“It is the study of the language that will help you to understand the people with whom you relate. We need to make ourselves similar to them, by adopting their external way of life, their clothes, their food, their nomadic life, their language; by being in a word, all things to all people to win them to Jesus Christ. Eat their food, learn their language and dress like them.”
Words of Cardinal Lavigerie the founder of the Missionaries of Africa and the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa.
From our Sister Xaverine Mukatabaza from the Malindi community in Kenya
Dear Sisters, Brothers and Friends,
Greetings of peace. It is my joy to share with you a bit of the history of Mijikenda tribes found along the coast of Kenya.
This is a place of first evangelization.
The Muslims are more numerous than Christians. There is also the challenge of many different churches which doesn’t help people to grow in their faith. Today you may find a person in new evangelization church and tomorrow you will find her or him in the Catholic church. Those who are serious Catholics are not more than 40% and most of these people are not natives. The natives need to be evangelized.
Listening to the history, I notice a connection of religious beliefs and their social life. Mijikenda is a Swahili word that means “Miji -tribes and kenda – nine, together it forms “nine tribes”. Mijikenda comprises nine distinct Bantu groups who speak closely-related languages. They include the Chonyi, Duruma, Digo, Giriama, Jibana, Kambe, Kauma, Rabai and Ribe. These are the tribes found along the coast of Kenya and they are very conservative in their cultural beliefs, though young people have started to modernize their culture.
During colonization the whole group of Mijikenda was led by the great woman called Mekatilili wa menza. She is known as a woman who fought against the British colonials after her brother was taken by the British as a slave. It was in her 70’s that she started to lead the whole group against the British. She was also believed to have spiritual power which she received from Kayas Forest.
This was a sacred forest for Mijikenda people where these people were living in different villages according to their tribes.
In Kayas Forest were different villages of Giriama, Chonyi, Kambe etc. The last tribe of Mijikenda, Digo, is found in Mombasa. The tribe which is found in Malindi where our MSOLA community is located, is called Giriama. These people are all Bantu. When they speak, they understand one another. As in other African cultures, the group used to have elders who were leading the different groups. Though the whole Mijikenda group, was at one time led by a woman, Mekatilili wa menza, that was a special case as all the chief elders were men.
The old men had authority over young men. Both old and young men had authority over women. This suppression of women is still affecting women here in Malindi. The women have no word. This is the challenge that we are facing for gender balance. Men still feel that they are the only ones to make any decision in the family without any concern for the wife or the rest of the family.
Before the missionaries arrived, this Mijikenda group believed in a god who was called Mulungu. They used to make sacrifices of goats or chickens when they needed something. They believed that their god Mulungu was their mediator always answering their requests.
There are always values in our cultures that we cannot just let disappear. Important values for these peoples are: unity, sharing among themselves, respect for one another and sharing life as the same people of God.
But things have changed now. People from all over the country (other tribes) and many Italians – though now they are fewer than before, have joined this Mijikenda community and this has confused the whole process of development. There are also challenges faced in this community because of the modern world like poverty and ignorance, especially for the women here along the coast of Kenya. Many women are not educated because they prefer marriage to education.
People who are educated here in Malindi are not from this place. In order to help these people to change their mentality we need faith, patience, perseverance and resilience. We appreciate the children who are motivated and interested in education and dream about changing the community beginning with their parents.
Let us pray for the youth and the children who are the leaders of tomorrow.
