Present

1. Joseph G. Healey – Moderator +254 723 362 993 JGHealey@aol.com
2. Grace Njau (host) – Chairperson + 254 722 260 078 annegracenj@gmail.com
3. Joseph Kai Kariuki – Secretary +254 700 446 884 josephkaikariuki@gmail.com
4. Gabriel Odhiambo- Executive Member +726369593 gabrielodhiambo1@gmail.com
5. Francis Njuguna – Executive Member +254 720 446 884 osnjuguna@yahoo.com

Opening

The meeting started with a prayer by Sr. Grace Njau.

The Zoom host (Sr. Grace Njau) welcomed the members to the meeting and thanked them for finding time to attend the meeting.

As has been the culture for the APWG meetings, the members presented a proverb each explaining its meaning and application in African settings.

1. Joseph Healey: Don’t kill the messenger. The application of this proverb in daily life is that a person should not be victimized for delivering a message. An example was given about Catholic Bishops in Zimbabwe who were criticized by the government for talking about the ills that affected the country, for instance, high inflation. The bishops were using facts and were just messengers for the flock that they lead.
2. Joseph Kai: Worry is like a rocking chair; it swings you back and forth but takes you nowhere. We need not to worry about what we have no control of. For instance, with the corona pandemic, we can only take the precautions like wearing masks, observing physical distance and washing our hands often, leaving the rest to God and hoping that the pandemic will end.
3. Grace Njau: When the roots are deep, there is no reason to fear.
   When you are confident and convinced that something is factual, you do not need to fear.

4. Gabriel Odhiambo: Goat droppings are mainly found in a loafing shed.
   This is my own interpretation of the proverb: Goat droppings are referred as challenges and problems that exist in human beings. They cannot be avoided in our lives. We can face them and turn them into useful things as the manure of goats in our daily life.  Mainly found in a loafing shed means that the challenges and problems are always found in human life. Therefore, the loafing shed is a human situation that possess unknown behavior, challenges and problems for people.

5. Francis Njuguna: If you befriend a bad person, you become bad also. 

   We should not associate with bad people otherwise we may end up becoming like them.

Min.1.8.2020 New Location of APWG Library  

Sr. Grace Njau updated the members about the relocation of the African Proverbs Working Group Library. The African Proverbs books and booklets have been moved to the Precious Blood Amani School, Kawangware.

Min. 2.8.2020 2021 Calendar

Elias Bushiri is working on the 2021 calendar. However, he had not been communicating about the progress and members suggested that he might have been experiencing problems with the internet. Members would contact him after the meeting to find out how far he had reached with the calendar.

Min. 3.8.2020 African Proverb of the Month

Fr. Healey shared the proverb of the month. He took the members through the correct format of presenting the proverbs of the month. Six (6) proverbs of the month were ready. The group needed to find six more proverbs with the theme “celebrating diversity.”

Sr. Grace was working on the proverb of the month for December, 2020 from Karanga. She would make a good choice for the proverb with the theme of celebrating diversity. The proverb of the month for January, 2020 would come from the Zigula of Tanzania from a project that had been undertaken by Joseph Kai.

Min. 4.8.2020 Registration of African Proverbs Working Group.

Registration of African Proverbs Working Group was in progress. Margaret (Treasurer) had already done a name search and the name (Afriprov Working Group CBO) had been reserved. She had not been able to attend the Zoom meeting and therefore members agreed to await updates from her on the progress of the registration.

Min. 5.8.2020 Any other business

1. African Proverbs Polls
   Members were encouraged to visit the Afriprov website at www.afriprov.org and participate in the poll on a regular basis. Members also agreed to continue with posting of proverbs on the Facebook Page and continue with the engagement by commenting and reacting to proverbs posts on the social media.
2. The Next Zoom Meeting
   Sr. Grace was commended for hosting the zoom meetings. It was agreed that Margaret would host the next zoom meeting and would give important updates on registration.

Closing

There being no other business the meeting ended 12:21 PM.