Play time: 02:31 minutes. Recorded in Mago, Kenya, March 19, 2014.

Mukeele Ni Yanyola Mwana

Difena Aseyo

Kale mukere ni yanyola mwana vandu vene yavo valange nende tsitaolo tsia varela mu vana dave. Mukere yarela mwana mu lidali lilye lie ingivu lia yamenya nalio ku muvili. Sasa lidali yilio mukere oyo mwana niyamunielanga ku magulu yatumanga kana kakutsutsu; ka alonditsa mwene oyo na venavo vanyolanga mwana undi naveye mugeli wa atuma. vavola mwana kuvula konyolanga avana shimbe shimbe vuvetsa vulahi mba. mwana wisunda wu utuma. Vatitsanga vatuma kana yako, "tsia undetere lisambu mbihiri mwana mmbi." Na kwalange ho ni kisala kindi chalangangwa livuya. Livuya liene yilio lialange ku nu vugagayo. Chene yicho lwa vavihiranga ku ngunvu mmbi gu mwana chatulitsanga mavi gene yago gosi. Na kindi chalangangwa kitalandalwa; chamanga tundu tumuma ndi. Tundu twene yitwo twalange twakanyu; kutanga tuva tumwamu laki twakenga tumugiha pa. Kandi isambuli yeneyo yalange nu vugagayo. nalwo lwa vakere vene yao vavihilanga mmbi ku tsinguvu mwana na muniere. Vandu vene yavo si vivula musivitali dave; vivula tsa hango ma kandi vavola nonyola mukali mmbere gitsa umudekere indelema ku mbere gike ku mwana anune. Vandu vene yavo valange ndio; vandu vali va kale yavo mu livula liavo kuli vivula avana vavo. Haduchi hene yaho ndio.

When a woman gave birth

Long time ago when a woman gave birth, those people didn't have towels for holding in the babies. A woman used to carry the baby in a cloth that she had on her body. Now if the baby peed on her laps she used to seek assistance from another child who is older than that baby. And they used to look for another clever child that they can send. Those who didn't give birth to babies after a short while they were not lucky. They used to send that child to go and bring a leaf for wiping the pee. We had another stick called "livuya" it had something called "vugagayo" That one removed all the pee from the cloth and the other one was called "kitalandalwa" it had some things that sprouted on it. At first they were black and when they ripe they were red. That is what those women used for removing the pee from the clothes if the child has peed on their clothes. They didn't give birth from hospitals they did it from their homes. They used to say that if a woman gives birth you cook for her, some sort of vegetables called "nderema" so that the breast milk can come down for the child to suck. Those people were like that. That is how people in the past used to give birth to their children. It has reached there.