From: Caesar Ogole

Sent: Monday, November 25, 2013, 7:14:06 PM EST

Examining our progress as a community on this

Thanksgiving Week

Dear everyone,

Summary

It is been a while since we started engaging in conversations and forging a

way forward together as a Lango community in North America on this very
forum! I have been actively engaging with this community for now close to
a year in various capacities – but mostly as a volunteer. Today, as we start
to celebrate the Thanksgiving week, I would like to share my thanks with
every member of this community. I am also wishing everyone a great
Happy Thanksgiving season! From a volunteer’s perspective, I will examine
the progress we have made – for we shouldn’t be volunteering for nothing!
Right? I will point out what I think are possible pitfalls and impediments to
our progress, but I will also holistically offer my opinion on how to make our
community a better one! Lots of information is embedded in this article so I
expect this article to provide a good reading for the entire Thanksgiving
week! Endeavor to click all the links. I will provide this article in both PDF
and regular email text formats – in two separate emails. Ultimately, I hope to
rekindle unity among us!

My name is Caesar Ogole

1. Let’s begin the discussion with a thank you note

Warm greetings to everyone across North America as we celebrate

Thanksgiving in the United States! Thank you all for making this
Community a vibrant Community of Lango in the Western Hemisphere –
the first of its kind, ever! Whether or not you are a member of LAONA is not
important at this point- as I am writing just as I used to even before the
name “LAONA” existed; what is important is that we have this forum where
we can communicate freely as friends having our cradle land [of Lango] as
our first commonality! All else is secondary.

Why do I write? I write for important reasons[1]! I urge everyone to spare

time and write as well! Let our voice be heard on this forum! The forum was
created to bring us together, not to create concentric circles of “members”,
“friends”, “enemies”, etc. You don’t have to write a long text like mine, but
you have that freedom to do it if you want! Let this forum not be monotony
and/or monopoly, for we get bored too soon without diversity in
communications. Who else will speak out your mind?

2. A flashback at our humble beginning – not so long ago!

It was only in February 2013 that many of us participated in formation of

Lango Association of North America (LAONA). The memory of your active
participation in laying a strong foundation[2] is vivid not only to me, but also
to most of you as we voluntarily and collectively took the most decisive
actions ever to finally create an Association for Lango in North America.
This happened under the exemplary administration of the then Interim
Executive Committee, the first somewhat organized leadership structure
headed by some of our highly esteemed and couth members of this larger
Community. [Never mind the administration had it’s own minor hiccups-
mostly due to its infancy and challenges associated with starting everything
literally from scratch. We will see some of the examples of the scratches in
a bit]. It was also as early as that time when a number of volunteers started
presenting draft documents of Constitution for consideration and for review
by other volunteers, although some members had a view that such a task
had better be left to professional attorneys. All these ideas had merits and
demerits, variously.

One way of looking at it is that, after the Interim Executive Committee (went
defunct), any other subsequent efforts by other volunteers were meant only
to build upon the accomplishments, forge a way forward and to strengthen
the association through legalization, and the like. What I am saying, in
essence, is that this association was created by the people and will remain
people’s association!

3. The need to recognize the great founders – starting about one year
ago today

Some of the great volunteers have not yet had the chance to make
monetary subscriptions so as to become “members”, and it is only my
honest view and opinion that – in spite of this, we must keep recognizing
these people and their great and indelible prior contributions. Some day –
hopefully sooner than later, I hope a comprehensive history of the
formation of LAONA will be written. We need to present a complete and
undistorted picture to current and future generations of members, showing
clearly how LAONA came into existence. The names and the great
contributions of all our volunteers are well known, and it is only a matter of
making a pen kiss paper to have everything set on record. [I am hereby
volunteering to be a co-author, which, essentially means I will be accepting
to play the role of a matchmaker between the indelible ink pen and a paper
so that we may have this history recorded in an accurate manner].

