Swahili and the things I learned from the Lion King

(photoed above- Chris Satellite leader from Zambia with Hakuna Matata shirt! And Papa David and I in the kitchen, after I gave him my colored glasses- having trouble with photos now, so sorry both are on top)


Our first day in Congo, was our free day before the conference. We had high hopes of seeing Lubumbashi and going to a market. But in trying to coordinate so many people- the transportation for personal time was not available. Understandable…

Jen, Rachel, and I, along with another co-worker Lucille- who has become a dear friend, were invited to stay with Joyce’s Uncle Jimmy, who works for the government and lives very comfortably. While most of the time we wished we could stay closer to the delegates for the conference, or the center itself- we were welcomed most generously and were also not spending more money on lodging.

So our first day became my attempts at starting to learn Swahili/French.

And I really must say- The Lion King (yes the Disney Children’s movie –no I am not endorsing Disney) was a huge help with Swahili

Asante sana (squashed banana) = thank you very much (probably the most useful to already know how to pronounce

Hakuna Matata = means no worries (probably the most entertaining for people to hear us say and try to figure out where we picked it up)

Rafiki = means friend.

So now we were off to a good start and knew how to say hello.

Well, while the girls were hanging out, I decided to spend the afternoon in the kitchen with Papa David, Papa Paul and Mama Suzanne who were preparing food and taking care of the kids.

I think of everywhere I have been over the last few weeks, even where we are living in Cape Town, that kitchen feels most like home. I am sure it is from trying to communicate on my own with these wonderful people. The other thing to note is- Swahili in this part of DRC is really blended with French, so in places border Swahili is used I may have more trouble.

I was using Spanish, and the few words I knew in French to ask for some of the Swahili words. In my opinion- reading Swahili for pronunciation is far easier than French. And when you are just learning phrases- tenses and plurals and such don’t matter too much. So between the English two of them knew, pointing, and my few words, we had a good conversation and I learned a few things. And then was tested on the basics every time I came back. Later in the week I got to help Papa David with dishes and start joking around more- so I am very serious when I say this kitchen- where we also ate any meals not at the conference- felt like home. They called me akili- meaning intelligent. Mina kupenda means I love you. (I would write more but I am not really sure on spellings, because I was just taking notes for myself)

Also when we would practice counting with various people, many who spoke Swahili had to think about it. I think they all use the French numbers more.

At the conference I also tried to use some of the words, because the satellite projects I am working with are in DRC, Kenya, and Zambia. The site leaders in Kenya and Zambia have good English, but I am also working with 9 sites in DRC where the postal system is nonexistent, internet is a far away concept in some places, and phones can and can’t work. They speak Swahili in Kenya – so I figured focusing on Swahili for DRC and Kenya and then learning some conversational Bemba for when I go to the 3 sites in Zambia.

Then I realized I work on everyone’s reports- which I am pretty sure are written in French from the DRC. So my attempts will continue. Hopefully I can take a class at some point, Jen and Lucy want to as well. And maybe that would help us meet some people beyond each other and the office.

Anyway for someone that can struggle with language- I love communicating and at least learning these phrases. And was blessed by some good translators when I arranged meetings in between sessions at the conference. But I want to hear people’s stories when I go visit the sites and there are already so many other barriers beyond language.

In fact sometimes not speaking words left a different room to communicate and grow close to people at the conference. I’ll write an example soon.

Kwa herini,
Hannah