Tedros Afeworki is using his program, The Eritrea Show, to make connections with other immigrants in the area. He is sharing tapes with access producers in other centers, making programs about his African homeland, and is now requesting tapes from the national TV station in Eritrea. |
Somerville Channel-3
Saturdays 9 to 10 pm
Cambridge Channel-22
Fridays 6 to 7 pm
Boston Channel-23
Mondays 4 to 5 pm
Malden Channel-3
Sundays 2 to 3 pm
Questions and comments
Call @ (617)404-0839
Tedros Afeworki
Member Profile Tedros Afeworki
When I began working at SCAT in October of last year, I was just settling in from New Hampshire and discovering the multitude of languages spoken in Somerville when I met Tedros Afeworki. Tedros is from the East African nation Eritrea, which borders the southwestern edge of the Red Sea. Readers might be more familiar with the location of Eritrea's bordering nation to the south, Ethiopia. This spring, that shared border became the scene of bloody conflict, as Ethiopia made a bid to retake territory, threatening the very existence of Eritrea as a nation.
In 1993, a 32-year-year-long armed resistance arrived at a victorious close with 99.8% of Eritrean voters choosing independence from Ethiopia. A year later, Tedros immigrated to Somerville. While attending Somerville High School, he participated in an after-school video program taught by former staff member and Mirror Project Director, Roberto Arevalo. Here Tedros developed his technical knowledge of video equipment as well as the aspirations to put them to use, and began to formulate an idea for a show that would be about his country and its victory of freedom. In 1998, fresh from graduation and eager to produce videos about Eritrea, Tedros became a member of SCAT. Since that time he has unceasingly devoted energy to production of his weekly series entitled "Eritrean TV," which currently airs on Saturdays at 9pm. Tedros also volunteers on many other SCAT prouctions and is always willing to lend a hand to other members.
"Eritrean TV" combines lively segments of Eritrean music videos, theatre performances about the fight for independence and freedom, vibrant traditional song and dance clips, and current news updates and analyses from Eritrea. Often Tedros will transform the studio at SCAT to a makeshift Eritrean news station whiel videotaping reports from members of the Eritrean Community Center, also located in Somerville. Occasionally, the production of Eritrean TV involves Tedros traveling with a camera to other cities, such as Washington DC to interview the President of Eritrea during a recent trip to the United States.
Eritrean TV's viewing audience and popularity are growing, as Tedros continues to produce new episodes and bicylcles dubs to other public access stations in the Boston area. Tedos' goal is reach a general audience beyond the Eritrean community and educate them about the culture, customs, and language of Eritrea as a nation still fighting for its freedom. |
