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News, Notes and
Events about African Proverbs, Sayings and Stories
1. March 2008 African Sayings of the Month
Because of the importance for peacemaking in Kenya, the African
Proverbs, Sayings and Stories Website team would like to encourage viewers to
promote peace by sharing the African Sayings that are listed below and are
featured for the month of March on www.afriprov.org.
Our website team and contributors/authors work closely together and are:
1. International -- coming from many different countries and nationalities.
2. Multi-ethnic -- coming from many African ethnic groups.
3. Ecumenical -- coming from many religious dominations.
For further discussion, please visit our Message Board: http://forum.afriprov.org/msgboard/.
Peace,
Moderator
March, 2008 African Sayings of the Month
Wacha noma, bonga amani. (Sheng)
Leave bad things, talk peace.
Dere amani manzee. (Sheng)
Drive peace my colleagues.
Sheng (Kenya) Sayings
Background, Explanation, and Everyday Use
Our research in Nairobi, Kenya during the months of January and February, 2008
uncovered these 35 sayings and slogans on peace, peacemaking, reconciliation and
justice. These messages are listed in English in alphabetical order together
with the Sheng and Swahili translations where used and available.
Choose Peace for Kenya (Chagua Amani Kenya).
Choose Peace, Prevent Bad Situations (Chagua Amani, Zuia Noma).
Drive peace my colleagues (Dere amani manzee).
Help save Kenya.
I am a Christian first, a Kenyan second and a Kikuyu third.
I am KENYAN. I want PEACE. Let's WALK the TALK.
If Annan can't resolve our political crisis, we should be prepared for anything.
I'm 4 peace.
I spit out bad things, I welcome peace (Noma naitema, amani naikaribisha).
Justice 4 Kenya.
Keep peace.
Kenya -- Our Unity Is Our Pride.
Lay down your pangas, arrows, rungus, guns.
Leave bad things, talk peace (Wacha noma, bonga amani).
Let peace prevail.
Let's emphasize peace, let's satisfy God (Tuzingatie amani, tumridhishe Mungu).
Let's unite.
Make Me an Instrument of Peace in Kenya.
May peace rule over Kenya. And this peace should begin with me (Amani itawale
Kenya. Na amani hiyo ianzie kwangu).
Mothers, Daughters, Sisters, Wives: Help to Stop the Violence. Promote Peace
Through Forgiveness and Reconciliation.
One people. One nation. Choose peace.
Our beloved country. Let Kenya be for ALL.
Peace. Love. Unity. Now's the time.
Peace -- Wanted Alive.
People for Peace in Kenya.
Promote Change Through Active Non-Violence.
Resettle ALL IDPs.
Say NO to Corruption.
Say "No" to Violence. Say "Yes" to Peace.
Stand Up for Safer Neighborhoods.
Support peace. Cool down. (Weka amani. Poa).
Use your freedom to express yourself in a non-violent way.
We are for peace.
We are Kenyans. Why fight
We Kenyans have the terrible disease of tribalism.
Some of these sayings and slogans are religious, others advocacy, others
political, others humanitarian and others cultural. These sayings and slogans
were found on/in:
Announcements on radio and TV
Banners
Billboards
Bottom of email messages
Everyday conversion
Graffiti written on walls, gates, rocks, large stones, etc.
Meetings
Newspapers and magazines
Poems
Popular songs
Postcards
Posters
Prayer services
Sermons
Signs on public buses called matatu
Stickers
Talks
Text messages on cellphones
T Shirts
We have chosen two popular Sheng sayings used by the youth in Nairobi to
represent the whole genre.
Wacha noma, bonga amani. (Sheng)
Leave bad things, talk peace.
Noma is a popular Sheng word that rhymes with homa, the Swahili word for "fever"
or "malaria." The advanced stage of cerebral malaria is a very bad thing and can
cause a person to go crazy and do crazy things. Bonga means to "talk" or
"speak."
Dere amani manzee. (Sheng)
Drive peace my colleagues.
Dere means "to drive" or a "driver" and manzee means a "colleague" or
"colleagues."
This Sheng saying proclaims peace.
