Introductions

My new home is Litein, Kenya. It’s Kipsigis (KIP sig eez) land. There are 42 tribes (and sub-tribes) in Kenya. Kalenjin is one of the major tribes, and it has nine sub-tribes. Kipsigis is one of them. So almost 100 percent of the people here in Litein are from the Kipsigis tribe.

I have two Afrikan mums here. The Kipsigis almost see themselves as one big family. So if someone is your parents’ age, you address them as Mama or Baba (Mom or Dad). It shows respect. To differentiate between the hundreds of mamas and babas living in a community, after Mama or Baba you insert one of their children’s names. So, for example, all of my friends would address my mom as Mama Hannah (or Mama LB or Mama Josiah or Mama Eli).

Rachel Sang is my official host, although I do not live with her. She is the founder and leader of Rays of Hope, an NGO that is doing transformational community development work in Litein and surrounding areas. She is Mama Victor to me and she considers me one of her daughters.

I live with Mary Ben Cheruiyot (or Mama Chiri). Ben is her husband’s name, but I haven’t met him yet. He works in Nairobi. She has a beautiful compound with several structures. I live in the main house where Mum and Susan sleep. Susan is Mum’s niece. She’s 18 and she left school early and now she helps out around the house. Her most commonly used English phrases are “I am coming” and “Let me assist you”. There’s another structure where guys sleep. Benard is a nephew who watches the cows. He stays here all the time, but he’s very quiet and he keeps to himself. Sometimes Johnston, one of Mary’s sons, and Benard (a different nephew) stay on the compound and eat an occasional meal with us. And Dennis stays here during the week but goes home on the weekends.

One of my closest friends here is Dennis Cheruiyot. He is a 21-year old university student who lives at Mama Chiri’s compound and volunteers at the local hospital (a 5-minute walk away). His older sister is married to Mum’s oldest son Elvis, so Dennis is seen as one of Mum’s sons. His English is wonderful and his company is priceless. Without him, I might rediscover what the word “boredom” means. Or maybe I’d just get my homework done faster. Either way, I am grateful for his friendship.

Victor Rotich is Rachel Sang’s last-born son. He is 18 years old and just finished secondary (high) school. He will go to Jomo Kenyatta University near Nairobi in September and his English is excellent as well. Victor comes with me and Mary Ben each day when we do de-worming programs at primary schools. My conversations with Dennis and Victor are almost parallel to the conversations I’d have with my American peers. They both know four languages (Kalenjin, Swahili, English, andSheng—a slang language that combines Swahili and English and is constantly changing) and they have become my personal tutors. I am now learning bits of Kalenjin, Swahili, and Sheng. Wazi jo.

Lastly, meet Ann Brown. She comes from America and she’s a fourth year university student. This is her first time to Africa and she’s been here for about three weeks. She loves it so far and feels very welcome in Kenya. Asante sana. Yup, that’s my usual introduction. (Africans are big on visitors and big on introductions. I introduce myself like this everywhere I go: schools, churches, ground breaking ceremonies… everywhere.) Only Dennis and some of his friends and occasionally Mama Victor call me Hannah. Ann is much easier to say, except it sounds more like “on”. I am On Brown. They laugh when I tell them that my name in America rhymes with banana.