Polarity of ideas throughout LAONA formative periods – up to the present

date must all be treated as great contributions, and must not be a factor in
excluding any contributor’s names in the proposed great record book. All
other concoctions or fabrications that were made so far in any forum (e.g
speeches, or other written records, etc) – that undermine and downplay the
importance and unparalleled contributions of our [some highly] esteemed
volunteers must and will be retracted, or excluded from the official record.
Here is my take: without some of the heated exchanges and prior
contributions of these volunteers, LAONA would not be in existence! I did
say a similar thing to this effect while I was serving as a volunteer under the
Interim Executive Committee in the capacity of “interim research officer” –
when we very successfully and transparently administered Surveys 1[3],
Surveys 2 [4], and Survey 3 [2], - ultimately leading to momentary
heightened confidence among the members who were on the list that time.
This is what I wrote regarding taking diversity of opinions positively:
Date: Mon, Jan 28, 2013 at 10:27 PM

Dear all,

A survey reviewed and approved by the Interim Executive Committee was released to everyone on this list yesterday.
This message serves [to] confirm [you] that the computer-generated message that you received was the authentic
survey.

You can also complete the survey now by going to the

link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHpfQlFnaXNmR3JnWXV4U2hVOUwtelE6MQ

These votes are simply to help the Association (to-be) move forward, especially when we have hit stalemate in our
regular constructive debates. We have to make the difficult decision and move to the next step. There is always room
to revisit our decisions. Chances are that some of the choices we make today may turn out to be shamefully
impractical at a later stage, due to unforeseen reasons. There is no such concept as winner or loser, but rather, a
wealth of diverse and good ideas.

To quote Amego (yes!, Amego, I read and understood your message), "the end result shall be worth it". Send your
responses now!

Go to: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHpfQlFnaXNmR3JnWXV4U2hVOUwtelE6MQ

Thank you,

Caesar Ogole

- Interim Research Officer, Lango Association

=>It is important to note that it was this very survey that led to choosing the name “LAONA”. [Results
from 16 responses for survey 3 [2],] [Here are results for the survey 1 [3], and results for survey 2
[4],].
I am providing (and will continue to provide) this kind information for the
following reasons:

1. So that current and future members get to understand that no single

person, current or past leader, owns this association. In fact, it is probable
that some of the people who are not yet “members in good standing”
contributed a lot more to building this association. Look at the list of some
of the people who actively participated in laying the foundation (provided in
the surveys above). Where would we be without those hard and
fundamental pieces of work? Anyway, we shouldn’t be looking at it this way.
I am writing this simply because there is a growing misconception that this
association was built by only some few people- who (must) continue to hold
huge stake in running the affairs of the association, and this misinformation
is causing reluctance among other people to join this Association meant for
the entire Lango in North America. Let’s get it right: many people created
this association, and every person is equally important – and must be
treated as such. Anyone qualified member (Lango) is welcome to
participate in running the association affairs without other unnecessary
hindrances! If any other person authoritatively tells you something else,
disregard it – or report that selfish person to the community!

2. No leader, present and future should develop any egoistic feeling

simply because he/she has been entrusted to be a leader. Chances are
that we have better leaders among those who have not vied for the
leadership positions. Perhaps, they had much trust in others to let other
people take us forward! Let the leaders not disappoint the electorate by
acting in selfish manner. Such a trust of the many creators and well-
wishers of the association must not be used as a license to distort facts or
for personal gains!

3. So that we can rekindle the spirit of unity, and transparency that led us
to the big milestone of forming this association! I am also providing these
details so that we may reflect on the beauty of working concertedly – a
thing that we saw only in a flash back in the days when everyone would
chant “Lango must rise and shine again!”. That was the moment that my
hope and motivation to volunteer was heightened to a record peak. That
was sometime in early January 2013. Lango has been lagging behind for
far too long! Some of the great contributors are currently categorized only
as “friends” despite the fact that they worked at the frontiers of actually
creating this association. Something went amiss somewhere, and
comprehensive compilation of these records, hopefully, will help us find
clarity that will bring back the unpretentious (undisguised) unity we once
saw only momentarily].

In the email above, I stated very clearly that, “Chances are that some of
the choices we make today may turn out to be shamefully impractical at a
later stage, due to unforeseen reasons. There is no such concept as winner
or loser, but rather, a wealth of diverse and good ideas.” That message
was sent to all the 40 people on the mailing list that time.

