An Evening in the Shade of a Baobab Tree | Jioni Moja kwenye Kivuli cha Mbuyu

I had the very good fortune of hearing the literary legend Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o speak at the Brattle Theatre last night. Having already seen the late Chinua Achebe in lecture at my alma mater eight years ago, Ngũgĩ had long been next on my list. I began reading his works when I was about eight years …

Dance and other disasters | Ngoma na balaa nyingine

Last week I started taking a Senegalese sabar dance class, and today I almost quit. Let me first pause and laugh at the absurdity of that for a moment. Someone once said to me a long time ago, I don’t quite recall who it was, “Sylvia, you give up too easily.” Do I?? Maybe. If …

I’m back! | Nimerudi!

Dear readers, join me for a cup of tea. After yet another long hiatus, today I return to share the reasons behind the pause and the reflections that have arisen from it. In December, I went home to Tanzania for the first time in a very long time; weeks had somehow became months and, before …

There exists no ugly child | Hakuna mtoto aliye mbaya

"Oh, he's so cute!!! Are your other children as cute as this one?" This is an actual question a nurse once asked of a parent, and I found myself in the awkward position of having to translate it. For starters, there is no word -- that I know of -- for "cute" in Swahili, and …

Memorial | Kumbukumbu

The month of June saw its sunset yesterday, and the month of July dawned today. In keeping with the spirit of commemorating ends and beginnings, I'm sharing a poem that came to me in time to be shared at a hospital memorial service I had been asked to do a reading at last week. It …

Beating the Graves | Kuyapiga Makaburi

(I hesitated to translate the book's title, but decided to remain faithful to the bilingual nature of this blog at least for the title of this post.) Now that I've finished reading it from cover to cover, I can share my sentiments about Beating the Graves. I might be slightly biased because of the cover …

Beautiful health | Afya yenye urembo

One thing I never thought I'd say in this lifetime: I taught a makeup and head wrap class! Last Monday, I ran a Look Good, Feel Better® (LGFB) workshop. LGFB is an American Cancer Society program that I've been volunteering with since 2014; we teach women who are undergoing or recently completed cancer therapies (chemotherapy, radiation, surgery) …

How are you doing, pumpkin? | Unaendeleaje, ___ ?

My last post was in March after which I disappeared to take care of business (i.e. school and the MCAT); now that I have completed my post-baccalaureate program, I should be able to post more regularly. If you're still here, thank you for your patience! Children are loved all over the world, but the way that love is shown …

The Telephone Game | Mchezo wa Kuambizana

I have just finished watching this video of tilapia skin being used in Brazil as a temporary graft for burns, and it reminded me of a patient I had in late 2015. She was a little girl, then aged five, from a refugee family that had been resettled in the U.S. just a few weeks before the …

Story 6 | Simulizi 6

When I first got my period, I informed my mother. I was 13 and she didn't explain much, but I had already studied the concept in Health class at school. Even then, I wasn't ready for those cramps! XD I was 11 when I first found out about sex, but it was too late by the time my …