village blocks

the 'it takes a village' quilt is coming along nicely. it is composed of quite a few different fabrics - three or four of the fabrics are from my 'africa stash' just waiting for the right project (ironically, the light fabric with the dancing figures is not from my africa stash but rather from the local joann fabrics!) - I'm currently at the 'attachment' stage - which includes handquilting in the middle of the black 'logs.'

after the middle is done I thought I'd stitch along the borders several proverbs from around the world including "the house of the heart is never full" and "it takes a village to raise a child." in researching the origin of the second oft-used proverb, I ran across the following, all some variation of 'it takes a village':

In Lunyoro (Banyoro) there is a proverb that says "Omwana takulila nju emoi," whose literal translation is "A child does not grow up only in a single home."

In Kihaya (Bahaya) there is a saying, "Omwana taba womoi," which translates as "A child belongs not to one parent or home."

In Kijita (Wajita) there is a proverb which says "Omwana ni wa bhone," meaning regardless of a child's biological parent(s) its upbringing belongs to the community.