------------------------------------------------------------------ The 17th Independence Day celebrated in Oakland CaliforniaBy Esayas TemesgenMay 29, 2008, 14:55Saturday the 24th Eritreans form Oakland and the surrounding Bay area celebrated the seventeen anniversary of the Eritrean Independence. Mr. Medhane Ogbe - chairman of the organizing committee officially opened the night for the occasion. Following his speech Mr. Brehane read a message from Eritrea. The night was of course littered with plenty of cultural dance [guailla]. People use this occasion to meet friends they haven't seen for long time and chat about home land Eritrea. It is also used as a platform to give unwavering support to the people and Government of Eritrea. Most importantly to send a stern message to the enemies of Eritrea particularly to expansionist Ethiopia; that, they will defend Eritrea to eternity.What was complementary to the occasion was the inaugural ceremony of Eritrean youth, Graduates of 2008; that was coordinated by Mr. Alazar. The youth - despite most were born in the Diaspora have shown tremendous interest in their roots. It is to be noted that Eritreans in San Jose and Santa Rosa had theirs in the same week. Independence Day is more significant holiday to every Eritrean house hold where ever they reside. Almost every Eritrean has a story to tell about the contribution of his or others he knew. As a result Eritreans never forget their Solo and bitter struggle for sovereignty. They flocked from inside and outside to liberate Eritrea, and they won big - against all odds. This willpower is what keeps them sailing Solo in their present challenge that has resurfaced again from expansionist Ethiopia. Eritrea's struggle for independence and its survival as a State has evolved with time. Because of this distinct nature of its Statehood it has maintained its position as a fire wall at the gate of Africa at the horn. Awet Nʼ hafash ---------------------------------ERITREAN INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATION IN LOS ANGELESOver 400 Eritrean Americans and friends gathered at the Hollywood Park Casino inInglewood, near Los Angeles, California, USA, on Saturday, May 24, 2008 to celebratethe 17th anniversary of Eritrean Independence Day. The program began with anobservance of a minute of silence to honor Eritrean martyrs followed by the singing ofnational anthems of USA and Eritrea. The crowd then viewed a video tape containingEritrean President Isaias Afwerki’s speech which he delivered earlier in the day inAsmara, the capital of Eritrea, on the occasion of the national holiday.Following the reading of poems by two participants, the chairperson and treasurer of theMekete committee of Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside Counties gave their reports onwhat has been achieved to date and remains to be done and urged those who have notmade contributions to so as soon as possible. Three members of the youth outreach subcommitteeaccompanied by a representative of the San Bernardino County youth groupalso presented their reports on their activities and urged the youth in particular and theirparents in general to get involved. The crowd then listened to a touching poem, writtenand read by a 17 year old Eritrean American youth Yowhan Sahle from Orange County.There were several vendors selling various CDs, audio and video tapes and books.Among those was Eritrean American author, Alexa (Almaz) Hale, who has writtenseveral children’s books and has pledged to donate a portion of the proceeds for thebenefit of Eritrean martyrs’ children. Singers/musicians Michael Goitom and BiniamTensio accompanied by musicians Almaz, Yosef and Abreheley entertained theenthusiastic crowd until the closing time. Aida, a former EriTV staff member andprofessional video producer, assisted by her husband, Girmai, and Semhar Ghirmai, aprofessional photographer, were busy recording and/or taking pictures of the event andthe festive mood of the people therein. A beautiful decoration was done for theauditorium by three youth from Los Angeles Liya Habte, Lula Fikadu, and Bana Girmaiand as usual a very delicious & well decorated cake was prepared for the event by Mrs. Wuba Tedla.