To My Son- By Eskinder Nega

I was awed once again by the modest, humble and thought provoking letter of Eskinder Nega, an award winning Ethiopian journalists who has been separated from his wife and son and being incarcerated at the notorious Kality prison for doing the job he loves most. What is even more surprising about Eskinder's letter is that his endurance and composure to write such master piece from the worst unlikely places in the world where chaos, trauma, demeaning and degrading treatment of the inmates are a norm. Here is what he penned in his own word. 

A Hero in Son's Eye   

The mistakes of my life. Ah! I could go on and on and on about them. (Warning, I am aiming for your sympathy.) There are the missed opportunities. (God is generous, I squandered them all, literally.) There are the wrong choices (Hey there is at least the adrenaline rush that comes with every wrong move.) There is the conceited self-absorption (Obviously more and more as I rush through middle age.) There is the lack of direction (Bitter to admit, but true.) There is the incapacitating self-doubt. (Question: are you teary-eyed or disgusted?)

But here is what my strategy is not:

"Eskinder Nega is a journalist, not a terrorist" : Wife

Serkalem Fasil, Eskinder Nega's wife uploaded the following YouTube video message as part of Amnesty International's campaign for the release of her husband and other Ethiopian prisoners of conscience in Ethiopia's notorious prisons across the country. Nega was jailed two years ago and now serving 18 years of jail term with trumped-up terrorism charges at the infamous Kality prison, in the outskirts the capital Addis Abeba. Fasil and their son Nafkot (who was born in prison, while both of his parents were jailed following the 2005's rigged election), have fled Ethiopia and are now living in the United Sates of America. They were not even allowed to have a proper farewell with Eskinder Nega. Can you imagine saying goodbye for good to your loved one by just locking your fingers and with a few words? No hugging, no kissing, not even shaking hands. That is how Sirkalem and their Son Nafkot departed from Eskinder Nega; we take so many things in life for granted.

Serkalem Fasil's heart-breaking letter to her jailed husband Journalist Eskinder Nega

Prologue

Dear readers, especially those fans of Eskinder Nega and other thousands of Ethiopian prisoners of conscience. I listened on Friday morning, this heart wrenching, powerful, inspiring and genuine letter written and read by Nega's wife from exile in the USA. I was weeping like a baby while I was typing/transcribing her original letter written in Amharic ( Ethiopia's official language) by this courageous woman to her jailed husband who is serving 18 years of jail term at the notorious Kality prison, at the outskirts the capital Addis Abeba. Can you imagine saying goodbye for good to your loved one by just locking your fingers and with a few words? No hugging, no kissing, not even shaking hands. That is how Sirkalem and their Son Nafkot departed from Eskinder Nega; we take so many things in life for granted. Against this background, another Ethiopian journalist who had claimed 2 years ago being targeted by government authorities, returned back home saying 'he realized that he made a bad decision two years ago'. Ethiopia, is just a land of paradox; a mother for one and step-mother for the other.

ልብን የሚሰብረው የሰርካለም ፋሲል ደብዳቤ ቃሊቲ እስር ቤት ለሚገኘው ለባለቤቷ ጋዜጠኛ እስክንድር ነጋ

እንደመግቢያ

ዛሬ ጠዋት ነበር ይሄን አንጀት የሚያላውስ በሰርካለም ፋሲል የተጻፈውን ራሷ በድምጿ ያነበበችውን ደብዳብዳቤ ያዳመጥኩት። ኧቤት ግፍ፡ኧቤት መከራ? የእነዚህ ሁለት ኢትዮጵያውያን ወገኖች እና እስርቤት የተወለደው ልጃቸው ናፍቆት ወንጀል ምን ይሆን? የሰርካለምን ትረካ እያዳመጥኩ እምባዬ መቆጣጠር አልቻልኩም። እንደ ሰው በወጉ ተሳስመው፡ ተቃቅፈው፡ ተላቅሰው አይደለም የተለያዩት፡፡ በአጥር ሽቦ ተለያይተው፡ማዶ እና ማዶ እየተያዩ፡ ጣታቸውን አነካክተው ናፍቆታቸውን እና ስንብታቸውን በስርዓት ሳይወጡ በደቂቃዎች በሚለካ ንግግር ነበር። ከሁሉም የሚደንቀው እና ብርታት የሚሰጠው ግን የሰርካለም መንፈሰ ጠንካራነት እና በዚህ አስቸጋሪ እና ፈታኝ ሁኔታ ላይ ሆና ነገን በተስፋ ሰንቃ ባለቤቷን እና አብረውት ባልሰሩት ወንጀል በእስር የሚሰቃዩትን የሙያ አጋሮቹንና ሌሎች በሺህ የሚቆጠሩ ንጹሃን ኢትዮጵያውያን የህሊና እሰረኞች ተስፋ እንዳይቆርጡ የሚገልጸው ጠንካራ ያለው መልዕክት መላኳ ነው። ኢትዮጵያ ሃገሬ ሞኝ ነሽ ተላላ የገደለሽ በልቶ የሞተልሽ ተላ።

አዎ የገደለሽ በላ፡ ይቺ ዓለም ዝብርቅርቅ በተለይማ የእኛዋ ኢትዮጵያ  ከሁለት ዓመት በፊት ህይወቴ አደጋ ላይ ነው፡ልታሰር ነው፡ልፈለጥ ነው ብሎ ከአገር ኮብልሎ