What was the promise of education that drew thousands of rural Eritreans to literacy classes in the midst of drought, famine, and war? This new book examines the remarkable testimony of Eritrea's fighter-teachers, the teenagers who spent years behind enemy lines teaching peasants and nomads to read and write during Eritrea's independence struggle. Using philosophical hermeneutics-- the study of human understanding-- as an analytical framework, Dr. Gottesman shows how the teachers became students of their students, learning the language and customs of rural people to create a "fusion of horizons."

In this educational process, traditional Eritrean values and the progressive vision of the revolutionary movement found a locus for dialogue, exchange, and for change itself. The acceptance of education in to rural life, under tense and dangerous condition, provided a process for social change to be considered and adopted, transforming, in some cases, health and sanitation practices, introducing democratic local government, advancing the status of women in many aspects of life, and improving agriculture. These were formative experiences of the educators who are responsible today for the national education system of independent Eritrea.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
LEE GOTTESMAN is an associate professor of English and Communications at Golden Gate University, San Francisco. He has published articles on education in Eritrea and on philosophical hermeneutics and its application to university teaching in the United States.

CATEGORY
Politics, Education/AFRICA