Tag: Culture
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Expat Gaze Part 4 – Ugandan Names
“The family name comes first, the “first name” comes second. (And) Ugandan names are hellish to pronounce.” Francisco Toro Uganda’s sustaining legacies of colonialism include one’s “first name” not being their “family name”; and in many cases not a Ugandan name. Our colonizers required that we have their names as our “religious names”; and it…
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Feminism is within each culture; none superior
A story in The Guardian, “Interview Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi: ‘Life is about making myth’,” has annoyed me. I first saw it when its link was shared on social media with the following comment extracted from it: “Feminism is failing to take hold in Uganda because of the discrepancy between middle-class and working-class women.” I clicked…
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Makerere fire is ancestors’ warning: decolonize
These past couple of days, I have been reflecting on the power of a name. Specifically, the meaning to which we attach to our name; the meaning that others attach to our name; and what reactions our name elicits. Does our name keep us rooted within the culture of our ancestors or does it render…
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Iteso naming rituals are disappearing
People have studied – have gone to school – have attained formal global-western education, and are in their work places there. When a child is born, it is no longer the case that the father of the child will even bother to ask the elders that: “a child has been borne what name should it…
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Iteso names are vanishing
In the past, it would be like, today a woman in the other home has delivered a baby and we would all go for etal (a custom – in this case, ceremonies to celebrate the birth of a new child). Part of the naming ceremony was that when a name is given, the mother gives…
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