It is common for a Sudanese to have a story behind his name. It speaks to their relational nature in all that they do. This is quite helpful for remembering people’s names. Unlike our normal American culture, it takes some time to learn people’s stories as they usually do not openly share things like this right off the bat.

I met a man recently who was a refugee to Australia for a number of years but has returned and is working with the Presbyterian church.

During the last civil war, his mother and family had been running in the bush to escape the fighting. During one of these nights, her body became to stressed to carry him in her womb any longer and she gave birth under the stars. Her brothers were with her and named him ‘mtr’ (Mtr is word that his tribe used to describe the automatic machine (motor) guns. So he is essentially named after a machine gun.) His brothers felt that she had given birth right then because the unborn baby was scared out of the womb by the machine gun fire.

And so, we have a friend named Mtr.

Posted via email from Ramblings of a Lost American