As it is recalled on August 13^th PFDJ in the San Francisco Bay Area held their annual Festival in Oakland California.  Later that evening Ambassador Mohammed Sulieman to Belgium and Sofia Tesfamariam hosted a meeting for the YPFDJ.  Four Eritrean youth; Smret, Merih, Magda, and Rufael decided to attend the meeting.  Two of them grew up in Eritrea and came to USA few years ago and two of them grew up in Germany and resided in the USA since the early 1990’s.

Our correspondent in North America had the opportunity to interview two of the youth, Merih and Smret, about their experience in the meeting.

Q - Tell us about yourself and your background?

Merih: I was born and raised in Eritrea. I left my country so that I could create a better life for my family and myself. I came to the realization from my experiences in my home country that I could no longer live amongst the persuasive greed and cruelty of the government.

Smret: My name is Smret Yohannes.  I reside in Oakland, California.  My family migrated from Eritrea to Sudan when I was an infant.  As years have passed my parents decided to move to Germany.  A few years later, my family and I moved to the U.S. to begin a new chapter of our lives.

Socially I have felt fortunate to be a citizen of a melting pot society that America, and especially California represents.  Educationally I am still learning to enhance my knowledge in many different ways.  My passion is film.  I hold a B.F.A in Motion Picture and Television from the Academy of Art University.

Q - Are you affiliated with any political or civic organization?  If yes, who?

Merih: No!

Smret: At this moment no I am not involved with political or civic organization but I am interested in Eritrean affairs.

Q - What was your objective when you went to PFDJ meeting?

Merih: More specifically I wanted to know if the meeting there would be any suggestions or ideas that would be helpful or that would help improve Eritrea.

Smret: I was interested in hearing the speech from Sofia Tesfamariam.

Q - What was the main agenda of the meeting?

Merih: There was a lot of discussion on the recent discovery of gold reserves. The speakers focal point was on how, government officials of Ethiopia were jealous about the recent discovery. I genuinely thought the discussion was politically immature.

Q - What happened in the meeting?

Merih: I asked the spokesperson, Ambassador Sulieman, a simple question about the injustice that has been done to our people and I was shocked that it sparked the meeting into chaos.

Q - You were attacked by the PFDJ members, did you receive any injuries?

Merih: I sustained bruises and scratches, but nothing beyond that.

Smret: Yes, I was injured.  Headache for a few days, minor bump on my forehead, minor scratch on my cheek, and my entire body was sore.

Q - What did you learn from PFDJ's meeting?

Merih: It solidified my view that PFDJ’s  is a vicious circle.

Smret: If people speak in defense of their beliefs it is unacceptable to the PFDJ.  Their solution is to attack whether you are in Eritrea or in the U.S.  I can only hope they’ll come to their senses.

Q - The meeting was described by a pen name as a "youth seminar for identity and pluralism" meeting.  Do you agree with that assessment?

Merih: I do not.

Smret: Emphatically no!

Q - What kind of message do you have for Eritrean youth?

Merih: That allowing any of us to be terrified of the government regime and to not speak out for justice only serves as support for the regime.  I would implore any patriotic citizen to not forget how and why we left our country in the first place.

Smret: Find the inspiration about Eritrea/Eritreans.  Learn to understand and speak to be understood.  Let’s start our journey with faith, hope, and love.   Love is the most valuable of them all and from there we can enhance educationally, culturally, politically, religiously, and traditionally.