Category: Resources

Analyzing Builsa Proverbs and Culture in the Light of Scripture

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By Jay Moon

                    The purpose of the paper was to collect and analyze 640 Builsa proverbs in the Upper East region of Ghana that then opens an understanding of the Builsa worldview and thinking. As a result, the proverbs can then be used effectively to communicate the Gospel in the Builsa culture. The proper context for the use of proverbs was first analyzed through 108 interviews. This information helps us to know the proper context for using proverbs in the life of the church. Next the proverbs were analyzed for recurring values. 13 Core Values were identified. Together with observations in the culture, this gives an understanding of the Builsa Traditional Theology. Then the Bible was used as the interpreter of the Builsa cultural values in order to allow Scripture to affirm, redeem or correct these values.

                    Lastly, implications for cross-cultural workers are given as well as some examples for the use of proverbs in evangelism/discipleship. This is followed by a list of the proverbs with the meanings and relevant scriptural references. A computer program is also included that allows one to search for values, or words (English of Buli language). This program makes it a useful teaching tool since it functions like a concordance for proverbs.

Jay Moon
Ghana

Jay Moon<simghana@africaonline.com.gh>

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2002 Version of the Basic Talk on “Using African Proverbs, Sayings, Idioms, Riddles, Stories, Fables, Plays and Songs (African Oral Literature and Culture)”

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I pointed out to you the stars (the moon) and all you saw was the tip of my finger (Sukuma Ethnic Group, Tanzania proverb). (See TANT, pp.17-18, 53 and 306)

Nilikuonyesha nyota (mwezi) na uliangalia kidole tu. (See KI, I, p. 6 and KM, II, p. 7)

Proverb —	Methali	Tale —	Kisa
Saying —	Msemo, Usemi	Fable —	Ngano, Hadithi ya Mafumbo
Modern Saying —	Msemo wa Kisasa/Kileo	Parable —	Fumbo
Idiom —	Nahau	Play —	Mchezo wa Kuigiza, Tamthilia
Riddle —	Kitendawili	Verse —	Shairi
Story —	Hadithi	Song —	Wimbo

The different types of African Oral Literature and Culture are very helpful:

j.        To understand African cultures, traditions, customs and values (“a window into the African worldview”).

k.      To use in our everyday life and work (“proverbs and stories as a way of life”).

1. African Proverbs

African Values of Visiting, Welcome, Hospitality, Personal Relationships

 

<!–[if !supportLists]–>a.                    <!–[endif]–>A visitor is a guest for two days. On the third day give him or her a hoe. (See FG, p.33 and TANT, pp. 168 and 173)
Mgeni siku mbili; siku ya tatu mpe jembe akalime.

<!–[if !supportLists]–>b.                     <!–[endif]–>Let the guest come so that the host may benefit (get well). (See TANT, pp.168 and 173-74)
Mgeni njoo, mwenyeji apone. (See SS, I, p. 26 and KI, I, p. 58)

<!–[if !supportLists]–>c.                     <!–[endif]–>Mountains never meet but people do. (See FG, p. 189 and TANT, pp.107 and173)
Milima haikutani lakini binadamu hukutana

African Values of Unity, Community, Sharing and Joint Responsibility

<!–[if !supportLists]–>d.                     <!–[endif]–>Unity is strength; division is weakness. (See FG, pp. 127, 189 and TANT, pp. 38, 42, 143, 173, 287 and 345)
Umoja ni nguvu; utengano ni udhaifu. (See KM, II, pp. 86 and 106 and KU, p. 51)

<!–[if !supportLists]–>e.                    <!–[endif]–>One finger cannot kill a louse. (Very common oral style of “one…cannot”) (See FG, p. 125 and TANT, pp. 41 and 114-15)
Kidole kimoja hakivunji chawa. (See SS, I, p. 14; KM, II, p. 106 and KU, p. 48)

<!–[if !supportLists]–>f.                     <!–[endif]–>Sharing is wealth. (See TANT, pp. 114, 143, and 362)
Kupeana ni akiba. (See KI, I, p. 58)

African Values of Patience and “Slow but Sure”

<!–[if !supportLists]–>g.                    <!–[endif]–>Patience is the key to tranquillity. (See FG, p.13 and TANT, p. 186)
Subira ni ufunguo wa faraja.