That said - we have seen our leaders – including some of the current lot of
leaders – go through high and sometimes very low moments as they try to
forge a way forward. The ability to recognize that such pendulum
experiences exist in our daily lives is why I am not only suggesting, but I
am insisting that everyone’s contributions must be (re)viewed and captured
as “positive” in our founder’s history book. We must not exclude anyone
from the great book of records simply because of his/her low moments, -
whatever the [subjective] definitions of “low” and “high” are. (As an example,
everyone may not know the low moments of some of the current leaders,
and we will not go into that. However, generally speaking, weaknesses may
manifest themselves in various forms including lack of nothing to show to
justify continued occupation of a leadership position, internal instability due
to never ending conflicts, nothing of substance to report to members and
“friends”, except, perhaps, merely wishing people happy holidays, etc).

With correct information on the record, I am sure we will all be friends again
and everyone will automatically be a member just as we were all united
around early January 2013 and/or in the immediate periods before that!
With many people united, we will have a great synergy to tackle things that
matter to most of us! I am big fan of big numbers—for a community like
ours! All other arguments against this “big numbers” are only an attempt to
justify leadership failure to bring about unity. For now, we are not that many
(less than 60) and it is easy job to have a comprehensive record of what
everyone has done (starting at some point) when we really started getting
serious with forming this association – (say, Nov 2012 or latest Jan 2013 as
the starting point). A great thank you is in order to all the great founders
(contibutors), including all those who have not been able to pay their
subscription fees due to the many demanding obligations in life.

4. No need for unnecessary tiered membership

It is common knowledge that everyone in NA is busy, in one way or the

other and therefore [not] paying subscription fees cannot be regarded as a
big deal that must overshadow other prior in-kind contributions. Put another
way, not paying a subscription fee in time, or failure to attend a Convention
are things that anyone should not even think of as a determinant for
qualifying as a [founding] member. What is important are the works that
these people did, and all these must be captured in the proposed formal
foundation history in an orderly fashion (e.g in chronological order), without
any exaggerations or understatements. My decision to make mention of
this issue (and hence the proposal) at this particular time, and in this
general community (members and friends list- as it is called), must not be
taken lightly by anyone (but more especially, the current leaders of LAONA).
It is a great coincidence that my proposal comes at a time when LAONA
celebrates its first Thanksgiving. We need to give authentic appreciation to
all our people who truly matter in forming this Association, and perhaps,
beyond!

5. The state of affairs: what has really changed?

It makes perfect sense, therefore, with our heightened level of freedom of

expression (or, awareness of its existence, at least), sense of
belongingness, and especially this period in time (of Thanksgiving) to
reflect on the journey of Lango Community in North America as an
organized society. It would be sheer pretense for anyone to claim that we
have achieved so much as an organization since the first formal structures
were formed,- counting all the equally important contributions under the
direction of the Interim Committee, Task Force Committee and now the
Board of Directors. As a people’s organization, we (the people) know that
we still have a long way to go.

Any member who has experienced volunteering in this Community will

attest to what I just said. If there is such a stellar achievement made thus
far, many of us are yet to see or experience it. Basically, nothing such
striking has been achieved yet- otherwise it would be common knowledge
among us all [since this Association was founded on transparency, and
other democratic principles]. [If you asked me what I would want to see an
achievement, I would tell you it is UNITY and ZERO SELFISHNESS]. We
continue to have conflicts over petty issues. We still have greed over
(perceived) power even in this age when we should all understand the
need for division of labor. We still use vulgarisms, personal attacks, and
positions and/or inconsistent and fabricated protocols to try suppress
freedom of expressions and criticisms, etc- yet by now we should know
how to sustain (healthy) discussions. We still stage baseless threats or
doctor innuendos at our own peril, or engage in backroom communications
when we fail to argue our points intellectually to the general public. We still
say things that we don’t mean or understand, and in a way that make us
seem like we are aiming to be experts in fallacious arguments[5]. [For
simplicity, think of fallacious arguments as false reasoning or quite loosely,
“lies” or “deceptions”]. We still have a long way to go, even if we now have
a somewhat organized structure at another stage of group development –
thanks to ALL the volunteers.

