I pulled Google up on the laptop this morning, and this graphic is what I saw. For just a brief moment, I thought it was normal to be reading Swahili as I searched the internet. And then I realized it is not indeed normal to find Swahili on Google’s homepage.
The phrase given is a popular Swahili proverb, which (it seems) is claimed to have originated in Kenya, Uganda, or Tanzania — depending on the nationality of the person whom you ask. Considering the meaning of the proverb, it’s somewhat ironic that this is the case. ”Umoja ni nguvu, utengano ni udhaifu,” translated, reads “Unity is strength, division is weakness.”
The East African Community’s common market officially began today, July 1st. Because most of you would be bored to death with this issue — and because I know practically nothing about economics and the like — I’ll limit my thoughts on the subject to this paragraph. I’m concerned the highly-educated and skilled Kenyans are going to take a lot of jobs from the citizens of Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi; and those jobs are needed. It’s not like the states, where people complain about jobs being taken by illegal immigrants — knowing full well they’d not be willing to work those jobs being taken. No, I’m concerned that even many of the most skilled laborers here will be without work. I say all of this while openly admitting I know nothing of economies and/or money. But every man’s an expert on his own blog. On the bright side, I might be able to get my Rwandan coffee cheaper now….
these are the 16 people currently living in africa
image courtesy of photobucket.com
Unity and working together are important concepts here in Tanzania. I thought I’d share just a few other Swahili proverbs that speak to their significance:
Kinyozi hajinyoi.
A barber doesn’t shave himself. This one’s pretty self-explanatory. Though it’s kind of funny, because most of the haircuts here (at least those of the male gender) could easily be done by one’s self. I regularly cut my own hair. I’m guessing there are many versions of this exact proverb (methali in Swahili), but I’ll give just one more:
Mganga hajigangui.
A witch doctor doesn’t cure himself. Or I think it could be translated, “A witch doctor doesn’t exorcise himself.” I may cut my own hair, but I don’t exorcise myself. Just so you know. I always leave that to a big group of my closest friends and family.
Kidole kimoja hakivunji chawa.
One finger doesn’t crush a louse. It’s true; it does take two fingers to do that, as gross as it is to discuss in public or type on a blog. Related is this methali:
Vidole vitano, kipi bora?
Five fingers, which is best? I’m guessing one could make a strong argument for the thumb, but the point is taken. And while we’re on the subject of fingers…
Mikono mingi, kazi haba.
Many hands, short work. We even say this one in English — not that I’m claiming to have never heard the one about crushing lice in English. My mom used to say it all the time growing up. And lastly:
Afadhali kuwa wawili kuliko mmoja; maana wapata ijara njema kwa kazi yao: Kwa maana wakianguka, mmoja wao atamwinua mwenzake; lakini ole wake aliye peke yake aangukapo, wala hana mwingine wa kumwinua!
“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!”
So that last one’s not a Swahili proverb. It’s from Ecclesiastes 4:9-10.
I suppose every people group in the world recognizes the need for mankind to live and participate in community. I mean, one of you is going to have to exorcise me.
* Did anyone actually count to see if there were 16 people in the photo? Be honest.
Nope I just took your word for it, though now I want to. Also, where does one learn Swahili?
the best place to learn swahili, in my opinion, is tanzania. it’s also spoken in kenya and uganda — but not well. yeah, they say swahili was born in tanzania, got sick in kenya, and died in uganda.
but yeah, probably you could also take a class at a university closer to home.
I like the proverbs! And I didn’t count until you asked and then I had to go count. I counted 16, although I may have made up a person in there. They were kind of blurry.
if you made up a person, what was his/her name?
Fred.
wish it was fritz…
My friends who recently finished the school year teaching English in China found that sharing proverbs with their classes was a good way to introduce spiritual themes into the class discussion. They would write one on the board and the students would use their cell phones for English/Chinese translation. Often they would have a similar one in China that would be shared and give points of contact. There are many proverbs in the book that relate to agriculture and hard work that might spark some interesting discussions when you are doing some of your ag interactions.
i did the same thing when i was teaching in china — except the opposite direction. i would have my classes give me chinese proverbs, but they had to translate them first. then they had to use english to teach the rest of the class (mostly me) what the proverb meant. then i’d share similar proverbs in english.
i actually decided earlier today to start studying swahili proverbs a little more. they sell books of them here for about 75 cents, some of the proverbs use pretty difficult language (good practice for translation), and the tanzanians love that i know some of their traditional proverbs.
That was a cool world languages lesson, but next time in parenthesis you need to show how to pronounce the words
Otherwise is just looks like someone let a two yr old have at the keyboard.
Lesson of the day:
self-exorcism = bad
Thanks
as hard as this is to believe, pretty much swahili is pronounced exactly like it looks. just pretend you’re reading english, and you’ll be really close.
neat! now just to figure out what the words mean….
How good is your swahili? I mean, do you have comfortable conversations?
I bet it was cool to be in China. You were probably a giant, and revered.
i only speak swahili here — except when i’m with my wife or one of the other four americans living in geita. conversations are comfortable (provided the other person will slow down just a little bit and explain the occasional word). bible studies are in swahili, as are my “mentoring” sessions.
i was regularly asked for my autograph and photo in china. sometimes just because i was a tall, white guy. but other times because they really thought i was dirk nowitzki.