<!–[if !supportLists]–>h.                    <!–[endif]–>Hurry, hurry has no blessing. (See FG, p. 83 and TANT, p. 39)
Haraka, haraka haina baraka. (Most common Swahili proverb) (See SS, I, p. 10; KI, I, p. 73 and KM, II, p. 95)

<!–[if !supportLists]–>i.                      <!–[endif]–>Slowly, slowly is the way. (See FG, p. 83)
Pole, pole ndiyo mwendo. (See KI, I, p. 73 and KM, II, p. 95)

Practical African Proverbs in Everyday Life

<!–[if !supportLists]–>j.                    <!–[endif]–>If you don’t fill up a crack you will build a wall. (See TANT, pp. 291 and 315)
Usipoziba ufa utajenga ukuta. (See SS, I, p. 49 and KM, II, pp. 35, 89)

<!–[if !supportLists]–>k.                  <!–[endif]–>Health is more important than wealth.
Afya ni bora kuliko mali. (See KM, II, p. 61)

<!–[if !supportLists]–>l.                      <!–[endif]–>A reserve does not decay. (See FG, p. 189)
Akiba haziozi. (See SS, I, p. 1 and KI, I, p. 15)

<!–[if !supportLists]–>m.                     <!–[endif]–>To give is something of the heart, not of riches. (See TANT, p. 39)
Kutoa ni moyo, si utajiri. (See KM, II, p. 63)

<!–[if !supportLists]–>n.                      <!–[endif]–>When elephants fight the grass gets hurt. (See FG, pp. xii and 126 and TANT, pp. 36-37 and 42)
Wapiganapo tembo nyasi huumia. (See SS, I, p. 51 and KU, p. 50)

<!–[if !supportLists]–>o.                     <!–[endif]–>The person who does not listen to an elder’s advice gets his or her leg broken.
Asiyesikia la mkuu huvunjika guu. (See SS, I, p. 4; KI, I, p. 48 and KM, II, pp. 35, 89)

2. African Sayings and Idioms

<!–[if !supportLists]–>p.                     <!–[endif]–>A promise is a debt. (See FG, p. 127 and TANT, p. 38)
Ahadi ni deni. (See KU, p. 51)

<!–[if !supportLists]–>q.                     <!–[endif]–>He or she has lived many years (that is, an old person).
Amekula chumvi nyingi.

<!–[if !supportLists]–>r.                     <!–[endif]–>Education is like an ocean, it does not have an end. (See FG, p. 126 and TANT, p. 38)
Elimu ni bahari. (See KU, p. 49)

<!–[if !supportLists]–>s.                        <!–[endif]–>He has not gotten married yet.
Hajapata jiko.

<!–[if !supportLists]–>t.                      <!–[endif]–>To be welcomed very well (with two hands held out in friendship). (See FG, p. 33 and TANT, p. 68)
Kupokewa kwa mikono miwili. (See KI, I, p. 58)

<!–[if !supportLists]–>u.                    <!–[endif]–>Good-bye until we meet again. (See FG, p. 188 and TANT, p. 38)
Kwa heri ya kuonana.

<!–[if !supportLists]–>v.                     <!–[endif]–>To be greedy and avaricious.
Kuwa na mkono wa birika. (See KI, I, pp. 54, 58 and KM, II, p. 58)

<!–[if !supportLists]–>w.                       <!–[endif]–>Face to face.
Ana kwa ana au Uso kwa uso.

<!–[if !supportLists]–>x.                    <!–[endif]–>Home is best. (See TANT, p. 38)
Mtu kwao.

<!–[if !supportLists]–>y.                    <!–[endif]–>My beloved.
Nyota yangu.

<!–[if !supportLists]–>z.                     <!–[endif]–>The month is at the corner” (See TANT, p. 38)
Mwezi umeenda kona.