NOTE: The youth subculture in Nairobi, Kenya coined Sheng as a common
language of interaction among them. The word Sheng has it origins in the 1970s
to capture the then new youth language of Nairobi and picked up momentum in the
1980s and 1990s. It is a blend of Swahili, English and other local Kenyan
languages such as Gikuyu, Dholuo, Kamba, etc. It is the short form of Swahili
and English, hence Sheng. Later it incorporated other local languages, but the
name of the new blend remained the same. The Swahili part of the formation of
the word is at the front meaning that Swahili contributed more words and phrases
in the new language. It is thought to have originated in the Eastlands Estate in
Nairobi. Later in the 1990s the youth from the middle class estates of Nairobi
used a different form of this language with English contributing more words and
phrases so this form was given the name Eng-ish. However this form did not catch
on and was "eaten" by the Eastlands Sheng that is the form that was commonly
used and that spread to Kenya's main cities and towns.
This unique language has been attributed to the language complexity in Kenyan
cities that attracts a wide variety of languages. It has also been seen as the
youth's attempt to carve out a niche for themselves, to give themselves a
special identity and communication style, and to mark out how distinct they are
from the older generation of their parents. Their parents try to solve practical
issues by tracing them back to their ancestral homes and customs especially in
rural areas (referred to as "upcountry"). For the youth this was a waste of
time. Especially for those youth born and raised in Nairobi they are city
people, they are urban dwellers. They admire and like this new cosmopolitan
world. They have no connection to their ancestral homes especially in rural
areas. So Sheng is their own "in" language of the city. It unites the youth in
the city.
In the emotional realm of ethnicity (negatively called "tribalism") in Kenya
today, the Sheng language is seen as one of the answers to the negative notions
of ethnicity in urban areas given that no one ethnic group (and its specific
language) is able to solely identify with the Sheng language. It is a composite
of many languages.
In addition, in the past few months the youth in Nairobi have coined slogans
such as
I'm 4 peace and Justice 4 Kenya that use their shorthand codes in text
messaging.
Biblical Parallels
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God" (Matthew
5: 9).
"Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you" (Luke
24:36).
"Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among
you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose" (1
Corinthians 1:10). Used in Cardinal John Njue, the Catholic Archbishop of
Nairobi, Kenya's Pastoral Letter entitled Be Reconciled to God; Now is the
Favorable Time (2 Corinthians 6:2) in Lent, 2008.
"I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that
you and your descendants may live" (Deuteronomy 30:19).
Contemporary Use and Religious Application
After the national elections in Kenya on 27 December, 2007 there was a lot of
discontent and accusations of widespread vote rigging. This led to riots,
violence, killings, burning of homes and shops and displacement of people
throughout the country. By the end of February, 2008 over 1,000 people have been
killed and over 500,000 people made homeless. In the midst of these political
and ethnic group (tribalism) crises various peace campaigns emerged with
appropriate messages, sayings and slogans. This shows the influence of oral
culture in our contemporary African society.
While African youth know fewer and fewer traditional proverbs, the use of
popular sayings and slogans is increasing especially in cities. The youth are
now using these sayings and slogans to promote harmony and reconciliation among
different ethnic groups in Kenya. They are involved more and more in peacemaking
and reconciliation activities in Kenya through using their street language of
Sheng and other slogans. The youth are encouraged to participate in such
campaigns as the Kenya Lenten Campaign 2008 (Kenyan Catholic Justice and Peace
Commission) on the theme: "With a New Heart and a New Spirit."
NOTE: A search for "Peace" on this website resulted in 54 matches. In
addition many African proverbs are found on the "Message Board" especially in
the forum "Using African Proverbs in Daily Life." Go to: http://forum.afriprov.org/msgboard
Mr. Francis Osman Njuguna
Nairobi, Kenya
Email: osnjuguna@yahoo.com
Cellphone: 0720-434819
Mr. Evans K. Nyakundi
Hekima College Library
Nairobi, Kenya
Email: evansnyakundi@yahoo.com
Cellphone: 0722-566445
Rev. Joseph G. Healey, M.M.
Maryknoll Society
P.O. Box 43058
00100 Nairobi, Kenya
Email: JGHealey@aol.com
2. A new series of booklets for children in the "Motherhen Education Celebrating Africa" series