I am Bahago

While in Nigeria I often heard the term "bahago" used when I was around, especially if I was eating or writing something down. Bahago mean "left-handed" in Hausa, and since I am left handed, it is only fitting that they would call me this. Being left handed was the identity that I received during my weeks there. When it came to meals I would try to eat using my right hand but I found it to be a slow going process. This wouldn't have been a huge deal except for the fact that when it was time for the children to go through the line and get food there would be no plates or spoons/forks left so they would go and gather the empty plates from those who had been served first. And that was us, the bature, the guests of honor. In other words, I needed to eat at a normal pace, if not quickly, so the children could take and use my plate. So, I used my left hand.

The girls that I played with most every day that we spent at the EYN loved that I was bahago. One of our last mornings together they came while I was on my porch writing and they wanted to write their names in my journal. After they did that, they wanted to see me write my name. As soon as I began writing I heard laughter and giggling and excited chatter. I was able to recognise that they were calling me bahago. I just laughed and smiled and kept on writing.

Our last evening in Kwarhi, EYN hosted a farewell and thank you dinner for us. After the meal I was asked for my mailing address by one of the gentlemen sitting near me. He knew me not by name, but as the Young and Strong Girl. Later that evening he came visiting at my house to greet me and give me a small gift of groundnuts (peanuts). More importantly he wanted to introduce me to his daughter, whom he introduced as being bahago, like me.

I get the feeling that not many in this culture are left handed. My guess is that if a child begins to show left handed tendencies that they are taught otherwise. For many years that is how it was here in the States as well. My grandmother should have been left handed, but she wasn't allowed. So to meet this child, although briefly, was a very special moment for me. There was also a young man working with us some days who was clearly left handed while he was doing the work. But when it came to meals he ate with his right hand.

In many cultures, the left hand is dirty. It is the hand that is used to clean up after oneself. It is of great offense if you extend your left hand to another person in greeting, or offer something using your left hand. It isn't done. In some senses, the fact that we live in a right handed world is beneficial. At the same time I feel as though people who are right handed don't think about these things. Those of us who are left handed have had to make many adjustments. Honestly I probably don't even know how many adjustments I've made to this right handed world. But I've hade to. And I'm okay with that.

I am bahago. It is a part of who I am. And I love it.