Our Island Grandma

Koko and our son (old photo)

We wanted to introduce you all to our island koko (the island word for grandmother). But first, you need to understand that the house where we rent is part of one plot of land that was split among six sisters. Our koko is the mother of those six sisters. She is originally from the old downtown, but after she had 6 daughters, her husband bought this plot of land. It is customary for parents to give each daughter a house and there just wasn’t enough room in the old town. When the koko and her husband bought this plot of land it was just a field among other fields for growing food, now it is the center of a busy neighborhood without a field in sight.

The koko’s daughters have done well. All have married and had kids. All studied off island where they went on to find jobs and settle down. Her daughters come to visit regularly, but the koko lives alone with a Malagasy woman that has been paid to stay with her. Her daughters’ homes all have renters or distant relatives living in them.

Often we see Koko coming to our back gate. She opens the latch and steps into our house. She always has a warm, calm smile. She greets us and pours out blessing on us with every visit. Often she will take her leave right away,  making her small, slow steps back to her house. Koko doesn’t remember well. She has good days and bad days. Sometimes she will come and greet us and then 15 minutes later, she will come back with the same greetings and claim that she hasn’t seen us at all that day. So sometimes she comes to say hello multiple times a day. We’ve made sure to tell the kids that they need to greet her with the same level of politeness and respect each time, even if they’ve already done it that day. She is very sweet and she loves our kids. Whenever we ask the standard greeting, “Are you well?” She will answer, “When I see you, I’m well,” with an affectionate smile.

Megan testing proverbs with Koko

It just so happens that our team is trying to collect some island proverbs. Our teammate had some that she wanted us to test with friends (to see if they were well-known, if they were said differently and if people understood the meanings). At first I didn’t know if Koko would be a good person to test with. Older people tend to know the old proverbs but depending on how lucid Koko was, I didn’t know how she would do. I told the team I’d try and that very afternoon Koko walked into our kitchen. After our normal greetings, I grabbed my phone to look at the list of proverbs. I started to read the proverbs to her slowly. Most of the time she took over and finished the proverb before I could and then launched into a long explanation of its meaning full of explanatory stories. At first I thought we’d just do a couple. But instead of taking her leave, she asked to sit down and we went through the whole list. Whenever she recognized the proverb her face lit up.

It’s sort of wonderful the way these proverbs connected us.  It gave us some common ground and a feeling of good will.  In between proverbs, she would smile at me and say, “You really want to learn the island language.” It didn’t seem to matter that I’ve only ever spoken the island language with her, learning proverbs (island wisdom) meant I was really learning. We got to the end of the list and Koko asked if there were any more.  She clearly could have kept going—enjoying every minute of it.  But when I said no, she returned to her regular conversation.  She spoke about her family and her daughters and where they were and what they were doing.  Very soon she was repeating information, telling me something she had only just told me. Shortly later, she said her routine leave-taking phrase, “I came to see you all, but now I’m going.” She smiled her normal contented, good-day smile and walked slowly out the back gate to her house. She’ll be back soon. : )

Our son and his lego monuments

PRAYERS ANSWERED
The language project consultant checking went very well.  Most everything cooperated and they made great progress.  We continue to have good conversations with neighbors and friends.  The group that Tom meets with continues and the time is usually fruitful. Pray for dreams and visions and light to shine.  Kids school and homeschool continues to go well.  We never want to take that for granted. 

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Please continue to lift up the friend who was supposed to help with this language check who is still trying to get back to the islands.  Pray that he would be able to travel soon so as to be able to love and support his pregnant wife.  Although things are peaceful now, the situation is still very tenuous.  We hear reports of people being arrested and we even know of a few acquaintances who have fled the country.  Pray that peace and stability could be restored and for humble, servant leadership.  Everyone on our team (including us) is taking a mini-vacation this week.  We are all headed off to different islands to visit friends and find some time to relax.  Pray that the time, though short, could be rejuvenating, and that everyone’s travels would go smoothly.