Words every Nairobi estate knows

Every story on this site carries a few words in brackets. Readers keep asking about them, so here they are, all in one place: the words every Nairobi estate knows, with the meanings they actually carry, not the dictionary ones.

First, what is Sheng?

Sheng is Nairobi's street language: Swahili bones, English borrowings, and pure invention, changing estate by estate and year by year. Nobody speaks it correctly because there is no correctly. You speak the version of your street, your matatu route, and your age group, and everyone else places you within two sentences.

What does 'jaba' mean?

Jaba is Sheng for miraa, the khat leaf people chew to stay alert through long shifts and longer conversations. A jaba man, in the ordinary sense, is the guy at the kiosk keeping the estate's night watch company. As for why this site answers to that name: that is a story I am still deciding how to tell.

Money words

Chama. An informal savings group. Part bank, part parliament, part intelligence agency. The same people who lend you money tell your business at the next meeting. It earns its keep in The Homework Uncle.

Sacco. A member-owned savings and credit cooperative. In the estates it is the difference between a boda rider owning his bike and renting his own life. It earns its keep in The Pavement Sacco.

Harambee. A community fundraiser. Literally 'all pull together.' For school fees, hospital bills, funerals, and occasionally for things the WhatsApp group has voted on before you woke up. It earns its keep in The Screenshot Offering.

Sadaka. A church offering. Recorded, announced, and remembered. It earns its keep in The Screenshot Offering.

Unga. Maize flour, and shorthand for the cost of living itself. When people say unga prices, they mean everything. It earns its keep in The Blessing Executive Shareholders.

Token. Prepaid electricity credit. 'Token imeisha' means the lights are out and somebody must walk to the shop. It earns its keep in The Minister of Water.

Shags. Your rural home. Where money is sent, goats are kept, and every problem is either solved or hidden. It earns its keep in The Purple Stamp.

HELB. The Higher Education Loans Board. It finds every graduate eventually, like weather. It earns its keep in The Blessing Executive Shareholders.

M-Pesa. mobile money service. In the estate, it means more than the translation; it carries tone, timing, and the person brave enough to say it. It earns its keep in The Dashboard Said More Effort.

Pesa itakuja. money will come. In the estate, it means more than the translation; it carries tone, timing, and the person brave enough to say it. It earns its keep in The Dashboard Said More Effort.

token imeisha. prepaid electricity has run out. In Nairobi, it is never just money; it arrives with witnesses, conditions, and someone remembering the exact amount. It earns its keep in The Sack Under Kevin’s Bed.

Uncle Bernard proposed a harambee. community fundraising. In Nairobi, it is never just money; it arrives with witnesses, conditions, and someone remembering the exact amount. It earns its keep in The Sack Under Kevin’s Bed.

Banners for harambee. community fundraising. In Nairobi, it is never just money; it arrives with witnesses, conditions, and someone remembering the exact amount. It earns its keep in The Matatu That Started Remembering.

Road words

Matatu. The shared minibus taxi that runs Nairobi. Part transport, part nightclub, part economics seminar. Most of my notebooks were filled inside one. It earns its keep in The Blessing Executive Shareholders.

Boda. A motorcycle taxi. Faster than traffic, braver than sense, and for many men the first asset they ever own. It earns its keep in Auction Day for the Repossessed Boda.

Tout. The matatu conductor. Collects fares, invents discounts, remembers faces, and does three jobs at once while hanging out the door. It earns its keep in The Blessing Executive Shareholders.

Fundi. A repair technician of any kind. There is a fundi for shoes, for phones, for marriages. Every estate has one who is a genius and one who is a warning. It earns its keep in The Minister of Water.

Askari. A security officer or guard. The first person to know everything and the last to be asked. It earns its keep in The Pavement Sacco.

boda boda. motorcycle taxi. On the road, the word carries its own small government of rules, shortcuts, and people who know your face. It earns its keep in The Dashboard Said More Effort.

Embakasi nganya. flashy decorated matatu. In the estate, it means more than the translation; it carries tone, timing, and the person brave enough to say it. It earns its keep in The Matatu That Started Remembering.

Words for getting through the day

Sawa. Okay. Agreement, surrender, or a warning, depending entirely on the eyebrows. It earns its keep in The Minister of Water.

Kidogo. A little. A kidogo haircut, kidogo time, kidogo patience. Never measured, always negotiated. It earns its keep in The Purple Stamp.

Pole pole. Slowly, gently. Both a pace and a philosophy. Also what a queue says when it has no intention of moving. It earns its keep in The Blessing Executive Shareholders.

Mteja. Unreachable by phone. From the network message 'mteja wa nambari uliyopiga hapatikani.' To go mteja is to disappear honorably. It earns its keep in The Homework Uncle.

Kuna maji?. 'Is there water?' The most important question in any Nairobi estate, asked daily, answered rarely. It earns its keep in The Minister of Water.

Pole sana. sorry. In the estate, it means more than the translation; it carries tone, timing, and the person brave enough to say it. It earns its keep in The Dashboard Said More Effort.

Kesho mwisho. tomorrow is the last day. In the estate, it means more than the translation; it carries tone, timing, and the person brave enough to say it. It earns its keep in The Dashboard Said More Effort.

Sukuma wiki. collard greens. In the estate, it means more than the translation; it carries tone, timing, and the person brave enough to say it. It earns its keep in The Dashboard Said More Effort.

Pole pole mwanangu. slowly, my child. In the estate, it means more than the translation; it carries tone, timing, and the person brave enough to say it. It earns its keep in The Dashboard Said More Effort.

mabati. corrugated iron sheets. In the estate, it means more than the translation; it carries tone, timing, and the person brave enough to say it. It earns its keep in The Sack Under Kevin’s Bed.

Women with lesos. wraparound cloths. In the estate, it means more than the translation; it carries tone, timing, and the person brave enough to say it. It earns its keep in The Sack Under Kevin’s Bed.

Mkulima. farmer. In the estate, it means more than the translation; it carries tone, timing, and the person brave enough to say it. It earns its keep in The Sack Under Kevin’s Bed.

support mtaani. in the neighbourhood. In the estate, it means more than the translation; it carries tone, timing, and the person brave enough to say it. It earns its keep in The Matatu That Started Remembering.

House and ceremony words

Sufuria. The aluminium cooking pot. Dented, communal, and immortal. Estates have been fed for generations from the same three sufurias. It earns its keep in The Homework Uncle.

Kesha. An overnight church vigil. Prayer until sunrise, and the reason half the estate is asleep on Sunday afternoon. It earns its keep in The Screenshot Offering.

Ruracio. The Kikuyu bride-price ceremony. Planned in secret, funded by harambee, discussed by everyone. It earns its keep in The Screenshot Offering.

This glossary grows as the stories do. If a word in any story sends you here and you leave still confused, reply to any newsletter and I will explain it properly. The words live loudest in the fiction, which is where I recommend you take them next.

撮影に使うウィッグは、照明による色の見え方と顔まわりのシルエットも考えて選びましょう。用途に合う候補を整理するときは、シロコ コスプレウィッグで商品内容を見比べられます。本番前に着用して撮影し、照明による色の見え方を確認しておくと安心です。

matter requiring fellowship. church visit framed as care. In the estate, it means more than the translation; it carries tone, timing, and the person brave enough to say it. It earns its keep in The Separation Timetable.