<!–[if !supportLists]–>aa.             <!–[endif]–>Preserve our culture. (See TANT, p. 39)
Hifadhi utamaduni wetu.

<!–[if !supportLists]–>bb.               <!–[endif]–>You faked me out (that is, you fooled me). (street language or a modern saying)
Umeniacha kwenye mataa (lugha ya mitaani au msemo wa kisasa)

<!–[if !supportLists]–>cc.               <!–[endif]–>Ordinary people who work hard from early in the morning until late at night in the never-ending struggle to survive (street language or a modern saying). (See TANT, p. 39)
They (those people) who sleep exhausted (literal translation).
Walala hoi (lugha ya mitaani au msemo wa kisasa).

<!–[if !supportLists]–>dd.               <!–[endif]–>The electric wires are still live. (a warning not to play with the ‘live wires” of AIDS because they are packed with enough “voltage” to kill).
Umeme haujakatika. au Amekanyaga waya za umeme.

<!–[if !supportLists]–>ee.              <!–[endif]–>A person who is does not have any money.
A person who has boiled over or is dry, that is, who is broke or without any money (literal translation).
Amechemsha.

3. African Riddles

<!–[if !supportLists]–>ff.               <!–[endif]–>My house has no door? … EGG
Nyumba yangu haina mlango? … YAI (See SS, II, p. 2)

<!–[if !supportLists]–>gg.             <!–[endif]–>My house is large but its door is small? … BOTTLE
Nyumba yangu ina mlango mdogo? … CHUPA (See SS, II, p. 5)

<!–[if !supportLists]–>hh.             <!–[endif]–>My lamp illuminates the whole world? … MOON
Taa yangu yazagaa ulimwengu mzima? … MWEZI (See SS, II, p. 6)

<!–[if !supportLists]–>ii.                 <!–[endif]–>God’s cup is open? … WELL
Kombe la Mungu li wazi? … KISIMA (See SS, II, p. 4)

<!–[if !supportLists]–>jj.             <!–[endif]–>I shot my arrow without feathers; it has returned with feathers? … RUNNER BEAN (See WL, p. 76, JM, p. 73 and TANT, pp. 235-37 and 342-43)
Nilitupa mshale wangu bila manyoya; umerudi na manyoya?” … KUNDE (See KI, I, p. 17)

<!–[if !supportLists]–>kk.          <!–[endif]–>My tamarind tree is bent so close to the ground that even a child can pick fruit from it?” … MOTHER’S BREASTS.
Mkwaju wangu umezaa kochokocho. Hata mtoto anaweza kuchuma?” … MATITI YA MAMA. (See KM, II, p. 43)

4. African Stories, Fables, and Songs (connected to proverbs, sayings, riddles, plays and events)

<!–[if !supportLists]–>ll.                 <!–[endif]–>The Hyena and the Two Roads. Well-known story or fable in different African languages. The last sentence (the moral of the story) is a proverb:
Two roads overcame the hyena. (See TANT, pp. 41, 53, 158-59 and 358-59)
Njia mbili zilimshinda fisi. (See KI, I, p. 9)

<!–[if !supportLists]–>mm.               <!–[endif]–>The Notorious Liar in the Village. Sukuma Ethnic Group (Tanzania) Story. The last sentence (the moral of the story) is a proverb:
It is better to have a witch as a neighbor than a liar. (See TANT, pp. 110-11)
Heri jirani mchawi kuliko mwongo. (See KM, II, p. 54)

<!–[if !supportLists]–>nn.                 <!–[endif]–>Masanja Goes To Dar es Salaam. Story based on a Sukuma Ethnic Group (Tanzania) riddle:
“He went to the coast naked and returned fully clothed? … GROUNDNUT (See WL, pp. 75-76, JM, p. 71-73 and TANT, pp. 203, 235-37 and 242-43)
Alikwenda pwani uchi; akarudi amevaa? … KARANGA (See KI, I, p. 17)

