In keeping with the spirit of the New Year I decided to go back to my roots for some words of wisdom. Here are some
African proverbs , poetry and art about women, friendship and motherhood.
Three Flirts: Abstract African Art by Injete ChesoniAfrican Friendship Quotes1. The friends of our friends are our friends. -
Congo2. A friend is someone you share the path with.
- African proverb3. To be without a friend is to be poor indeed.
- Tanzania4. Because friendship is pleasant, we partake of our friend's entertainment; not because we have not enough to eat in our own house.
- African proverb5. Hold a true friend with both hands.
- African proverb6. A friend is someone you share the path with.
- African proverb7. Show me your friend and I will show you your character.
- African proverb8. Sorrow is like a precious treasure, shown only to friends.
- African proverb9. Return to old watering holes for more than water; friends and dreams are there to meet you.
- African proverb10. Between true friends even water drunk together is sweet enough.
- African proverb11. A small house will hold a hundred friends.
- African proverb12. A close friend can become a close enemy.
- African proverb13. Bad friends will prevent you from having good friends.
- GabonSeeds of Life: Abstract African Art by InjeteAfrican Mother Quotes1. The good mother knows what her children will eat.
- Akan Proverb2. Parents give birth to the body of their children, but not always to their characters.
- Ganda Proverb3. Only a mother would carry the child that bites.
- Nigerian Proverb4. Even though the baby monkey appears so ugly it's mother loves it anyway.
- African proverb5. The mother hen does not break its own eggs. -
Swahili Saying, Eastern Africa 6. He that has never traveled thinks that his mother is the only good cook in the world.
- Kenya7. Every beetle is a gazelle in the eyes of its mother.
- African proverb8. A child does not laugh at the ugliness of his mother.
- African proverb9. A mother cannot give birth to something bigger than herself.
- African Proverb 10. Give birth to children and you will be pregnant with worries.
- Namibian Proverb Sunset Dreams: African Art Piece by InjeteAfrican Women Quotes1. If men swear that they want to harm you when you are asleep, you can go to sleep. If women say so, stay awake.
- African proverb2. A woman can hide her love for 40 years, but her disgust and anger not for one day.
- Arab Proverb3. If you educate a man you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman you educate a family (nation)."
- Ghana 4. A home without a woman is like a barn without cattle.
- African proverb5. An old woman is always uneasy when dry bones are mentioned in a proverb.
- African proverb6. A woman is a flower in a garden; her husband is the fence around it.
- Ghana7. You are beautiful, but learn to work, for you cannot eat your beauty.
- Congolese 8. Do not desire a woman with beautiful breasts, if you have no money.
- South African Friends: African Women Art Piece by Injete
On the way to the river
African Womens' Poetry by Injete ChesoniOn the way to the river
We stop and catch up
On the latest village gossip
Two sisters, two girlfriends having a chat
We talk of Amadou
And how he has married wife number two
And of Seydou
And how he flew into a rage over
His wife Paige
And her horrendous cooking
He is now thinking about
kicking her out
All over cooking
We chuckle
Maybe we will give her a lesson or two
On how to prepare a meal for two
That’s sure to please and appease her man
Into letting her stay
If she wants to that is
We chat about Mama Lucy
And her cheating ways
Yesterday she was caught
In Chief Malay’s
Boat
In a compromising position
We whisper and blush
At the thought
Wishing we were as daring and free as she
But as for us
We are tied up by the chains of domesticity
And we must return to our chores
Of fetching water
And washing clothes
And all those other never-ending tasks
The daily life of a wife
Interrupted for a moment
As we live other people's lives
In our daily gossip on the way to the river
