Category: Resources

3rd AMECEA/IMBISA Pastoral Communications and Social Action Course

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Tumaini Centre
Nairobi, Kenya
Friday, 10 May, 2002

Internet: A New Forum for Proclaiming the Gospel

1. Introduction: Each participant mentions his or her personal experience using e-mail and the Internet (World Wide Web).

2. Communications Media Timeline:

0 AD

1450-1456: Latin Edition of the Gutenberg Bible printed in Mainz, Germany. First book to be printed with movable metal type. The first Bible in ordinary language that ordinary people (non-clerics) could read and study. 47 copies survive. Inventor: Johannes Gutenberg.

1946: First electronic digital computer built that filled a huge room. Today a single microprocessor, a device the size of a fingernail, can do the same work as that pioneering machine.

Late 1960s: Internet began to take shape. Through its Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), the United States Defense Department initiated ARPANet, a network of university and military computers.

1981: The first IBM personal computer introduced.

1991: Arrival of the World Wide Web (www or the “Web”).

Internet is a vast network of computers that connects many of the world’s businesses, institutions, and individuals. The Internet, which is short for interconnected network of networks, links tens of thousands of smaller computer networks. It enables users of computers and other networked devices throughout the world to send and receive messages, share information in a variety of forms, and even play computer games with people thousands of miles or kilometers away. Computers linked to the Internet range from simple and inexpensive personal computers, often called PCs, to huge mainframe computers used by government institutions, educational institutions and businesses. Other devices linked to the Internet include sophisticated telephones and webcams.

The Internet, often called simply the “Net,” began as a collection of text-only documents intended for scientists, universities, and some parts of government. But the development and rapid growth of the World Wide Web (also known as the “Web”) transformed the presentation of information on the Net. The Web is a worldwide system of interconnected computer files linked to one another on the Net. It enables the use of multimedia—which includes photographs, moving pictures and sound as well as text. Multimedia presentations on the Web approach the visual quality of television and the audio (sound) quality of recorded music.

The Web consists of millions of Websites, collections of information at specific electronic addresses. Websites in turn contain Web pages that hold multimedia or text-only information. Websites and their pages reside in computers connected to the Internet.

Cyberspace is the on-line world of computer networks.

Internet service provider (ISP) is a company that connects a user’s computer to the Internet, the global network of computers. For example, Africa Online, Wananchi, iKenya, Raha, America Online. They give access to free e-mail services such as Yahoo and Hotmail.

Computer is a device that processes information with astonishing speed and accuracy.

World Wide Web is a system of computer files linked together on the Internet.

Uniform resource locator (URL) is an address on the Internet. It is like a website’s electronic address that ends with .com, .org, .edu, .net, .gov, .co.ke, .co.zm, co.zw, etc.

Search Engine is a type of index or catalogue used to find information that is stored on computers. The search sites (for example, Google Search Engine) use various robot/spider/crawler programmes to build their indices/catalogues.

3. Other Important Information:

a. Internet is a new language, a new medium of communications, a new mass medium. We used to say that the four mass media are radio, television, press and film. Then video especially via television came along. Now the Internet, a new electronic medium. We live in the Internet Age. NOTE: I have prepared much of the material in these presentations by actually going to the Internet (that is, “online”). Some terminology and expressions:

i. IT (Information Technology).

ii. Electronic communications/Internet communications.

iii. Web Radio/Internet Radio. NOTE: Example of listening to radio

programmes especially music on the Internet. Listening to Catholic programmes on the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) Radio – Voice of Kenya (VOK). Listening to Kikuyu music on a Kikuyu Radio Station via the Internet.

b. Internet requires a new way/style of communicating. The text is shorter and more focused than a newspaper or magazine article. We cannot simply transfer our print media texts to our websites. The challenge of writing/creating specifically for the Internet. Graphics such as photographs, designs and interactive materials are very important.

c. Accessing material “online” and “offline.” You can use offline browsing software that download the sites you need and saves them on the hard drive of your computer. Then you can view these sites as many times as you want without reconnecting to the Internet.

4. Quotations from Redemptoris Missio (The Mission of the Church) – Encyclical Letter of Pope John Paul II. 7 December, 1990. No. 37c: ” At that time the Areopagus represented the culture centre of the learned people of Athens, and today it can be taken as a symbol of the new sectors in which the Gospel must be proclaimed. The first Areopagus of the modern age is the world of communications, which is unifying humanity and turning it into what is known as a “global village.” See Acts 17:22-27: “Paul standing in the middle of the Areopagus…”

5. Quotations from Ecclesia in Africa (The Church in Africa) — Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation of John Paul II. 14 September, 1995.

No. 71: “The Synod paid great attention to the mass media under two important and complementary aspects: as a new and emerging cultural world and as a series of means serving communication. First of all, they constitute a new culture that has its own language and above all its own specific values and counter-values.”

No. 124: “The modern mass media are not only instruments of communication, but also a world to be evangelized.”

6. Quotations from The Church and Internet and Ethics in Internet – issued by the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. 22 February, 2002. Published by Paulines Publications Africa, 2002. The documents arise from a social sensibility that appeals to the Church to work actively to avoid a “digital breach” or “digital divide”, namely the gap between those known as “info-poor” and the “info-rich.”

No. 5 of The Church and Internet: “It also provides the Church with a means for communicating with particular groups—young people and young adults, the elderly and home-bound, persons living in remote areas, the members of other religious bodies—who otherwise may be difficult to reach.”

No. 7 of Ethics in Internet: “The Internet has a number of striking features. It is instantaneous, immediate, worldwide, decentralized, interactive, endlessly expandable in contents and outreach, flexible and adaptable to a remarkable degree. It is egalitarian.”

I found these two documents too theoretical with a lot of emphasis on the mass media in general but not enough on the “uniqueness” of the Internet as the newest mass medium.

7. Quotations from Pope John Paul II’s Message for the 36th World Communications Day 2002: “Internet: A New Forum for Proclaiming the Gospel” (“Internet [“Mdahalishi” au “Mtandao”] ni Mbinu Mpya ya Uenezaji Injili”). Issued 24 January, 2002. Celebrated in Kenya on May 12, 2002, in Tanzania on 4 August, 2002, etc. The message uses fresh, up-to-date language. See the poster produced by The Seed Magazine on “Internet: A Challenge to Evangelization” (insert in the April, 2002 issue).