A quick note on fallacious arguments: For this discussion, I am mostly referring to the following
“Common Fallacies of Relevance” – You can read more about it on that page: fallacious arguments[5]

1. Personal attack (ad hominem)

2. Attacking the motive

3. Look who's talking (tu quoque)

 4. Two wrongs make a right

5. Appeal to force (ad baculum)

6. Appeal to pity (ad misericordium)

7. Bandwagon argument (ad populum)

8. Straw man

9. Red herring

10. Equivocation (semantic fallacy)

11. Begging the question (petitio principii)

We all recognize and agree that we are still at yet another stage of shaping
our beloved association, which started on a fairly good note early this year
with a collective effort by members managing important decision-making,
and the expectation was that it would get better along the way. It is a relief
to let ourselves be informed that power, (if any), squarely lies with the
people who own the Association – and these people are the members!
Another beauty is that even some of the people who are not yet members
in good standing (simply because they haven’t yet paid membership fees)
already know the mechanics of a Community such as ours, since most of
them actually participated in creating it at one point or the other. It is why I
am confident that any new members who join any time now should just
wade through with helping the Association move forward in the right
direction. Everyone must be very much welcome to voice their opinions and
criticize constructively.

6. Our dreams

We are not yet there; quite far from it, as a matter of fact,- but our dream is
to have an Association where discussions deemed healthy can be initiated
and sustained by any member without fear or favor.
- Our dream is to have a culture in which everyone respects every other
person irrespective of things that are secondary to basic respect (e.g.
gender, age or any other status).

- Our dream is to achieve a level where we all act in exemplary manner

and serve as ambassadors of Lango in the Western hemisphere – not
because we are inherently better than other Lango back home in our cradle
land, but because we have been somewhat fortunate to be exposed to
many other civilizations that we can [selectively] learn from, and because
we can easily access opportunities and resources that we can leverage to
make our lives better, while undergoing necessary renaissance. From all
these, we are better placed to empower ourselves to extend helping hands
in many ways to our folks in the cradle land. That’s why I believe it is utter
false reasoning to compare and contrast any internal conflicts within our NA
association with that of the Won Nyaci Institution, just so we can justify why
“ours is better”! Similarly, we don’t need to compare ourselves with other
organizations (e.g UNAA ) in terms of level of internal conflicts simply
because we want look better. We need to set our own standards, which
other people will admire and will want to copy! We have very capable
people in this community who can help build that great model!

We need to have zero unconstructive conflicts, except constructive

criticisms; counter-criticisms must be of constructive nature too! And of
course, our organization is not, and will never be a Won Nyaci type of
institution, so any such comparison is akin to comparing apples and
oranges. Ours is just a cultural association headed by a custodian (called
the Chairperson), who is elected every other year(s), and can be removed
or replaced anytime, all governed by popular and well-written rules that
must be applied consistently. Members have the power to write and amend
the written rules as and when they deem fit, subject to some established
procedures. Within reasonable limits, no single individual or clique can
impose on another, or violate any rules – and go scot-free. We may not yet
be observing some of these “meta-rules” in the strictest sense at this time,
but our dream is to see that all these things are observed (followed) without
compromise – and they will be!
- Our dream is to have an association as transparent as possible,
embracing the entire Lango as a whole without anyone inducing or coining
(unnecessarily) classifications such as “members”, “friends” or “enemies” of
LOANA when, in fact, the people in question are all Lango [in some way].
How can a fellow Lango not be a member of LAONA and yet be a longtime
friend of LAONA, and you are all living in the same neighborhood of NA?
Think about it for a second time. It doesn’t make sense! Surreal, is the
word – I guess. Disguised tiers or unnecessary [power] hierarchy is not
going to help achieve unity. We should be reminded that it took us too long
(since 1900s or so) to form something like LAONA, therefore, a good piece
of advice to any leaders, current and future, is that no one must try to
promote things that threaten unity- when entrusted with seed power. That
power is revocable.

7. Caution! Let’s be wary not to drift in the wrong direction

While this is a cultural association where we expect to preserve our culture,

we must accept and be wary of the fact that there exist a few isolated
instances where we need to discard bad aspects [of culture] and embrace
or learn new ways of doing things in order to live better as a community.
Some solutions to our problems, and fixes in our loopholes in our culture
can be found if we learn things from those who are formally trained and/or
experienced, and who are authentically willing to share their knowledge or
expertise to help preserve or promote our culture. Such a great service
from volunteers to our community requires selflessness, humility, zero
manipulation and zero arrogance. Members must also have zero tolerance
for any of the leadership vices such as dishonesty, etc. Integrity is the key,
so to speak! If leaders do not possess the qualities of a good leader[6],
then an organization will not head in the right direction (needless to say).

