Dugawuw (Blessings)

“If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.” – James Michener

So before I get to the real point of my blog, I wanted to take a moment to brag about a paragraph that I wrote today without notes and only made two errors in, that I know of. I'll translate it sentence by sentence. We were supposed to wrote about the work we were going to do in our village and why it is important that people receive an education.
Musow sigilen don Kai, u be fe ka baliku kalanke.
Women living in Kai, they want to learn to read and write.
Ola musow fila be na taa karamogo kalanyoro oko u be na na Kai ani u be na musow dege.
So two women are going to go to teacher training and then they are coming to come to Kai and they are going to teach the women. (Side note: I have no idea how many women will go to teacher training, but only needed an example.)
N be na karamogow ani kalandenw deme.
I am going to help the teachers and the students.
Kalan nafa ka bon barisa ni bangebaaw be se ka gafe kalan, u be se ka denw deme u ka sokonobaaraw la.
Education is important because, if parents are able to read books, they can help their children do their homework.
Kalandenw be se ka dinye don.
Students can learn about the world.
Mogow be se ka baara soro ani u be se ka Mali yiriwa.
People can find work and they can improve Mali.
It's nothing magical, but it was what I was able to say, and it's pretty sweet to explain some of the things I will be doing here in the language I am going to be doing it in. Now, if only I would think to say these things in my village.

On to the real point of this post. Malian blessings. They're pretty awesome. The people, in general, are pretty awesome. People genuinely care about one another, and on of the ways they show it is by blessing one another left and right. I am blessed several times a day, but I don't know what the blessings mean. The only way I know someone is even blessing me is because nearly every blessing begins with Ala ka and continues from there. In class today we talked about some special days in Mali and went over a few blessings for some occasions so I thought I would share them and maybe shed some light on Malian culture.

Blessings for Baptisms
Ala ka den balo. May the child live.
An ka bugo a dogow ye. May he/she have siblings or May he not be the only child.
Ala ka na kan diya. May his/her coming be good.

Blessings for Funerals
Ala ka hine a la. May God have pity on him.
Ala ka yafa a ma. May God forgive him.
An ka dayoro suma. May God cool his resting place.

Blessings for Weddings
Ala ka den caman nogoya aw ye. May God give you many healthy children.
Ala ka sen ni bolo bo a la. May they (the children) have legs and arms.
Ala k'a ke si ni keneya ye. May you spend a long time or may you live a long, healthy life.

I will add more by topic once I remember to write them down. Until then
Ka su hera caya. May you have a peaceful night.