Meaning of the word “forum:” a. The marketplace or public place of an ancient Roman city forming the center of judicial and public business. b: a public meeting place for open discussion. c : a medium of communications (as a newspaper) of open discussion or expression of ideas.

No. 2. “The age of the great discoveries, the Renaissance and the invention of printing, the Industrial Revolution and the birth of the modern world: these too were threshold moments which demanded new forms of evangelization. Now, with the communications and information revolution in full swing, the Church stands unmistakably at another decisive gateway.”

No. 3. “It is important, therefore, that the Christian community think of very practical ways of helping those who first make contact through the Internet to move from the virtual world of cyberspace to the real world of Christian community.  At a subsequent stage, the Internet can also provide the kind of follow-up which evangelization requires.”

No. 5. “The fact that through the Internet people multiply their contacts in ways hitherto unthinkable opens up wonderful possibilities for spreading the Gospel… How can we ensure that the information and communications revolution which has the Internet as its prime engine will work in favour of the globalization of human development and solidarity, objectives closely linked to the Church’s evangelizing mission?”

No. 6. “The Internet causes billions of images to appear on millions of computer monitors around the planet. From this galaxy of sight and sound will the face of Christ emerge and the voice of Christ be heard? For it is only when his face is seen and his voice heard that the world will know the glad tidings of our redemption. This is the purpose of evangelization. And this is what will make the Internet a genuinely human space, for if there is no room for Christ, there is no room for man.”

All these annual messages from 1979-2002 in six languages are on the Vatican Website at: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/messages/communications/index.htm

 

I. E-mail (“Barua Pepe”) Mailing Lists (one-way communications from the Sender to the Receiver with no exchange or direct feedback). Called a ListServe or List. With or without File Attachments. Normally a free subscription. A message can be sent instantaneously everywhere in the world and can in turn be multiplied and further disseminated through other mailing lists.

1. Messages containing announcements, information, news, Press Releases, documents, agendas of meetings, greetings, etc.:

a. Easter or Christmas greetings to multiple addresses (Mailing List).

b. Portal of Truth Series by Chaz Maviyane-Davies in Zimbabwe in January-March, 2002 with File Attachment of powerful images or graphics on political and social issues.

c. Case Study: Mission Awareness Committee (MAC)’s collaboration with the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS), Tanzania to disseminate Pope John Paul II’s 2001 Message for World Mission Sunday in English and Swahili. Presently electronically “stored” on the Vatican Website, Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers Africa Region Website (www.maryknollafrica.org), Parish Without Borders Website (http://parish-without-borders.net), etc. Also available from CISA by e-mail. See the NOTE: DOCUMENTS AVAILABLE IN FULL ON REQUEST FROM CISA.

2. Electronic News Services, Newsletters:

a. Catholic Information Service for Africa (CISA). Founded by a group of international religious congregations. Presently 1000 subscribers.
E-mail: cisa@wananchi.com

b. ZENIT International News Agency (“The World Seen from Rome”).

Website: http://www.zenit.org

E-mail: list@zenit.org

            c. MISNA (Missionary Service News Agency).

Website: http://www.misna.org/eng/default.htm

E-mail: misna@misna.org

            d. AMECEA News and AMECEA Documentation Service (ADS).

Website: http://www.rc.net/africa/amecea and http://www.amecea.org

E-mail: amecea@gatewayonline.co.ke

            e. Habari Zetu – monthly newsletter of the Catholic Archdiocese Mombasa, Kenya. Published by Lwanga Communications Department and sent by File Attachment.

E-mail: lwangacm@wananchi.com

            f. Advantages:

i. Speed: Instant distribution.

ii. Lower cost (no postage, less handling).

                        iii. Non-geographical – can be sent from or to anywhere in Africa or the world. Editor can write and send a document from anywhere he or she is at the moment.

 

II. E-mail Discussion Lists (two-way participatory communications between the Sender and the Receiver with exchange and feedback). The “discussion” takes place through the exchange of written text and graphics/photographs. Called a ListServe or List. With or without File Attachments. Normally a free subscription. A message can be sent instantaneously everywhere in the world and can in turn be multiplied and further disseminated through other discussion lists.

1. “CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) and Pastoral Care in Africa” (from Bugando Medical Centre, Mwanza, Tanzania). E-mail: cpeafrica@topica.com

2. “Missiology” (from Pretoria, South Africa). E-mail: family.missiology@family-bbs.net

3. Case Study and Offline Demonstration: African Proverbs, Sayings and Stories E-mail Discussion List (from Nairobi, Kenya). About 170 subscribers.

E-mail: proverbs-list@afriprov.org

 

III. Internet Websites (World Wide Web)

1. Vatican Website (English): http://www.vatican.va/phome_en.htm

Using website Search Feature for “Internet:” 18 categories and 52 pages (documents).

2. SECAM – SCEAM: http://www.secam-sceam.org

3. Case Study and Offline Demonstration: AMECEA Website: http://www.rc.net/africa/amecea and http://www.amecea.org

4. IMBISA Website: http://www.africaonline.co.zw/imbisa changing to www.imbisa.org

Using Google Search Engine:

Searched the web for IMBISA.

Results 1 – 10 of about 213. Search took 0.58 seconds.

5. Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA): www.cuea.edu

6. Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC): http://www.rc.net/tanzania/tec

Kiongozi: http://www.rc.net/tanzania/tec/kiongozi.htm

Dar es Salaam Archdiocese: http://www.rc.net/tanzania/tec/dsmweb/contents.htm

Radio Tumaini/Video Tumaini Website: http://radiotumaini.tripod.com

7. Case Study and Offline Demonstration: African Proverbs, Sayings and Stories Website: www.afriprov.org See sample of the “Home Page” or “Front Page.” See article on “African Proverbs Project” in handout of the July, 2001 issue of UMSG News. Also features such as the “Daily African Proverb,” “2002 African Proverbs Calendar” and “E-Books” (Electronic Books) and “Meetings.”

8. For additional Catholic Websites see the April, 2002 issue of The Seed.

 

IV. African, Christian and General Resources

1. Catholic Church in Africa Website: http://www.rc.net/africa/catholicafrica

Excellent resource coordinated by Father John Mutiso in Rome, Italy including statistics, structures, educational institutions, the African Synod, Church History, website addresses and LINKS to other useful websites.

2. Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers Africa Region Website: www.maryknollafrica.org Contains detailed information on different African countries and ministries/apostolates.  Use the Search Feature.

