Tales from the Skies: King of the Birds

A Story from Southern Africa

Main Characters: Eagle, Owl, Kori Bustard, Warbler

"*Gogo?" Thobeka was the first to break the silence around the fire that night.

Gogo looked at the most curious of her grandchildren with a broad smile.

"Yes, my dear one," she answered.

“Gogo, I know that Bhubesi the Mighty Lion, is king of all the land animals. Is he also king of the birds?”

"Ah, that is an interesting question, Thobeka." 

The children sensed a story coming and drew even closer together. 

"You are right when you say that Bhubesi the Lion is the king of all the land animals. 

“As for the birds, well, I will have to tell you about the time they decided to have a leader of their own . . . “

“Kwasuka sukela. . . ." Once upon a time ...

Some time after God the Creator had finished making the beasts of the sea, land, sky, and was busy putting the finishing touch to His work by creating Humans, the great Nkwazi (nkwah'-zee) the Eagle called a meeting of all the birds. And they came: from the Flamingo to the Weaver, from the Warbler to the Owl, they all came.

"Ah-hem," Nkwazi the Eagle began by clearing his throat. The chatter died down as everyone turned their gaze on the magnificent eagle.

"I have asked you all to be here for a very important reason. As you all know, the Great Bhubesi the Lion is the king of all the beasts of the land. 

“But he dare not speak for us, the great winged creatures of the air!” Nkwazi the Eagle continued, “It is therefore my suggestion that we choose from among us a bird to be our leader!" 

The chattering resumed as the birds turned to one another to discuss the idea. 

"Ah-hem!" Nkwazi the Eagle cleared his throat once more; he waited until he had the attention of all present. 

"As I am the most majestic and regal bird present, I suggest that I, Nkwazi the great Eagle, should be chosen as the King of the Birds! No, I insist that I will be!"

A great deal of mumbling began from all parts of the gathering. Then one voice rose above the others, demanding attention.

"Yes, Nkwazi, you are indeed majestic." It was the voice of sKhova (skoh'-vah) the Owl. 

"However, I actually think that I should be the king of the winged creatures. You see, I have the largest eyes of any of the birds. I can see everything that happens, and that makes me very wise. It is wisdom we need in a leader more than stateliness."

Again, a low murmur went through the crowd until a third voice demanded attention. 

"I accept sKhova's wisdom and Nkwazi's regal bearing. However, I would propose that I should be chosen as king of the birds." 

Ngqithi (ng*ee'-tee) the Kori Bustard walked to the centre of the circle as he spoke. "I am the largest of all the winged kingdom. Certainly strength is an important factor in leadership?!"

All the birds began to speak at once. Some threw their support behind Nkwazi the Eagle, others were convinced sKhova the Owl should be the king, while others preferred the Kori Bustard.

Finally, after a long period of arguing, a little voice was heard rising above the confusion.

"Excuse me. Excuse me, please!" It was Ncede (n~ay'-day) the tiny Warbler. He was so small and hardly noticeable that he was easily overlooked. 

Finally, the crowd became silent and allowed the little bird to have his say. 

"If we are going to choose a king of the birds, well, I think it should me!" Ncede the Warbler declared.

Everyone broke into laughter. Surely, this tiny warbler was joking?! Ncede the Warbler, King of the Birds! Unthinkable! Silly creature for even thinking about it!

What, the audacity of this little thing! What arrogance! What rudeness, cheekiness and disrespect!

"And what reason would you give for asking us to choose you as our king?" asked Nkwazi the Eagle, staring into Ncede the Warbler's eyes.

"Well," began Ncede the Warbler, "no real reason, other than to say that I should be given every bit as much opportunity as anyone else!"

While they laughed at Ncede the Warbler's suggestion, all the same, the assembly was impressed with the little fellow's courage!

"What we need is a contest!" Nkwazi the Eagle suggested. "We will have a contest to see who is fit to be our king!" Everyone seemed to like this idea.

