Play time: 05:50 minutes. Recorded in Shiru, Kenya, February 27, 2014.

Kulinda Ing'ombe

Benjamin Egadwa

Lita lyange ni Benjamin Egadwa Okode. Mbola ndi kuli nu uveye na ing'ombe yoyo. Ya watuga hango. Ma ingombe iyi ive nenyoli kimoli na gatugana uve no onyola mu mavele. Ing'ombe iyi liva lyayo na kwaiza kwayo gadukana ing'ombe iyi ujaize vulahi. Uvuhe vulimo vuduki, kuli lusi uve nu wataga mu vunyingi. Ne lwa ing'ombe iyi ni itumikile nuchera. Ma kandi uvike ho ijumbi iyi ya ing'ombe iyi itumikila. Lwa uva nu ukikela. Ujigule vusi vwa tsing'ombe vula. Vumeda ing'ombe mmbele, nu wenya unyole mu mmbele manyingi. Ujilinde vulahi ku ikuhe mmbele. Uvike amatsi shimbi ga iva ni itumikila. Niva yakalya vulimo vulahi yiguti. Ugihe amatsi ni iduka saa saba ukele mmbele. Umanya unyole mmbele sya wenyanga.

Ing'ombe eyo ikwima mmbele dave, ing'ombe iyi ugilinde vulahi. Na kimoli chayo. Umanye cha ing'ombe iyi yenyanga ni lilya zaidi. Ku nu unyole mmbele vulahi. Ulang'wekitsa kimoli mbeele kutula mu ing'ombe iyi. Nu wenyanga ing'ombe iyi na kimoli yichi tsiviluke vulahi. Ing'ombe iyi kadukana inyole ku ihoma yosi dave. Ni inyola ihoma uve nujitibaa. Ujilinde vulahi, kandi ni iduka halugolova ujikele, kandi ilakuha mavere na nu ugilikidza vulahi. Nujiha matsi kandi uve nu umanyi ing'ombe iyi igona havundu halahi. Utaleke igone havundu hadamanu noho musingo, mu malina dave. Nujilindi vulahi, ing'ombe ilakuha mavere sya wenyanga. Ing'ombe ni indahi kujilinda nu uveye nanga yo.

Ing'ombe iyi si ilakwima mmbele dave, kuduka uve nu ukola vulahi, na ujilinde vulahi, halala nuva na tsindi. Ukole ndyo. Vandu vanyingi valinda ing'ombe vulahi dave. Vajihumiza mu limenya lya yo. Na ndyo vuveza vulahi dave. Ing'ombe ive tsa kuli umundu, kigila ing'ombe si imoloma dave. Ive umolomanga ne mulindi wa ing'ombe. Ni wenya ing'ombe yoyo ikuyanze noho ikunale, uve nu ukilinda vulahi, ing'ombe ikumanya tsa vulahi. Iwe nu mulindi wayo. Nu ulinda ing'ombe vulahi, ulakela mu mbere nagandi valombela ichai. Na gandi vatumikila kugulitsa nu unyola mu tsisendi. Na tsisendi tsilakukonya ku vindu, vya wenyanga uve nu ukolanga.

Unyala kuva nu wenyanga utunge ku ifisi ya vana. Ing'ombe ilakuha kutula ku mavele. Wenye ugule ku vindu vya mummba, tsisendi tsilatula ku mmbele. Wenye utumikile ku tsingutsa ing'ombe ilakuha ku mmbele. Na hene halya ne tsingutsa tsitsyo. Ing'ombe ni indahi kugituga nu uveye nanga yo. Ing'ombe si ive na hasara dave chigila ulagulitsa ku utunge ifisi yu mwana, ukole ku igasi yo wenyanga. Kulimila ku hango mu milimi jo uve najo. Nu uguli ku imbolea uve nu utumikila. Ing'ombe ni indahi kugituga hango. Ing'ombe ive na uvukonyi vunyingi ligali hanene hene. Ing'ombe kindu cha nyasaye yalomba. Kumenye nanga cho. Ulola chatula muvulimo, chaiza mumba, kwamenya nacho. Ni kindu kigasu.

