Rachel Mersha

Father's name: Adhanani Yeheyas

Mother's name: Ester Esresay

Year of birth: 1961

Place of birth: Asagada, Tigray

Region in Ethiopia: Tigray

Main occupation in Ethiopia: Housewife

The language of the interview: Tigrinya

Rachel Mersha, housewife, childhood songs, games, housework, festivals and special occasions, customs and tradition, fruits and crop, food, recipes, education, social life, agriculture, harvest, mutual assistance, community, song and dance, construction, Kesim, children, fruit picking, shepherding and cattle herding, Asagida, Tigray, poetry.

Summary of the testimony:

Rachel begins with a song that she would sing with her friends as a child.

As a child, she helped with housework tasks, including grinding grain, woodchopping, preparing food, bringing water from rivers, and looking after her younger siblings. She was sometimes sent to go shopping at the market in the city of Shire. Rachel describes the fruit that grew around her house, how they picked them and what they tasted like.

In her free time, she would play various games with her friends, and she explains their rules. Before Passover, she and her friends would get together and go from house to house, singing and dancing, to collect donations of money or food and make a big party. Rachel also describes work routines, social life, educational methods, and her desires as a young child.

During harvest season, the families and neighbors would perform the “wapera” custom. Everyone would gather together for a period of communal harvesting in which they would help a certain family with their harvest until it was completed; then they would move on to the next family. Rachel talks about how they would host many people during the harvest, how they would find them places to sleep, and how they would slaughter and prepare food and traditional drinks for them. Similarly, Rachel relates that her father invited many people to help him build a large barn. She and her family members hosted them during the period of construction. When the “wapera” or the communal work ended, a large party was held with singing and dancing. The songs and melodies were made up on the spot to praise the host, and they would describe how the work was done.

Many Kesim lived in Asagada. During the various festivals and on special occasions, people came from throughout the region to pray with the Kesim in the synagogue. Rachel talks about the many ways she and her family would prepare for the festivals, the unique foods they would prepare, and the special atmosphere in the village.