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7/30/2019 Ensi News: new help from Germany, Ensi children performance results, what's in an African name?
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Ensi
News
Children from five primary
schools: Aliso, Gerhard
Hauptmann, Kettler, Over-
berger and Pestalozzi from
Bergkamen, located in the
north west of Germany,
donated funds to help a
lucky girl stay in education.
This means that from Janu-
ary 2013, another deservingchild will be assured of an
education. This will bring
to 50, the number of chil-
dren and youth supported
by kind benefactors through
Ensi.
Ensi sent a message
of appreciation for the chil-
dren’s kindness through Ms.
Hannelore Nierhoff of the
cultural affairs department
of Bergkamen. The funds
Five schools in Bergkamen, Germany support Ensi child
were channeled through
Adyeri who runs ASK, an
African art and craft shop
in nearby Dortmund. He is
often called upon to talk
about African culture in
local schools.
Most of the sup-
port for Ensi comes from
well-wishers in Germany
and The Netherlands. Our
organization also gets dona-
tions from Canada, Kenya,
Switzerland, Uganda and
the United States of Ameri-
ca. We are most grateful for
this kind support.
Zebras, monkeys and women: What's in a name? by Wandia Kagondu Seaforth
www.ensiwomen.org
Contents
2—What’s in a name?
3—Performance: primary
4—Performance: secondary
―How come there are so
many Wandias?" The ques-
tion came from a seven year old during a meeting of my
extended family. The little
girl had heard the name re- peated no less than six times
with six different people. At
her age, she would have been unlikely to notice all
the duplicated names, but
probably noticed the Wan-
dia because she sat next to
one. The answer to thequestion is a bit complicat-
ed for a seven year old.
In a Kikuyu family,there is a very definite nam-
ing structure. Thus your
name is pre-determined
before you exit the comfort
of your mother’s womb.Children are named alter-
nately after members of the
father's and mother's family
starting with the two sets of
grandparents. Once the
grandparents have been
"born" which is how the
Kikuyu term the re-
incarnations of names, sib-
lings from both sides are
named, following their or-der of birth. Naturally, who
gets to be "born" dependson how many children a
couple has and the distribu-
tion of boys and girls. Theformula can get complicat-
ed - for example, my moth-
er, who had only two sib-lings, both male. When she
went on to produce eight
offspring, six of them girls,she ran out of female names
from her side of the family.The solution was to find out
what would have been the
names of her sisters had she
had any. From my father
side, there was no shortage
of names because he had
many brothers and sisters.
I was named after my fa-ther’s eldest sister, who was
named after their grand-
To support Ensi or sponsor
a child, contact us at
[email protected] in this issue of Ensi News
feature art from ASK
7/30/2019 Ensi News: new help from Germany, Ensi children performance results, what's in an African name?
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came back. A girl in similar circumstances could be called
"Gachoki or Njoki" which female versions of Muchoki.
Not everybody follows this pattern, some parents deciding
to just name whoever would have been in line if there had
not been the intervening death.
Some names are related to trades and daily activi-ties. This is in common with many other cultures world-
wide, and often reflects the traditional gender division of
labour. For example, the following are names given to
men. Murimi—tiller of land, Murithi—keeper of livestock,Muturi—metal smith, Muguimi—hunter, Muthui—honey
gatherer.
Similar names for women are not very many - two
come to mind; Murugi—guess what, it means the cook,
and Mukami—the one who milks the cows. The Kikuyu names that really intrigue me are those
that correspond to the names of animals. With very
few exceptions, these are names given to men.
Ndegwa—Bull
Mbogo—Buffalo
Ngari—Leopard
Nduiga—Giraffe
Njogu—Elephant Ngatia—Lion
Muruthi—another name for lion
Njoka—Snake (generic name for snake) Njiru—Colobus monkey
Njau—Calf Kagondu—Lamb
Nderi—Eagle
Munyi—Rhino Nganga—Guinea fowl
Women’s names, I can think of only three:
Wambui—Zebra
Ngima—a species of monkey
Theru—a species of monkey
I have turned over in my head many possible expla-
nations for this distribution of names but no con-
vincing explanation emerges. One plausible explanation is
as follows: most of the animals represented in men’s
names denote strength and force - based on physical sizeor other attributes. For the women's names, Ngima and
Theru are two species of rather noisy monkey with highlydeveloped social organization. I am very sure that thishighly developed social organization is attributed to wom-
en. As for Wambui, such a beautiful animal as a zebra can
only give its name to women... but then giraffes, guinea
fowls and colobus monkeys are also quite colorful, so why
is only the zebra’s beauty compared to women’s? One of my friends who comes from a culture that counts a large
behind as one of the attributes of a beautiful woman reck-
ons that this is why Wambui is a woman's name! Well,
you can come up with your own explanation.
… Zebras, monkeys and women: What's in a name? by Wandia Kagondu Seaforth mother. You can imagine that in an extended family meet-
ing, there would be many generations of Wandias, thanks to
this name-giving formula.
How my great grandmother came by the name
Wandia is an interesting story. It was not her grandmother’s
name as you would expect. The story is that she was taken
from a place called Ndia during one of the numerous inter -
ethnic wars that were common about 200 years ago. During
these wars, the winner always took women and cattle as part
of the spoils of war. When my great grandmother was
brought to our place, they named her Wandia. The "Wa"denotes "of" so the name means ―the woman from Ndia.‖ It
is said she was quite happy with my great grandfather. To-
gether they had several children, and thus the name Wandia
was reproduced in our family.
