Why the name…

We call it Majazi in Swahili, but what is it in English? Someone?

Places, people, events, add to the list if you like, have names that mean or refer to something/place/situation. Nairobi for instance, Enkare Nyirobi-the place of cool waters.  Earlier on I wrote an article, Dusk, yet path tracking, that highlighted some place my friends and I visited and the names have a significance i.e. can be traced to something tangible.

That aside.

I have recently been to Mutuni. Guess how the name came up? But first the translation, for my brothers and sisters who didn’t originate from Nzaui hill, is the place of flour.

One time Long ago, the rains failed, the vegetation dried up and the food that had been stored up for consumption was all exhausted. There was no activity since, most work in this place was tilling the land and with rains not showing up, idleness prevailed. The situation was bad especially for those who believe no work no feeding.

The long distant travelers, unlike nomadic pastoralists who wander in search of green pasture and water, wandered in search of human food and drinking water. During this time the colonialists and missionaries were setting base in Kenya and since they entered through the coast, this place that lies in the south eastern Kenya was among the first to receive the ‘Men of the Bible’.

Their major challenge was to find and win African people from that area into Christianity, and to overcome this they had a strategy. Giving out cooking flour to the people. Knowing that there is a means of survival with the white men, the residents would go for the flour once, twice, thrice and in the process, the missionaries would manage to win some of them into their religion.

On their way home from collecting flour, the people some of who had had traveled from very far would get attacked on the way by another lot of white people who had a different motive, slave traders. In the process of battling the attackers, the flour that had been carried for feeding their families back home would pour on the paths and all over the area as others tried to flee and to seek refuge on the trees around during which the flour package would get pricked or torn.

From the continued attacks, the place ended up white from flour spills. Later on, people going to that place started referring to it using the prefix mutu - flour. The generations from the ant hills add the suffix ‘…ni’ to words that are meant to refer to a place:

Noun                                    Place                                    Translation

Mutu                                    Mutuni                                    the place of Flour

Nzuu                                    Nzuuni                                    the place of pigeon peas

Kitheka                                Kithekani                                at the forest

Mukuyu                               Mukuyuni                               the place of sycamore

  

Etymology aka word origin is the the derivation of  a word.

Why do you have the name u call yourself or the name people call you? Sometimes the names are just names; they do not mean anything in particular. And that is in order.

Coming soon:  About naming children; some parents will give their new borns what I would call bad names for a reason.

Spot them, keep off

They roam the estates, villages and open grounds, they belong to no one, they have no place to call home. Their means of survival is only known to them. Some are harmless, others are a don't-pass-near-me-or-else type.

They are the animal kingdom kind of vagabonds. Stray dogs.
The way they walk or behave at any one moment will always pass a message. Some run following a straight course, others run with head down while others will occasionally stop to sniff at the surrounding before resuming their journey with the head still descended.

There is yet another breed, the never-walk-alone type; these ones will be found in groups of three and above, they have a way of communication as once in a while they will stop, look at each other, twist their head in a specific manner and then go back to their mission. Most interesting is that they are on most occasions on the run.

I happened to meet one the other day, it was dusk already and it gave gave me right of passage. Dogs have a strong sense when it comes to their environment; I realised this since my footsteps could hardly be heard yet the dog had already started sniffing around by the time I noticed it. I forgot about it almost immediately, after walking past it, one eye looking at it and the other on the ground where I was headed to.

The neighbourhood has quite a number of dogs but most of them are kept within the confines of the homesteads, they keep the area lively by barking occasionally. A clear indication that any dog walking around is 'strange'.

The following day, as I slowly walk to catch a matatu, out of 'nowhere' emerges the same dog I had encountered the previous day. Actually, I only noticed it when it had already caught hold of my trouser, I must have shouted, am not so certain. One turn around he dog lept and made away stopping severally to look at me, this time I only stood staring at it. So the two of us were scared at each other. 

It didn't bite me but there are two marks of teeth on my trouser just below the knee joint.
I have since become 'dogphobic' and whenever I wear that trouser the marks remind me of the dog.

Some rumour has it that such dogs are more common during the cold season.