My Tanzanian Family

A father, mother, two brothers, and three sisters live within the same family compound as I, the newest member of the family. The walls of the home by no means delineate the boundaries of the family, however. The cast of relatives is too large for me to know in the brief ten-weeks of my stay, even though many of them live in the houses immediately surrounding ours. Kiswahili reflects this broad conception of the family: Uncles on my father’s side of the family are known as baba mdogo (literally: younger father) and baba mkubwa (Elder Father), and a similar structure is found on the mother’s side regarding Aunts. A close family friend can even be called dada/kaka (brother/sister), and many families, including mine, have housegirls who have effectively become members of the family (though they do earn a salary).