A Letter From Eritrea

A De La Salle brother looks back, and forward, to a mission of service

by Brother Esayas Tzegay, F.S.C.

Editors’ note: In 1997, upon the request of the government of Eritrea, the Brothers of the Christian Schools took on the project of opening an agricultural school in the central part of the country. Last August, after 25 years, the government claimed the school from the brothers. In his Letter From Eritrea, Brother Esayas Tzegay recalls the school’s founding, shares its significant accomplishments and looks to the future with hope and trust.

Hagaz Agro Technical School is about 75 miles north of Asmara, the capital of Eritrea, a country in the Horn of Africa that claimed independence in 1991, formalizing it through a public referendum two years later.

Agriculture is significant to the economy of the country. In the 1990s, there was a need to teach agricultural techniques. The government approached the Catholic Church, asking if it could open an agricultural school in Hagaz, a city in the center of the country, situated in the Anseba Region.

Church leaders put the request to the Brothers of the Christian Schools, commonly known as the De La Salle Brothers, who started the project in 1997 and received its first group of students in 1999.

The boarding school is located on almost 100 acres of land donated by the government. The land was arid and the sun was harsh. The

Students pose for a photo on farmland belonging to Hagaz Agro Technical School in Hagaz, Eritrea.