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Waidaka
By Harmony | March 27, 2009 | 10:28 pm
I’d like you to meet Waidaka. He is 6 years old. Waidaka lives in my compound with his mama and baba. In Kenya, the parents often take the name of their children. For example, Waidaka’s parents are known by everyone in the village as “Mama Waidaka” and “Baba Waidaka.” I doubt anyone here knows their real names. I happen to know that they are Mariam and Daniel, but that’s only because I’m the curious mzungu who thought to ask.
Waidaka is a good kid. He’s fairly shy around new people, but once you get to know him, he’s all smiles. I think he has taken a liking to me. In the evenings when I return from work, he always greets me with my name, instead of the usual “Mzungu, jambo!” I hear all day. He is polite, good-natured, and he’s more advanced in English than the other kids his age. 
One day recently, I was teaching a group of 6-year-olds English, while they, in return, were teaching me Kiswahili. Waidaka knew the English names of everything I pointed to. He’s a really smart kid. I think he’ll go far.
Waidaka’s parents are Kikuyu, two of only a handful in a village of primarily Digo people. They own a duka on the outside of my compound. They work long 16+ hour days, 7 days a week (shutting the duka for only a few hours on Sundays, for rest and church). Waidaka is their only child, which is unusual in these parts of rural Kenya. They are Christians, which makes them a minority in my village of Muslims. Everyone in the village knows them. When the children want to know where I am staying, I say I live next to Mama Waidaka, and they all know exactly where that is.
Waidaka likes to show off for me. In this picture, he is sporting his new goofy glasses. Last week, he put on his mother’s wig and came over to show me what he’d done. I wish I had a picture of that…it was priceless! It makes me happy to know that I’ll get to spend the next two years watching Waidaka grow and play.
Topics: Culture |
April 2nd, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Pray tell, how is it that Waidaka’s mother requires a wig? A photo of Waidaka in his mother’s wig with his green lens glasses will be wonderful to see: incognito in Kenya.
April 2nd, 2009 at 8:33 pm
Wigs and hairpieces are quite common. The women plait their short hair, and “dress it up” with hair accessories for special occasions like church. I’ve seen her with a variety of different styles. Very vogue!
If I can get Waidaka to put on that wig again, Nitakupiga picha (I will take a picture)! And of course I’d have to post it here to share with my friends.