Guys l am changing the way my first name is spelt or (miss) spelt. It’s been a lifelong challenge trying to get it spelt correctly. It gets my worry and immediate correction or to the extreme a rebuke whenever spelt differently than the Scottish way. Not that l want to be associated with a foreign country/culture. Nor l want any favours from them. It shows how Scottish missionaries penetrated Malawi and neighbouring countries to an extent that some Scotsman gave this name to my grandfather when he was born. Now it should be spelt L/loyd or simply /Lloyd. How easy is that? I am proud of our African names and in their colonised form. I am excited l will see my beautiful girls soon (wife, daughters and mothers) No boy yet, but all the same l am ready to give him an appropriate name if and when he comes. I am not nervous like l was when l came here. Parents worry that using an ancestor’s name (the African traditional way) or the name of someone who has could have done something bad could somehow influence their child’s character and future Hence inventing a name gives the child a clean slate, and if the name is Bible-inspired, this can only bring him or her good luck. Perhaps l could have been called Ilunga. I know it will be very difficult again for some to spell correctly. Or a better a Portuguese alternative would have been Ndompetelo for Don Pedro or Ndonzuau for Don Joao or French names like Yannick, Pacifique, Diedonne, and Tresor. No name is bad at all. Suppose l came a girl, the most likely first name combination would be Ashina Bombo or Sandra Mboyo. Or simply Mandy Omari. Then the Malindima surname last. Or Ngoy or Ngozi surname. Nice beautiful African traditional names. If l came and landed on earth through Mbandaka, DRC, common Christian names would be Thevogo – voice of God or Thabetogo – thanks be to God. The beginning of my journey started with our small Ruwa River. Remembering what unforgetfully happened, l fell into it, 25 years ago, carrying new text books. Miraculously, no drop of water entered the grocery plastic bag we used those days. We didn’t know about satchels. Or l think we couldn’t afford. It was a luxury, what with covering a distance of almost 20 kms daily on bare foot. By the time most of you guys are reading this l would be airborne, travelling at high jet speeds and altitude above the Congolese, Zambian, Zimbabwean, Batswana and South African airspace crossing the Zambezi River first and then the Limpopo River not mentioning the other many but significant small rivers/dams in between. In a few days, l will cross back the Limpopo northwards and a week later drive/walk past the Zambezi River Bridge at Tete, Mozambique facing towards Malawi where the Shire River will be awaiting me. I love Africa. Its success is about crossing rivers. But this time, better forms of equipment and sophistication are required. The Blue Nile, from Ethiopia, meets the White Nile in Khartoum (oh how l miss the ice cream at the popular place) flowing through the Sudan past Egypt into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile, without which there will be no Egypt. I miss the fishing trips across the Nile at Omdurman. I am yet to cross the Benue River in West Africa in whatever method. The Niger River runs in a crescent through Mali, Niger, on the border with Benin and then through Nigeria, discharging through a massive delta, known as the Niger Delta or the Oil Rivers, into the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean. The Congo River is long and winding. The Orange River which rises in the Drakensberg Mountains in Lesotho, flowing westwards through South Africa to the Atlantic Ocean forms part of the international borders between South Africa and Namibia and between South Africa and Lesotho. The river was named by Robert Jacob Gordon after the Dutch Royal House. I am not amazed by the work of men hands but by the powerful and faithful nature of God’s word, His sword and provision to us daily. By the time you will finish reading this, l would have landed at my destination which is just 2 and half hours away south of the North. See, l work at the airport and 5 minutes can be a whole day in aviation. But for those who pitch up late, the journey never starts. In an hr, l am out of here! Ndimbonozorora! Ndikaphume! Mapumziko! Copema! Renpo!
Posted on: Mon, 02 Sep 2013 04:20:58 +0000
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