It was agreed that on the first day after the full moon, all the birds would gather again. They would meet on the open field when the sun was high in the sky.

When the sun touched the tallest tip of the mountain, the birds would take off and become airborne. The bird who could then fly the highest and touch the hand of God would become the king.

On the appointed day the birds assembled. Patiently, they watched the sun make its way down from the sky. 

At the exact moment when the sun touched the tallest peak of the mountain, all the birds rose into the air. 

It was a magnificent sight to see!

Now, little Ncede the Warbler was there. He was determined to prove that he had just as much right as anyone else to the throne and with it, title of King of the Birds. 

But, he also knew that his little wings could not lift him very high and far. He had therefore come up with a special plan. 

Just before the birds took off, Ncede the Warbler silently crept underneath the wing of the mighty Nkwazi the Eagle. He carefully pushed his way deep down into Nkwazi the Eagle's largest feathers, who was so busy concentrating on the descent of the sun, he didn't feel a thing.

Higher and higher the birds soared. The little ones fell out of the race after only a short distance and, slowly, they drifted back down to earth to watch the bigger and fitter ones. 

Before long, only three of the birds remained in the contest. 

Nkwazi the Eagle, sKhova the Owl and Ngqithi the Kori Bustard fought to see who would claim the prize, and with it, the title of King of the Birds. 

They were so tired, but they pushed on, higher and higher. The strain was too much for sKhova the Owl, and with a resigned "Hoo-hoo," he dived back towards firm ground. 

Now, it was Nkwazi the Eagle and Ngqithi the Kori Bustard. 

Up and up they went, closer and closer to the hand of God. But no matter how much he tried, the feat was too much for the heavy Kori Bustard, the largest of the birds. 

After a final effort with his mighty wings, Kori Bustard called out to Nkwazi the Eagle: "Ah, my friend, it seems you are the winner. I can go no further."

This admission seemed to temporarily strengthen the very tired Nkwazi the Eagle, who gathered his last bit of strength and climbed beyond Ngqithi the Kori Bustard.

"Wheeeee-whee-whee!" The victorious sound of Nkwazi the Eagle's call filled the sky.

“Not so fast, Nkwazi!”, chirped Ncede the Warbler, as he shot out from under the mighty bird’s wing where he had been hiding, “you have not won yet!”

And with that, Ncede the Warbler rose above Nkwazi the Eagle towards the hand of God.

No matter how hard he tried, Nkwazi the Eagle just didn't have the strength left to climb any higher. With a groan, Nkwazi the Eagle allowed himself to begin gliding down to earth.

Now, in the meantime, all the birds below had watched what was taking place and were annoyed by Ncede the Warbler's trickery, and as he returned to earth, he did not find the royal welcome he had expected.

Instead, every bird in the kingdom was ready to pluck the feathers from little Ncede the Warbler's back. But, the quick little bird saw their anger and quickly flew into a deserted snake hole.

"Come out, Ncede!" snapped Ngqithi the Kori Bustard. "Come out and get the prize, or rather the punishment, that you deserve!"

"Yes!" echoed all the other birds. "Come on, Ncede! Where's your brave face now?"

But Ncede the Warbler stayed hidden. 

The birds guarded the hole until long after sunset, waiting for Ncede the Warbler to show his face. All through the night they waited, thinking and hoping that Ncede the Warbler had to come out for food or water soon. In the morning, Ncede the Warbler had still not appeared.

"Listen," said Nkwazi the Eagle, "I am getting hungry. We do not all need to guard the hole. I suggest we take turns until the little joker decides to come out!"

Everyone agreed, most of them terribly tired by now.

"I am not yet tired nor hungry," volunteered sKhova the Owl. "I do not mind taking the first watch. Just make sure that someone comes back in an hour or so to take over from me!"

A quick roster was drawn up and everyone, except sKhova the Owl, went off to sleep or hunt for food. sKhova the Owl was used to being still and waiting for his prey. He waited and waited for what seemed to him forever. 

Finally, he decided to close just one of his eyes. 

