገበረት ኤራ ኾይና እቲ ዳርጋ 90% ወይ ድማ 1500 (ሽሕን ሓሙሽተ ሚእትን) ዝኸውን ጃኬታት እውን ኤራ ባዕሎም ገዚኦም ንኤርትራ ክኸይድ ከሎ ኽኣ መስደዲኡ እንኮላይ ኣብ ኮንተይነር ምስ መጽሓፋቲ ክኸይድ ዝተሓባበሩ ብዙሕ ተስፋ ዘውህብ እሱ እዩ እቲ ዝበለጸ ኔሩ እቲ ጎስጓስ…ዕድል ክኣ ተሓዊሱዎ ማለት እዩ፣

ኣስመሮም በርሀ :-
ቀዳምነት ንድሕነት ምሕሳብ ካብ ሓደጋ ምግልጋል ።ንምዕባለ ዝዕንቅጹ መገዲታት ምቑራጽ ማለት እዩ ። በዚ ዘንጻባርቕ ኽዳን ኣብ ዘድልየሉ ቦታታት ብምኽዳን ብገለ ዓቐን ንምዕባለ ምስራሕ እዩ፣ ዮናታን እውን ነዚ ብምርዳእ እዩ ንሚኒስትሪ መጓዓዝያን መራኸብታትን መበገሲ ዝኾኖም ኣንጻባራቒ ኽዳን ብሓገዝ ኣወፈየ፣
(ዮ.ዑ.ሃ.)
መብዛሕትኡ ግዜ ኣታ ካምፓኒ ብዙሕ ግዜ ሰራሕኛታት ይወጹን ይኣትዉን እዮም ኣነ ትጽቢተይ ዝነበረ 2-3 ዶኾን ሰራሕተኛ ክውጽይ እንከሎ ዝገደፎ ይህቡኒ ይኾኑ እዩ መጀመርያ ዘበገሰኒ ግን እቲ ጽሑፋትን ተበግሶታትን ምስ ረኣዩ 500 (ኣስታት ሓሙሽተ ሚእቲ) ዝኸውን ክንህበካ ንኽእል ኢና ዝብል መልሲ ምስ ረኸብኩ ንኻልእ ጎስጓስ’ውን ኣተባቢዑኒ ማለት እዩ፣ ንሱ ጥራሕ ዘይኮነ እታ ካምፓኒ ኹሉ ግዜ ሎጎ ዘለዎ ናይታ ካምፓኒ እያ ትጥቀም ኔራ ሕጂ ግን ደሓን እቲ ሎጎ ኸማን ክንኣልዮ ኢና ። እንታይ ሳይዝ ወይ ዕቅን (ዓቐን) ከ ትደሊ ዝብል ተወሳኺ ምትሕብባር ብምግባር ካብኡ ሓሊፎም እውን ኩሉ’ቲ ብዛዕባ ኤርትራ እንታይ ክትነግረና ትኽእል ዝብል ኢንተርቪው ወይድማ ሓተታ ጌሮም እውን ማዕረ ማዕሪኡ ኸኣኒ እቲ ተበግሶታት ብምቅላሕ ኣብ መጋዚን (መጽሄት) እውን ብምውጻእ ተሓባቢሮሙኒ ማለት እዩ፣ እታ መጋዚን በታ ካምፓኒ ወይ ድማ ሜትሮላይን ትባሃል ናይ ኣውቶቡስ ካምፓኒ ኾይና ሜት ላይፍ ትብል ወርሓዊት መጋዚን ንኹሉ ሰራሕተኛ ትዕደል ኣላ ማለት እዩ ። ባዕላቶም ብዝገበሩዎ ሪሰርች ኩሉ ብዛዕባ ኤርትራ (ኦል ኣባውት ኤርትራ) ኣብ ዝብል ዓምዲ ብምስፋር ኩሉ ሕቶታት ዝነበረ እቲ ተበግሶታት ከመይ እዩ ። ኣብ ዓዲ እንግሊዝን ኤርትራን ዘሎ ፍልልይ እንታይ እዩ። እንታይ ትናፍቕ ኩሉ ሕቶታት ብምምላስ ካብ ዝተጸብኹዎ ንላዕሊ ኣቕሪቦሞ ማለት እዩ። ሕጂ እታ መጋዚን (መጽሄት) ናይቲ ስራሕ ንሰራሕተኛታት ትዝርጋሕ ኮይና ሜት-ላይፍ እያ ማለት እዩ ፣ ኣብኡውን ብዙሓት ኤርትራውያን ክኣ ስለ ዝሰርሑ (ምስታ ካምፓኒ) ንዕኦም እውን ሓበን ተሰሚዑዎም ቀጻሊ ደገፎም ከም ዘወፍዩ ሓቢሮሙኒ ማለት እዩ፣

