Welcome Mrs. Natalie Brown to Eritrea

By Haile Bokure

Welcome Mrs. Natalie Brown to Eritrea 
Names from many lands intrigue me! Often times, at first encounter, I ask 
the name of the person. It happened one day, at Wells Fargo, I met a 
certain African-American bank teller by the name “Allora.” I asked her why she 
is called by that name. She said, “ My Mom gave me that name?” In this 
response, I asked her if she knew the origin of her name, and the meaning 


associated with it. She retorted in a cozy smile, “I don’t know.” With 
out-strerched hand, I said to her, “It is an Italian word which means so then….?” 
she smiled again squarely and shyly. What unexpected rendezvous at a time 
when some impatient people were waiting behind me in the line. I was drawn 
in a fathomless sea of wonder. With courtesy, that is the nature of some 
imaginative writers: so reactive, so inquisitive, so analyzing, and so 
restless. 
In this connection, in our society, we value also the names as the saying 
goes in Tigrigna: “ ጥዋፍ የብርህ፡ ስም ይመርሕ” meaning a candle emits 
light; and the person with an exemplary name leads right. 
If that is so, “hallelujah” in case in American culture the name “Natalie” 
 signifying a person born in Christmas is interpreted as the following:- 
“People with the name “Natalie” have a deep inner need for quiet, and a 
desire to understand and analyze the world they live in, and to learn the 
deeper truths. People with this name are competent, practical, and often 
obtain great power and wealth. They tend to be successful in business and 
commercial affairs, and are able to achieve great material dreams. Because they 
often focus so strongly on business and achievement, they may neglect their 
private lives and relationships.” 
Dear friends, do I sound sentimental or superstitious? I prefer to be 
optimistic. Otherwise, only time, the great judge (Dan or ዳኛ) will tell. 
Obviously, a person with such character in one way or another may be 
needed in improving Eritrean-American relationship as long as the U.S. policies 
and directives are concerned. We must understand her limitation. For 
American bureaucracy cannot be seen apart from Corporate America with its web of 
laws, unspoken rules, procedures, and not to mention the instability of 
ever-changing America demanding the flexibility and ability to predict the 
unpredictable or to see the unseen. Of course, this may not be compatible in 
the light of the fabric of our society which is too static. 
In the meantime, Mrs. Brown I would like you to feel at home while you are 
in Eritrea. The people are hospitable, and some of those who are in the 
higher echelon of civil service are cosmopolitans by virtue of their long 
residency in foreign countries. What is more….Eritrea is full of those earlier 
generations whom the Americans left their mark during their long stay at 
Kangew base. They are nostalgic of the old-good- days, and for this, they 
will welcome you warmly. 
In the meantime, off to a good start! 
Peace! Selam! Shalom! Pace! 
Haile Bokure