Yale Class of 1962 « Eritrea, Through the Lens of Cindy Hummel

Eritrea, Through the Lens of Cindy Hummel

Editor’s Note by Dick Riseling, Communications Team member

From David and Cindy Hummel comes an inspiring report of their goal of visiting every United Nations-recognized nation on this beautiful but deeply divided and ecologically-challenged planet Earth. They are both great storytellers; Dave in his always-modest comments tells much more than others and Cindy brings us together by sharing the magic and artistry of her photography.

Speaking of numbers, these intrepid travelers have now been to 178 (or 96%) of all countries and have plans for 2019-2021 to visit another 11 or more. They include for 2019: Uganda, Barundi, Rwanda, Lebanon, Bahrain and probably Antarctica; and for 2020: Afghanistan, Pakistan and Liberia. In 2021, they plan to visit Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of the Conga; and Nigeria. That will leave 7 more to visit. No problem. Visiting the entire world will have been completed in this ambitious, transformative adventure.

Here’s some of Cindy’s photography which features other fellow world citizens, environments, animals and depictions of other ways of life, whose beauty and practicality may inspire us all to live in greater solidarity and harmony. There are hundreds of additional photographs in the Hummel collection. Maybe some of our classmates have a special affinity for some of the countries they have visited and will send us their own impressions of people and places.

On January 25, we flew from Equatorial Guinea to Ethiopia, and spent the night in Addis Ababa. The next day, January 26, we flew north to Asmara, the capital city of Eritrea.
Throughout this trip I saw lots of blue paint on buildings. Apparently this is a favorite color for people in the Muslim world. I liked how these men were sitting in the shade together.
People build their homes from available materials. This was the typical style. It looks like this one was more stable than most, since you can see the concrete entrance way.
A close-up of one of the camels
A young herder
This man was moving his cows out of the market area. In the background you can see the town. It was a VERY dry desert landscape.
We left the camel market area and drove the short distance into town. Here I was able to snap some photos of the women as we drove by in the bus.
Even the items for sale were made in that favorite blue color. The boxes with the holes were “stoves” for the home, into which they put whatever fuel was available: wood, sticks, animal droppings, etc.
Our destination in the morning south of Massawa was a market. When you see how totally DRY this area is, it makes you wonder where they can grow fruits and vegetables.
Girls and women were often very shy, so I was pleased when this pretty young girl smiled for me.
People often wait hours for a bus. We saw these yellow containers everywhere. It’s hard to know what is in these; perhaps cooking oil.
A stylishly dressed young woman
A horse likely delivering water in a village we drove through on the way to Keren.
An example in Massawa of what had been a beautiful Italian-style building that was destroyed circa 1990 during the Eritrean War of Independence.
Typical landscapes through the mountains as we drove from sea level to about 5,000’/8000m
A view of Keren as we walked through the streets of downtown.
Cute little boys who were watching two men working to hammer out a metal axe head.
This gives you an idea of how the switchbacks looked, although this wasn’t our route. I went online to find out how far it was from Keren to Massawa: 199 km (123 mi). We drove from an elevation of over 5000’/ 8000m in Keren to sea level in Massawa. The drive took basically the entire day, and we had several stops along the way.
A pretty young woman who fixed coffee for us in the outside patio of a restaurant.
An Eritrean cave with a profusion of stalactites and stalagmites
The king of the area, over 80 years old, with over 100 wives and 600 children!

More content! Steve and Hala Buck’s experience in Eritrea. READ ON

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