Pain and its socio-cultural dimension

[Lamagoodle]

Hi folks.
Jimco wanaagsan to all of you.

As a diaspora somali, chances are that you are familiar with expressions such as “Beerka ayaa I xanuunaya ( I have pain in the liver”! Waran ayaa igu taagan ( I have a spear on my body” ) when you ask someone about his/her health.

You have probably worked as an interpreter where ethics require you to translate all the words that are uttered by both parties. In many cases that involve Somali interpreters born outside Somalia the sentence “lost in translation” is not a cliché.

There are some urban legends of the poor interpretations/translations or the literal translations/interpretations which is perhaps the best term; Who has not heard about ; Naagteeyda waan furay which is interpreted into “ I opened my wife” or lugaha ayaay iga jartay/lugooyso interpreted into “ she cut my legs”

Pain and how we communicate it is something worth discussing.

For the waayeel (caaqil) Somali mind, I have pain in the liver could mean anything from menstrual pains to bowl difficulties; any pain between the legs to the throat. The phrase I have a spear on my body could mean anything from muscle inflammation to internal organ pain to psychosomatic diseases.

From a biological standpoint, the concept of pain is usually defined as meaning physiological malfunction or the signalling mechanism that draws attention to the presence of tissue damage that is caused by a internal or external noxious stimulus of the nerve. There is also a psychological dimension to pain which is difficult to conceptualize but perhaps easier to treat (e.g. mental diseases) .

Unarguably, pain is an inseparable part of our lives and obviously one of the commonest symptoms of clinical practice because medical officials always ask patients about the manner and location of pain. Furthermore, many remedies to offsetting pains paradoxically also involve exerting pain; biopsies, injections, Surgical operations etc.

A few days ago your correspondent met an old friend who he had not seen in ages. He lives in Stockholm and is what you may call a loner. He never integrates with somalis except when someone dies. He lives with a blond Finnish woman. They have two kids. He is very educated and has a well paying job. If you speak to him for more than 3 minutes you will discover that he is a student of Marx. He uses Hegelian dialectics to explain the problems of our nation and somalis. He was educated in the Ukraine and probably was exposed to Marxism. Imperialism, social evolution, manifesto etc are some of the words you will hear during a five minute conversation.

Although he rarely meets somalis for fadhi-ku-dirir discourse or what I term as “therapeutic sessions” he has maintained a good command of the Somali language and teaches his kids Somali and Somali culture.

During our conversation the other day we discussed as usual some of the problems and challenges that our nation faces. In his mind, the cause of our quandary is MONEY. Imperialism uses money to enslave the minds of people was his thesis.

After a few minutes, I enquired about his state of health because I noticed that he was experiencing some pain in his back; he turns around and says “ saaxibow waran ayaa beryahan igu taagan). This caught me off guard because if anyone knows about the human physiology/anatomy, it should be him! He is not only educated but also works in the medical field.

My friend’s sudden outburst of “the spear in his body” prompted me to do some thinking not only about how we describe pain but also how we view our bodies and describes changes to it.

Unlike the biological view of the body as being just a physical organism that fluctuates between health and illnesses, social and behavioural scientists view it as socially and physiologically constructed. The human body’s structure and function is a cultural entity that is acquired when we grow up in a particular family, culture etc which manifests itself in variations in which the description of pain could come in many shapes and forms.

One example that shows this array is how we describe the shape and size of our bodies when we want to communicate information about it. Or how we relate the body to its owner.. For instance, while the word obesity in the western context is seen as a significant health problem and carries social stigma- the obese is viewed as a weak soul who falls for gluttony and sloth- in many societies obesity is viewed as the result of well being.

How we behave when we experience pain – in particular the voluntary aspect of pain- is certainly influenced by cultural, social and physiological factors which determine how we relay it. Yes, physical pain could be vividly and emotionally laden symptom but it is important that we understand the cultural context. From a Somali perspective the cultural context could include the lack of knowledge about human anatomy and the path-dependent nature of some words; In addition from a medical perspective metaphors conceal the mere fact that people are generally shy to mention some pains; how many Somali women will dare say they are menstruating? How many men will admit that they have constipation? Instead, the finger is pointed at the abdomen, bowl or the back.

What is however worth thinking about is how the “beer” liver is used to portray pain; the liver substitutes for emotional pain e.g. unreturned love, menstrual pains, ulcers . I think this is a Somali thing. In many societies that I have visited the heart is the epicentre of “emotional pains” .

[Jam Street]

Like the dude who got into a store, wanting to buy a comb. He was a graduate of jacfar's private ESL classes, which meant he knew little bit of English but not much. And so when he couldn't figure out the English word for Shanlo he decided he was gonna put one and one together and see if he'll have a solution. He knew the English word for Shan (which is five) and also knew the English word for Lo (which is cow).

"I need five cows, brother"

[Lamagoodle]

Like the dude who got into a store, wanting to buy a comb. He was a graduate of jacfar's private ESL classes, which meant he knew little bit of English but not much. And so when he couldn't figure out the English word for Shanlo he decided he was gonna put one and one together and see if he'll have a solution. He knew the English word for Shan (which is five) and also knew the English word for Lo (which is cow).

"I need five cows, brother"

Jam Street, that was new to me saaxib. BTW, any news from Eastleigh. I read somewhere that there were coordinated robberies against somali owned businesses.

