by Magreth Lazaro Mafie 🇹🇿
🏆 Proverb Essay Contest 
🥉 Third Place Winner
(English translation from Kiswahili)

How many times have you heard “Mchumia juani hulia kivulini” (One who works in the sun, eats in the shade). This is a Swahili (Bantu) proverb meant to encourage people in their everyday activities, to have faith that there will be a day when they will enjoy the fruits of their work.

This proverb gives people strength, diligence, heart, courage, hope and skill in working. The worker believes that hard work brings a good harvest that will allow him to relax in the shade as he eats the fruits of his labor. 

The following poem shows “One who works in the sun” in their daily responsibilities.

Once there was a farmer. He spent his whole life in agriculture. Thus his times for pleasure were few. People in his village called him a skilled farmer. He built a house by selling part of his crops, he educated his children through farming.

This farmer was a diligent man, he always learned the principles of being a good farmer, so as time went by, he harvested many crops from his fields. Many people were really amazed to see the big changes in his family. He made many investments in his village, the farms, houses, and shops, and many livestock came from his farm.

Many people came to take wisdom from the skilled farmer. He always told them "One who works in the sun, eats in the shade. The hoe has given me respect in the village, me and my family. My life now is going on a path of certainty, I am in the shade, enjoying the fruits of my labor in the sun. I, the son of that skilled farmer, am proud of my upbringing, and his responsibility, because work in the sun today has made us rest and eat in the shade. The true meaning of “he who works in the sun” can be seen in actions. Your diligence is your sun and the shade is the fruit of your diligence.

This story is complemented by the story of "Mabala the Farmer" by Richard S. Mabala (1989). Mabala was a port worker then he was demoted, so he chose to return to the village of Morogoro. Mabala was careless, drunk and obstinate. Mabala went to the farm with a gallon of booze, he drank it and went to sleep, when he woke up, he called out to his wife but there was no answer except the sound of the hoe tik-tok, tik-tok.

Mabala was obstinate, he watered the fields with sugar, thinking it was fertilizer, but in the end he changed to become a skilled farmer, becoming “one who works” in the sun so that his family could eat in the shade. Do you feel that Mabala is “one who works in the sun”? In the family or in the community, what’s your image of a skilled farmer?

In conclusion, this story on the proverb "Work in the sun, eat in the shade" shows us a good vision in everything we do in our daily lives. Also proverbs like "Subira yavuta kheri” (Patience brings blessings), "Mgaa na Upwa hali wali mkavu” (He who combs the beach at low tide doesn’t eat dry rice) all have similar themes; they exist to give the community strength and hope each task undertaken to pursue their goals.

One day a renown businessman wanted to hire an assistant. He received many resumes, but only two candidates met his high standards: Alice and Bob. To help him decide, he called both, and they each agreed to come in for an interview the following morning. "9 AM. Look sharp and don't be late." The manager warned.

The next morning Alice woke up early, donned her best suit and got to the village bus station at 8:00am. "Better safe than sorry," she thought.  On the way to town, the front of the minibus began to smoke. The driver pulled over in the bush and told all the passengers to get out. Just then it started to rain. Alice tried to wave down each bus that passed, but they were all full, so she had to walk on foot. 9am came and went, but Alice was still miles from town and the rain was getting harder. "I must keep going." she thought, "Better late than never."

Meanwhile in town, Bob woke up in his apartment, and saw the sun was high in the sky. He sat up suddenly. "Oh no! Why did my alarm fail?" He looked at the clock on his wall: 9:00 am. "Forget it. Even if I leave right now, I'll still be late, and they'll never hire someone who is late." So Bob, feeling depressed, went back to sleep.

At 10:30, Alice finally made it to the office and knocked on the door, her neatly pressed suit now dripping and muddy. The businessman answered.
"I warned you to be on time, yet you are over an hour late, how can you expect me to give you this job?"
Then Alice explained all that had happened.
"I have learned a lot about you from this story, Alice. When you have a purpose in mind, you persist despite and obstacles and don't give up, even when it seems too late. In fact, you are the first to arrive today. The other candidate did not show up at all. The job is yours."

Great achievements and inventions often begin with a lot of failures, but in the long run, persistence and learning are rewarded.  People make a lot of mistakes (to err is human), but life is very patient with us, giving us lots of chances to learn from them and try again, as long as we don't give up.

Some say the proverb "Better late than never" comes from The Canterbury Tales, written by Chaucer around the 1390s.

Others trace the proverb to an even earlier origin, in Livy's History of Rome, written around 20 BC:

A similar saying in English is "It's never too late." 
Here's a proverb that relates to the same principle in Hindi:

And here's an English proverb that often means the opposite of this one:

Methali hii ya Kiingereza "To the victor go the spoils" inatafsirika pia kama "Mshindi ndiye anayechukua vyote" au "Mshindi hupokea nyara zote."

Mshindi wa shindano ndiye anayepokea tuzo. Huwa anachukua asilimia kubwa ya faida ama faida zote, na hata manufaa zaidi ya yale yaliyokuwa yakipiganiwa.

Katika vita, nyara zinaweza kuwa ardhi, mamlaka au rasilimali nyingine zinazotafutwa. Katika shughuli zingine nyara zinaweza kuwa sifa, pesa au fursa. Methali hii hutumika ili kueleza matokeo yasiyo sawa au kutukumbusha kwamba katika migogoro mingi ni mshindi ndiye atakayechukua yote, asilimia kubwa, au angalau, kupendelewa. Angalia sehemu ya vyanzo kwa maelezo ya muktadha kuhusu chimbuko la methali hii, mwanasiasa wa Marekani katika miaka ya 1830 (Kiingereza).

Kwa kiingereza tunasema "One man's trash is another man's treasure," maana yake, kilichotupwa na mtu mmoja, kinaweza kutumikia mwingine na kuwa na thamani kwake.

Msemo huu hutumika ili kueleza jinsi mapendeleo ya watu hutofautiana, ama kuonyesha matumaini kwamba wanadamu ni wabunifu katika masuala ya kupanga upya au kuchakata vitu vilivyotupwa na wengine.

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Dhana kwamba thamani ya kitu hutegemea mtazamo wako ipo tangu zamani. Chimbuko cha msemo huu ni methali ya Kiingereza iliyotumika karne ya 17:

Je umewahi kuona thamani katika kitu kilichotupwa na mwengine?