One Minute of Silence for the Deceased

VIDEO: Timothy Kalyegira

Our Children are not Us

Our children don't have to be friends with our friend's children no matter how great the friendship because our children are not us. In fact, none of our children may be anything like us.

Wadudu ni Hatari and other Songs

I remember this advert song that used to play on VOK. (Cavalier, do you remember it)? 

Hii ni nyumba yako 

Wewe na jamii yako 

Usikaribishe wadudu kuishi na wewe 

Wadudu ni hatari 

Wadudu ni wachafu 

Waue mara moja 

Doom, doom, doom! 

Dawa doom! 

Then at lunch time it would be 'kuleni mayai, pia maharagwe. Hivi ndivyo vyakula bora vya kujenga mwili.' 

As we prepared to go to school in the morning we had: '...jiepushe na uvivu tujenge taifa. Mwanangu, kumekucha amka wende shule. Elimu ndiyo msingi wa maendeleo.'

Descendants of Nimrod?

Just came across strange information about a sub tribe of the Luhya called the Kabras that live in Malava. It is interesting to know that that their name 'Kabras' comes from ‘Avalasi’, which refers to the warriors or Mighty Hunters they once were. As to the claim that they are descendants of Nangwiro associated with the Biblical Nimrod, I am flabbergasted.

Somehow, in my mind I cannot reconcile a tribe in Kenya that was originally Banyala (different from the ones in Kayunga) with a Mesopotamian monarch. I cannot reconcile the Kabras with a mighty ruler and nation builder who founded many cities, including the great Babel or Babylon. I cannot. Even if you tell me he was cursed for ordering the construction of the Tower of Babel.

In other news, my Mom says she heard a story told in Western Kenya about the Buganda Prince who became ruler of the Wanga Kingdom. Now I may have mixed up a few things about the story she heard but this is what I remember her telling me.

“It is said that when the Prince arrived in Western Kenya, some lady noticed that whenever it was time for him to bathe, he would hide himself from the others. Later on, she discovered the reason why the Prince did this. He had the mark of a snake on his body, which he was trying to conceal. After her discovery, the woman went and told her father who said, ‘That is the mark of royalty. Wherever this boy may have come from, he must be from a royal family.’ Thus, the boy was made king over the Wanga.”

Pure Speculation?

I read somewhere on the internet that some Luhyas came from Egypt and so did some Baganda and oba Banyoro. I thought all Bantus came from Congo or Cameroon. Speaking of Congo, I read somewhere that the Ethiopia referred to in the bible included the area stretching from the Congo basin.

Another mind boggling thing I read on the internet is about the Wanga (a tribe of the Luhya). I read that the Wanga came from Egypt as part of the migration that settled in Kampala area that formed the Buganda Kingdom. A muganda Prince called Kaminyi, who was Kabaka Mwanga I's cousin and Kabaka Mawanda's son, fled to Tiriki in Western Kenya. (Incidentally, I lived in Tiriki with my parents for 8 years) The Prince fled because as the king's cousin, he posed a threat to the reigning monarch.

On reaching Western Kenya, the Prince became a ruler and was succeeded by his son Wanga who established the Wanga Kingdom with the title of Nabongo in the 18th century.

Thou shall not eat of the swine

Our neighbour rears some pigs. There are 3 huge ones and 6 piglets. Often times, they set themselves loose and walk into our compound, much to our chagrin.

My mom does not like pork.

When she told me that sometimes pigs barked like dogs, at first I did not believe it until I heard one pig bark last week.
“When I first heard these pigs bark that is when I said to myself ‘Surely! People are not supposed to eat pigs’,” she said.

I mean, think about it. Eating something that can bark is like eating a dog.

Then on Sunday, one of them clucked like a chicken. I have not heard them go ‘ee-I, ee-I, oh’ like the ones in Old MacDonald’s farm. I guess my neighbours pigs are of a Japanese-Polish breed.

http://www.bamfield.eu/sounds.php mentions how pigs make different sounds in different countries:
Pigs in Britain, Spain and Italy are thought to say 'oink, oink'.
Portuguese pigs go 'roncar'.
Japan, they go 'buu, buu'.
French pigs go 'groin, groin'. German pigs, in contrast, go 'grunz'.
Mandarin Chinese pigs say 'Zhu' and in Cantonese, 'Jul'
South Africa, Africaans pigs say 'snork'.
Polish pigs go 'chrum, chrum'
The largest pork exporter, Denmark, has pigs that go 'øf-øf'.
The Netherlands' pigs go 'knor, knor' (NL is the second largest pork exporter). The noise made by pigs is 'knorren' in Dutch and Piglet (Winnie the Pooh) is called 'Knorretje' in The Netherlands.
Finnish and Swedish pigs say 'nöff, nöff'.
Russian Pigs go 'hrgu, hrgu'.
Pigs in Lithuania say 'kriu-kriu'.
Turkish pigs may say 'hoink, hoink' but we are not sure.
Jogoslav/Serbo Croat pigs just say 'Hrrrrrr'.

What was Your Favourite Song?

“Good morning, listeners,” Pepper said. “And with The King of Pop being laid to rest today. As a tribute to him, we have a question for you. What is your favourite Michael Jackson song? We’d like to hear from you. The number to call is 2345678 on all networks.”

“My favourite of MJ’s song was Speechless. It sounds so heavenly,” said Charlie, her co-host.

“Mine is Billy Jean because of the moonwalk,” Pepper broke in.

In the background is ‘heal the world’.

“Hello” said someone on the line. “People are dying in Soroti and you are here talking about MJ. Even you Pepper? Your uncle’s wife comes from Soroti but can’t even think of talking about her people?”

“Wait a minute. Listen to me young man and listen well. You have no right to tell me what is right and what is wrong. Before you ask me, what have you done for the people in Soroti? At least for me I haven’t only helped people from Soroti but I have helped people from other places as well,” Pepper retorted.

“Besides, this is the only day we have to talk about MJ. We have the rest of the days to talk about Soroti…Some people don’t know what we go through to prepare for our shows,” Charlie added.

“I am so mad at that caller. Oh! I feel insulted…(takes a deep breath). Let me grab some coffee,” she went on.

“The point of this show is to remember and celebrate MJ’s life, accomplishments and to provide closure for his fans and for those who loved him. If you were not his fan, would you at least allow those of us who were remember him…Besides, MJ was a great entertainer, who achieved extraordinary success and forever changed the face of the music industry…anyway, coming up is ‘beat it.’

"Hello. I loved Michael Jackson but I will never forgive him for losing his sweet smile. Before the surgery MJ had the sweetest smile ever. And eyes too. If I could lay my hands on the doctor responsible for changing his smile…I don’t know what I would do to him. He just completely ruined his lovely face," Mudamuli said.