I'm sorry, you'll have to forgive me.

Is it that I'm ignorant, or I am not well aware of what or who surrounds me?

Let me take you back…

Look, I can tell you that I only used to know two communities in Nigeria, the Igbo and the Yoruba. This is courtesy of the book “Things Fall Apart” by famed writer, Chinua Achebe (l), which has to do with my English literature studies in high school.

Fast forward today…

Lets start by saying we all live in a bubble of some sort, just like the way we did about it during the pandemic times. I am aware the family unit starts with the core unit father- mother - blah blah blah….

In order to explain what I'm talking about, let's go back (again) to the pandemic and look at how we were stuck in the house. And the only way to reach out to your next-door neighbor is either by phone or the internet, whichever means you had to; probably shout from your window to the next building or across the street. That is just looking at things through the small microscope of it.

But now, let's take it a notch higher, where you move to your bigger community and the people around you, then let's go ahead and top it up with your country. How many dialects do you know, and how much do you know about another country?

Yes, I am Kenyan, and I am a proud African; however, I come from Kenya (duh!). That's where I started my journey as a human being. And in the process, I have learned that everything is not what you see on first glance, especially when it comes to dialects. I recently found out that there is a tribe called Luhya, which has so many subsets that I could have never imagined. And that opened up a conversation regarding how they react to politics (but that's a story for another day).

I interact with folks from other African countries; however, it's a select few, and you come to understand they have so many aspects and subtleties in between them that it's not easy to be able to dissect each one of them. Therefore, we take a broader picture and use blanket statements, also following what is being said out there.

Okay, now you get the picture. ??? So lets delve into my plane ride from Doha, Qatar, where I was on a plane full of people from the Asian Peninsula. If you traveled in those planes and you live in Dallas, you are more likely to get a certain demographic since they live right around Irving, a suburb near Dallas.

My seatmates on the plane were elderly couple who did not understand nor speak any English, and this must have been their first time traveling to the United States. Now, here comes the hardest part and most embarrassing situation. The couple did not understand any English and were only able to converse in an unknown language, and I cannot say which language it was because I have no idea. They wanted to express themselves as to what they would like to eat for dinner, and this became an issue when the flight attendant came to assist us. I can't say my understanding of Hindi is that great, and to be honest with you, I went to school, but I did not master the language. I can only pick up a little bit here and there, but this is Gujarati. 

So the smiling flight attendants tried a phone translator app that failed miserably since the choice of language was not understood. Remember dialects are plenty in one country so imagine a continent - ask me - we, Kenyans, have 45 official tribes and countless dialects (mother-tongues)

So what's the next option? Well, I decided to ask a lady that was sitting in front of us who had the same facial features as my seatmates. However, when the gentleman spoke about what he wanted, she could not tell what he was saying. I could see the frustration on the gentleman as he tried to say what he wanted repeatedly. It was one word that kept on coming from his mouth, but we couldn't figure it out. So then we tried the person who was sitting on my left-hand side since I was sitting on the aisle, but then he also said he had no idea what the language was. We made one last attempt to try the person behind me, ( who turned out to be somebody we probably interacted with within soccer circles). 

As you can guess, he too had no idea of what language it was. Third time is a charm wasn't the order of the day here….

The end result was revert to guerrilla sign language. You one; this is the dubious one that you either point and hope the person understands what you're talking about or just speak your language and maybe one word may sound the same, and they figure it out what you're saying. 

For some reason, I felt that I had disappointed myself first as the fact that I did not understand, and I'm vague about other cultures. There are over a million and one cultures out there with different aspects to do with languages and artifacts that one cannot capture each and every one of them.

So allow yourself grace, which I decided to do, because I cannot be a perfect person to know each and every culture. I have to understand that I have to be ignorant of some of the cultures, but I have planned to, first of all, be respectful and acknowledge that I am not going to be the most helpful in any circumstances and not to judge.

That is where you have a mistake, even though it is human for us to make those prejudices, as it forms our basis of interaction based on our past histories and what the outcome will be.

Disclaimer: I like to think of myself as both smart and a bit lazy! With the help of AI tools, creating my posts has become much easier and more enjoyable. That said, I’ve still done my research and shared my thoughts in my own way. Technology has made it simple to present my ideas clearly, helping you to easily read and understand them without any tricky jargon or expressions.

Sambaza, a Kenyan immigrant, is deeply passionate about podcasting and public speaking. As he delves into the art of podcasting and explores its many facets, he draws on his experiences as a diasporan and Pan-Africanist to create unique content. His dedication has earned him three nominations for Diasporan Podcaster of the Year among others. Additionally, Sambaza actively collaborates with other podcasters and collectives, continuously enhancing his skills as a creator.