It takes a village to raise to a child.

Of course, that’s an Americanized form of it (nor is it universal to all African cultures). As with any cross-cultural translation, it’s something of an art form. However, to give the flavor, here are some of the more literal translations of some of the proverbs.

In Lunyoro (Banyoro) there is a proverb that says “Omwana takulila nju emoi,” whose literal translation is “A child does not grow up only in a single home.”

In Kihaya (Bahaya) there is a saying, “Omwana taba womoi,” which translates as “A child belongs not to one parent or home.”

In Kijita (Wajita) there is a proverb which says “Omwana ni wa bhone,” meaning regardless of a child’s biological parent(s) its upbringing belongs to the community.

In Kiswahili the proverb “Asiyefunzwa na mamae hufunzwa na ulimwengu” approximates to the same.

Of course, the Church is supposed to be the community fashioned by the Spirit to meet this hard-wired need in all of us. How do we break it free of our culturally individualistic norms?