Greeting others is a way of life here in Africa. It is one of the customs that is difficult for many of us from the west to adapt to. But sitting with Josephine on the veranda of her house and watching the interactions, I learned a bit of the value of it.
Josephine greeted every person who passed by, whether they were footing, on a bicycle or boda. The person would always answer back. Sometimes there was a prolonged interchange as the mover continued on their journey. Sometimes Josephine went to the road and they stopped for a longer conversation. This happened all day long, with some people greeted numerous times as they passed by going to work, returning home for lunch, returning to work and then returning home in the evening. Even children passing by the house or on the road might stop to greet, some kneeling to greet as well, a custom for young ladies and children when greeting an old person (like me and Josephine).
One morning she greeted over 100 people, had conversations with more than 12 of them and showed off photos to more than 10 students – all this before 9:30, when she left to go visit a niece who was ill.
One day, her greeting brought into the yard a young woman selling chapatis, which we decided to purchase. Another morning, she learned the vendor with the big box on his bicycle has mandazi (like square heavy cake donuts). So she asked for the passerby to call the vendor back. He came and we purchased snacks for 2 days, a bag of mandazi and one of mahamri (my favorite Kenyan style yeasted snack bread).