3. MisLinks (Mission Links) Website: www.mislinks.org (worldwide)

http://www.mislinks.org/contin/africa.htm (Africa)

4. Refdesk Website (for facts on the Net): http://www.refdesk.com

5. Google Search Engine: http://www.google.com Use the Search Feature for any African, Christian or General Topic.

6. Metasearch Engines – that search many individual search engines:

            a. IX Quick Metasearch Engine (searches 11 search engines): http://ixquick.com

            b. QuickBrowse Metasearch Engine (searches 17 search engines): http://www.qbsearch.com

          c. Copernic 2001 Basic Metasearch Engine (searches 80 search engines): http://www.copernic.com

            d. Specialized search engines by country, language, content, etc.

 

FINAL SESSION: In the last period of the day each participant writes on paper one specific action that he or she will do to use the Internet to proclaim the Gospel and then share it with the whole group.

 

Rev. Joseph G. Healey, M.M.
Maryknoll Society
P.O. Box 867
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

JGHealey@aol.com

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 African Wisdom

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African proverbs and sayings give advice to Americans celebrating Kwanzaa

By Mary Landers

Savannah Morning News (Savannah, Georgia, USA)
Web posted Thursday, December 27, 2001

Growing up, Chuka Odunukwe’s dad would tell him, “A black goat is best looked for when the sun is up.”

It wasn’t instructions for capturing farm animals.

“It’s what my father would tell me when I was goofing off,” said Odunukwe, the sixth of 11 children. “You have to work now, or ultimately when you grow up you’re not going to get anywhere.”

The larger lesson wasn’t lost on the boy from southeast Nigeria who became a surgeon in Savannah.

From whimsical to profound, African sayings and proverbs reflect the diversity of the continent. Kwanzaa, a celebration of African heritage that began Wednesday, provides a great reason to learn more about them.

Many African sayings convey advice you’ve heard before.

“Sugar cane isn’t eaten for its tallness but for its sweetness,” say people in the southern African country of Malawi. In other words, “You can’t judge a book by its cover.”

Odunukwe gives another example: “For a cow that has no tail, God drives the flies away.”

Cows flick away flies with their tails, he explained. But their tails also get soiled and attract flies.

So cows without tails aren’t so molested by flies after all.

“God takes care of disadvantages in unique ways for us,” Odunukwe said.

A parent might tell this saying to a child who complains he’s too slow for the soccer team. But the child could still have better ball control than faster opponents, pointed out Odunukwe, who at 43 no longer plays the game he grew up with. He’s too old, he said, laughing when he realized the saying applied to him.

In Tanzania and neighboring Kenya, women wear their proverbs. Much like Americans announce their beliefs on T-shirts, traditional sayings scroll across the hem of bold-patterned wraps that women wear as skirts.

Anne Simmons, who makes and sells jewelry at Osibisa Gallery in Savannah’s City Market, grew up in Machakos, a small Kenyan town.

Simmons has a collection of the wraps, called kangas.

An orange and yellow one states in Swahili “Don’t celebrate the war, cry for peace.” A purple one proclaims “Love needs faith and kindness.”

Kenyan women purchase the wraps for their sayings as well as their patterns.

“If you want to insult somebody you’re annoyed with, you give them a kanga with bad writings,” Simmons said.

An example?

A young single woman might receive a kanga that says “Somebody with a big mouth can never get a husband.”

But proverbs aren’t just a women’s thing in Kenya.

John Mbugua, the activities director at Westview Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, admonishes his 7-year-old daughter with proverbs. His grandmother and mother taught him with them, too.

His favorite, he said, translating in his head from his native Kikuyu into Swahili then to English, is, “A bug that bites you has to be inside your coat.”

The proverb can be applied to the aftermath of Sept. 11, said Mbugua, whose Kenyan name is Mbugua Kariuki. The thing that injured Americans after the attack — anthrax — probably came from inside the country and was not the external threat everyone worried about.

Olufunke Bowen, an associate professor of criminal justice at Savannah State University, said proverbs reflect the customs, values, philosophy and way of life of the people.

Growing up in Lagos, then the capital of Nigeria, she learned a saying about discipline and personal responsibility.

“Hard work doesn’t kill,” say the people of her ethnic group, the Yoruba, “It’s poverty that kills.”

“It means you never complain about hard work,” she said. “We instill that in kids.”

African Proverbs on the Internet

African proverbs, sayings and stories are compiled and explained on the Website www.afriprov.org.

The Urban Ministries Support Group in Nairobi, Kenya sponsors and hosts the site.

Run by Rev. Joseph Healey, a priest born in Detroit and who now lives in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, the site includes proverbs of the month, with a section on Biblical parallels.

The whole range of African oral tradition — including proverbs, sayings, stories and songs — can be used to proclaim the Gospel, Healey wrote in e-mail from Tanzania.

The site posts a 2002 African Proverbs Calendar with graphics and a proverb featured each month.

The site also includes a connection to a listserv where participants ask questions of, and obtain materials from, other people with similar interests.

“Of our 170 subscribers, many come from the U.S.A.,” Healey wrote in e-mail. “Our Web site and e-mail mailing list is free and welcomes participation.”

A welcome message at the site concludes with two proverbs. The first explains its mission: “One who sees something good must narrate it.” The second indicates the site is on ongoing work: “That which is good is never finished.”

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The complete article with photographs and African designs can be found at the following URL:

http://www.savannahnow.com/stories/122701/LOCAfricanSayings.shtml

Reporter Mary Landers can be reached at the local Georgia number: 912-652-0337 or GA WATTS: 1-800-533-1150 or landers@savannahnow.com

Copyright 2001: Savannah Morning News

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Description of a Wedding in the U.S.A. Using Adinkra Symbols, African Proverbs and Traditional African Ceremonial Acts

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Planning a wedding is no easy task especially when you are aiming to do something creative and out of the norm.  I wanted an Africentric celebration and for me this went beyond clothing.  It meant honoring a historical lineage that spanned time and space. I searched diligently on the World Wide Web and in the library for various ideas.  I decided to use Adinkra symbols, African proverbs, traditional African ceremonial acts (libation, “afoshe,” and a reading in Swahili) and colors as well as elements from Kwanzaa. 

My wedding and reception decorations were based on Adinkra symbols.  Our cake was adorned with all of the symbols that we chose to use and instead of using the traditional wedding bells to decorate the church pews, we hung banners that had the Adinkra symbols on them.  Instead of costly flowers, we had beautiful ferns placed around the altar.  The “Aya” or fern was one of our symbols.  We included a picture of the symbol and its meaning in the wedding program. The two symbols that meant the most two us were incorporated into our wedding bands.

