Eritrean Women at War for Freedom: A Commemoration of International Women’s Day 2024
For International Women’s Day 2024, our founder and director, Mebrak Ghebreweldi, had a wonderful idea: what if we compiled the photographs of female Eritrean warfighters, women who courageously fought for Eritrea’s independence between 1961 and 1991, and showed them to local community members at Lewes, East Sussex?
Carmen Slijpen, Creative Director at Lewes Depot, welcomed this idea with open arms and huge appreciation. On the 1st of March, at the exhibition’s opening event, she shared:
“As a programmer sometimes I’m struggling with content […] Mebrak [came up] with a careful, small question ‘How would I feel if she would bring me a load of photographs from Eritrea and about women guerrilla fighters?’ That was not very difficult for me to say yes to. That was just a fantastic offer”.
Over 40 photographs were displayed at Lewes Depot from the 1st to the 10th of March. On the first evening, Mebrak took attendees on a captivating journey, explaining the story behind each photograph and recounting her own experiences from when she joined the war at just 16 years old.
Mebrak started as a barefoot doctor, then became a morse code radio operator in a tank, and later assumed the role of a radio operator and communication officer at the military HQ. She humbly explained her role to us at the exhibition:
“They had an office at the hospital […] So, one of us had to message them to tell them, ‘about 20-30 war-injured freedom fighters are coming, so be ready.’ So it was [a] message coming from the frontline, [sent] to everybody necessary, and also getting information from them and sending it back to the frontline. That was my job.”
Mebrak wasn’t alone in recounting her journey; many of her comrades who have now become lifelong friends were also present, sharing their experiences with attendees.
On International Women’s Day, the very same studio welcomed four magnificent women who spoke about Global Peace and Sustainability: Nardos Michael, Sonja Baksi, Dr. Janet Baah, and Dr. Juliet Millican.
DRI’s mission is not only to support ethnically diverse communities living in Sussex but also to raise awareness of the hidden value within these communities.
Given the success of this year’s event, our team has committed to commemorate International Women’s Day by sharing experiences like these in the years to come, offering opportunities to celebrate the multicultural experiences of women from around the world.
With hopes that this event marks just the beginning of a larger series, we are immensely grateful to everyone who visited Lewes Depot and became part of this incredible experience.
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