Sounds of Africa

The sounds we hear in Africa are very different from the sounds of Austin, Texas. I’ll share some with you.

• Roosters crowing. Every village, even the booming city of Livingstone, has strutting, crowing, roosters. Many of you mistakenly believe that roosters crow at dawn. I can assure you that many roosters are chronometrically challenged. They crow at all hours of the day and night. One night on the medical mission I heard a loud cock-a-doodle-do just as I climbed into my sleeping bag at 9:30. Hearing roosters crowing at 2:00 a.m. and listening to them for hours on end is known to make one hungry. After all, a wringed neck could produce delicious stew, dumplings, or fried drumsticks.
• Singing. Zambians, especially Tongas, are known for their singing ability. The women who work around the houses here sing as they work, so I hear them all day long. On the medical mission we were met at each village by a group of women and children who were singing to greet us. At one village we arrived well after dark, and the greeters had been waiting for hours. The singing during worship services is incredible. Zambians sing in deep, rich harmony and with enthusiasm. Even the young children sing in harmony, and no one has to teach them how to do it!
• Birds. Other than the cooing of doves, the birdsongs are different here. One sounds just like a cuckoo clock. Another has a song that resembles a squeaky metal hinge. Not surprisingly, the bird is named the “go away bird.” The name also refers to this bird’s tendency to warn other animals of danger.
• Dogs barking. If the roosters don’t keep us awake, the dogs will do their best. They gather in groups to howl mournfully at the moon. Other nights they must be using some sort of chain letter format to pass messages all over the mission in urgent and ceaseless barking. The dogs here appear to be a docile lot during the day, but at night we have heard some vicious fighting underneath our window.
• “Eeee.” That’s “yes” in Chitonga. It’s spoken with various inflections, sometimes rising in the middle or at the end.
• “Oho!” I love the way Zambians show surprise or delight with “oho!”
• Cell phones ringing. Yes, there are cell phones at Namwianga. There are almost no land lines, but cell phones are abundant.
• Laughter. Zambians love to laugh, and you can’t be around them without hearing plenty of laughter.