MEMBERS & VISITORS
Obruni, Mzungu, Whatever…
When my wife and I first landed in Ghana in 1971, as African Americans we were completely baffled as to why Ghanaians referred to both of us as Obruni, the term used for white people. Since I was lighter skinned than my wife maybe that was a reasonable “mistake”. But… my wife was dark skinned like other Ghanaians. Our dress, clothing, carriage, and speech gave us away as not being native born in Ghana. Oh well! We still had so many loving friends that it didn’t matter after a while what we were called. In our shoes, you’d probably feel the same.
When I arrived in Kenya in 2020 I was again referred to as a white foreigner known as a mzungu. Oh well… In the intervening years those who have come to know me well, including my ancestral background, still refer to me as mzungu. There are so many cultural nuances to understand that I’ll prolly be working at it until the day I croak. Africa is my full time home now and I’m not looking back because I’m a free citizen of the world.
Prof. Oku Singer, Mechanical/Solar Engineer
(21)