<!–[if !supportLists]–>oo.               <!–[endif]–>Song Connected to a Traditional African Event. The Sukuma Ethnic Group (Tanzania) has a song of thanksgiving sung by parents who are helped by their children. This song is also a popular saying:
Woman, Woman, Giving Birth is Very Good. It is Something To Be Grateful For. (See TANT, pp. 68-69) Mama, Mama Kuzaa Ni Vizuri. Kuna Shukrani. (See KM, II, p. 30)

<!–[if !supportLists]–>pp.               <!–[endif]–>Song Connected to a Traditional African Event. The Sukuma Ethnic Group (Tanzania) has a song about a mother whose adult son has died. Mary sings an adaptation of this song, She Is Crying For Her Son, at the foot of the cross in the biblical Passion Play first produced at Bujora and Misungwi Parishes in Mwanza, Tanzania. The original song is: I Am Overwhelmed By Grief. (See TANT, p. 248)
Ninalia Kwa Huzuni.

<!–[if !supportLists]–>qq.               <!–[endif]–>Song Connected to a Traditional African Event. The Kuria Ethnic Group (Kenya/Tanzania) sings a traditional song when a baby is born in the village:
We Come to the Home of the Child (See WL, p. 49, JM, p. 41 and TANT, p. 97)
Wa Kwao Mwana Wamefika.

NOTE: These stories and songs are very good in the inculturation (the Swahili is “utamadunisho”) and incarnation (the Swahili is “umwilisho) of the Gospel in Africa. They can also be acted out in spontaneous role-plays and dramas.

Reference Code:

SS, I — Swahili Sayings From Zanzibar — Book I on Proverbs
SS, II — Swahili Sayings From Zanzibar — Book II on Riddles and Superstitions
FG — A Fifth Gospel: The Experience of Black Christian Values
WL — What Language Does God Speak: African Stories About Christmas and Easter
(the Swahili adaptation is JE — Je, Mungu Anasema Lugha Gani: Hadithi za Afrika Juu za Noeli na Pasaka)
KI, I — Kueneza Injili Kwa Methali — Book I on “Food and Meals”
KM, II — Kugundua Mbegu za Injili — Book II on “Family and Marriage”
KU — Kuishi Injili
TANT — Towards an African Narrative Theology

NOTE: More background information on and further explanations of these proverbs, sayings, stories and other types of African Oral Literature are found in Chapter One entitled Towards an African Narrative Theology, especially the sections on “Oral Literature as a Source of an African Narrative Theology of Inculturation” and “Research Methodology Used in Collecting and Interpreting African Oral Literature,” in the following book: Joseph G. Healey, M.M. and Donald F. Sybertz, M.M., Towards An African Narrative Theology (Nairobi: Paulines Publications Africa, 3rd reprint 2000 and Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 3rd printing 2001), 400 pages.

Prepared by:	Also available from:
Rev. Joseph G. Healey, M.M.	Research Committee
Maryknoll Missioners	Maryknoll Language School
P.O. Box 867	P.O. Box 298
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania	Musoma, Tanzania
E-mail: JGHealey@aol.com	E-mail: MklSwahili@hotmail.com

10 March, 2002

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Were You There?

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Stations of the Cross

Text by Diana L. Hayes
Art by Charles Ndege

In breathtaking full-color art and challenging meditations, we join the painful procession to Golgotha. The setting and focus for our prayer is an African village, with Jesus depicted as an African . . .

What can we learn from the son of the carpenter, the Son of God, about our lives and the path we should follow? As we look at the paintings of Jesus weighed down by the burden of the cross, but moving ever onward, we turn to our own lives and burdens-divisions within families, violence, lack of community, poverty, racism, consumerism, illness.

Where does our path lead? The meditations explore Jesus’ message and his life of ministry that have fed and nurtured the Christian faith for almost 2000 years. We understand, in the end, how the path of a Christian life of faith is ever enriched by the One who knows our sufferings because he has suffered for us and with us. This is our comfort and the source of our strength.

Diana L. Hayes, a professor of theology at Georgetown University, is the author of several books, including “Hagar’s Daughters,” “And Still We Rise: An Introduction to Black Liberation Theology,” and coeditor with Cyprian Davis, o.s.b., of “Taking Down Our Harps: Black Catholics in the United States.”