Ing'ombe mulinde vulahi. Sya ninda yange hachova yaha. Ndahizila hango, mbila ilwanyi dave. Ma ndola tsikola vulahi. Chigila ni tsikuha mmbele kuyanza ligali. Unyala kunyola vatende vaza kuvagulizila mmbele, kunyola mu kibiriti, kuli maguta ga itaya, maguta ga kudeka ga tsinguza. Ma kulola ing'ombe ni indahi. Kali ing'ombe inyama yayo kulila ku. Nu usinza ilakwambula ha gadinyi. Ing'ombe ni indahi kugituga hango. Ing'ombe eyo kwagiyanza na gatugana kumenye nayo na vugasu. Kuvugule madiku manyingi kugilinda vulahi. Ing'ombe ni ilwala uhenze daktari vwangu akulindile ing'ombe yoyo. Ukalinda vwaha nakole dave. Ulange daktari mwene yadze. Atibe ing'ombe isose. Ing'ombe ni kindu kigasu cho kumenya nacho. Ing'ombe kumenya nayo hango. Ulete ing'ombe imbohu. Ukaleta ing'ombe imbalava hango dave inyala kuduya. Ing'ombe kwagiyanza ikukola vulahi, mihinzi jetu. Ma kulola kuzilile nanga yo vulahi. Ni yago ga ndenyi kummbola nyasaye amulinde.

How to look after a cow

My name is Benjamin Egadwa Okode. And am saying if you have a cow, that you are keeping at home. And this cow has a calf hence you are supposed to be getting milk. You are supposed to feed this cow well and take good care of it. You give it grass and Napier grass should be planted in surplus. It uses it as you milk it. And then you keep salt that it will use. When you will be milking. You buy the flour for cows. To boost the milk production. If you want to get more milk. You take good care of it so that it can give you more milk. You keep water near; that it will use once it has eaten the grass. You give it water, when it 1pm you milk it. You will get milk the way you want.

That cow will not deny you milk, you take good care of this cow and calf. You know what the cow need is more food. You will get enough milk. You will give the calf milk from this cow. The cow and the calf will grow healthy. This cow should not suffer from any infection. If it is infected you treat it. You take good care of it. In the evening you milk it. It will give you milk as you sell it. You give it water and consider where it is sleeping. Ensure it is sleeping in a clean environment. It will give you milk the way you want. It is good to take care of a cow if you own one.

It will not deny you milk, you are supposed to be taking good care of it. You do like that; most people do not take good care of the cow. They affect it and it is not good. The cow does not speak. But you who is speaking should take good care of it. If you want your cow to love you, then you should take good care of it. It knows well that you are taking care of it. If you take good care of it, you will milk it and use the milk for tea. And they sell the milk to get money that will assist you do things that you want to do.

You may want to pay the school fees. The cow will give you from the milk that you sell. You want to buy house equipment; the money will come from the milk. If you want vegetable, you can use milk. It is good to keep a cow; it does not have a loss. You can sell it and pay school fess for your child. And use the money to do the work that you want. To till the land and buy fertilizer for farm consumption. A cow has great profit. God made it so that we can stay with it. It has come out of the bush and we are staying with it. It's a blessing.

You take good care of the cow. The way I am taking care of mine outside there. I am grazing it at home. I do not take it outside, they are doing great. When they give us milk we are happy. You may find when neighbors come we sell the milk to them. We get money to buy, matchbox, paraffin and cooking oil. We find that a cow is a good thing. We even eat the meat from a cow. When you slaughter it. A cow can save you. We love it and we should stay with it well as a blessing. We take more days to take care of it.

When it is sick you look for a doctor, to look after it. Do not wait for someone to do it for you. You call the doctor. He takes good care of it. A cow is a good thing to stay with. You keep a calm cow and not a stubborn one. It can kick you. We like cow since it works well for us. And we prefer to work well with it. That is all I wanted to tell you and may God bless you.