Family
Nebiat’s family can now be found in the three countries of Eritrea, Ethiopia and Canada located on two very distinct continents- Africa and North America. Her Canadian family includes: Selam- Nebiat’s third youngest daughter and her three grandchildren Ephram, Danayit and Feven.
Nebiat’s loves her grandchildren
and talks with great pride about
how much they mean to her. Nebiat does worry that her three Canadian born grandchildren will not learn about the rich customs, traditions and language of Eritrea. The youngest two grandchildren have learned some words and phrases in Tigrinya but they are reluctant to speak it in the home or in public, preferring instead to speak English.
Nebiat enjoys taking her grandchildren to weddings and other traditional celebrations in the Eritrean community in both Victoria and Vancouver. This is her way to ensure her grandchildren can learn about and appreciate their Eritrean heritage. Nebiat is encouraged that her eldest granddaughter is able to understand and speak Tagrinya with her. But Nebiat jokes that her young grandson will often pray to God asking for him to help his “grandmother to learn to speak English”. Nebiat smiles when he says this to her and will tell him he also needs to learn to speak Tagrinya.
She knows that as her grandchildren grow older they will become more and more independent. They already spend more time with their friends and participate in after school activities such as soccer, band and dance. Nebiat knows that her role as a grandmother is changing. Over time she will be less needed by her grandchildren.