"After all," he thought, "even one of my eyes is bigger than both eyes on any other bird and can see better!” sKhova the Owl closed his right eye and peered into the dark hole with his left eye. 

Several minutes later, sKhova the Owl decided to switch and so he opened the right eye and closed the left. This went on for quite a while, until one time sKhova the Owl forgot to open the right eye when he closed the left!

There he was, both eyes closed! And he fell fast asleep.

Now, this was the moment Ncede the Warbler had been waiting for, and before the chance was lost, he shot out of the hole and disappeared into the forest. 

Nkwazi the Eagle, who was on his way to take over from sKhova the Owl, saw the little creature escape, and cried out. 

He went to sKhova the Owl and found the bird in a deep sleep.

"Wake up, you fool!" Nkwazi the Eagle shouted at sKhova the Owl. "You fell asleep and Ncede the Warbler escaped!"

Well, sKhova the Owl was so embarrassed by his mistake that, to this day he sleeps during the day and hunts at night so that none of the other birds will remind and tease him about having been caught sleeping on the job. 

As for Ncede the Warbler, he hides out in the forest, flittering from here to there, never stopping anywhere long enough to get caught.

"So, Gogo," Thobeka asked, when several moments of silence had passed, "who then became the king of the birds?"

"That, my child," Gogo looked at her grand-daughter with a smile, "no one knows. I think they are arguing to this day about the position!"

*Gogo is the affectionate name for ‘Granma’ in the isiZulu and most languages in South Africa.

Notes: * = "q" in Zulu is a "click" sound made by drawing the tongue down sharply from the palate. ~ = "c" in Zulu is also a click sound. It is the sound made when the tip of the tongue is drawn away from the back of the front teeth. Similar to the click of exasperation made in most European countries.

http://www.softschools.com/facts/animals/kori_bustard_facts/916/

The kori bustard (Ardeotis kori) is the largest flying bird native to Africa. It is a member of the bustard family, which all belong to the order Otidiformes and are restricted in distribution to the Old World. It is one of the four species (ranging from Africa to India to Australia) in the large-bodied Ardeotis genus. In fact, the male kori bustard may be the heaviest living animal capable of flight.

This species, like most bustards, is a ground-dwelling bird and an opportunistic omnivore. Male kori bustards, which can be more than twice as heavy as the female, attempt to breed with as many females as possible and then take no part in the raising of the young. The nest is a shallow hollow in the earth, often disguised by nearby obstructive objects such as trees.

The African yellow warbler is a medium sized warbler in which the whole of the upperparts and tail are yellowish-brown, with a slightly browner crown and yellower rump. The wings have brown feathers edged with yellow. The underparts are bright yellow with an olive wash on the sides of the breast, flanks and lower belly. The bill is pale on the upper mandible and blackish on the lower and the legs are blackish. Females have duller underparts, the juvenile are similar to the males but are buffier. The total length is 13 cm and the birds weigh between 10g and 15g

Agri Aware’s Dig In! - the Story of Agriculture in Africa?

In November, 2020, Agri Aware launched its latest edition of “Dig In! Learning about Life on the Farm and in the Countryside” [in Ireland].

The resource has been designed and produced for Primary School Teachers, and the four modules are targeted at pupils from infants (junior and senior) to sixth classes. 

Module 1 is aimed at Infant classes pupils: four and five year-olds respectively.

Module 2 is targeted at pupils in first and second classes aged six and seven years respectively.

A page on ‘Food security’, the Lesson objectives of which states: “To introduce students to the concept of food security”. 

The page also points to strands in three subjects in the Primary Curriculum of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA): Science, Geography and SPHE, which links can be made, and a list of the following keywords: hunger, food, healthy, weather, extreme, Africa, Asia, aid.

Additionally, a page and section titled The story of agriculture in Africa can be found on page 40 of Module 1 (please, see below for photo shots of two pages from the resource).

It must be clarified that the lesson about The story of agriculture in Africa is not the work of Agri Aware, but was contributed by an organisation which is identified on the relevant pages in the four modules.