Charles Ndege is a young Tanzanian artist originally from Maji Moto, Musoma, Tanzania who studied art at the Sukuma Cultural Center at Bujora. He was commissioned to paint the Stations of the Cross in an African motif in St. Joseph Mukasa Balikuddembe Church in Nyakato, Mwanza, Tanzania. Some of Charles’ paintings are also reproduced in the book “Towards An African Narrative Theology” (Orbis Books and Paulines, Publications Africa). He has also done paintings and drawings of African Proverbs and Sayings.

October, 1999 ISBN 1-57075-278-8 14 full-color illustrations. 112pp. 8 x 6-11/16 Paper $15.00 World Rights

http://www.maryknollmall.org/description.cfm?ISBN=1-57075-278-8
and
http://www.maryknoll.org/MALL/ORBIS/gift.htm

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Transcript of the Voice of America (VOA) Radio Program on “African Proverbs”

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(Broadcast on the programs “Africa World Tonight” and “Dateline” during the months of November and December, 1999. The reporter was Bill Eagle.)

Introduction:

In Africa, political leaders sometimes use traditional sayings to convey important messages to their people. Religious leaders also find these sayings useful in their teaching, pastoral work and evangelization. From Washington, William Eagle reports on the proverbs of Africa and the role they play in the life of the continent.

Text:

The Yoruba of Nigeria say, A proverb is the horse which can carry one swiftly to the discovery of ideas. Increasingly, these days, traditional proverbs are being used to carry modern messages.

The wife of US President Bill Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, used another Yoruba saying — It takes a village to raise a child — as the title of a book she wrote that emphasizes the importance of the community in teaching values to children. During the days of the Cold War, African leaders used a Swahili proverb to illustrate the effect arguments between the United States and the Soviet Union often had on other countries: When two elephants fight, even the grass gets trampled.

In some ways, proverbs are like Madison Avenue advertising campaigns — they send their message to the listener through vivid pictures, or humor.

Kofi Asare Opoku [pron. KOE’-fee Ah-SAH’-rech Oh-POE’-koo] is a visiting professor in the department of religion at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. He says the message is conveyed in the image of the saying.

/// OPOKU ACT ///

Instead of saying “Let’s all cooperate,” you can put it in the proverbial way. Because of the imagery which you tend to remember, you can say, “Let the elephant fell the trees, let the bush pig dig the holes, let the mason wasp fill in the walls, let the giraffe put up the roof — then we will have a house.” Look at the picture you have!

/// END ACT ///

Professor Opoku has collected over two thousand proverbs from the Akan ethnic group of his native Ghana as a part of an initiative to record and preserve African sayings. He is part of something called the Africa Proverbs Project, which includes research centers at universities in Nairobi [Kenya], Abidjan [Ivory Coast], Pretoria [South Africa], and Accra [Ghana]. The project has produced a CD ROM that contains over 28,000 African proverbs and their meanings. The research on a project like this is often difficult, but he quotes a popular Akan proverb that shows hard work pays off: “If you take the time to skin an ant, you will even find its liver.”

/// OPOKU ACT ///

Patience and persistence accomplish what is impossible. You would think that ordinarily an ant is so tiny, it does not have a liver; but you take your time and skin an ant [and you’ll find it]. [Take for example], the discovery of the Salk Polio vaccine. Jonas Salk toiled and toiled and came up with the liver of the ant — the polio vaccine. People at the time thought this disease could never be overcome. So persistence helps [get results].

/// END ACT ///

Father Joseph Healey is a Maryknoll priest in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. He’s involved in the Africa Proverb Project at the website — www.afriprov.org — that collects and promotes African sayings. He says traditional wisdom can be used to reinforce family and community values and unity.

/// HEALEY ACT ///

There’s a proverb from the Kuria people of western Tanzania: One person is thin porridge; two or three people together is a handful of cornmeal, the basic food in this part of Africa. One person alone is weak; two or three people together are strong. When spiders unite, they can tie up a lion. That’s Amharic [Ethiopia], for strength in unity.