We chose colors based on their meaning in traditional African culture.  These too were listed in the program along with their meaning.  These colors were used to decorate the church, the reception hall, the cake and our clothing.  Purple and gold were the two colors whose meanings spoke the loudest to us so my dress and my husband’s “agbada” had these colors in them. These symbols and colors were not chosen haphazardly or on the basis of superficial qualities like “it looks pretty.”  We based our decision on the meaning associated with the symbol or color. The meanings reflected qualities that we wanted to emulate in our union. We titled that page of our program “Our Intentions.”

My family celebrates Kwanzaa and so instead of the traditional candle lighting, we used the kinara and the seven candles associated with Kwanzaa.  The principles represented the promises that we were making to each other.  We had various family members from both sides light six of the candles to symbolically show that our promises were in essence a covenant between our families.  The principle that each candle stood for was listed in the program and we wrote a line expressing how we would live up to each of these principles in our marriage. This page was called “Our Promises.” 

Finally we thought about what it was that we wanted to communicate to the community of family and friends that was witnessing the ceremony. We chose African proverbs that expressed what we wanted to say to them. These were used in the program and on the bookmarks that we gave as wedding favors to our guest.  We wanted our ceremony to be more about form (meaning) than about fashion. So drawing on our rich cultural heritage for the ceremony was really just a very natural way for us to start our lives together. We used the following African proverbs:

One person is thin porridge or gruel; two or three people are a lump (handful) of ugali (stiff cooked meal/flour from sorghum or millet). Kuria (Tanzania and Kenya), Ngoreme (Tanzania)

I am because we are.

A person is a person through other people. (Sotho, Lesotho)

 

Lisa Merriweather Hunn
Department of Adult Education
Unversity of Georgia
Athens, Georgia, USA

E-mail: lisam@arches.uga.edu

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Proverbs and The Religious Consciousness Of Africans

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By Brother Okeke Onyeka Augustine, SDB

Among the philosophical questions that could be asked to an African is the question regarding the source of the religious consciousness of Africans before the advent of Christianity? In different parts of Africa the local people’s traditional concept of the Divine or the Sacred has different sources. One source is an a posteriori knowledge drawn from divination in nature. Another source is the anthropomorphic attributes of the Sacred as deeply expressed in proverbs. Proverbs in the linguistic world are unique and rich in meaning. It is very different from the logical structures of language or spoken discourse. It is not a rational approach to the Sacred or the Divine but rather intuitive. In the philosophy of religion, considering religious language, we ask how better and more meaningfully can we speak about the Sacred due to the limiting fact of human language.

Scholars, like John Macquarrie in the book God Talk, present three possible ways of speaking of the Sacred: language of silence, language of paradox and language of analogy. In the African context of religious talk or “God Talk”, proverbs can be analyzed as one of the ways of speaking deeply about the Sacred or the Divine. Many proverbs in different African languages serve the purpose of bringing forth the mysterious, incomprehensible and transcendent nature of the Sacred. They do not approach the Sacred in a rational way. An example is the Akan proverb of Ghana OtomfoÉ Nyane a, É nnte ntesuo ngu famm na É de ne tekyere fa bio. It says that the Supreme Being does not spit to the ground and take it back again with his tongue. It is an attribute of the Sacred who ordains forever. Another Akan proverb says birekyihuade a wohu ade nyinaa preko. It means God who sees everywhere and everything at same time. There are proverbs that show the undeniable fact of an existing reality whose knowledge is almost instinctual, for example, the Ashanti proverb of Ghana that says that a child is not taught about God.

To some African ethnic groups proverbs are not explained but rather they are self-explanatory. Their meaning is straightforward. In fact, proverbs in a nutshell communicate truth. Truth is sometimes bitter and can be corrupted by logical grammatical usage in language. Nevertheless proverbs spare the corruption of truth. Transcendental truth is not left out when talking about Truth.

One of the philosophical insights about language is its evolutionary development that is difficult to identify in the history of human consciousness. Therefore the use of proverbs in relation to “God Talk” could reflect the traditional religious consciousness of Africans even in their traditional animistic religions.

Today’s challenge is to use African proverbs in the task of inculturation and the development of an African Narrative Theology. This process has been started in books such as Towards an African Narrative Theology (Nairobi: Pauline Publications Africa, 3^rd Reprint 2000) by Joseph Healey and Donald Sybertz. See especially the use of African proverbs in Chapter Eight on mission theology that is called “To Be Called Is to Be Sent.” In my home language Igbo in Nigeria there is a mission related proverb that says onye agabeghi Njem na-eche na ofe nne ya kasi uto. Its translation is He or she who has not traveled thinks his or her mother’s soup is the best. It can be used in creating mission awareness, the value of pastoral inculturation and apostolic outreach. Also traveling widens our horizons and helps us to learn the values and riches of other cultures.

Brother Okeke Onyeka Augustine, SDB
Don Bosco College of Philosophy and Youth Studies.
P.O. Box 8895
Moshi, Tanzania
E-mail: sdbmoshi@africaonline.co.tz

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 Proverbes et Salutation Solennelle

NOTE: This is a complete bibliography on Mongo Proverbs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) prepared by Honoré Vinck.

DE ROP, A., Proverbes Bantous. Ngonge (Léopoldville), 1962, n.11, p.25-27

DE ROP, A., Gesproken woordkunst in Spreekwoorden en Nsako, dans: De Gesproken woordkunst van de Nkundo, – Tervuren, 1956, p. 168-176; Série in 8, Sciences de l’Homme, Linguistique, vol. 13.

DE ROP, A., Proverbes et Salutations solennelles, dans : La littératur orale mongo. Synthèse et Bibliographie. p. 20-25. (Cahiers du Cedaf, 1974, 2).

ENGELS, A., Losako et Proverbes chez les Nkundo, Bulletin des Séances, 14(1943), p. 556-570. (Institut Royal Colonial Belge. Bruxelles). Textes recueillis dans les régions de Coquilhatville, Ingende, Ikenge, Bokatola entre 1908 et 1910. 35 items.

FARRIS, E.E. et DYE R., Bakolo bilampaka ba Nkundo. Bikolongo la nsako, beki bakolo otakanyaka. (Bolenge ?) 1904, 23 P-

HULSTAERT G., Proverbes Mongo. Tervuren 1958 (Annales du Musée Royal du Congo Belge. Série in 81, Sciences de l’Homme. Linguistique, vol.15) 2670 items.

