Introducing Myself

Hello Fellow Sojourner and Reader

Let me introduce myself.

My name is Dingiswayo. My two other names are Allan, my middle one and Sambo, my surname. My parents gave me the name Allan while my grandfather, on my father’s side, gave me the name Dingiswayo. When giving it, he had two options; either Dingiswayo or Zambo. My parents were horrified by Zambo; Zambo Sambo? Out of the question. So they accepted Dingiswayo but didn’t call me by it for some time, preferring to call me Allan still.

When my father went on study scholarship to Australia back in the 70s, and took one-year old me and my mother with him, the neighbours in Canberra, Australia asked, ‘Don't you have an African name for your son?’

My parents answered, ‘We do. It is Dingiswayo.’

The neighbours loved it and refused to call me Allan. From then on I became Dingiswayo. Of course, Dingiswayo was a mouthful for them Australian folks; Dingi was what they could manage.

And that is how I became Dingiswayo Allan Sambo.

I live in Malawi. Do you know where Malawi is? Have you ever heard of it? Well, … hmmh … the Warm Heart of Africa? Ring a bell? No? Okay … uhm … one of the economically poorest countries in the world or something like that? Still no? Uhm … let me see … the country Madonna adopts her kids from? Surely that should ding something in your mind now? If that didn’t, well just go to a map of Africa. Locate Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique; big countries, hard to miss. Now look between those three countries and you will see a narrow stripling of a country with a huge body of water on its east side. And there you have it; Malawi!!!

Anyway, so I live here in Malawi and I love it. How do I describe this country? Peaceful, for one. Sunny, scorching most times. Vividly green during the rainy season though sadly there’s lots of deforestation. Air is always fresh; no smog. But this is not a tourist brochure and I am not selling Malawi. I am just telling you where I live. I was placed here and I accustomed myself to it and I love it.

Anyway, so why am I writing these words and what do I have to offer you, the reader? What should you expect from me? I am afraid I don’t fully know yet. I will just write and you can just read, I guess. Or not. Pretty silly, not so? But I do think I will not be a complete waste of your time, if you can bear with me.

Here’s the thing. Everybody wants to say something and I am no exception. No one wants to listen. I am no exception either! So if I am going to tell you something, it had better be something that will be of value to you. And that is tricky and extremely difficult for me to achieve. So maybe sometimes I will offer you something; sometimes maybe not.

Nevertheless, I feel the world is making so much noise and my voice is struggling to be heard. For just over four decades I have listened, I have read and I have observed; I have fallen and I have gotten up; I have despaired and I have been thrilled; and then I do these things all over again and over again. Now it is time to give back. But my voice is a silent one against a loud, fast, uncaring world. I, nevertheless, will scream my silent voice into the world and someone, somewhere, surely, will hear it. In expression, I will find equilibrium and you might find a kindred soul.

Granted, this has been a somewhat flippant opening but it is not an indication of how I am going to be all the time. Mostly I am contemplative and reflective, trying to convey the one and only serious message of all time for me; the true relevance and meaning of Life. Maybe that is what I can offer you.

Till next time, stay alive.

(You can also see my timeline on Facebook under the name Dingiswayo Allan Sambo.)