Representing Indego Africa, I attended the 1st Annual East African Community (EAC) Investment Conference here in Kigali. Little did I know when I signed up that the heads-of-state of the EAC would be in attendance (Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya). President Museveni of Uganda impressed early as a light-hearted character. First, his military attaché (in full dress uniform with beret) would constantly be fetching and giving Museveni things (folders, pens, tissues), then delivering an exceedingly rigid salute to him each time. Museveni also elicited numerous laughs during his speech. Noting that the EAC 
had recently negotiated tariff-free exports with the US and EU on thousands of products, he then rather dryly commented that: “Now we need things to export there!” President Kagame of Rwanda (pictured right, kind of) was considerably more subdued, but he exuded a quiet confidence as every other head-of-state noted Rwanda’s achievement and applauded its organization of this conference in record time. In his speech, and echoing Indego Africa’s mantra, Kagame preached the value of trade and encouraged the attendees to challenge “the aid dependence syndrome.”
Later Thursday evening, I joined a new friend of mine (Michael Grosspietsch, founder of eco-tourism agency New Dawn Associates) to his weekly poker game with some other expat guys: a European Commission consultant, an employee of CHAMP (an AIDS non-profit) and a freelance aviation software engineer. While not much of a gambler, I amassed a nice little pile of chips and survived the high-stakes table to take home 300 RwF (about $0.60). More importantly, I got an education in Rwandan labor law and corporate registration from Michael, which should come in handy when Indego Africa formalizes its status in Rwanda.
In other linguistic news, I marveled this week at the universality of certain English words. When Anaclet and I were explaining complex invoices to women at Covanya, it struck me that Anaclet used the word “OK” a number of times while speaking Kinyarwanda. I know that “OK” is used in German, English and many other languages (the French being hold-outs with their “d’accord” – not catchy at all), but I didn’t expect it in a Bantu language. I don’t know the origin of the word (sounds like a Wikipedia assignment), but it reminded me that linguistics is fascinating.
had recently negotiated tariff-free exports with the US and EU on thousands of products, he then rather dryly commented that: “Now we need things to export there!” President Kagame of Rwanda (pictured right, kind of) was considerably more subdued, but he exuded a quiet confidence as every other head-of-state noted Rwanda’s achievement and applauded its organization of this conference in record time. In his speech, and echoing Indego Africa’s mantra, Kagame preached the value of trade and encouraged the attendees to challenge “the aid dependence syndrome.”Later Thursday evening, I joined a new friend of mine (Michael Grosspietsch, founder of eco-tourism agency New Dawn Associates) to his weekly poker game with some other expat guys: a European Commission consultant, an employee of CHAMP (an AIDS non-profit) and a freelance aviation software engineer. While not much of a gambler, I amassed a nice little pile of chips and survived the high-stakes table to take home 300 RwF (about $0.60). More importantly, I got an education in Rwandan labor law and corporate registration from Michael, which should come in handy when Indego Africa formalizes its status in Rwanda.
In other linguistic news, I marveled this week at the universality of certain English words. When Anaclet and I were explaining complex invoices to women at Covanya, it struck me that Anaclet used the word “OK” a number of times while speaking Kinyarwanda. I know that “OK” is used in German, English and many other languages (the French being hold-outs with their “d’accord” – not catchy at all), but I didn’t expect it in a Bantu language. I don’t know the origin of the word (sounds like a Wikipedia assignment), but it reminded me that linguistics is fascinating.
3 comments:
Must have been a fascinating experience to observe the national leaders in such close proximity. How were you able to gain access?
I imagine a night of poker playing is a good opportunity to pick the brains of the ex-pats and learn information from those that have been there longer than you. I can never remember if a full house beats a flush or the other way around.
What about a word like internet? Does that travel across languages similarly?
Remind me never again to take you up on a suggestion of a "Wikipedia assignment." The entry on OK was exhausting and utterly inconclusive, but not without some interesting info.
The most likely origin of OK - an abbreviation of "oll korrect," stemming from a fad for comical abbreviations in the 1830's and '40's, which actually reminds me a lot of IM and text messaging abbreviations.
But here's the real gem from the Wiki article, a proposed theory on its origin is from the Wolof and Bantu word "waw-kay." From what I can tell from a quick Google search, waw-kay means basically the same thing as OK. Awesome!
And I resent your dismissal of d'accord as not catchy. As a rigidly stubborn francophile, I believe in the core French principles of stubbornness and rigidity, and I will not be swayed by your biases, waw-kay?
Etymologically yours,
Rininger
Ger, that is a nice contribution to the blog there. We're all much smarter for you having done that assignment. What's the next wikipedia assignment? You're on a roll.
Post a Comment