Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Itchy Grass = Solidarity


by: Holly
For two weeks we were blessed with a group of 5 people—two old friends plus three new ones. We played with thousands of children in IDP camps in Lira and Gulu, painted a mural, participated in a “Solidarity Day” where the men worked in the fields and women cooked with the community one of the camps. We shared laughter and tears and meals—crammed into two weeks that went by too quickly. In honor of them I offer two Acholi sayings:

“Dako ngwal ki nyeke” A woman gives birth easily when she’s with another woman.


“Lagada yil ki wede,” The grass is itchy when there is a lot of it.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The grass is itchy when there's a lot of it? I like the way it sounds and it made me laugh, but what is the meaning?
Drea

Holly and Ben Porter said...

I love the sayings here because they don't always make sense to my American mind, but when I try to think with a new lens and context it kind of works, but is difficult to explain. I think, it is like the effect of a lot of grass when you try to walk through it is greater than a single blade. You can encounter one blade of grass and it doesn't impact you, but when it grows together (the way grass is meant to grow) you feel it and are impacted when you walk through it.

Kkurtz said...

I wish I could be there in the birthing pains today...you are in my thoughts and truly in my prayers!

Love you

Kel (and Kimbal)