A Gonga Nest

“Gonga” is a slang term in Nyanja which means ‘bogus’ or ‘fake’. In a previous blog I shared how the weaver bird female will pick apart a poorly-made nest which the male weaves. This past Sunday as I walked home from church I spied part of a weaver bird nest under a grove of bamboo. A few feet away was the other part. The female bird did not like it and sought to get her message across! It was loosely woven and I could just imagine her saying, “I’m not laying our babies in that thing! This nest is gonga!” Some children gathered around me as I examined the wreckage and I realized I had a great object lesson. After telling them about the weaver birds’ habits I asked them what we can learn from this nest. I only received puzzled expressions and shrugging shoulders. In light of this I shared with them that the nest can teach us to do things right the first time. In a country where things are more often than not built in a poor fashion I was hoping to gently make a point. We shall see~