Precious Chidinma Genuine

Nigeria

Becoming tonga

My name is Diongo, and I’m from Dante, a little village where I live with my parents and little sister, Ubibia. Life in my village is not really interesting. We don’t have any fanciful places to visit, and the only school we have is dilapidated. I have always wanted to leave the village and go somewhere more promising. A place called London. I heard that name when two white men visited our village some years ago, they spoke a different language and acted different from us. One of them showed me pictures of places in London, and I knew right from that day that I wanted to visit the city. I learned from the white men that people in London speak a language called English. Only one person could speak English in my village, we call him Tonga. He lived in the city and was a friend of the white men. It was Tonga who taught me to speak English afterwards, because I learned that knowing a people’s language is one of the key ways to bridge intercultural gaps.

I also began to learn to read and write, because I heard that people in London don’t just speak English: they also read it, and write it. It’s a part of them; Tonga calls it culture. Now I know the language and culture of the London people.

What’s left is for Tonga’s white friends to visit our village again, I’ll tell them everything I have learned about their place and people, and sure enough, when they’re going home, they’ll take me to London with them.