The little sister is sitting with her arm around her big sister in the little sofa. On the wall hangs a large poster with a portrait of Jesus. They yawn, it is only 15 hours since they reunited and there is so much to be told after not being heard at all in 21 years.
You can't sleep then.
"We've told you all my life"- We have told happy news and sad news. Who has died, who has married, yes, all of life, says big sister Tebere.
The news that Tsadkan has crossed the border with his daughter and granddaughter is spreading lightning fast. The old black phone rings in one. Friends and relatives want to talk to Tsadkan and welcome her home. Visitors also pour into the small courtyard. A goat has been slaughtered and it is going to be a party.
- We are so happy that there is finally peace between Eritrea and Ethiopia. We are a fraternity, we belong together, this has been so wrong, says Tsadkan.
The Eritrea-Ethiopia peace agreement set the stage for a 20-year border dispute between the two countries. The first thing that happened was that the telephone traffic was released.
Tsadkan then called the number to her childhood home in Shire and to her great happiness her older sister answered.
- She is older than me, I was worried day and night that she would die before we were reunited.
The border was opened at the Ethiopian New Year a few weeks ago and since then people have flooded the border. But it is a short-term deadline, if only a few weeks the limit will be closed again.
Visas and passports will soon be requiredThen visas and passports will be required to travel between the countries, documents that very few Eritreans have.
The tsad may have to return soon. She worked as a young man in Eritrea's capital Asmara when the war broke out and she got stuck. Now she has family and children in Asmara and must return to them.
She wants to move home to Ethiopia. She refuses to tell about life in Eritrea to protect her family. Now she just wants to enjoy seeing everyone close by.