The Ethiopian-Eritrean Student Association brings cultural connection and appreciation to Ethiopian students at school, bridging the gap between students and their shared culture. Ethiopian-Eritrean Student Association, known as EESA, is a student union based on the shared cultures of Ethiopian and Eritrean students at school.
Founded last year, EESA was created to make a stronger Ethiopian and Eritrean population at school, EESA Treasurer and senior Chris Girma said, “We saw there were alot of Ethiopian students at our school, we wanted to create a community and we thought ‘Oh, this has never been done before’ so we decided to create EESA.”
EESA’s purpose is to connect the Ethiopian and Eritrean student populations within the school to create a sense of community, bridging the gap and promoting the cultures of Ethiopia and Eritrea, and according to the school’s club list “to educate those who are interested in our club while bringing together Ethiopians across the school and expanding positivity amongst Ethiopian culture as a whole.”
EESA was additionally created for “A sense of unity, especially since Eritrea and Ethiopia were not on good terms, and just a group, as when Ethiopians and Eritreans come together they become excited.” Girma said.
EESA provides opportunities for Ethiopian and Eritrean students to learn more about their cultures with lessons surrounding Ethiopia and Eritrea cultures. EESA President and senior Napthali Soloman said, “Some of the topics we will discuss will be food, cultural history, and geographical history.”
According to the school’s club list, EESA meets every first and third Thursday of the month in room 247 and is sponsored by English teacher Madeline Osgood. Co-president and fellow senior Matthew Haile said, “In our meetings we’re going to have lessons. We’ll bring in some Ethiopian food and music, have some Ethiopian trivia, and play Ethiopian games.”
To join EESA, Girma said, “New members can come talk to the founders or look up the EESA club on Instagram, we have a form that members can complete to join. EESA’s goals for this school year is to expand its community outreach within the school, recruit new members, and plan new fundraisers and events.
EESA isn’t the first time Ethiopian Culture has been showcased at school. Ethiopian culture has been featured at International Night since its inception in 2022.
The Ethiopian-Eritrean Student Association is unofficially an expansion of EESA at other schools. EESA is present at universities such as Towson, Maryland, Harvard, and New York University. Girma said, “We don’t have any direct contact with those chapter clubs, but we took inspiration from them.”
At the conclusion of this school year, EESA will be accepting applications for leadership positions, as the current leadership team consists of primarily seniors. If you are interested in leadership opportunities in EESA, contact EESA on Instagram @whseesa.