This commentary and analysis also accepts, and is not intended to question, Agri Aware’s bona fides in including the lesson on African agriculture in Dig In!

The lesson on The story of agriculture in Africa raises questions and issues, including the following:

• How accurate is the information about agriculture in Africa which is presented?
  
• The target ages the information is aimed at
• Whether this is the right way to introduce the topic to Irish children

The lesson begins with an answer to the question: What is food security?

This is followed by the question: Does every person have enough food?

In answering this, children are told that in other parts of the world, people have less food to eat, in contrast to Ireland where “people have plenty of food to eat”.

Introducing the term ‘developing world / countries’, this section attempts to explain the link between hunger, nutrition and agriculture.

Weather is also discussed in terms of extreme, harsh conditions: drought or flash flooding, which are given as the reasons for food shortages.

The final sentence under this heading is as follows: “Farming in developing countries is mainly used to feed the farmer’s own family and many small farmers can be left without food when harsh weather conditions arise.”

Module 1: Junior and Senior Infants (page 38)

The story of agriculture in Africa begins with the information below:

"Farming in Africa is tough. Hot climate, poor soils and small plots that must be farmed with very basic hand-tools make it difficult for families to make a living from the land. But they must, because more people in Africa depend on farming for their survival. Did you know that nearly 70% of people in Africa live on small farms?" Module 1: Junior and Senior Infants (page 40)

With regards to the information contained in The story of agriculture in Africa, and the preceding section, it is difficult to imagine how four and five year-olds can be expected to get their heads around information on crops totally removed from their personal everyday experience, as well as the concepts discussed. Also, 70% of how many people in Africa, since there is no reference to the population of the continent?

The NCCA specifies that introducing a non-European context (which would include Africa) should start from third class (eight year-olds), with some units to be taught in fifth and sixth classes (ten and eleven year-olds) only.

Perhaps, the NCCA’s rationale can also be explained by the two quotes in the box below?

The brief information below and images give an idea of agriculture and food-related matters in a school setting in an African context.

Providing children with the right information during their early childhood education, especially about the rest of the world outside their own country, is very important for their future role in society.

Textbooks like those below are examples of what fellow pupils in an African country would use to learn about agriculture and agricultural science.

The next blogpost on this topic will look at food and farming in Africa.

In the meantime, this News2day clip of a visit to a Primary School in Dublin on World Food Day 2019 might also be of interest to teachers and pupils?

Farms for Climate, Education, Nutrition, and Skills

True Size of Continents and Countries

Ever Wondered How Big Or Small Countries Represented On Maps Are In Reality?

Well, one person who set our to address this, in what he calls Immappancy, (meaning insufficient geographical knowledge) is software and graphical user interface designer, Kai Krause.

In his own contribution, climate data scientist Neil R Kaye, designed a gif of the map below; this link takes us to where further information can be found 

The two maps below are static images of the Mercator and the proportional / actual size projections of the map of the world 

Why Team Hope Should Keep (Its ‘Resources’ About Africa) Out of Irish Classrooms

 On Tuesday, the 12th of October, Team Hope launched its annual Christmas Shoebox Appeal; a Christmas Shoebox Appeal Week will also take place from 9th - 15th November.

As part of the Christmas Shoebox Appeal, Team Hope has stated on its website that it also “provides a range of free lesson plans and online resources for schools”.

The subject identified in the Primary Curriculum is Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE); more specifically, the Myself and the Wider World Strand (Developing Citizenship: National, European and wider communities Strand Unit) is the focus area of this subject (please, see below).

It is not clear why Team Hope made the decision to produce materials about Africa for schools; it is worth pointing out, however, that the Myself and the Wider World Strand has been designed and specified for fifth and sixth classes pupils only. 

It is, therefore, difficult to understand why and how Team Hope would have produced materials for pre-school junior infants pupils.

Perhaps, the Team Hope education team might like to consult the NCCA guidelines to confirm the specified age to introduce the study of a non-European context if its objective is to go into the production of educational materials for primary schools? 