/// END ACT ///

A proverb from the Kikuyu of Kenya shows respect for the environment:

/// HEALEY ACT ///

Treat the earth well; it was not given to you by your parents; it was loaned to you by your children.

/// END ACT ///

Uganda’s largest ethnic group — the Buganda — have a saying that encourages tolerance of and learning from other cultures:

/// HEALEY ACT ///

The person who has not traveled thinks his or her mother is the best cook. [It means] when you meet new people, you realize there are other good [ideas].

/// END ACT ///

Father Healey mentions a campaign backed by the US Agency for International Development in East Africa that uses proverbs to fight AIDS. He cites one Swahili saying that has become quite effective:

/// HEALEY ACT ///

It is better to have a still curtain hanging inside the house than a flag blowing to and fro outside the house. The reference is to faithfulness in marriage — it is better to have a single partner, [comparable to the curtain in the proverb], than to go back and forth [like a flag blowing in the wind] — between different partners. It’s [such] examples that get people to think about their behavior.

/// END ACT ///

Proverbial help for AIDS is also being used in Malawi. Simon Sekwese [pron. sih-KWEH’-she] is a script writer for the Story Workshop Educational Trust in Blantyre, Malawi. The group produces two weekly radio dramas in the official language of Malawi — Chechewa — that teach democracy, human rights, and food security. The social messages of each show are reinforced with a traditional proverb.

One show was devoted to fighting AIDS. In the radio drama, a young woman is forced into a marriage with a man who is promiscuous. He in turn infects her with AIDS. Mr. Sekwese says script was based on the proverb: A forced bone can easily break a clay cooking pot.

/// SEKWESE ACT ///

She contracts the virus, and the village people say, If only we had known we would not have forced the marriage. The bone is the lady; and the pot is the marriage she was force into. And when it breaks, she has the disease, and everything has been shattered.

/// END ACT ///

Proverbial wisdom can also be used in caring for the ill. Father John Eybel [pron. EYE’-bil] is a Maryknoll priest who works in Mwanza, Tanzania, helping to train pastoral counselors for the sick at Bugando Medical Center. He encourages his students to develop a sense of compassion and humility — rather than a sense of self-righteousness or condemnation — attitudes that can prevent counselors from reaching patients. Father Eybel cites a couple of proverbs that help the students understand their own attitudes:

/// EYBEL ACT ///

The baboon does not see his own backside, but that of his companion. The other is: It’s astonishing that the camel points to the humps on the cow. In East Africa cows have a hump on the back [unlike dairy cows in the West]. The idea is that pastoral counselors might well recognize in themselves those human traits or weaknesses which they point out only in others.

/// END ACT ///

Not all proverbs are enlightening, and some can be used to oppress — like those that subordinate women to men. Script writer Simon Sekwese of Malawi says he tries to focus the audience on proverbs that show the partnership between men and women:

/// SEKWESE ACT ///

There is a proverb that says even if you are beaten by [your husband], you must endure. It says the man is the head of the family, and you must respect him. (But) there are other proverbs which counter those: we try to bring in proverbs like one head cannot carry the roof — [which means] that for a family to be strong, you need someone to assist you.

/// END ACT ///

Some proverbs also seem to contradict other proverbs: In South Africa’s Xhosa [pron. KOE’-sah] language, one advises against advancing oneself socially by using other people; another seems to encourage the opposite — accepting the help of others. The proverbs are: A bird builds out of another’s feathers, and A bird must not build its nest using another bird’s feathers. These are contradictions.

Reverend Mlungisi Menziwa of the Reformed Church of Southern Africa says the apparent contradictions are good — they lead to what he calls creative tension that makes people think in new ways. He says new ways of thinking often lead to new understanding — not just of proverbs, but also of political differences.

Just as the listener may try to suppress or eliminate contradictions between proverbs, some in society wish to repress “tension” or dissent by opponents. But he says one can live with conflicting proverbs, as one can live among races and people with differing points of view.

