Oku –nyoia

Anyoia is an Alur delicacy, a fusion of boiled beans and maize. A typical ordinary Alur breakfast or lunch, as far as I have known, would be endowed with this intense synthesis of a meal which is often served with a cup of black tea and in moneyed settings with milk tea. 

The same dish is called ‘githeri’ among some tribes of Kenya and ‘nyoyo’ in another. Whatever name it is called, its ingredients are basically the same staples. Having eaten it from different cultural settings before, you can almost feel the slight variation in the taste; thanks to the cultural differences or may be the names.

Okunyoia, is not a verb in Luganda. In fact nothing like that exists. It however is an imaginative concoction by a friend I shared the said meal with, this time round in Kenya a few weeks ago. The concoction arose from a question on what the process of preparing anyoia is called leading to the invention of the word ‘oku nyoia’.

It was supper time, around 10:00pm in a small village in the western Kenya. We had all washed our hands ready to eat. It was rice served with anyoia this time round. Never had I eaten anyoia as source with rice before; however, the two served independently was familiar taste. What I had to add up was the taste of these two solid foods mixed on one plate.

Amen! And down went the first spoonful of this jumble into my mouth as I meditatively chewed to discern the autonomous and joint taste in my mouth. Not too bad, in fact a good taste it was. The only challenge that I faced in fact was just that I had never had this mix this way before.

As we ate, commentaries on various foods began with funny descriptions of the feelings aroused in ingestion them which all together made the supper time a joyful and exciting one. We talked of Chapatti and how that most men love it; we talked of sukuma wiki, a gracious vegetable delicacy enjoyed with Ugali in Kenya; and we talked of anyoia, its various names as far as any one present at the table knew. 

To my mind came the thoughts that we need to learn to blend and accommodate each other’s differences. Just because another person does a thing a little different from you or looks different shouldn’t divide us. 

The staples that blend us are the same. What differentiates us as cultural values, upbringing, training or languages that we adapt are minor compared to our common heritage and value as human beings.

Accepting those small differences and seeking to enjoy the taste of what makes us human as we mix with other peoples, tribes and nations should be our common goal.