HULSTAERT G., Losako, la salutation solennelle des Nkundo, Bruxelles 1969 (ARSC, Sciences rnorales et politiques, Tome 20,1)

HULSTAERT G., Proverbes juridiques des Mongo, Bulletin des Séances. 1971, p. 525-544. (Académie Royale des Sciences d’Outre-Mer. Bruxelles) 57 items. La plupart extraits des Proverbes Mongo.

HULSTAERT G., Sagesse populaire mongo, Bulletin des Séances. 1972, p. 506-525 (Académie Royale des Sciences d’Outre-Mer, Bruxelles) Etude Thématique des proverbes antérieurement publiés.

HULSTAERT G., Traditions orales mongo. Ceeba II, 50, Bandundu 1979, P. 7-63 : 207 items; p. 63-73. Additions et corrections concernant les Proverbes mongo édités à Tervuren en 1958.

JAGGARD, W.S., Nsako la Mbongo ya ba Nkundo-Mongo, Bolenge 1960, 106 p. 573 items. Traductions en lingala et série de proverbes analogues en français et extraits de la Bible. Sélection de Farris et de Ruskin avec contribution propre.

JAGGARD, W.S., Proverbs of the Nkundo-Mongo Tribes in Belgian Congo compiled in the Province of Coquilhatville and translated for the project of a comparative study on other languages areas, 1949, stencilé, 40 P. 313 items. Une série de proverbes analogues en français et en anglais y fait suite (P. 37-40) Reprise de plusieurs items de Ruskin et de Farris.

KORSE Piet, Mongo Proverbs of Basankusu, Annales Aequatoria 4(1983)77-92

KORSE Piet, Mongo Proverbs of Basankusu, Annales Aequatoria 5(1984)139-150

KORSE Piet, Proverbs of Basankusu, Annales Aequatoria 8(1987) 365-372

RUSKIN A.E., Proverbs, Fables, Similes and Sayings of the Bamongo. Translated and explained, giving the nearest équivalent in English. Bongandanga, 1897, 35 P.

RUSKIN A.E., Mongo Proverbs and Fables, Bongandanga 1921 100 p. 405 items.

VAN GOETHEM E., Proverbes judiciaires des Mongo, Aequatoria 5(1942) p. 1-8. 96 items.

VERTENTEN P., Lonkundo Spreekwoorden, Congo 11 (1930) 2, P. 507-514; Proverbes en lonkundo, Annales de N.D. du S. Coeur (Borgerhout, Belgique) 41(1930), P. 176-180.

VERTENTEN P., Enkele lonkundo spreuken, Hooger Leven, 7(1933), p. 846 et Annalen van O.L.V. van het H. Hart (Borgerhout, Belgique) 1933, P.117; (Annales de N.D. du S. Coeur 44(1933)p.270) 10 items.

VERTENTEN P., quelques proverbes des Nkundo, Annales de N.D. du S. Coeur (Borgerhout, Belgique) 50(1939) p. 246-248. 25 items.

VINCK H., Bibliographie sur les Proverbes mongo et langues apparentées, Annales Aequatoria 4(1983) 89-91

 

Rev. Honoré Vinck, MSC
E-mail: vinck.aequatoria@belgacom.net

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April, 2001 issue of “Evangelical Missions Quarterly” (EMQ)

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The April, 2001 issue of “Evangelical Missions Quarterly” (EMQ) has a very interesting and useful article called “Africa and Missions on the Web” by A. Scott Moreau and Mike O’Rear (pages 228-233). It is part of a series of articles on “Missions on the Web.” Here are some excerpts from pages 228-229:

We decided to explore what we could find relating to Africa and missions in this installment of “Missions on the Web.” As usual, there are far more sites than space will allow us to describe. We’ll take you on a guided tour of those we find to be the most important, and offer you the rest via our “Mission and Ministry in Africa Links” page (www.mislinks.org/contin/africa.htm)…

At the top of the MisLinks Africa page we provide links to two of the more original and interesting resources available on the Web. Africa Proverbs and Stories (www.afriprov.org) is a wonderful site offering numerous proverbs that can be accessed by country (www.afriprov.org/maps/africa.htm), month (www.afriprov.org/resources/proverbs.htm) or day (www.afriprov.org/resources/dailyproverbs.htm).

The country listings include each proverb in its original language with an English translation and a hyperlinked explanation. The site also gives access to African stories (www.afriprov.org/resources/stories.htm), an annotated bibliography (www.afriprov.org/resources/bibliogr.htm) and book reviews (www.afriprov.org/resources/bkreview.htm) of related resources. The site has been designed and maintained by interested Catholic missionaries in cooperation with the help of Urban Ministries Support Group (UMSG) based in Nairobi, Kenya. It is updated on a regular basis and worth going back to regularly…

NOTE: MisLinks (http://www.mislinks.org/contin/africa.htm) is a web-based Missions Directory that has been listed on “Links to Other Useful Sites” on our African Proverbs, Sayings and Stories Website for a long time. It has many excellent resources on Africa.

The Moderator

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Profundity with Panache: The Unappreciated Proverbial Wisdom of Sub-Saharan Africa

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By Dr. Stan Nussbaum

Published in Warren S. Brown, Understanding Wisdom: Sources, Science and Society (Philadelphia: Templeton Foundation Press, 2000), pp. 35-55.

This article develops the thesis that the West has failed to grasp the wisdom of African proverbs for the same reason it originally failed to appreciate the polyrhythmic structure of African music-it did not fit Western categories and was judged to lack rhythm at all. The problem is traced through a table of contrasting Western and African values with respect to “wisdom”:

WESTERN VALUE	AFRICAN VALUE
1. Metaphysics and epistemology	1. Ethics
2. Deduction	2. Intuition
3. Abstract thought	3. Illustration and communication
4. Written treatise	4. Oral maxim
5. Individual wisdom	5. Group wisdom
6. Elite wisdom	6. Common wisdom
7. New wisdom	7. Old wisdom

The contrasts are illustrated in a case study based on 30 African proverbs about foreigners and guests from the following countries: Angola, Benin, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Lesotho, Liberia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda and Zambia. The author calls on the West to relativize its own view of wisdom rather than continue to use Western categories to dismiss “wisdom” in its African forms, one of which is proverbs. The article includes 22 helpful footnotes.

