The Tigre numbers about 1.1 million and is the second-largest forgotten peoples group in Eritrea. I was privileged to personally visit four Tigre areas: Massawa, Sh’eb, Agordat and the Dige subregion
at Algheden.
A Tigre settlement of approximately 5,000 people is located at the edge of Massawa. This settlement generates the largest market in the area, serving all the inhabitants to the north. Two mosques are located here to serve the Islamic community. The new one is located on the Massawa-Gurgusom Beach road.
During Eritrea’s 30-year war for independence, Ethiopian soldiers killed many people with machetes. The military battles fought on this site destroyed most of the housing. Stick and straw houses are now being replaced with permanent buildings.
A new road provides easy access to the Tigre center of She’ab. The area appears to be a grouping of several villages with a total population of approximately 5,000. Government offices, a new mosque, a main market and school buildings are built of cement blocks and tin roofs. It is a rich farming area with crops of primarily maize and sorghum.
Currently no churches serve the community. A few believers work in the government offices and school. The people are gentle and expressed no suspicion of strangers—a positive factor for presenting
the gospel.
A Tigre village one kilometer east of Agordat provided a pleasant learning experience as its 200 residents freely interacted with our group. The Quranic and elementary schools are located in a village farther east.
The men are primarily farmers and the women weave baskets, prayer and sleeping mats from palm fronds. Their solid houses are built from hardwood trees and roofed with a covering of palm branches.
Villages along the road from Agordat to Kieru are primarily Tigre. The fertile Barak River farmland provides people with ample food for their families. Before reaching Kieru, we found a large settlement of about 3,000 people living at Algheden, the Dige subregion headquarters. The resettlement of nomadic peoples has been a major government project.
Algheden provides training for new farmers along with schools and clinics. It appears that more than 50 percent of the area’s nomadic peoples have taken advantage of this opportunity. It is definitely a
changing society.
Observations
1. The Tigre are now accessible, with a majority living in towns, villages and settlements.
2. A few believers live among them, indicating an openness to the gospel.
3. A person needs to learn Tigre in order to be an effective church planter among them.