A Smile That Might Well Have Lit Up The World
June 19, 2007, 7:20 pm |
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A personal, historical vignette
By Cainnech Ó Sullibhain
In December 1963, the ship that I served on was carrying some general cargo destined for Tanganyika, East Africa. The freight was part of an aid package for Tanganyika from the Commonwealth Colombo Plan in Britain.
When we headed downriver and anchored beside an old German fort, I knew we were in the wilds. My first thought was to get ashore somehow and reach a place where I might get some decent food, or so I thought. I got ashore by a small dinghy and made my way through the jungle. This area was well known for lions, so I was a bit wary of where I was going. Coming out of a clearing I reached what seemed like a road and was walking to who knows where, when a big lorry came by carrying some goods for the main town. As it happened the African driver of the lorry stopped and wished me: “Jambo Bwana!” (Greetings Sir!), to which I replied “Jambo” in return. I got a lift with him.
The driver of the truck could not speak any English, nor could I speak KiSwahili, so there I sat and looked over the driver, who in turn, looked me over. There were no words expressed, because of the language barrier, so there was a silence. The driver kept looking at me, and after a while, I began to wonder what was going through his mind. When we reached the Town of Mtwara, the driver stopped and beckoned me to get out because I had reached my destination.
I was in a tizzy as to what I could offer this man. I kept thinking. If I offer him money, I might insult him. So, I decided on a different approach. I was wearing a bright yellow shirt with diamond patterns upon it. I just took off the shirt and offered it to the African driver. He looked at me in a way that I had never been looked at before. On his face was the brightest smile that I had ever seen, and even the sun seemed dim compared to his smile. I bid him goodbye and carried on into town.
HEROES OF IRAQ CARD DECK
A few days later, some shipmates told me that an African man had come to see me. The man had some fruit which he would not sell to them. Such peddling was the custom in East Africa, in which Africans made a little extra money. I was totally puzzled by what they told me. Here we were in Mtwara and I could not figure out who knew me, in this part of Africa. When I went to my cabin, there was an African man waiting for me at the door. He wished me Jambo Bwana, and put out his hand with some papayas wrapped in newspaper. I then recognized this man as the African driver that had given me a lift and whom I given my shirt. He was beaming at me, and I smiled back at him. It was the same kind of smile that he gave me the day I offered him my shirt.
Here we were in Africa, total strangers, with a language barrier between us, and yet we had conquered that great hurdle without saying one word. Isn’t that a miracle in itself, I asked myself? Sometimes in life we get an opportunity to build bridges and if we take that chance, we will have somehow crossed the greatest barrier man has even known — of communication without saying one word.
Related: Society, Africa, History, Linguistics