Well, while someone will say it is needless to say some of these things, it is
important that we guard against drifting in the wrong direction simply
because of excitement, greed, lack leadership skills/experience, or
whatever – for we may end up in a ditch called a pretentious belief system
[7]. Let’s not be too hasty and (inadvertently) end up with forming a
CULT[8]; let’s work a little harder and make it a complete, meaningful
CULTURE [9]= CULTURE! We are only a few yards away from getting to
CULTURE. [Without the suffix “URE”- (Leb Lango) , LAONA pe abedo gin
ame “ure” atwali!].

It is tempting to adopt just any type of leadership style (dictatorship,

manipulative, etc) and/or any belief system simply because of the hunger
and thirst to have an association exist after all this long time (of living
without one, or living in isolation, etc), but we must be cautious not to set a
wrong foundation as I discussed above. Perhaps, anyone who is really
thirsty for faith could find one in the conventional mainstream Church or
Mosque, and the like – where there is a reasonable ground to worship a
(super) being. That’s far much better than creating a pretentious belief
system where people don’t exercise critical thinking, or if they do, the
nature of thinking is characteristically fallacious!

Critical thinking is perhaps one of our only greatest assets as Langi since
we really don’t have much to show for development (yet)! Critical thinking
has no regards for age, sex, or any other status! Critical thinking does not
require one to be in leadership position nor does it know hierarchy in
leadership, although all leaders are expected to think critically (ideally).
Critical thinking is not rebellion. Critical thinking is not indiscipline. Critical
thinking is not disrespect. Critical thinking is not disobedience. Critical
thinking is not a distraction. Critical thinking is not backwardness. Critical
thinking is healthy and indispensible for positive and sustainable
development. Serious attention must be paid to critical thinking! Critical
thinking is a commonality in all advanced cultures, globally. Without having
critical thinking firmly wired as integral part of our culture, do not expect the
younger generation to identify with our culture especially in this age, so-
called “global village”. Any belief system, culture, etc that discourages
critical thinking is a CULT[8] (with the exception of a few institutions that
are well known for very good reasons and that have stood the test of time).
And of course, given our virtual nature, we can mostly express our critical
thinking through writing emails, blogs, etc. Therefore, let’s write critically,
lest we remain stagnant! Respond to this posting, and agree or disagree
wholly or partly in a critical way! That’s healthy discussion. Endeavor not to
respond with fallacious arguments [5]!

Allow me express my view on the nature of communications on our forums

from my experience-, which relates to the subject introduced in the
paragraph above:

- Our Lango Culture minus fallacious arguments [5] would be a great

rich culture that everyone around the world would admire!

- Our Lango Culture minus fallacious arguments [5] would be a great

rich culture where even some of you (parents/guardians) who have
currently opted not to have or encourage their adult children be on this
mailing list yet, (for fear that they may be adulterated or engulfed in
embarrassment), would be craving to have their own children on the
mailing list, or even on the waiting list [because the list of members would
be “full” most of the time].

- On the above note, I strongly single out and commend the few brave
younger generation who have continued to be on these NA Lango lists, and
have followed up keenly and/or contributed towards the developments
going on, and have continued to maintain their cool. They have not been
brainwashed to self-destruction – that’s what I meant to say. They have
passed a difficult test not many of their peers would have withstood easily. I
can say that loudly.

Why am I saying all this? The level of personal attacks and manipulation
(or fallacious arguments[5], in general) on our forums, sometimes
orchestrated even by people who are expected to be role models, and in
some cases (communications) intentionally loaded with assertions aimed at
altering or misleading/”mis-educating” a person/reader to becoming a
different person- is all alarming! Of course, sometimes, the misleading
assertions are due to sheer ignorance on the part of the person asserting it.
It requires a strong upbringing of the younger generation [on this list] to
remain the same old good persons after experiencing some of the
unhealthy interactions on these NA Lango forums, - the reason I give much
credit (on this Thanksgiving) to our active younger people on this list – and
to their parents, ultimately.

