Here in Kenya, people are often called Mama and Baba followed by one of their children’s first names. For instance, I am called Mama Abraham, or Mama Lydia, depending on which child of mine the person addressing me knows. Often at our kids’ school, Rosslyn Academy, the security guard staff will refer to me as one of those two names, as Lydia and Abraham are the children who most recently attended there. But a few weeks before Christmas this year, I was walking onto campus and the head of the transportation department greeted me saying, “Habari, Mama Mbuzi?” At first, I was a bit taken aback at this salutation, because as I quickly shuffled through my “Kiswahili dictionary”, the one inside my brain, I recalled that mbuzi means goats. I wondered, “Why would he call me Mama Goats?” Then, after a moment of thought, I realized the reason for such a name. With Christmas just around the corner, he was referring to a tradition our family started 3 years ago, that of celebrating Christmas with all the security guards and police officers at our kids’ school with Nyama Choma – otherwise known as a goat roast. He was calling me Mama Mbuzi as a term of endearment as he remembered the goat roasts of the previous two years, and in a way indicating his excitement and hopeful anticipation of the upcoming roast this Christmas. I of course responded with a smile and a laugh at my newly given name, telling him how excited we all were to celebrate with them again this year.
Let me share with you a bit about goats here in Kenya. The first Christmas we were here in 2013, I remember going for a run through our neighborhood the week leading up to Christmas and being struck with a new sound to my ears that hadn’t been there in previous weeks: the bleating of goats. At first, I didn’t think much of it, but as Christmas day approached, not only was I hearing the goats bleating, I started seeing them as well, being walked on leads by young children to graze on the common area grass. And it wasn’t just one goat, NO, there were many! Thinking it a bit strange, I didn’t give it too much thought, but just carried on with my run. Until I went running again, this time after Christmas. After completing my run, I realized the sound of bleating had been strangely absent. That’s when it all came together. The goats were for Christmas…not as new pets for these families, as I had previously thought, but for Christmas dinner.
Another story about goats is from our third Christmas in Kenya. It was sometime around Christmas and this year as a family, we had purchased a goat to celebrate like the Kenyans. Learning that the price of goats goes up each day closer it gets to Christmas, we purchased our goat three days before Christmas. Bringing it home, we tied it to our fence and let it graze in our yard, and let me tell you, it ate ANYTHING and EVERYTHING within its reach! On Christmas Eve, Dan and Jon Michael slaughtered the goat and we roasted it over the fire in our yard, enjoying a delicious Christmas Eve meal, Kenyan style. One day around that time, our mechanic Denis was over working on our car. Dan must have been thinking about the slaughtering of the goat because he asked Denis, “Have you ever slaughtered a goat?” To which Denis exclaimed in response, “I wouldn’t be Kenyan if I hadn’t slaughtered a goat!”
From these stories you can probably tell goats are an important part of the culture here in Kenya. They are a symbol of celebration and are often roasted and eaten for special events such as Christmas, graduations, weddings, and other important gatherings. We’ve learned that each tribe has their own unique way of slaughtering them, and even their own way of cooking and eating them. And every part of the goat is eaten, even the intestines and head.
A few weeks before Christmas, the goat shepherds will transport their goats to Nairobi for sale. That first Christmas that we got one, Dan asked a Kenyan friend from work to accompany him for the purchase. They drove the Land Cruiser to the area where goats are sold and bought the goat right alongside the road. Dan brought the goat home to live in our yard for a few days before Christmas. Now, after getting goats each Christmas since, Dan usually takes one of our kids with him to make the purchase…and now we usually buy them the day we plan to slaughter them, as we learned those first two years just how destructive they can be on the yard. They really do eat anything and everything!
This year, with Covid restrictions placed on the school by the government, we weren’t sure we would be able to have the traditional goat roast together with the Rosslyn guards. But Dan contacted the school officials early so we could confirm it was still possible and set the date. We were delighted to hear that we could proceed with the celebration, even with Covid restrictions. It is something we and the guards look forward to each year.
So on December 23rd, with all of our children home for Christmas, we had our third annual Christmas goat roast with the Rosslyn Academy security guards and police officers. Dan, Jon Michael, and his girlfriend, Anna, went early in the morning to buy the goats alongside the road.
After purchasing them, they loaded them up in the Land Cruiser and brought them back to the school.
After arriving back at Rosslyn, they and the guards proceeded to slaughter the goats, skin them and prepare them for the roasting.
The other kids and I showed up at school a little later in the morning with all the other food supplies: the kale for the sukumawiki, the maize meal for the ugali, the tomatoes, onions, peppers, lemons and salt for the kachumbari and sodas to drink.
We spent the morning roasting and boiling the goats, cooking the ugali and sukumawiki, and chopping mountains of onions, peppers and tomatoes for the kachumbari.
We gathered at around 1pm when all the food was prepared. Dan shared with the guards how much we appreciate their sacrifice of working hard to keep the school safe each day of the year. Then, after praying together we sat down to enjoy a lovely Nyama Choma meal with our friends who are so dedicated to our school.
With satisfied stomachs and content hearts from a nice time spent together eating, fellowshiping, and celebrating Christmas, Dan and I stood, addressing all of the guards and police officers with a ‘Vote of Thanks’, again conveying how thankful we are for the work they do for our school and how they represent the school so well in their dedication and hard work. The head of security in turn gave us a ‘Vote of Thanks’ for the meal we had just enjoyed together. It was a wonderful day of Christmas celebrations with these precious friends of ours.
A few days after the New Year, Dan was surprised to receive a text from William, the head of security. He told Dan that the guards had something for him at the school, and that he could pass by the main gate whenever was convenient to get it. When the text arrived, Lydia, Dan and I were the only ones home preparing dinner, so while the chili was simmering on the stove, we walked up to the school. We greeted our friend Julius, one of the guards, who was happy to see us. After chatting for a bit, we told him that William had instructed us to come by. A big smile quickly covered his face…shielded by his mask, of course…and directing us into the security room, he pointed to the other side of the counter where two beautifully carved animals sat. He explained that they were a gift the guards had organized to thank us for the Christmas celebration together. The larger carving was a rhino, the smaller one an elephant, both carved with great detail. On the back of the Rhino was tacked a laminated paper saying, “APPRECIATION FROM ROSSLYN SECURITY/D.P.U. OFFICERS TO DAN HALVORSON FAMILY”. To say that we were surprised and overwhelmed with this beautiful gift is an understatement! We could not believe they had these made for us, beautifully carved by a gardener who works at Rosslyn. We thanked them over and over, took a few photos with the guards on duty and then paraded our way down the road to our house, proudly carrying these beautiful gifts with us!
What a precious time we had with these brothers in Christ, celebrating Christmas together! If the Lord allows, this Mama Mbuzi and the whole family excitedly anticipates celebrating Christmas with nyama choma again with them next year.
~Lesli
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