Dr. Stan Nussbaum
Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA

E Mail: stan@gmi.org

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Excerpts from Voice of America (VOA) Program:
A Special Christmas Edition of Africa World Tonight.

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Broadcast: 25 December, 2000

BILL:

IT’S 16 HOURS 30 U-T-C ON MONDAY, DECEMBER 25th AND THIS IS A SPECIAL CHRISTMAS EDITION OF AFRICA WORLD TONIGHT.

           

CART:         AWT THEME UP AND FULL AND UNDER.

CART:         TEASER/ The needle sews clothes for many, but it has no shelter from the cold.

BILL:

THAT’S MARYKNOLL FATHER JOSEPH HEALEY OF DAR ES SALAAM TANZANIA – AND HE’LL BE TELLING US LATER HOW THAT GHANAIAN PROVERB DESCRIBES THE LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST.

…………….

GOOD EVENING, I’M WILLIAM EAGLE.

BILL:	AND I’M HERE IN THE WASHINGTON STUDIOS OF THE VOICE OF AMERICA AFRICA SERVICE. ALSO TONIGHT.. FIREWORKS AND FAMILY BRING CHRISTMAS HOME TO NIGERIA.USING LOCAL TRADITION TO TELL ABOUT JESUS.AND, CHRISTMAS IN ETHIOPIA.
BILL:	THOSE STORIES, PLUS PLENTY OF CHRISTMAS MUSIC – BOTH TRADITIONAL AND MODERN. ALL COMING UP ON OUR SPECIAL HOLIDAY EDITION OF AFRICA WORLD TONIGHT.

CART:       AWT STING      

CHRISTMAS COMPARISON (HEALEY-EAGLE Q & A)

HOST:

CHRISTMAS IS A DAY TO CELEBRATE THE BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST. IT’S A DAY WHEN CHRISTIANS ATTEND MIDNIGHT MASSES AND CHRISTMAS DAY SERVICES – AND A TIME OF READING SCRIPTURE AND THE WELL KNOWN BIBLE STORIES ABOUT THE BIRTH OF THE SON OF GOD. IN AT LEAST ONE DIOCESE IN EAST AFRICA, AFRICANS ARE LEARNING ABOUT THE BIRTH OF JESUS IN ANOTHER WAY – THROUGH ADAPTATIONS OF TRADITIONAL STORIES AND SAYINGS. AT THE HEAD OF THE EFFORT IS FATHER JOSEPH HEALEY. HE’S AN AMERICAN MARYKNOLL MISSIONARY PRIEST LIVING IN DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA. HE’S ALSO THE MODERATOR OF THE AFRICAN PROVERBS SAYINGS AND STORIES WEB SITE. I ASKED FATHER HEALEY WHY HIS GROUP RELIES ON TRADITIONAL OR IMPORTED STORIES TO TELL THE NEWS OF JESUS – RATHER THAN JUST USE BIBLE STORIES.

             

           

             

TAPE:                                                HEALEY                                          3:15
OUT CUE: “. African family can and should live” “

MC:     THAT’S FATHER JOSEPH HEALEY – AN AMERICAN MARYKNOLL MISSIONARY PRIEST LIVING IN DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA.

WE’LL BE HEARING FROM HIM AGAIN LATER IN THE SHOW.

You can call up his WEBSITE ON AFRICAN PROVERBS. It’s at www.afriprov.org

You can ALSO SEND FATHER HEALEY

e-mail: JGHealey@aol.com.

Regular letter at: Maryknoll Society, PO Box 867, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.

 

INSERT SONG: Linder Eder: “DO YOU HEAR WHAT I HEAR” (#5) afr 3:51
GHANA / HEALEY EXCERPT

MC:    SINGER AND ACTRESS LINDA EDER AND THE BROADWAY GOSPEL CHOIR WITH “DO YOU HEAR WHAT I HEAR.”

MC:     FROM DAR ES SALAAM TO ACCRA.

HOST:

IN GHANA, THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS ARE NOT JUST ABOUT FAITH, BUT ALSO ABOUT FAMILY AND FRIENDS.

EVERYONE IS GREETED WITH THE SPECIAL AKAN WELCOME – AFISHIAPA (ah-fee-shia-PAH) MEANING MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR.

FATHER JOSEPH HEALEY SAYS IN GHANA, THEOLOGIANS ARE USING A PROVERB TO EXPLAIN BIRTH OF JESUS

TAPE:                                                HEALEY                                          1:03

OUT CUE: ” our Christian faith, the Gospel message”

Mc:      THAT’S FATHER JOSEPH HEALEY – A MARYKNOLL MISSIONARY IN DAR ES SALAAM.

WE WANTED A CLOSE-UP VIEW OF CHRISTMAS IN GHANA. SO V-O-A’S RICHARD KOTEY SPOKE TO ONE MAN WHO’S PLANNING HIS CHURCH’S CELEBRATION — BISHOP CHARLES PALMER BUCKLE. HE’S THE HEAD OF THE KOFIRIDUA DIOCESE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN GHANA.

V-O-A’S RICHARD KOTEY REACHED HIM IN KOFIRIDUA WHILE HE WAS LISTENING TO GHANAIAN RELIGIOUS MUSIC AND ASKED HIM CHRISTMAS MEANS TO HIS FLOCK.

(ED NOTE: THIS HAS MUSIC IN THE BACKGROUND, AND AT THE END)

TAPE:                                                KOTEY                                          VO: 4:33

CART:        BRIDGE (music FROM q & a.. fade under)

! $ NIGERIA / FIREWORKS (Osehobo-eagle) 12/06/00

MC:     THE CHRISTMAS SEASON IS A TIME OF SHARING FOR FAMILY AND FRIENDS IN EDO STATE, NIGERIA. IT’S ALSO A TIME FOR CAUTION – AUTHORITIES ARE WARNING CITIZENS TO WATCH OUR FOR THIEVES WHO WORK WHILE OTHERS ARE DESTRACTED REJOICING.

DESPITE THE WARNING, REPORTER VICTOR OSEHOBO SAYS THE PEOPLE OF EDO STATE ARE PREPARING FOR A JOYOUS HOLIDAY.