On a positive note, I look at these younger adults as our robust clear-

headed near future leaders who can withstand heat, all groomed to take us
to unprecedented levels of developments that we are in dire need of –
while steering clear of the kind of negativities we have experienced so far.
My confidence level is at 9, if you ask me to rank the abilities of the
younger generation on a scale of 1 to 10 based on their mere presence on
the our lists– with 10 being the highest possible. Our few younger
generation here show great promise, even though the number of young
people is pretty small, and we should encourage the younger people to join
this group so as to build the synergy needed for sustainable development].

- Our Lango Culture minus fallacious arguments[5] would take us far.

Members would participate in development activities such as building
schools, promoting women’s rights, etc- in concerted manner. As an
example, some of the students in secondary schools in Lango cannot
successfully carry out elementary practicum in Physics, Biology, Chemistry
simply because they do not have lab apparatus! Sometimes, all they need
are a pack of battery and wires (cables) so that they can rehearse their
physics experiments, but their labs are empty! They get to see the devices
for the first time only during their final national exams! How do we expect
the region to develop with such a trend? And we are here boasting of how
much Lango or American we are, etc?! – yet a next-of-kin might be one of
those students in the poor rural Lango?

- How about women and domestic violence, for example? Only three
weeks ago, I was fortunate to meet and have a chat with a young British
American woman at a conference in Boston. She moved to USA only a
couple of years ago. While living in the UK, she invented a method for
helping curb down violence against women by using cheaply available
used mobile phones. (I don’t know the details of how it works). She told me
a bigger UK telecom company picked up the idea after it was shown to be
an effective idea through a pilot study project. I thought that’s what some of
our LAONA women might like to pursue, as that could help their Lango
counterparts! I am in an established contact with the woman, and she is
very willing to connect me to that project (because I told her I was
interested). We all know violence against women is still rampant in Lango,
etc.

- How about fundraising? There is a relatively new paradigm and an

effective method of raising funds called “crowdfunding” – as opposed to
begging and bugging members time and again to keep donating from their
own pockets, and I thought our Community might be interested in pursuing
such things.

- Fallacious arguments[5] thwart all these development plans (and

more) by demotivating volunteers, and by undermining civility. It scares
away people who could otherwise provide [linkage to] the right resources to
facilitate the much-wanted developments. Combined with selfishness
among some of our leaders and members alike, fallacious arguments are
the very reason many people have stayed away or distanced themselves
from the association even though they themselves participated in building it
from scratch.

- My appeal to everyone on this Thanksgiving season is to promote

healthy communications among us – as a new beginning. All else will follow.
Help simplify to somebody what fallacious arguments [5] are, so we can
steer clear of such practices – for our own good. I thought this is one part
that we needed a serious formal treatment – the reason I keep referring to
the webpage. It is not by any means intended to use this forum for lecturing
anyone! We all learn from each other in different ways.

8. Ending on a great positive note

It would a mistake on your part if were to think some of us -the optimistic

lot- is not having some fun by being part of this community! Just last month,
I had a unique opportunity to meet in person some of our members as we
convened to celebrate Uganda’s independence here in New York. Yes, one
of our good members or friends had a courtesy to invite us for the
occasion. We danced like no one was watching us, and some female
guest who [originally] hails from West Nile (Arua or Nebbi) region of
Uganda clung on me – claiming “the name ‘Ogole’ must and can only
originate from my home sub-region! Period!” Under such a circumstance, I
would be crazy to argue otherwise – except that I had to say I have been in
America for too long, and “Leb munu obalo Leb West Naila oko”.
Friendship has thus extended beyond the ordinary radius defining “friends”
of LAONA.

But that was nothing, compared to this other experience that followed soon
after! Just less than three weeks ago, I paid a visit to the neighboring
Boston for official business (conference, really)– but as luck could have it, I
had some free time to spare in between and after the formal activities. I met
in person for the first time one member of our Lango community who is
resident in the area. He was very cordial and exceptionally hospitable, to
say the least. We did not only share moments of hearty laughter but our
conversations were marked by enviable recollections of our common early
Lango village childhood experiences ranging from “eating fresh mangoes
right from the source/tree” – after which we would naively use our
shorts/shirts as napkins – to talks of how strong winds or gales (“ajuru”)
were generally believed to travel from the east side (“kide”) to the west side
(“tung too”). My host said that’s not true, though. “By the end of the mango
season, our cotton short trousers would have transformed into khaki, of
sorts”, added one of us as we all roared into laughter hilariously.