Some proverbs offer the listener a choice between using people to get ahead, on the one hand, and self-reliance, on the other. Reverend Menziwa says one can do both: accept the help of others when it’s offered, yet still work towards becoming independent.

Reverend Menziwa says tolerating tension — and seeking new ways of seeking solutions — is not just a way to solve the paradoxes of riddles. He says it also necessary for starting the economic and political rebirth, or renaissance, of Africa.

/// MENZIWA ACT ///

For the renaissance to take shape, people must embrace the paradoxes of life and continue on. Opposites maintain unity — to come to life, one must have a mother and father. It’s the same [example] for the African Renaissance. It is out of differences we manage to build; tolerance of those different ways of seeing things that people manage to survive.

/// END ACT ///

Reverend Menziwa and others say the real test of a saying is whether people get its message, whether they find it worthwhile in their lives. As a saying of the Ankole [Ahn-koe’-lay] people of Uganda puts it: ‘Does this thing have meat?’ said the hyena at the sight of a car. In other words, that which is not useful, does not have any value.

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“Proverbium” — Yearbook of International Proverb Scholarship. Volume 16: 1999. 517 pages. Editor: Wolfgang Mieder. Published by the University of Vermont, USA. This volume contains the following articles and book reviews on African Proverbs:

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• “Sources of Idoma Proverbs: A Guide to Paremiographers” by Idris O.O. Amali (Idoma Ethnic Group, Nigeria).
• Book Review of “Towards An African Narrative Theology” by Joseph G. Healey, M.M. and Donald F. Sybertz, M.M. and “The Wisdom and Philosophy of the Gikuyu Proverbs: The Kihooto Worldview” by Gerald J. Wanjohi
• Book Review of “Sprichworter aus Uganda im europaischen Vergleich” by Manuel John Kamugisha Muranga.
• Book Review of “Proverbs of Africa. Human Nature in the Nigerian Oral Tradition: An Explanation and Analysis of 2,600 Proverbs from 64 Peoples” by Ryszard Pachocinski.

If you want to order this 1999 volume and/or subscribe to “Proverbium” the cost is $25 for individual subscribers and $30 for libraries for the annual volume. Checks drawn in USA dollars from a bank with a United States affiliation identified on the check should be sent to:

Janet Sobieski
Managing Editor — “Proverbium”
Dept. of German and Russian
University of Vermont
Burlington, VT 05405-0160, USA

E-Mail: sobieski@polyglot.uvm.edu

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New Issue of WAJIBU on African Proverbs

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WAJIBU
VOL 14 NO. 1 1999
THEME: TRADITIONAL AFRICAN WISDOM & MODERN LIFE

Table of Contents

Editorial

“You faked me out”: Sayings of East African urban youth”
Joe Healey

“How the blacksmith, Walukaga, taught the Kabaka wisdom”

“You can’t catch old birds with chaff: Women’s multiple images in proverbs”
Muchugu Kiiru

“African marriage, past and present”
Gerald J. Wanjohi

“Using Ga and Dangme proverbs in preaching and teaching”
Joshua Kudadjie

“Peacemaking among the Rendille”

“Proverbs for transformation: Working with caregivers”
John Eybel

For further reading on African Proverbs: SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

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“Dagomba Proverbs”

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Compiled and edited by Kofi Ron Lange, TICCS

This is a collection of 1,472 Dagomba (Ghana) proverbs photocopied in A-4 format with transparent plastic cover and comb binding (30,000 Ghanian cedis each). Dagombas, like other ethnic groups in Ghana and Africa, are noted for their frequent use of proverbs in daily speech and social interactions. Proverbs contain the wisdom and wit of the ancestors and elders, their cultural ways and their world view. They are also seen as one way in which God has been revealing himself to the Dagombas since time immemorial.

As stated in the introduction, this is meant to be a first copy to be used in workshops with the aim of discovering which proverbs exemplify or illustrate Biblical teachings and values. This is one of the ways of inculturating the Good News among the Dagombas of Ghana.

