Ipei, Ngarei, Nguni…

Today was a slow day at the clinic. Dr. Jim and Nurse Albert went to Nakapiripirit to attend a meeting regarding the malnutrition program we are doing. “Those ones of concern” is the name of the organization sponsoring it, and they had called for a meeting to discuss how the program was going. I stayed behind with the rest of the staff and we saw maybe 25 patients today. I spent the day observing different staff members do their job, unlocking the pharmacy store for more supplies, and just talking with the staff.

The best part of the day though was when Lokwii and JB decided give me my first Karamojong lesson. It started with counting from 1 to 10. Ipei, Ngarei, Nguni, Ngomwon, Ngkan, Ngkanikapei, Ngkanikarei, Ngkanikauni, Ngkanikomwon, Ngtomon. We laughed and laughed as I tried to train my tongue to say these “simple” words that were so challenging to me. I “learned” to count to 20 today, how to ask “Where are you going?”, how to respond when someone asks where I am going, and word like my friend, my brother, my sister, my mother, my father. I think we will have to review this simple lesson several times before my tongue will be used to it. ☺ They had fun, promised to spend any more free time teaching me, and told me it was ok to learn slowly slowly. So here is to the adventure of learning Karamojong. Wadu wadu. Slowly slowly.