Words

Some of my first Swahili phrases, and why…

Habari!
This is the traditional Swahili greeting here in East Africa. It literally means “How are you?” Most Africans use this phrase more than “Jambo,” which means “Hello.” What we find really funny is that when an African greets us in English they almost always say “How are you?” instead of “Hello.” And when we greet an African in English, they usually answer “Fine,” even if we just say, “Hello!”

Nzuri
This is the typical reply to “Habari.” It is the same as saying “good,” or “fine.” I typically get it confused with “mzuri,” which I just learned means “beautiful.” Fortunately, mzuri is still an acceptable reply. It can also mean, "good."

Mungu Akubariki!
When we first arrived in Uganda, George & Diana Franklin of See Ministries had also just arrived for their annual trip into East Africa to do eye glass clinics. We helped them with many of their clinics and had a really great time witnessing with our own eyes the joy of people being able to see clearly for the first time. Many times as people were leaving they would say “God bless you” to us, but many people knew absolutely no English, so I asked Shawn how to say “God bless you” in Swahili. He wrote it down for me on a piece of paper: “Mungu (God) Akubariki.” I kept this on the table next to me until I had it memorized. It was neat to see their eyes light up for a second time as I spoke to them in their language instead of mine.

Sawa sawa
Africans say this ALL the time. We hear it in almost every conversation between them and with us, so much so that we have started using it, partly as a joke, but also because its fun to be able to integrate a little of the Swahili in with English. “Sawa sawa” literally means, “ok.” So there ya go! A little simple Swahili phrase you can also integrate into your conversations at home! (Pronounced: S-ah-wah s-ah-wah.)

Jina lako nani?
This phrase took me forever to master. My dyslexia kept trying to change the words to “Lina jako nani?” This is an important question, especially when working with kids. It means, “What is your name?” Greg has this question mastered from the first time he was here so I asked him over and over again how to say it until I finally got it. The kids usually smile shyly and answer with a muffled voice. Everyone here has a Biblical or Western first name, followed by their African surname. However, the surname is not given based on what family one is from, but according to which month one was born in. So usually brothers and sisters have totally different last names, which is really confusing!

Toka kwa lani yangu! Haraka, haraka!!
Upon arriving in Kitale, we were handed the key to a ’99 Toyota pick-up truck that is owned by the Children’s Home. Shawn wanted us to take it and use it as our own, as no one at the home has a driver’s license, anyway. This has been a huge blessing to us, especially since Greg & Kelly have been living at the Children’s Home until our compound becomes available to all four of us. Carrie and I drive the pick-up and the guys drive the Daihatsu. One day Carrie and I were down town running errands and upon coming out of a store we found one of the many street children who is constantly begging us for money (while sniffing glue at the same time) sitting in the back of our truck. We immediately started shaking our heads and saying, “No!” motioning for him to get out of the truck. He jumped out but as soon as we got in, he jumped back on to the bumper and gave us a challenging, yet glazed over stare. I jumped out of the cab and started yelling, “No sawa! (in an attempt to yell, not ok!) Off! Get off now!” I don’t know if he understood me or not, but he eventually got off and we were able to leave. The next day I told Boaz, our house worker what happened and I asked him how to say “Get off my truck!” in Swahili. He loves telling us new Swahili words. “Toka kwa lani yangu,” is what he told me to say. Smiling, he added, “haraka,” which means “hurry.” I have yet to use my newest Swahili phrase, which is probably a blessing, but a little disappointing and the same time. I would just love to see the face of the kid after I reprimanded him in his own language!