As you can see, Kikuyu names are generally not
assigned for their meaning. However, this is not to say that
they do not have meanings. The name Mumbi is a woman’sname, and very special. In Kikuyu mythology and spirituali-
ty, Mumbi was the first woman and wife to Gikuyu. In ef-fect, she is the mother of all Kikuyus. The name comes from
the verb ―kumba‖ which means to create. Thus it is one of
the attributes of God – Ngai Mumbi means God the creator.It is also the name for a maker of pottery, and interestingly
enough, the name for a uterus is nyungu, which is the samename for a clay pot."
Cases where a name may be given for the meaning
include a child born immediately after one that died. If a boy child dies and the first child born afterwards is a boy, he
could be named "Kariuki or Muriuki" - literally means the
one that resurrected, or "Muchoki" –meaning the one that
2 | Ensi Newswww.ensiwomen.org
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3 | Ensi News How did Ensi children perform last term?
Results for Primary 1-3 in order of performance within each grade.
Results for Primary 4-7 in order of performance within each grade.
Last Name Class English Math ScienceSocial
Studies
Average
mark
Position
in class
Children
in class
Mugume Mike Primary 4 70 88 72 83 78 1 113
Katusabe Beatice Primary 4 71 78 78 82 77 5 81
Namara Joan Primary 4 58 67 71 69 66 8 69
Linda Julian Primary 4 74 75 68 45 66 20 84
Tusiime Elizabeth Primary 4 56 54 64 53 57 11 159
Mutegeki Brian Primary 4 52 55 57 49 53
Katusiime Sarah Primary 4 30 60 24 33 37 120
Kobusinge Joan Primary 4 29 37 35 20 30 72 82
Nyaika Elly Primary 5 85 86 85 85 85 1 105
Kembabazi Bridget Primary 5 82 87 79 92 85 2
Kamukama Amuza Primary 5 73 78 67 81 75 2 105
Ndikuwa Brenda Primary 5 75 77 70 73 74 4 105
Atukunda Derrick Primary 5 76 67 86 63 73 6 39
Komuntale Christine Primary 5 74 66 64 86 73 3 126
Kisembo Stephen Primary 5 65 82 65 68 70 2 54
Katinisa Kate Primary 5 58 54 70 63 61 10 69
Omach Emmanuel Primary 5 56 65 50 70 60 7 123
Karungi Tracy Primary 5 79 44 40 60 56 14 126
Kemigisa Joy Primary 5 63 57 53 43 9 123
Kahunde Gloria Primary 5 31 23 18 35 27 72 112
Kamayenje Marvin Primary 6 74 70 81 80 76 3 94
Katwesiime Rose Primary 6 64 78 93 70 76 3 44
Mwijukya Patrick Primary 6 58 59 67 60 61 5 55
Tugumye Grace Primary 7 85 78 88 84 84 1 77
Agondeze Ronald Primary 7 82 80 79 93 84 1 46
Murungi Ismail Primary 7 65 74 69 66 69
Kawino Rashida Primary 7 67 68 62 65 66
Last N ame Class Composition Crafts English MathPhyical
EducationReading
Religious
EducationScience Writing
Average
mark
Position
in class
Children
in class
Kasemiire Irene P 2 85 90 86 100 90 2 83
Kansiime Racheal P 2 86 76 70 75 68 90 78 10 45
Kamukugize Maureen P 3 70 90 88 80 86 96 85 4 92
Kobusinge Monica P 3 60 66 70 80 76 82 72
Kayesu Scovia P 3 82 78 85 50 75 70 62 72
Kemigisa Nahiya P 3 65 18 42 70 25 48 30 43
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4 | Ensi News How did Ensi children perform last term?
Senior Secondary 1-4 by performance within each grade; list shown as two tables due to large number of subjects.
One student, Kugonza Edith, did not attend school during the second term due to an eye illness
Senior Secondary 5-6 by performance. Students who pass Senior 6 examinations are eligible to go to university.
Last Name Class HistoryHome
EconomicsLiterature Math Physics
Religious
EducationSwahili
Technical
Drawing
Average
Mark
Position
in class
Children
in class
Wamara Deborah Senior1 81 87 81 82 80
Atugonza Evelyne Senior1 79 82 79 91 78 2 84
Murungi Anthony Senior1 76 79 93 59 86 73 76
Kyahura Micheal Senior1 67 62 67 85 66 7 84
Night Grace Senior1 75 60 68 57 52 65
Nkwanzi Proscovia Senior1 53 46 70 60 63 69 66 63 18 76
Twesige Robert Senior1 43 55 59 86 62 8 402
Nabwire Yvonne Senior1 63 50 40 43 71 45 103 310
Kirungi Fred Senior2 81 45 81 66 83 81 66 7 290
Ssejengo James Senior3 44 51 43 81 56
Nyakahuma Fred Senior4 91 23 70 54
Last Name Class Art Economics EntrepreneurshipGeneral
Paper Geography History
Religious
Education
Average
mark
Asaba Robert Senior 6 41 57 66 50 60 55 Nyamugwa Bernard Senior 6 59 41 48 47 50 49
Secondary School results — term 2 of 2012
Last Name Class Accounts Agriculture Art Biology ChemistryComputer
StudiesCommerce English Entrepreneurship French Geography
Wamara Deborah Senior1 92 97 81 71 50 81
Atugonza Evelyne Senior1 77 94 74 69 56 78
Murungi Anthony Senior1 74 62 72 85 65 51 97 87
Kyahura Micheal Senior1 60 80 56 63 63 61Night Grace Senior1 75 48 49 54 80 83 76 73 60 65
Nkwanzi Proscovia Senior1 59 71 68 58 68 62 64
Twesige Robert Senior1 58 59 64 74 59
Nabwire Yvonne Senior1 25 44 30 36 60 24 78 14 50
Kirungi Fred Senior2 73 66 44 63 67 41 63 43 86
Ssejengo James Senior3 56 65 54 54
Nyakahuma Fred Senior4 78 68 34 52 27 43