Art,wit,wisdom of African proverbs from the bukusu of western Kenya

This project was done under the topic Endangered African proverbs Collections: Bukusu (Kenya) proverbs. One of the follow-ups to the African proverbs Project (1993 – 1996) is the collection of African proverbs in languages that are small, not well known or in danger of dying out. These are called “Endangered African Proverbs Collections.” The research has been carried out under the direction of the Hekima College Library in Nairobi, Kenya, the Regional Resource Center in Eastern Africa Bukusu is a language used in Western Kenya. In this collection, Mweseli uses a simple methodology where she renders the proverb in the Bukusu language followed by an English and Swahili translation. She also offers some social-cultural explanations. Following this she says that Bukusu Proverbs can be used to help understand, “Bukusu''s spiritual and moral convictions, historical evidence, and even rules of etiquette”. Some proverbs are difficult to understand and to translate since they either lack meaningful English words for translation or do not match with relevant English words. Such proverbs have been given direct translation.