Not surprisingly, there is no Mandinka word for Maintenance

Donkey rubble
Originally uploaded by mchughtie.

It was a good showing. Even the chief, rockin’ a purple tie and die Kaftan, showed up for the “sensitization” campaign on school maintenance. The social development fund has established a program that will help communities with the upkeep of their school grounds and buildings, which are often left to be digested by natural forces. While the objective was clear to me, it seemed there was a lot of confusion and disagreement in the crowd. So much of the agenda was impossible to translate that a ten-minute discussion broke out on how to explain “maintenance” in Mandinka. It was easy to react callously. Anyone who has loaned their Mandinka friend a deck of cards and gotten it back with 37 remaining wouldn’t be surprised that no word exists to explain the preservation and care of things to prolong their life. On the other hand, Mandinkas will give you the shirt off their back, quite literally I realized, when I complimented my neighbor on his colorful Kaftan and he proceeded to remove it and hand it to me. In any case, the matter was finally settled when someone at the meeting suggested a proverb to explain the word maintenance. After some murmuring, the crowd agreed emphatically to this, ready? "Lamna Siraha bamba dasitirang mantah baato mumeke wole koyta" which translates to: Rather than say the (koranic verse) that protects you from being eaten by a crocodile, don't go to the river at all. That's safer."