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Ethiopia and Eritrea: A wedding, birth and baptism at the border
BBCApril 17, 2020, 4:49 PM PDT

A peace deal between neighbours Ethiopia and Eritrea ending two decades of tension has transformed the border areas, reports the BBC's Rob Wilson.

Sat in a ground-floor flat in the city of Adigrat, northern Ethiopia, Zefer Sultan is having her hair braided ready for the baptism of her first child.

Playing on the TV in the corner of the room is her wedding video from a year before, which is keeping them entertained.

"Our wedding was almost at the same time as when the border was opened. It was a double happiness," she explains.

Late 2018 was a time of jubilation for many living close to the Ethiopia-Eritrea border.

A new peace deal between the previously warring countries had been agreed, and movement across the border permitted for the first time in 20 years.

Families who had been separated for this time were reunited, and events such as Zefer's wedding brought friends and relatives together to celebrate once again.

"Now I hope our son's baptism will be even better. I hope lots of family from both Eritrea and Ethiopia will come," Zefer adds.


[[...Cross-border contraception

At Zalambessa Health Centre, the border opening saw a surge in people coming across from Eritrea to receive services.

While the numbers have fallen since the border checkpoints closed again, some still make the difficult journey on foot.

Everyone who comes to the clinic is treated equally.

"We have no reasons to treat Eritreans any differently than we do Ethiopians. We provide medical care to anyone first and foremost because they are humans," says acting director Dr Samrawit Berhane.

Patients tell the staff that in many cases it is closer than the nearest clinic in Eritrea, and some say they receive better treatment too.

Samrawit explains that they have also noticed a number of women coming specifically for family planning services and contraceptives.

They say that in Eritrea, their husbands must grant permission for such services, and collections of contraceptives must be made together.

"Many women tell us they prefer to come here so that they can avoid these restrictions," says Samrawit.

'We are brothers and inseparable'
As you drive north towards Zalambessa, the vast and rocky landscape is awe-inspiring. But just as striking is the amount of construction work under way.

Peppered all along the road are half-built houses and blocks of flats, huge piles of gravel and sand, wooden scaffolding reaching up to the sky.

When the border opened in 2018, entrepreneurs came from all over the country to invest along the road.

Among them was Fisehaye Hailu, a self-assured and straight-talking Eritrean man who left his country after being detained as a political prisoner for 13 years. He has the look of a man who knows a hard day's work.

"It felt like things had brightened up overnight and I didn't waste any time before buying a plot of land," he says.

Fisehaye knows Zalambessa well, having been born just across the border.

Now his business venture is a three-storey hotel in the town.

"After it is finished, the name of my hotel will be an expression of my desire for the two people to be together. So I plan to name it The Two Brothers' Hotel," he explains.

"It's to say we are brothers and we are inseparable..............]]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/ethiopia-eri ... 41033.html