ኣስመሮም በርሀ :-
ብዘይካ’ዚ ኣብ ሎንዶን ዝቕመጡ ኤርትራውያን ብመንነቶም ኣዝዮም ካብ ምሕባን ዝተላዕለ ኣትለት ዘርእሰናይ ታደሰ ኣብ ስኮትላንድ ኣብ ዝገበሮ ውድድር ንኽዕጅብዎ ብዓቢ ሓበን ግዚኦም ኣወፍዮም ደገፎም ንኽገልጹ ሃገራዊ ባንዴራና ብምብልባል ንኤርትራ እውን ብዓለም ደረጃ ኣብ ኣትሌቲክስ ንኽትፍለጥ ከም ዝጽዓረ እዩ ዮናታን ዝገልጽ፣
(ዮ.ዑ.ሃ.)
መንእሰያት ቁሩብነት ናይ ሃገሮም ክትልዓል ወይ ድማ ሽማ ላዕሊ ክውንጨፍ ዝገብሩዎ ጻዕሪ ኩሉ ግዜ ኣብ ቦትኡ ኾይኑ ግን ቁሩብ ኣፋፍኖት ምስ ዝረኽቡ ኩሉ ግዜ ቁሩባት ኮይኖም ዝመጽኡሉ ዕድል ተረኺቡ ከም ኣብ ዓመት ክልተ ግዜ ናይ ጉያ እግሪ እዩ ዝካየድ ሓንቲ ኣብ ማንቸስተር ሓንቲ ኣብ ስኮትላንድ ኮይኑ ተወዳደርቲ ካብ ኤርትራ መጺኦም ኣብኡ ከም በዓል ዘርእሰናይ ። ስምረት ። ዮናስ ክመጹና ከለዉሲ ከመይ ጌርና ንድግፎም ዝብል ተበግሶ ብምግባር ካብ 2006 ኣትሒዝና ብዝተጠርነፈ መንገዲ ብዙሕ ምንቅስቓሳት ጌርና ኔርና። ባንዴራታት ኣኪብና ከምኡውን እታ ዓዲ ቁሪ እያ ሰሚዕና ጋብታት ዘይንሕዝ ኢልና ሓንቲ ኽኣ እቲ ህቡብ ጎያያይ ዘርእሰናይ ንዑዑ ህያብ ኢልና ከም ሽሙ ብርኪያሞ ዝተጻሕፋ ጋቢ እውን ተማሊእና ማለት እዩ ፣ ንሳ እውን ምሳና ጌርና ንሳኣል ኔርና፣ ኣብቲ ማእከል ጉያ እውን ኣብ ቢቢሲ ናይ ዓዲ እንግሊዝ ላይቭ ስለ ዝመሓላለፍ ዝነበረ መብዛሕትኡ ሰብ ሳርፕራይዝድ ኮይኑ ባንዴርኡ ኣብ ቲቪ ክርእያ እንከሎ ዳሕራይ ደደዊሎም እሞ ዝያዳ ክትርኣዩ በዚ በሉ በቲ ኣብሉ እንዳበሉ ይመርሑና ኔሮም፣ ብጣዕሚ ዘሐጉስ እዩ ፣ዳሕራይ ምስ ተወድአ እውን ንዘርእሰናይ ሓንጙርና በቃ። መዓት ሳዕስዒት እዩ ኔሩ፣ ኣብኡ በቃ ብርእዮሞ ዘይፈልጡ ኣገባብሲ እታ ዓዲ ጽቡቕ ኔሩ፣

ኣስመሮም በርሀ :-
መበገሲ ናይዚ ሓሳብ ዮናታን ከም ዝገለጾ ኣብ መራኸቢ ብዙሓን ሃገርና ኣብ ኤርትራ ንዘጋጥሙ ሓደጋታት ትራፊክ ክግለጽ ከሎ ኣዝዩ ምብዝሑ ስለ ዘተሓሳሰቦም ኣብ ሎንዶን ናይ ዝርከቡ ኤርትራውያን መርበብ መኣድና ነዚ ሓደጋ ንኸቃልል ዝኽእል መንገዲ ብምዝርራብ ነዚ ዘንጸባርቕ ክዳን ብሓገዝ እንተ ሰዲዶም ሓደጋ ክውሕድ ይኽእል እዩ ብምባል ነዚ ሓሳብ ኣበርከተ፣
ዮናታን ንመንእሰያት ኣብ ሎንዶን ዘለዉ ብፍላይ ኣብ ስደት ዘለዉ እዉን ብሓፈሻ ኽገልጽ ከሎ ።-
(ዮ.ዑ.ሃ.)
እቲ መንእሰይ ኣብ ወጻኢ ዘሎ ተሓባብራይ እዩ ፣ ባህሉ ክዕቅብ እዩ ዝደሊ ። ማዕረ ማዕሪኡ ኽኣ ናይ ዜና ምክትታል ልምዲ የምጽእ ኣሎ ። ብሕልፊ ኤሪ-ቲቪ ኣብ ወጻኢ ካብ ትጅምር ብጣዕሚ ዘሐጉስ እዩ፣ እቲ ብኢንግሊሽ ዲዩ ብኻልእ ብናይ ኣደ ቛንቋ ዝዝርጋሕ ኩሉ ክማሃሮ ለበዋይ የሕልፍ ብኡ ጌረ ምክንያቱ ኩሉስ ኣሎ ፣ እቲ ሓበሬታ ንመን ኢኻ ክትራኸብ ከም ዘለካ እንታይ እዩ ኸ ዘድሊ ካብኡ ኢኻ ክትመሃር ትኽእል!

