Many a time I've heard people say "Okudiza guba mwoyo..." but I didn’t fully comprehend the full meaning of the proverb until a friend of mine gave me the book, " A Distant Grief by F.Kefa Sempangi” In this book is a story that explains the proverb, please follow with me as we explore this proverbL(This is a true story of Kefa, the founder of Redeemed church, Makerere Hill Road)
One day I went to the slums of Kivulu to collect an orphaned child, Topista.
One day I went to the slums of Kivulu to collect an orphaned child, Topista.
The child's home was only a 10-minute walk away. Kivulu's streets were noisy, dirty and narrow. The houses were small, dilapidated dwellings of iron roofs and mud walls. Here and there were piles of garbage, pigs, and goats in the market place. It was teatime when I arrived at the child's home, her guardian Miriyamu, greeted me at the door and showed me to a wooden bench in the outer room. The dirt floor had been swept clean and the whole room tidied. In the corner were a charcoal stove and a short wooden shelf holding a few cups and plates. They were smoked and stained from age, but not dirty.
Topista appeared dressed in her best garment and her face had been freshly oiled -possibly a bit too much, with Vaseline. She knelt down and greeted me shyly; she was about six or seven.
At just that moment the kettle boiled, Miriyamu exclaimed and hurried to remove it from the flame. With a polite apology she excused herself, and stepped in the back room. After a few minutes of noisy rattling she returned, in her hands was a brand new porcelain cup.
In the darkness of the front room, the porcelain cup gleamed on the mud walls, on the dirt floor, on the soiled garments of Miriyamu and Topista. There was nothing in the room that it did not outshine. Miriyamu wiped it carefully and placed it gently on an old rusty tray. She took other cups on the shelf and filled them all with tea. Then with deep pleasure and good will, Miriyamu gave the porcelain cup to me.
It was the special favor the very poor reserve for the "Abaana babowo" the privileged class. After the tea, the cup was gently put back on the shelf.
It was time to start moving; Topista knelt down before her guardian and bid her bye. Miriyamu's eyes shone with joy, "This is a most happy day my child, this is the day your life begins again"
As we walked out t the door I remembered the bedding, Topista had no bedding!! It was a policy for kids to come to the orphanage with beddings...Topista had no mat fit to start a new life, Miriyamu had said!
On the way to the children's home, in my mind I was saying,
“This frivolous Miriyamu, this woman of no understanding. Why does she have a porcelain cup when Topista has no mat? And then, I thought: No wonder the poor are poor. No wonder strangers come and collect their children"
That evening I told my wife, Penina about the porcelain cup and Topista not having a mat. She only said,
"Isn't that something, the poor have such deep understanding. The humble poor know a deep secret. They give from themselves, not from their surplus. They give from the abundance of their hearts."
These words from Penina opened my eyes, and I was reminded of the old kiganda proverb:Okudiza guba mwoyo..."
In the Buganda tradition when the house has been blessed by a rare food, like meat, each person takes a piece from their own plate and passes it to his neighbor, saying, Okudiza guba mwoyo, omuga gudiza enyanja-"Giving flows from a good spirit as a river flows to the lake."
Giving, the proverb says, is not a matter of great possessions. It is a matter of the heart. The river gives of its waters to the lake even though the waters of the lake are many times greater.
Villagers offer wealthy guests their most prized possessions. They give to a city dweller their only plate. They slaughter their last goat for men who own factories or have fat salaries. And it’s seldom an attempt to impress. It’s only a sign of respect.
It is to say " We are humble people, but we will meet you at your level. Take this, it’s all we have that conforms to your high standard."
Miriyamu had understood the proverb; she gave freely, yet she was desperately poor. She opened her home to an orphaned child, Topista, with barely enough to feed and clothe her own family. She kept a porcelain cup to give to others when she didn’t have anything beautiful for herself. And she rejoiced for the child Topista, when her own life continued with no hope for change.
In this story is a lesson for us all, there is a giving to serve others and there is a giving to serve oneself. There is a giving to promote and a giving to dominate. But without love, there is only paternalism, self-importance, a giving of the surplus, not the giving of precious treasures!!
WHICH GIVER IS U AND I???
God Bless You.