Again, you would be wrong if it didn’t cross your mind that our great
moments of fun were not spiced by the high pitch hits of “okeme” blaring in
the background! More specifically, the traditional songs that we listened to
included a collection of hits from time-tested groups such as Abwoc Yie
Kec. For those who don’t know this group, Abwoc Yie Kec is a traditional
music group that sings most of their songs in Leb Lango, although they
also have a few records in English (e.g Inglis rekod ) [9]. Generations
come and go, but this music group never dies! I am glad to reveal to you
that one of the current generation lead singers of the group is my former
classmate [P.1 – P.3].

With this kind of uniquely luxurious atmosphere characterizing the Boston

vibe as we chatted with a fellow LAONA friend, a time step in the moments
of the racing time was not going to find any opportunity to grow awkward or
silent! Instead, any chance for a silence to become pregnant was a
remarkable epoch for conception of even better ideas, for example, - an
intimation would suddenly emerge from one us, “… by the way, we need to
bring Abwoc Yie Kec to grace our LAONA Convention in the future”. The
other party would only nod in the affirmative, as the topic of conversation
shifted from one – to the other!

Of course, the great homemade foods were prepared and munched, and
drinks of all tribes gulped under non-disclosure agreements. I am not the
type of person to violate the terms of such an agreement, for “te okono pe
oputo!” Next time I go back, I would want to be treated in a similar manner
without the host worrying that I would (afterwards) behave like the
gossiping Paranoimos women. What I am saying is that the signature
Lango foods that my host prepared is going to be a hot cake when we
finally open the first Lango restaurant chains in North America!

Like most of us, our life stories are marked by humble beginnings and
series of struggles. “Ngweco Olok”, among others, was a common
experience among us that we touched briefly, but we didn’t want to spoil
much of our happiness by dwelling on the hard times! Big boys also cry –
but we decided this was not going to be the moment. That, we saved it for
another time!

Well, long story short, it was all smiles at the end of my visit to Boston! The
next thing I found myself doing was shaking my head rhythmically to the
sounds of Lango music as I sped off after picking a Boston toll ticket from
the dispenser- driving back to New York! “God, really- bless LAONA!”, I
muttered to myself as my Jeep voraciously tore its way through the East
Coast winds of North America!
References and links:

[1]
http://web.nmsu.edu/~jalmjeld/girlhood/pipher_writing_to_change_world.pdf
[2]
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHpfQlFnaXNmR3JnWXV4U2hVOUwtelE6MQ

[3]
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?fromEmail=true&formkey=dGd3eTYxSThlem5lWlNBaS1x
bHk0TGc6MQ

[4]
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?fromEmail=true&formkey=dHJUZTJaUHV2VGQwV2QtY2
1CSUhVcWc6MQ

[5] http://www.stat.berkeley.edu/users/stark/SticiGui/Text/reasoning.htm

[6]
http://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyaprive/2012/12/19/top-10-qualities-that-make-a-great-leader/

[7]
http://www.fringewisdom.com/your_belief_system.php

[8]
http://www.prem-rawat-talk.org/forum/uploads/CultCharacteristics.htm
[9] https://s3.amazonaws.com/LaonaHoldMusic/Ingilis_Rekod.mp3

APPENDIX

Food for Thought: Riddle of Culture (Privacy Taboo)

Riddle translation in Leb Lango

Tye lobo moro ame olwongo ni Paranoimos kan ame tekwaro gi jo lubu kwer tutwal me woro
obanga gi, kun mon otegu acel acel tye kede wang opem mere ame en lego iye. Dako acel acel
i te kwaro man keto jami lego mere (bala cale) i yi ot lego mere kene. Ka dako moro acel ame
nyinge A olibere te donyo i ot lego adako okene anyinge B, jo me te kwaro me Paranoimos tero
ni iyee adako B otur oko, ento iyee adako A ikom obanga gi yito malo matek.