ኣስመሮም በርሀ :-
ኣበርክቶኡ ግቡኡ እምበር ከም ሓገዝ ዘይወስዶ ዮናታን ኣብ ስደት ምንባር ማለት ድሕሬኻ ዝገደፍካዮ ምርሳዕ ዘይኮነ ዝያዳ ምሕሳብ ንሃገካን ህዝብኻን እዩ ፣ ነቲ ኻልእ ዝገብሮ ሓገዝ እውን ግቡአይ እዩ ስለዚ ግቡእኻ ምግባር ክዝረበሉ የብሉን እሞ ክዝረበሉን ክዛረበሉን ፍቓደይ ኣይኮነን ብምባል ሓገዝ ምግባር ንውሽጣዊ ዕጋበት እምበር ንስም ከም ዘይጠቅም ኣዘኻኺሩ ፣
……………………………………………………ተፈጸመ

Under the ministry of information


http://www.shabait.com/staging/publish/article_007093.html



YPFDJ....



Hiwinnet will contunously update you on it and hope to hear from you soon.

Hello [secretary]

I spoke to you on the morning of 23rd of July 2007, over the phone.

After Introducing my self I started to talk about the letter I left for your department's attention [Any assistance either by donation or link with the body that deals with the issue].

I was born in an east African country called Eritrea. I have been in my adopted home UK for the last 17 years. But upon visiting my birth place, Asmara in 2001 and now in 2007 I have decided to assist the people by introducing health and safety at work and in the transport by wearing high visibility jackets.

Eritrea has one of the highest traffic accidents in the third world countries. This problem has been a cause of enormous economic and social costs. The Eritrean traffic police reports for 2001- 2004 alone show 8500 fatal accidents.

Since 2006 we have initiated the project and now we have 2055 jackets that were shipped last year being used by the police, street cleaners, check point staff, MOT checking departments etc.
On the second phase of this project hiwinnet has gone on the national TV in Eritrea to explain the whole concept and to thank all the bodies that assisted me.
On the third phase and so on is to get the Hi-visibility jackets made inside Eritrea with links with the suppliers of the reflective strips and the process of standard introduced.
But as a hiwinnet memeber was doing his driving job he noticed that all but a few first busses have a very smart sticker on their side mirrors that help other motorists especially other busses see the first bus and gauge the width of the bus, I must commend the engineers of first who came up with that idea. And has also inspired me to use the idea to help the many wheel chairs that we have in Eritrea, the accident prone vehicles [Lorries, busses in urban roads, police etc] as well as the sticks the blind use in Eritrea to have such prominent stickers for safety purposes.

Hence hiwinnet is asking for initially to get the idea home for first to donate a few rolls of stickers, followed by the link with the manufacturers to have greater cooperation to get the stickers used viably.

we volunteer for a charity (UK Charity No.800543) organisation called ERA [Eritrean relief Association, Robin House, 2A Iverson Road, London NW6 2HE Tel 02073287888] on my spare time and any donations can be made there in regards to Hi VIZ jackets, visible stickers or any assistance.

Thank you for time, and your future cooperation!



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Today is 2nd of september 2007
Recently on the 25 August 2007 mekonen [a freind] who just returned [arround the 8th of august 2007] from a short[2 days short of a month] holiday to Eritrea, told me that he read on teh Eritrean newspaper[haddas eritrea and may be also Eritrean prifile] an article about the Health and saftey jackets or so called Hi viz jackets and was not too happy to see the credits given to the AGE and Youth asosciation of Uk when in fact he knew that Jonathan was the main person that was involved in this project.........
a freind has been looking at the Eri newspapers for this report and was unable to find the article!!! see e-mail.....
And only on the 1st of september celebrations did freind did say to Hiwinnet that he has a wanderfull message about the project....a letter of some sort...but when pressd he said it was a newspaper article that he wanted to tell me about .the date of which he will tell when I came by or call him on monday.

http://www.shabait.com/upload/newspapers/Aug-07/haddas_ertra_17082007.pdf





As we Eritreans say Awet Nhafash !





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