TAPE:                              OSEHOBO                    4:20

ETHIOPIA CHRISTMAS (EAGLE-KRISTOS Q & A)

BILL:   ETHIOPIA IS ONE OF THE WORLD’ S OLDEST CHRISTIAN CULTURES. IT EMBRACED CHRISTIANITY IN 330 AD. ETHIOPIANS CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS ON JANAURY 7 WITH A PILGRIMAGE TO LALIBELA – WHERE THIRTEENTH CENTURY COPTIC CHRISTIANS BUILT 11 UNDERGROUND CHURCHES TO AVOID PERSECUTION. THE HOLIDAY FEATURES PROCESSIONS OF THE NATIVITY AND OTHER CHRISTMAS ICONS THROUGH THE STREETS. ON CHRISTMAS EVE, THE FAITHFUL STAY AWAKE WITH A VIGIL OF BEANS AND BREAD. CHRISTIANS LIGHT CANDLES and SPEND THE NIGHT SINGING, DANCING AND PRAYING. THE HIGHLIGHT OF CHRISTMAS DAY IS A DINNER FEAST – FOR WHICH FAMILIES WHO CAN AFFORD IT COOK A GOAT.

MALAKEGENET (OR MONSIGNEUR) GEZAHEGN [GEZ-HINE’] KRISTOS OF THE ETHIOPIAN TWAHEDU ORTHODOX CHURCH IN SMITHTOWN, NEW YORK. HE EXPLAINS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AMERICAN AND ETHIOPIAN CHRISTIMAS CELEBRATIONS.

TAPE:                              eagle-kristos Q & A&                       5:15

            OUT CUE: “…….light of the world”

MC:     THAT’S MALAKEGENET (OR MONSIGNEUR) GEZAHEGN [gez-HINE’] KRISTOS OF THE ETHIOPIAN TWAHEDU ORTHODOX CHURCH IN SMITHTOWN, NEW YORK.

THOUGH ETHIOPIA IS ONE OF THE OLDEST CHRISTIAN CIVILIANS IN THE WORLD, IT ALSO HAS ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST REPRESSIVE HISTORIES. MALAKEGENET KRISTOS SAYS HUMAN NATURE DOES NOT CHANGE OVERNIGHT – DESPITE THE CHURCH’S EFFORTS. IT’S A STRUGGLE, HE SAYS, TO CHANGE THAT HUMAN SIDE – WHICH MEANS ENDING THE TEMPTATION FOR WAR. AND CHRISTIANS HAVE LONG KNOWN SUFFERING – EARLY CHRISTIANS WERE CRUCIFIED, TORTURED, AND STARVED.

BUT THIS YEAR, THERE’S GOOD NEWS, ERITREA AND ETHIOPIA HAVE JUST SIGNED A PEACE AGREEMENT – AND FOR THE FIRST TIME IN OVER TWO YEARS, THEIR SOLDIERS WILL BE HAVING A CHRISTMAS OF PEACE.

CD:     Merry Xmas, War is Over (Lennon)            3:21

FADE OUT: at 16:30

MC:    (16:30 ONLY) IN WASHINGTON, THIS IS WILLIAM EAGLE FOR THE VOICE OF AMERICA.

I’M –WILLIAM EAGLE — – IN WASHINGTON. HAVE A VERY MERRY HOLIDAY!

CART:THEME UP TO TIME

***********************

CD:     BRING BACK UP IN FULL AND UNDER (DO THEY KNOW IT’S

CHRISTMAS) CHRISTMAS SYMBOLS /HEALEY

HOST: GIVING IS JUST ONE OF MANY TRADITIONS AT CHRISTMAS TIME.

SOME TRADITIONS ARE BASED NOT SO MUCH ON THE BIBLE – BUT ON OLD SECULAR – AND EVEN PAGAN BELIEFS.

FOR EXAMPLE, HERE IN THE WEST, MANY OF US HANG MISTLETOE FROM THE DOORWAY. WELL, MISTLETOE IS NEITHER A MISTLE NOR A TOE.

IT ACTUALLY IS A SHRUB WITH SMALL YELLOW FLOWERS AND WHITE STICKY BERRIES. IT GROWS ON APPLE AND OAK TREES.IN SCANDANAVIA, IT IS THOUGHT TO BRING PEACE – WARRING PARTIES COULD DECLARE A TRUCE UNDER IT. IT’S ALSO THOUGHT T O MEAN LIFE AND FERTILITY. NOT ONLY IS IT A CHRISTIAN SYMBOL, BUT IT’S ALSO A SECULAR SYMBOL, MEANING DEEP ROMANCE OR LASTING FRIENDSHIP FOR THOSE WHO KISS UNDER IT.

(OPT) MANY HOMES ARE ALSO DECORATED WITH HOLLY AT CHRISTMAS. THE PLANT HAS SHINY GREEN PRICKLY LEAVES AND RED BERRIES. IT STANDS FOR PEACE AND JOY. HOLLY WAS ACTUALLY THE SACRED PLANT OF SATURN – A GOD HONORED BY ROMANS. CHRISTIANS IN ROME DECORATED THEIR HOMES WITH HOLLY TO AVOID PERSECUTION DURING THE PAGAN FESTIVAL TO SATURN. IN TIME, THOUGH, IT LOST ITS PAGAN ASSOCIATION AND BECAME A SYMBOL OF CHRISTMAS. (END OPT)

AS FOR REINDEER – RARELY SEEN IN AFRICA BY THE WAY – THEY BECAME ASSOCIATED WITH THE TRADITION OF SANTA CLAUS. HE’S SAID TO LIVE FAR AWAY IN THE NORTH – -AND REINDEER BY THE WAY ARE FOUND IN THE FAR NORTHERN PART OF NORWAY, SWEDEN AND FINLAND. ANCIENT MAN USED THOSE REINDEER TO DRIVE THEIR SLEDS. EVEN TODAY, THE LAPPS OF THE ARTIC NORTH USE THE DEER TO PROVIDE MEAT AND MILK, HAIR FOR WEAVING, AND HIDES FOR TENTS AND CLOTHING.

SO MUCH FOR SECULAR SYMBOLS. BUT FATHER JOSEPH HEALEY IN DAR ES SALAAM SAYS THERE ARE EVEN SYMBOLS BORROWED FROM THE MIDDLE EAST.

TAPE:                                 HEALEY                      4:30

OUT CUE: “….Maji in the faith story of the Gospel.”

MC:     THAT’S FATHER JOSEPH HEALEY IN DAR ES SALAAM. SPEAKING ABOUT SOME OF THE TRADITIONS THAT THE WEST HAS INHERITED FROM AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST.

Remember you can reach FATHER HEALEY:

e-mail: JGHealey@aol.com

Regular letter at: Maryknoll Society, PO Box 867, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.