Third class (eight year-olds) is the NCCA’s specified class and age, by the way.

The following might also confirm the NCCA’s rationale?

Included in the materials to be found on the Team Hope website are stories about Leah from Kenya, Elimia (sic) from Malawi and Phoebe from eSwatini (Swaziland).

Below, are examples of the ‘resources’ Team Hope has produced for schools:

So, Team Hope thinks the first thing four and five year-old Irish children should be taught about the DR Congo (if they can get their little minds around where DR Congo is in the first place) is that "people live in huts made of mud".

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,

And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;

William Butler Yeats, Lake Isle of Innisfree

It might be worth noting that Yeats referred to “clay and wattles”, not ‘mud’ as the building materials for his “cabin”.

Whether consciously or not, the words and images we use about a place or people evoke powerful feelings in those they are meant to apply, and the reaction of Professor Plastow’s son is an illustration of this.

Team Hope lists eight African countries, with an estimated total population of 211.5 million people, in which it has a presence. This represents 21% of Africa’s estimated population of one billion. Two of these countries are also Irish Aid Key Partner Countries.

St. Mark’s Primary School, Mbabane 

One of the countries Team Hope has a presence in is eSwatini (Swaziland). The story of St. Mark’s Primary School (below), including the subjects the pupils have to study, might be more interesting for Irish pupils, as well as being more relevant to the learning process? 

St. Mark's Primary School, Mbabane. Founded in 1910

The classroom is the place where learning (including, about places and peoples in other lands) is expected to take place.

So, how does Team Hope's ‘online resources‘ contribute to positive learning about the world around us and, in particular, about the selected African countries?

Having examined the ‘resources’ on the Team Hope website, one can only conclude that these contribute nothing to learning anything useful about Africa.

Indeed, they are not ‘resources’; they are information materials which reinforce negative age-old pre-conceived views about Africa and should never be allowed in classrooms here in Ireland.

At this crucial time in our history, when negative attitudes towards people of African descent are supposed to be addressed, introducing young Irish minds to materials which only add to reinforcing negative perceptions of Africa can only be described as unhelpful?

Do You Remember Something in Particular From Your Primary School Days?

 

Trinity College Dublin Librarian, Therese Mulpeter, does 

She wrote an article about one specific experience in 1969 from her primary school days to accompany documents she was donating to the Research Collections at Trinity which is connected with this experience.

The article recalled how the then six year-old[!] Therese was told to become a ‘god-parent’ to an African girl who was to be given the name Anne. 

Below, is an extract from the article as it appeared online: 

“We all recognise 1969 as the year that man first stepped on the moon but few would recall that it was also the year that Pope Paul VI became the first reigning pope to step onto the African continent in Uganda.

At that time there was a practice in Catholic schools for children preparing to make their First Holy Communion to make an offering to become ‘god-parents’ to children in Africa so that they could be baptised into the Catholic faith. 

At Belgrove National School in Clontarf, my teacher Miss Heid, told us to choose a name for our ‘baby’. I was only six years old and I came up with the name Anne. 

In my young mind I thought that all these babies would be brought to the school and I would get to bring mine home. 

I puzzled over where she would sleep. 

The penny [literally] dropped when I received my god-parent card with my name and Anne’s name handwritten on the back……we would never meet. 

It was simply a very successful fund raising effort to support mission work in Africa. 

Try explaining that to a six year old! 

The only tangible connection I had with Anne was the card. 

In 1969 the Catholic population of Uganda was approximately 3 million and no one batted an eye in Ireland at holding a collection for the ‘black babies’ or of referring to an unbaptised infant as a pagan. Today the catholic population of Uganda stands at around 13 million.”

The god-parent card issued to Therese and the other pupils bore the title: Crusade for Rescue, Baptism and Catholic Education of Pagan Children. 

