As YPFDJ members and future leaders of our community (local and beyond), it was important for us to say thank you for the support that we have received as well to communicate what we have been up to. To that end, YPFDJ-Denver held its annual community-wide appreciation dinner on December 13, 2009. Eritreans from the local community attended and enjoyed an evening filled with food, laughs, and entertainment provided by YPFDJ members. The primary purpose of the event was to say thank you to the local community for the continuous support that YPFDJ has had over the last year but our secondary purpose was to communicate our accomplishments, new and upcoming programs/projects and some of the key issues that our organization identified as causes of recent community conflict. Overall, the event was a success and one that further demonstrated YPFDJ’s strong presence in Colorado.

We began the evening with our members mingling and chatting with our guests. In an effort to not only say thank you but to also demonstrate what the community’s support has helped produce, we began the program with a slideshow that highlighted YPFDJs successes, growth, how we provide service and our operations. As guests finished up their delicious dinner that members and mothers helped to prepare, we engaged three members of the audience in Eritrean Jeopardy. Everyone enjoyed the trivia about Eritrean history, culture, etc. It was entertaining as well as an opportunity to showcase some of the information that we have been studying through our political education program. We also were able to show off the growth in our membership as well as inform the local community about the new leadership team for 2010-2012.

For the second part of the evening, YPFDJ-Denver wanted to convey our observations of key issues that are weakening the community and moving us away from the just and timeless principles and values of our movement. Through skits, pictures, poems and presentations, YPFDJ pointed out the following:

That there is no difference between the principles, values, and goals of the people who make up the community and the principles, values, and goals of PFDJ/YPFDJ, therefore the two should actually be one on the local level
That we should not allow the ideas and agendas of a few, to deter the masses from their goals, principles and vision
That youth are reflections of their families and that families should model the behavior that they want their youth to have
That gossiping, big egos, lack of political consciousness and the lack of a clear vision, direction, organization and principles are all hindering the community from reaching its full potential
That a community has the ability to positively change when women and youth are actively involved
That it is important that we all move together as a collective
The decline of national identity and the rise of ethnic, religious and regional divisions means that we are actually moving backwards instead of forward
That we are safe to organize as strong Eritreans who care deeply and support our country, without fear of deportation or other repercussions
Being Eritrean means that you are inherently political and that there is no such thing as being neutral
YPFDJ was proud to bring up the issues that so many in our local community only discuss behind closed doors. We wanted to demonstrate that as youth we are well aware of the issues in our community, that we are not afraid to discuss them head on and that we have some pretty strong opinions about what’s just and what’s currently happening in our community.

Overall, our appreciation dinner was a great success. Once again we thank all those who have supported us. We are looking forward to another year filled with success which includes launching HIDRI in January 2010, membership growth and strong youth leading the local community as we continue our struggle for a just, peaceful and prosperous society!

Awet N’Hafash

YPFDJ-Denver

ypfdjdenver@gmail.com