In the fall of 2022, Lydia Tesfaye, a transfer student from a Sacramento community college, left her hometown with the fear that she wouldn’t have a physical support system like she had growing up.
After exploring club options at that year’s Week of Welcome, she stumbled upon the newly reactivated Eritrean-Ethiopian Student Association (EESA) and found a community to help her feel comfortable in her new home.
“I remember going to the first meeting and I was nervous because I didn’t know anybody, but it really helped me to have a sense of community with people of similar backgrounds,” Tesfaye said.
“It helped to give me that sense of home I felt like I had lost by leaving Sacramento.”
Now, a year later, Tesfaye is the EESA vice president and less than a semester away from graduating with a degree in journalism.
Eman Ibrahim, current president of EESA and a fourth-year healthcare and administration major, was one of the driving forces behind EESA becoming an active club again. The club had been deactivated from 2020-2022 due to COVID. Ibrahim grew up in Orange County where she was one of five black kids in her grade. Coming to CSULB and being a part of EESA helped her to feel less alone and to have a community of people she can relate to.
The mission of EESA is to “Educate, enlighten… and just come to together, enjoy our time and coexist,” Ibrahim said. Tesfaye and Ibrahim both emphasize that you don’t have to be Ethiopian, Eritrean or even African to join the club.
“Just appreciate what our cultures have to offer to others and have a desire to learn more about it,” Tesfaye said.
At club meetings, the officers host game nights, movie nights, dance workshops and more. All the activities have the purpose of educating the members about Ethiopian-Eritrean culture and letting them have fun as well.
An example of one of those activities was the Jeopardy night EESA hosted last week. Members competed against each other to correctly answer questions relating to Ethipoian-Eritrean culture and history. Another popular activity is eskista workshops. Eskista is one of many tribal dances of Ethiopia, and while it has several variations, all of them require shimmying your shoulders rhythmically.
CSULB’s EESA doesn’t just connect its members with the Long Beach community, but with the greater Southern California community as well. Day trips to Little Ethiopia to experience authentic Ethiopian-Eritrean food and joint events with UCLA’s EESA, UC Riverside’s EESA and more are always on the club’s upcoming agenda.
A big event is “EESA weekend,” hosted by UCLA. This is a three-day event that all surrounding EESA clubs attend. Members are provided with networking workshops, a soccer tournament and a showcase where students perform cultural dances that represent the ethnic diversity present in Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Now in their second year of reactivation, EESA’s membership has grown. Tesfaye says that in 2022, the average member turnout was 15 students per meeting, but now there is an average of 20-30.
Tesfaye attributes the growth to word of mouth and newcomers coming to the meetings, enjoying it and spreading the word.
Tsion Teklegiorgis, a first-year film student, was one of those new members, and joined EESA because she wanted to, “find a community within the school.”
Teklegiorgis says one of her favorite things is seeing non-Ethiopian and non-Eritrean members be engaged and excited to learn about the culture.
“Growing up, no one ever really knew what Ethiopia or Eritrea was,” Teklegiorgis said.
She says that because CSULB has such a big campus and student body, it’s hard to feel like you fit in. However, being a part of EESA connects her to the school more than just going to class.
“It’s something you look forward to in my week,” Teklegiorgis said.
Follow EESA on social media or attend any of their meetings held every other Tuesday to see what the club has to offer.
This story was edited for accuracy on Feb. 29, 2024.