Sammy the Plaster Figure Black Baby

In his contribution to the subject published in the Irish Independent in November 2006 and titled The Little Black Babies, Rory Egan wrote as follows: 

“In many schools around the country a mandatory collection of a shilling a week was made for the 'Little Black Babies' for which one was given a small card showing a crying child. It is incredible to think that many a young schoolchild thought that it was some sort of instalment scheme and that some day they would be the proud possessor of an African child. 

The ultimate lasting memory of poor taste and misguided marketing was something that could be found in many schools and convents and was called 'Sammy'. Sammy was a plaster figure of a black baby whose head nodded every time a penny was placed in the slot of the box upon which he knelt.”

 

Remote and Alien Pagan Babies  

In a blogpost dated 26 November 2018 and titled Remote and alien pagan babies, John Grenham posted a notice originally produced by the Pontifical Association of the Holy Childhood “On behalf of the Myriad OUTCAST PAGAN BABIES” and which had been published in the Irish Independent edition of April 1, 1939. 

This notice asked for “at least a little crumb from your LENTEN ALMS”. 

“For the modest donation of 2/6 (two shillings and six pence) you can help to save one of these hapless dying babies from the cruelest of fates.” 

Other Countries 

More childhood schooldays recollections about ‘pagan baby’ programmes in the 1950s / early-1960s in other countries can be found online. 

There are testimonies from Scotland, while from the United States of America, stories from the Adopt A Pagan Baby drive have been recounted. 

The following is from ABCtales on the subject of Black baby

“The St Stephen’s Digestive biscuit test was much more exacting. At school break time in the morning we could buy a Digestive biscuit off Mrs Boyle for one old penny. Some, like myself, were often excluded from this experiment because they had lots of brother and sister and too few pennies. But unlike the Stanford experiment Mrs Boyle didn’t offer two -or more Digestives for delaying, or not eating a biscuit we couldn’t afford - she offered salvation, for an old penny. She gave us the option of eating a Digestive, or buying a black baby.

If we bought a black baby for a penny it was ticked down on a sheet and when you got to  a shilling eventually you got to own a black baby and you were given a picture of it. For giving up Digestive biscuits you were sent to heaven. Now that’s what I call delayed gratification.”

Pagan Baby Contests 

Here is another recollection on Pagan Babies, this time from Telling Secrets blogspot: 

Baby Jesus feeding the Pagan Babies  

 I went to Roman Catholic School, so we also had Pagan Baby Contests.   

 It went like this: You had to bring in a dime every week (some of the nuns allowed you to bring in pennies or nickels which you could save up and exchange for a dime) which would then fit into a slot on a poster which had your name on it. When you got to $1, you were allowed to 'name' your Pagan Baby and the money would be sent "to the missions" so "Father" could baptize one of the little Pagan Babies with your name. 

 Sister told us that we were saving the "little savages" Africa or Laos or Cambodia or Viet Nam, baptizing them in the name of Jesus. I know. Hard to believe that we once talked that way - and, meant it.  

There were 30-40 kids in my class. We had Pagan Baby Contests every 10 weeks. Not a bad fundraising scheme, eh? I used to imagine that there was a village in Viet Nam or Africa somewhere with lots of girls named "Elizabeth".

Anyway, even the Pagan Baby Chart and the Pagan Baby Certificate you got were all written in Cursive

Does anyone remember giving your change for pagan babies?

This is the question posed on Facebook and which also received quite a number of responses; perhaps, an indication of how much this childhood memory persisted into adulthood?  

The Unanswered Questions 

So many questions arise from the childhood recollections of those who are now adults today; and who were told to be a ‘god-parent’ to a ‘pagan baby’ during their schooldays. 

“Try explaining that to a six year-old”, was how Therese Mulpeter summed up her own ‘god-parent’ experience in that October 2017 article. 

Therese Mulpeter’s question certainly throws a challenge to all of us to examine and reflect on something which has had quite a profound effect on children’s lives and how, perhaps, it might have shaped their attitudes towards other people; Africans, for example? 

These will be the focus of discussion in the next blogpost.