3rd Anniversary of Awlaelo Schools Alumni Association

 

The 3rd anniversary of Awlaelo Schools Alumni Association was held on July 16, 2006 in Denver, CO. It was nice to see so many new faces from all over the country. The happiness was double this year not only because many members came with their children and spouses but also most of them arrived in Denver two days earlier. Generally speaking, this year's reunion was unique in many ways. To mention few:

 

1. The celebration was held on Sunday night instead of the usual Saturday night. The reason for the change was because of the Alumni Association's interest to celebrate its day with all its Tigrian/Ethiopian brothers and sisters living in the area. Since most of them in the area are business owners and Saturday night is their busiest night of the week, Awlaelo Schools Alumni Association chose to celebrate its reunion on Sunday night that was the day off for the business owners community in Denver and surrounding cities.

 

2. Every Year, we used to sell T-shirts with Awlaelo School Alumni Association logo. This year, we sold T-shirts with a map of Tigrai that consists of different pictures of historical places in Tigrai. The words of "Mer'Aya Wegenawinet" and "Eid'N'Eid" were also printed on the T-shirts. By now, I am sure some of you wonder what message we are trying to convey through these t-shirts. The answer is simple. We are only trying to show our commitment and to pass the message most people asked us. Last year, Awlaelo Schools Alumni Association called for all Alumni Associations to get together once in 3 or 5 years. The reason for the call was to exchange ideas, to have fun together, and to see if we can manage to fund a mutual project in tigrai by all getting together once in 3 or 5 years. After the call, many people contacted us through e-mails, phone calls, letters, and even in person to support our idea and to encourage us to push more on the subject. Therefore, we created these t-shirts as reminders of our last years call for all Alumni Associations of Tigrai to get together once in 3 or 5 years, and also to show that we are for awlaelo but also tigrai in our mind.

 

3. As most of you may know, Awlaelo Schools Alumni Association is building a Library in Wukro High School.The members were debating on its name for a long time and it was finally decided during our annul meeting on July 16, 2006. It is clear to every body that Kiros Alemayoh was the icon, soul, and father of tigrnya music. Kiros was a teacher, a singer, an artist, and a fighter through his music. He was sensational, loved his people and was loved by his people. Kiros was one of the very famous people not only in his birth place Kilte-Awlaelo/Tigrai but also in all over Ethiopia. With that in mind,  Awlaelo Schools Alumni Association decided to name its library after him and the library will be known as "Kiros Alemayoh Memorial Library".

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, the 3rd anniversary celebration of Awlaelo Schools Alumni Association in Denver was very amazing. The event hall was very crowded. If it was not for the co-operation of the owners of the hall, we were running out of sitting chairs and tables. We had to add many chairs and tables in the middle of the night. The people who attended the reunion night were more than the capacity of the big hall and surely more than what we have expected. The music was great. In addition to the sensational songs of Muruts, Yayne, and Tadesse, the cultural "Kebero" was also presented and played all night long. It was my first time to touch Kebero in over 10 years and I can tell you that it still feels good. We had a good time in Denver this year and we are looking forward to having a better/best time in Las Vegas next year. Mark your calender, it will be July 18, 2007 in Vegas.

 

Thank You

 

Atsbha Gebru,

Reporting for Awlaelo Schools Alumni Association