Below are four Dagomba Proverbs with Scripture references:  

• “A yi kumdi a nin kpion nagl’ a ti kari la kpakpili bahi ka naan-yi ban n’ a chogim ya.”
  If you boast of your strength, it will be so until the day you chase a tortoise and can’t catch it; then you will realize that you have lost your strength.
  Don’t boast too much, or one day you will be ashamed. Matthew: 26:31-33 and 69-75

                xxiv.            “A yi ti nya bu’ bagli daa ni, yel’ bagli m-be yina.”
If you see a pregnant goat in the market, there are pregnant troubles at home.
Extreme situations call for extreme sacrifice.
God sent his Son to redeem us from sin: John 3:16; Matthew 20:17-19; 1 Samuel 21:4-7

                    xxv.            “A yi zan nintori m-me yili, maligim n-daari li luhira.”
If you use sptittle to build a house, dew will push it down. If you tell a hundred lies, it will take only one truth to prove you wrong. Cheap things do not last. Matthew 7:24-27 and Luke 6:47-49

                xxvi.            “A yi bombo m-bi nya, a daliri biegu m-bi neei.”
If you try without being successful, your lucky day has not yet come. There is a time for everything. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.
For further information contact Kofi Ron Lange

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African Proverbs Series. Five volumes available from UNISA Press, Pretoria, South Africa and Sefer Books, Ibadan, Nigeria, 1996 and 1997. Series Editor is John S. Mbiti who provides an “Introduction” to each of the first four volumes. Also available on the African Proverbs CD-ROM:

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1.  
   • Volume 1: Ethiopian Wisdom: Proverbs and Sayings of the Oromo People by George Cotter, M.M. A collection of 1,497 Oromo (Ethiopia) proverbs and sayings from four major dialects which offer a glimmer of the humor, insight, way of life and worldview of the Oromo people. Most are selected from Salt for Stew but with freer translations, new explanatory notes, subject classifications and illustrations.

        xxviii.            Volume 2: Hearing and Keeping: Akan Proverbs by Kofi Asare Opuku. A collection of 600 Akan (Ghana) proverbs.

                xxix.            Volume 3: Lugbara Wisdom by Albert Dalfavo. A collection of 773 Lugbara (Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo) which convey the wealth of Lugbara wisdom.

                    xxx.            Volume 4: The Voice of the People: Proverbs of the Basotho by ‘Makali I. Mokotimi. A collection of 584 Sesotho (Lesotho) proverbs.

                xxxi.            Volume 5: Embracing the Baobab Tree: The African Proverb in the 21st Century. Compilation of the papers read at an Interdisciplinary Symposium which took place in Pretoria, South Africa in October, 1995. Edited, and with an introduction, by Willem Saayman. The title is based on a proverb in many African languages that says: “No single individual can embrace the baobab tree.”

The papers are grouped under five headings: “Paremiological, Philosophical and Methodological Considerations.” “Proverbs and Structures and Institutions of Society.” “Proverbs and Religion.” “Proverbs and Women.” “Proverbs and Christianity.”

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“Proverbium” — Yearbook of International Proverb Scholarship. Volume 15: 1998. 531 pages. Editor: Wolfgang Mieder. Published by the University of Vermont, USA. This volume contains the following articles and book reviews on African Proverbs:

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 “Proverbs as Concept of Idoma Dispensation of Justice” by Idris O.O. Amali (Idoma Ethnic Group, Nigeria).

        xxxiii.            “Proverbs in African Tales” by Jan Knappert.

            xxxiv.            Book Review of “African Proverbs: Collections, Studies, Bibliographies CD-ROM” edited by Stan Nussbaum.

If you want to order this 1998 volume and/or subscribe to “Proverbium” the cost is $25 for individual subscribers and $30 for libraries for the annual volume. Checks drawn in USA dollars from a bank with a United States affiliation identified on the check should be sent to:

Janet Sobieski
Managing Editor — “Proverbium”
Dept. of German and Russian
University of Vermont
Burlington, VT 05405-0160, USA
E-Mail: sobieski@polyglot.uvm.edu

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