“Africa is not what they show us on their TV, if you want to know about Africa, come and visit Eritrea” Tiken Jah Fakoly
By EritreaCompass,
The past weekend has just gone away never to return, Asmara’s population just as the rest of the world has just begun their week starting Monday. After a busy day of work at 06:30pm a campaign to stop Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) kicked off at the stylish yet classic Cinema Roma with the worlds famous Reggae Super Star Tiken Jah Fakoly and his full band.
Organising the event, Peoples Front for Democracy & Justice (PFDJ) Cultural Affairs , National Union of Eritrean Youth & Students (NUEYS) , in collaboration with Alliance Francaise d’Asmara have one particular aim in common: NO TO FGM!
The Eritrean government along with its other health endeavors has been long been recognised for its pioneering efforts in tackling health issue even in the most remote, arid and undeveloped parts of the Eritrea with the population relishing free healthcare for every Eritrean be it a child, an adult or an elderly.
Now more than ever, in an effort to stamp out female genital mutilation from Eritrea, the government of Eritrea has long ago introduced a law banning FGM as well as introducing education and awareness programs in every major city and even the most remotest parts of Eritrea.
The Eritrean government with its proven track record in all its health, and social service successes shall with no doubt tackle FGM. In this great endeavor we would like to congratulate those nations that have made a great success in the health sector in general, as well as in stamping out FGM in particular, at the same time we would also endeavor to learn from those that have made a great success, and extend our experience to other developing nations with health challenges.
‘No to FGM’ being the central theme of the event, a Reggae musical flavor for the intended audience has been hard hitting in getting the message out to the audience.
A song specifically written, and dedicated to this cause has been played by the king of Reggae at the event. This in turn is expected to play a huge role in changing behaviors and attitudes thereby creating awareness stepwise in the society in to the effects of Female Genital Mutilation.
The audience both that have been at Cinema Roma and those that entered for the first time had something in common, the surprise of the décor and the excitement of the Reggae night with the worlds famous Super Star!
There was the Drum, the Guitar, the Bass, the Sax, the Trumpet, the Kora, the Keyboards, the Vocalists, and finally the A Star Reggae artist Tiken Jah Fakoly, yet it’s the cumulative musical talents that came out the speakers that blowed away the audience sending them on cloud nine.
Eritrea is in the process of real transformation to real democracy, freedom, and most of all Social Justice. This feeling and state of mind was reverberated by the Reggae Artist Tiken Jah Fakoly, and the crowd responded with absolute resonance exceeding any percentile. Without any exaggeration, and with proven track record of responding to its peoples needs, Eritrea is indeed the Land of Freedom, and should be crowned the Renaissance of Africa along side those nations that respond to their peoples needs.
Amongst the many quotes of Tiken that sent the crowd wild are as follows:
“Africa is not what they show us on their TV, if you want to know about Eritrea come and visit Eritrea “ Tiken Jah Fakoly
“I will dedicate this song to the fighters who make Eritrea free, because they were martyred for us for Africa” Tiken Jah Fakoly
“Africa is not free, now we need the real independence, Economical Independence and Political Independence” Tiken Jah Fakoly
The biggest musical hit was the song dedicated for Africa “ Africa, Africa, Africa, Africa wants to be free” even Tiken gave the audience a chance to chant, this is when the feelings of freedom for Africa really hit the roof spilling over to the streets of Asmara, or perhaps we hope the cities, villages, and the streets of Africa! What we really mean is if you are mentally connected with the idea, and the state of mind, we would like to very much hear it from you and retweet, Facebook it, shout it, do what you feel like doing to make our Africa free!
The campaign continues on the 07th of Feb 2012 at Asmara’s Bahti Meskerem an free open-air concert for everyone!
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