Pi amano, ka dako moro keken cunye opoto ni dako okene odonyo i ot mere, dako acunye
opoto ni myero goo wii dako olibere odonyo i ot awotere ni. Pi kit ame dako adonyo i ot awotere
libere aliba ni, won ot pe neno i wange ni ngatoro odonyo i ot mere, ento winyo awinya bala
anii i bot dako okene, onyo bot mon okene (ame wel gi romo kato acel oko).

Acalo apor, dako anyinge C romo doto dako anyinge A bot dako anyinge B ni A olibere odonyo i
ot a B. Ka otimere kito, B myero goo wii A i lut cutu cutu. I kare ame en tye agoyo will dako wad
gi, B myero tuc bot A ni C aye odote. (C romo bedo dako acel, onyo mon awel gi kato acel oko).
B myero kob kop ateni. Ka B odoto adot goba goba, A myero goo wii C cutu cutu. Ka adot
obedo ateni, A pe bino goyo wii C pi cik me tekwaro kede pi lworo ni C bino donyo kede gin
anyuto ni en A oturu cik ame miyo obino tweyo A oko.
Pi kit ame liliba me donyo i ot kelo cuny me ryang ryang i kin jo woki, pol amon pe donyo i kodi
liliba kede kobo anii.

Apeny: Tye welo moro ame obino i lobo okene a me pe ngeyo kop i kom kwer me Paranoimos.
Tic ame omiyo boti yin a kwan papula man tye me gonyo jami ame tye atimere bot welo man,
kun i kobi wa nga ame odoto nga, kede ka twere, nga ame obedo a tim bal me libere te donyo i
ot lego amon awad gi. Tii kede gin ame welo man oneno te coyo piny kan:

C okobo koporo bot F

B okobo koporo bot E

A okobo koporo bot F

F okobo koporo bot A

E okobo koporo bot B

A okobo koporo bot B

E ogoo wii A

A ogoo wii C

A ogoo wii B

B ogoo wii A

F ogoo wii D

A ogoo wii E

B ogoo wii C

C ogoo wii A

Titi wa nga odoto nga, kede ka twere, nga (gi) obedo otim bal me donyo i yi ot lego amon
wad gi.

Riddle in English
In a god-fearing culture called the Paranoimos, each adult woman has a personal temple where
she prays. The temples differ in that each woman puts symbols of her devotion in her temple
hut. If woman A enters woman B's hut, then the Paranoimos believe that B's hut is weakened
and B's prayers will lose their force, whereas A's will gain power.

For this reason, if a woman suspects that another woman has entered her hut, then she is duty-
bound to strike the intruder with a ritual stick. Suspicion comes from accusations by third parties,
never from direct observation. Note that several women might accuse someone of intruding.

Woman C may tell B that A entered B's hut. At that point B must strike A. When striking A, B
tells A that it was C who accused her. (C, of course, might be one of several accusers.) B must
be honest about this. If the accusation is false, A is duty-bound to strike C. If the accusation is
true, A does not strike C by tradition and for fear that C may come up with proof that would
cause A's banishment. Because these intrusions lead to bad feelings, most women avoid them.

An anthropologist interested in privacy taboos visited the Paranoimos recently but did not know
the language. Our job is to interpret her journal to determine who accused whom and, if possible,
who was guilty of intrusion. Here are the journal entries:

C speaks to F

B speaks to E

A speaks to F

F speaks to A

E speaks to B

A speaks to B

E strikes A

A strikes C

A strikes B

B strikes A

F strikes D

A strikes E

B strikes C

C strikes A
Determine who accused whom and, if possible, who was guilty of intrusion.

A brief background of the riddle

This riddle question– which has become very popular around the world, was first published in
Scientific American Magazine, 2002[10], and it has since then been translated in many global
languages (e.g Chinese[11])– including Leb Lango (Ogole, 2013). I first encountered and solved
it in 2008 – during some multi-cultural group challenge. I have received quiet interesting
answers from fellow members, and I will share them with the Community soon after Nov 24.

People from various parts of the world continue to share their solutions/answers to this riddle,
but their responses are neither elaborate nor convincing – save for that others are simply funny
[12]!

Riddle references

[10] http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=privacy-taboos

[11] http://blog.xuite.net/jackie.xie/bluelove/5739155

[12]
http://www.pcqanda.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=2&topic_id=80115&mode=full
&page=44