Mothers must work in the gardens so they always arrive half an hour later for Hannali’s class. Students are still registering, a month later, for Steph’s Kindergarten. The reading club programs which I’ve planned for the high school students have been slowly gathering momentum, but has been held back by exams happening around this time. These are all issues which we’ve had to work with in the community context. Our programs have been slow, which perhaps goes to show that we are here to lay down groundwork and foundations rather than to simply run short- term summer programs.
Took a couple videos of Kindergarten. Students really open up when the local adults aren’t around watching. The language barrier is a lot cuter with the little kids. As Steph was going through the colours, she asked the kids, What’s Orange in Lunyole? To which the little girl Mariam kept saying, shehumanide, shehumanide!!, which we later understood to mean ‘I don’t know!’. It’s funny that she kept saying it at us, trying to get us to understand that it meant that she didn’t know. Language barriers can be so amusing, in this way. Red is eliando, orange omachungwa, It’s pretty amazing how, given an environment with someone guiding, kids have been able to piece together English and Lunyole words so quickly. It’s equally exciting for us to be picking up all these words from the children’s babbling. Green is chilagela.
Stephanie has this cute little exercise called the ‘Magic Bag’. In this bag, she puts a different object every week, and asks all the kids to take turns feeling the object inside the bag with their eyes blindfolded. This lesson the mysterious item was a bumpy lemon, monemu, that we found on our homestead, and which we squeeze onto our food each meal. It’s a bumpy, green lemon. Green lemon is monemu chilagela.
We also pick up some words from the library staff who reprimand the children now and then. Emwe! Is ‘you people’, and Ivan often says, You people, pay attention to the Teacher.
We’bale (nyo) Thank you (very much)
Shina’shino What is that?
Sago’na Look
Hena? What is it?
Na(2)ha(3)ni Now/ At this time/ At this junction
Editing the high school students’ essays, I notice a pattern among common ways of phrasing things. Language communicates a lot of their culture, especially how they see things.
Kojeyo! How is there?
Huliyo! (reply) Here is good!
Mutiere? Are you (and home) fine?
Otiere? Are you fine?
Yishuha obwire? How was the night?
Wanji? Yes please?