Mkayamba Hunt

Christmas morning

Christmas shopping on the islands can be kind of an adventure, especially if you are looking for something specific.  Unless it is something islanders use all the time, you might not find it—but then again, you might find it. It is that uncertainty that keeps you looking. You go to shop after shop whose walls are stacked high with an odd assortment of goods. You never know what might be sitting in the corner of one of those shops, just collecting dust.

Sometimes the hunt ends in complete disappointment. You can’t find anything like what you wanted. Sometimes it ends in partial disappointment. You find something but it isn’t exactly what you wanted and/or it is more expensive than you wanted and/or it is horribly poor quality.

So it is with some trepidation that we picked names for our secret gift exchange— what kind of adventure would we be in for this year? My friend wanted a traditional island instrument.  A “shaker (square with seeds inside)”. This was a new kind of shopping adventure. Though it is a locally made gift, I had never seen one before. I didn’t know how common they were, and they definitely weren’t going to be sitting in a shop ready to buy. I didn’t even know the name in the local language. Thankfully her latest newsletter had a picture of one, so I showed someone the picture and got the name —mkayamba. 

We don’t have any personal contacts in the traditional music scene and since the whole thing is supposed to be secret, we weren’t supposed to ask our teammates. So we asked our experts—that is the single biggest group of cultural insiders we could gather together in one place— our English Club. Where could we find an mkayamba? There was a quick discussion. They threw out various village names from all over the island where they knew people that played the mkayamba. It seemed like only a handful of people owned one, but if they owned one they probably made it themselves. Finally, one of our quieter club members, spoke up, “I have a friend. He plays the mkayamba. He can make it.” He assured us that he would tell his friend to come to our house.

An mkayamba

The week went by and no friend showed up. Then it was the Christmas party club and in the midst of the busy night we forgot to ask him again about his friend. When I texted him about it— it was not an encouraging response. “I have not found my friend yet I will tell him.” It was only a few days before Christmas and what had seemed like a promising lead now seemed doubtful. We decided to hit the streets. We needed to leave some days to catch the trail of a musician, find the musician, and then find an mkayamba or have it made.

So we asked around the market and the old town. Each time we mentioned the mkayamba, someone predictably started gesturing and playing an imaginary mkayamba. One man in the market called me over and said he would help me find whatever I wanted. When I told him I wanted an mkayamba, he said it would have to be specially ordered, but he would make it happen. I just needed to give him my phone number. It was at this point that I realized he just wanted to cozy up to the white lady. I went and got Tom and suddenly the man wasn’t so interested in helping. A lady on the other side of the market said that there was someone who played an mkayamba in a nearby village. “Just go to where the ladies sell bread in that village and ask people, you’ll find him.” It was a good lead, but we still had shopping to do in town and we had all the kids. So we kept asking. At another shop, they said they would find someone. “Just come back tomorrow or the day after tomorrow and we will have someone with an mkayamba.” This lead was too vague. They couldn’t give us a name of someone who made them. We smiled and said goodbye and went home with our hot and hungry kids.

Christmas morning

The next day had more errands to do, but finally Tom could stay home with the kids. I headed out to follow-up our one solid lead. I took a taxi to the village and got out right where the ladies sold bread. First I bought some bread, then I asked about the mkayamba. The outgoing ladies started to play their imaginary mkayambas. One asked if I knew how to dance to that type of music and started to shake her body in demonstration.  I told her I was looking for a friend, but I wanted to buy one. They yelled to some people and within 5 minutes, a man was being led to me. One woman explained, “Your girlfriend here wants an mkayamba.” I proceeded by giving my own explanation. He said he had one and told me to follow him. He led me down a dirt street away from the main road and deep into a neighborhood. At a tin house surrounded by motorcycle parts, he turned. “Should I follow you?” I asked. “Why not?” was his reply.

He opened the door to the shack and all I saw at first were dismantled motors and parts in  disorganized heaps. He reached over the mess and pulled an mkayamba out from the pile. He then showed me his traditional guitar. He had made them both himself. He was a mechanic but he was also the authority for traditional music for that whole area. I encouraged him that it was important to support and keep traditional music alive. Then after some brief negotiations, I left. I had the mkayamba and he had some unexpected money.

Another island shopping adventure complete!

The next day on Christmas Eve, a man stopped Tom on the street. It was our English club member’s friend. He had the mkayamba ready to sell to us…

PRAYERS ANSWERED

We had a wonderful Christmas with family, friends, food and fun.  It was a great celebration.  We were even blessed to receive some Christmas packages from the States!  Ma Imani continues to have a tough pregnancy with frequent expensive doctor’s visits and the lack of work has made her family’s living situation tough.  So we went to visit her a few days before Christmas with a sack of rice, a pineapple and some lychees.  We had a wonderful visit with her.  She’s doing okay, but continues to be fatigued.  After a nice time of talking, as we got up to leave she revealed to us that it was her birthday—28 years old that day!  So our Christmas present was also a birthday present and God’s special provision for one of his special children! Megan was able to sit down and visit with Bweni.  Her new married situation is strange, but Bweni continues to desire to grow and so we are hopeful for some good to come out of a messy situation.


PRAYERS REQUESTED
We leave for a week of visiting the neighboring island tomorrow morning.  Pray that our travels would go well and that our steps would be guided in what we see and do while we are there.  We are especially looking forward to seeing some old friends who we haven’t seen in a long time.  Pray that we can mutually encourage one another.  Nearly all of our teammates have left the islands to go on their own adventures to other parts of Africa and will not be returning until February.  Pray for their safe arrivals and great learning experiences ahead.