CD: O Holy Night (Donna Summer, Cut #9) 4:12

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Under the Baobab: African Proverbs on Old Age

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By Neno Contran, MCCJ

 

              Certain truths are as solid as cassava and sweet as kola. To make them more digestible, the ancestors have seasoned them with proverbs. Of course, proverbs are the daughters of wisdom. Here is a selection of African proverbs on old age. Some seem to contradict the others. In fact, they just point out the multifaceted character of any human reality.

              Believe me, it is sad to become old: An old man has no admirer (GIKUYU, Kenya). When the lion grows old, the flies attack him (CHAGGA, Tanzania). Nevertheless, don’t make a mountain out of a molehill. Life is a palm branch that the winds bend (FANG, Gabon). Getting old is a law of life, if you don’t die before. Nobody crawls on all four three time (ZULU, South Africa): the first time as a baby, the second when you are old. There is no third time.

              Polite people respect the aged and call them ‘senior’ or ‘elder’: Grey hair, even the pagans respect it (OROMO, Ethiopia). These compliments, however, will not make the breath less gasping. Old age remains an unpleasant affair in every corner of the world, in spite of people’s deference.

              The old person must accept, therefore, the reality and avoid undertakings above one’s strength: The dance of an old man doesn’t last long (Kongo, RDC). If old age stops the hunter from going hunting, he must be content with telling his ancient exploits (BAMBARA, Mali). He would otherwise become ridiculous, because an old man does not fall out of step – -he slides (KONGO). People have no respect for an old person who goes to excesses. An old woman crushed a ripe banana and she was proud of it (YORUBA, Nigeria).

              Old age’s limitations are to be expected: An old man does not run, unless a goat eats his cassava (MONGO, RDC). An old man is not put in a boat to row, but to give advice (LUGANDA, Uganda). With age, the faults of early childhood reappear: An old man is like a child (RUNDI, Burundi), and new faults also come out: White hair, hardened heart (SOMALI, Somalia). Yet, it seems probable that honest people live longer than crooks: A man reaches old age, if he has respected the groundnuts of his neighbour (KONGO).

NOTE: For the rest of this article see page 17 of the September-October, 1999 issue of New People Magazine published in Nairobi, Kenya.

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Summary of Book African Proverbs and Proverbial Names

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by Jonathan Musere

Los Angeles, CA: Ariko Publications, 1999
210 pages.
ISBN 0-9645969-2-X

                     This is the first book that comprehensively illustrates the relationships between African proverbs and proverbial names. Though many African personal names are of proverbial origin, the issue has not been adequately researched. Close to 700 Ganda (Uganda) proverbs are heavily explored and referenced. The literature in this book is of the Baganda people of Uganda who form the largest ethnic group in the nation. They have an impressive array of oral and written literature and their language, Luganda, is the most widely spoken local language in Uganda.

                     A mix of such issues as metaphor, wisdom, sarcasm, happiness, misery, humor, instruction, disappointment, praise, affection, ethics, royal and civil roles, etiquette, past and present modes of human interaction, friendship, enmity, religion and war is communicated in African proverbial language. Proverbs and idioms are some of the most efficient windows into African culture. Personal names associated with proverbs serve as milestone reminders of significant happenings in the life or family of the person named.

                     It can be quite a task to translate meaning from a language and culture that is significantly different from others. Even after lengthy interpretation, concepts and rationale in African culture can appear perplexing to a non-African mind. Nevertheless, the hundreds of proverbs and names in this book are given detailed explanation and referencing. Pronunciation is attached to the names. Common proverbs from other cultures, that are synonymous with ones here, are in many cases given to further clarify meaning. There are thousands of Ganda proverbs not mentioned in this book that have never been sufficiently interpreted in print. Indigenous African information continues to “disappear” because of inadequate research attention.

                     African Proverbs and Proverbial Names is intended, through proverbs, to give the reader a diverse understanding and appreciation of African societal dynamics. The book also serves as a naming guide on which those of African descent and those with interest in Africa can ponder. The information is presented so as to be easily comprehensible to the general reader. Furthermore, the book serves as a general circulation and reference book in the academic arena. Academics in such fields as anthropology, history, literature, linguistics, philosophy, psychology, and sociology with reference to Africanism would benefit. The book is relevant to such sub fields as cultural anthropology, etymology, folklore, onomastics, and sociolinguistics.

Some Ganda proverbs mentioned in the book are:

a.       Eyawukana ku mugendo, y’efuuka kaasa. “The reddish-brown soldier ant that separates from the trail, is the one that becomes the black soldier ant which travels singly and bites fiercely.”

b.      Omuddo gw’oluyiira, n’atalina mbuzi agwegomba. “The luxuriant green grass that grows following the slashing and burning is looked forward to even by the one who does not own a goat.”

c.       Omugano gw’enswa, tiguleka mukadde waka. “A swarm of edible flying ants lures every elder to come out of the house.”

d.      Kasakkya: n’atayanike abuuza omusana. “That the rain may let up for a spot of the sun: even the one who will not put anything out to dry asks about the sunshine.”

e.       Omwogezi mutambuze; bw’akoowa, awummula. “A talker is (like) a traveler; when the person gets tired he or she rests.”

f.        Ssentamu nkadde togiteresa munno. “You would not entrust an old cooking pot to the care of a friend.”

                     Some of the proverbial names related to these proverbs are: “Mutambuze” (“traveler”); “Mwogezi” (“talker” or “speaker”); “Musana” (“sun”); and “Ssentamu” (“old cooking pot”).

                     Some other favorite proverbs and proverbial names in the book African Proverbs and Proverbial Names are:

g.       Nkoko njeru yeeyoleka kamunye. “A white-feathered hen is so conspicuous to the hawk.” The proverbial names are “Nkoko” (“hen”); “Nkokonjeru” (“white-feathered hen”); and “Kamunye” (“hawk”).

h.       Ennaku ennungi, tezikya bbiri. “Two good days do not dawn in a row.” The proverbial names are “Nnaku” (“days”); “Tezikya” (“the days do not dawn”); and “Tezikyabbiri” (“the days do not dawn in succession”).

i.         Abayita ababiri, bejjukanya. “Two who travel together, remind each other.” The proverbial names are: “Bayita” (“they travel through”); and “Bejjukanya” (“they remind each other”).

                     There are some places in Uganda named Nkokonjeru and Abayita-Ababiri.

Jonathan Musere
JMusere@aol.com

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