GIS lecturer
I am in a GIS lab practice session at Asmara University right now; it’s 12:00am in Asmara, Eritrea. We are learning how to use ArcView GIS. Unsurprisingly, we all memorised all the 50 states of the US and learned nothing about Eritrea. This is mainly because Eritrea is not geo-located – it does not have a coordinate system set up, I believe. Our GIS teacher keeps telling us that we have to be mindful of the colonial forms of knowledge production and yet his class is deeply colonial. We would laugh at him every time he talks about knowledge production.
Our GIS teacher keeps telling us that we have to be mindful of the colonial forms of knowledge production and yet his class is deeply colonial. We would laugh at him every time he talks about knowledge production.
This year has been exceptionally busy with lots of exams and a dissertation to write. I am almost halfway through my dissertation. It is about population distribution in Anseba region and I use a concept called ‘urban primacy’ to understand population distribution patterns, such as rural to urban migration patterns. By October this year, I will be graduating with a BA degree in Geography.
Outside of class activities, I also attended several cultural and educational events with my classmates, the Geo-Family affairs as we call them. I also play and watch football. I am a fan of Manchester United.
This year, I have developed a particular interest in law and politics. I feel sad to think about law and politics in a country where there is no law and political rights. I will stop here!
Overall, I chose this quote to sum up the year: “The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.” — Plutarch
