I'm Fine!

Today I am white on the inside! Well actually I'm Lahia - if not completely white on the inside. It's this Hausa language, it’s all completely different!

One of the most striking features of travel is the difference in language and the way language reflects the culture. It could honestly be said that I have learned some Hausa, quite a feat for someone as linguistically challenged as myself. But in another sense I have learned no Hausa really. What I have learned is how to greet people, or respond to their greetings in Hausa. Greetings in this culture are an important aspect of social interaction and follow a set kind of pattern even between those who know each other very well.

"Ina kwana?" - "how was your sleep?",
"Ina aiki?" - "how is your work?",
"Ina gagiya?" - "how is your tiredness?"

So it continues, sometimes for quite a while as your house, your family, the weather are all asked after. The safe answer to most greeting inquiries is Lahia, which means fine. Even if things are not fine the answer is "Lahia", maybe even "Lahia lau" (pronounced 'low') – "very fine indeed, since you asked".

So any introduction to the Hausa language is really about learning to greet people. At first it seems quaint and very mannerly. It has the sense of having time for everyone compared to our quick fire responses or incomprehensible mutterings that pass for greetings. However, I'm not so sure that there is any great advantage or gain in the 'greetings process' that is part of typical African culture. The fact of the matter is that your enemy will probably ask after your day, your work, your family, your house before setting out to do you harm. It’s one thing to seek revenge on your enemy, it’s another thing to be seen to be rude. If communication between people within the culture displayed significantly more integrity than in the West then the greeting process would indeed have a value that exceeds anything with which we are familiar, but it doesn't. If life is cheap on this continent, so are words. Face saving, blame shifting, the desire to be thought well of are as important in Africa as anywhere else in the world, maybe even more so. Building trust and sustaining relationships is not easy in such a context. The questions of the depth of relationships and the measure of trust possible within them haunt many missionaries. People can find themselves living in a constant state of preparedness for disappointment without even realising it. Cynicism can come easy in such a situation.

Is the implication that Western society is better, more truthful, more honest? Hardly. There have been certain influences in the West that have contributed to the development of social, judicial and political structures that assume the same kind of dishonest disposition but regulate dishonest behaviour and the lack of trust, thereby enabling the development of a more sophisticated society. However, with the massive growth in litigation in Western society, with continued scandals in public and religious life, with prisons as full as ever and with more - not fewer - regulations being put in place by Western Governments day by day, it is evident that there is no major difference between us as peoples. We in the West are just as dishonest, but mainly for reasons of self interest we regulate dishonesty. Honesty may at one time have been valued as a virtue but now it is valued more for its stabilizing influence in the economic infrastructure of the free market.

In this culture shame and honour are much more important than truth and honesty. People have a strong sense of what is right and proper, they also have a great fear of dishonour and loss of status within the community. The social value of honour and fear of shame ultimately fulfil the same role in the stabilising of society as truth telling does in ours. It is not a culture without moral values or social sanctions but the basis of those values does seem to be significantly different.

There is a real challenge to the church in both Western and African society. The Christian community, according to scripture, is to be identified as a truthful, truth telling community in which your yes means yes and your no means no. This trip has been a reminder of just how big an issue this is for the church in whatever culture.

My name in Hausa is ‘dauda’ – pronounced dow-da – and my name is dirt. No, I haven’t been misbehaving, nor is Nigel’s reputation that bad! It’s just that the same word means both "David" and "dirt". The difference comes in the pronunciation. If you want to say David you use a soft "d" in the middle. If you want to say "dirt" you use an implosive "d" which when printed in Hausa looks like " ð ". The difference in sound is created by breathing in as you pronounce the "d" – hence the term implosive. It takes a bit of practice and is a lot of fun in the classroom with those of us doing some elementary Hausa lessons. Try it yourself. Just be careful you don’t choke. Nigel says that in the wet season my name will be mud around here – very funny, big lad!

To next part.
To journal from Niger.