[Jam Street]

Brother I was talking to folks in Mombassa yesterday and they didn't tell me that.

When did that happen? Dal oo dalkaaga eheen dareen kujoog waaye mala dhihi jirinoo? Eastleigh lacag badan aa naga taalo hadaa Somali nahay.

[Lamagoodle]

Jaamow, several sources; read this: http://www.hiiraan.com/news/2012/May/wa ... -17912.htm

As regards urban legends; did you hear the story about the NFD guy and the somali proper woman; He knocks on her door and she asks; waa kumaa?; the NFD guys answers wa Mboro

[Jam Street]

Jaamow, several sources; read this: http://www.hiiraan.com/news/2012/May/wa ... -17912.htm

As regards urban legends; did you hear the story about the NFD guy and the somali proper woman; He knocks on her door and she asks; waa kumaa?; the NFD guys answers wa Mboro

Kuma meets mboro. Wee kuu gashay uu is dhahay xarfaan baban ah iska heshay.

[waryaa]

lama, Mistranslations may lead to medical misdiagnoses and other false records/documentation. some1 should write Somali idioms dictionary

It also goes the other way too. I once went to the doctor with a Somali sheik who was educated in Saudi Arabia. His file said "he drinks alcohol" which was not true. On his first day with the doc he was asked "do you drink?" and the interpretor said "ma cabtaa". He said yes, not knowing about the hidden alcohol element in the question.

[Hyperactive]

"ma cabtaa". i would say " war wahan moho leeyahay, of course biyo wan 3aba iyo shaah iyo juice.

[PrinceDaadi]

While I enjoyed reading ur article I think When Somalis say "waran/oodin baa iga taagan" or beerka/boga ayaa i xanuunaa" I believe they r expressing something which they r feeling in a context which they understand.

Ur learned friend is not wrong when he says "waran baa iga taagan". What is more if these translators don't understand the language it is not the fault of Afsomali, it is in my believe the expressions u listed and many others r what make Afsomali rich/beautiful.

It is not that Somalis r shying away to express what they r exactly feeling but rather this is the way they do it.

[Lamagoodle]

Waryaa LOL. That was new to me. I can imagine the look on his face when the doctors asked him whether he still drinks

Prince Daadi, could be the case that our language is a rich language although I strongly doubt it; but a lot of us live in the diaspora and as such should learn to describe our symptoms. The worst thing about this is that most of us play doctors; we seem to know the diseases. There are even cases when someone asks the doctor to prescribe a certain medicine. German doctors, have for instance, found out that the best way to cure a somali is to give them some medicine (a kind of placebo); in most cases painkillers. No wonder somalis flock to Germany.

[PrinceDaadi]

Lam: Brother, the second issue u raised which was not included in ur article is an issue that can be solved through education, it was necessitated by lack of medical personal in back home.

back to the Issue on the table. There r two things here:- one is the lack of understanding from the so called translators! the second one is the way Somali express pain and diseases. I want to address the second one, Somalis or the Somali speaking inhabitants of HoA do express things in a way that fits the lifes and culture of the society, it is not they feel shame to express how they feel. When somebody says "waran baa iga taagan" everybody with proper Somalis know what/how that person feels, The Doctors from back home also know what is symptoms that person is complaining. They also say "oof baa igu taagan" "falaaro ayaa kuligey igu mudan", all these r different kind of pain and their expression.

Every community through out the world has got ways to express things, it seems you want us to fit the Western way of expressing things.

[Lamagoodle]

Prince , gartay. Actually that was the key thesis of this piece saaxib; that pain and how we relay it to others has a socio-cultural dimension. "oof" or "oodin" are actually excellent words to describe pain. On the other hand, we cannot deny that we do not have sufficient knowledge of anatomy; in many cases, "beer" xanuun does not have anything to do with liver (because liver diseases have other symptoms). Wadno xanuun too.

So one issue concerns the description of pain using idiomatic expressens that are culturally laden while the other issue relates to lack of knowledge.

Finally, saaxib, I am not calling for anyone to fit into anything. I just want our people in the diaspora to describe their pains so that they are accorded treatment. You wouldn't believe the number of somalis who are not diagonised accordingly due to misunderstandings. Believe me when I say that alot of TB cases are not discovered because doctors suspect other conditions; alot of cervical and bowl cancers are not discovered because the patient did not mention pain from the source.

[PrinceDaadi]

Lam: I think our points r not far from each other it is only how we r phrasing it. being said that, the misdiagnosing of Somali patients in the west is mostly due to lack of communication not that they r not expressing them selves actually they do but who understands them?

When Somali person says beerka ayaa i xanuunaa, he is expressing pain from certain body parts where he think the organ "beer" is. Somalis or those who know afsomali know a lot of words of human anatomy but as we moved to the city and later on to the refugees we started to lose the knowledge of knowing those words.

[Lamagoodle]

Lam: I think our points r not far from each other it is only how we r phrasing it. being said that, the misdiagnosing of Somali patients in the west is mostly due to lack of communication not that they r not expressing them selves actually they do but who understands them?

When Somali person says beerka ayaa i xanuunaa, he is expressing pain from certain body parts where he think the organ "beer" is. Somalis or those who know afsomali know a lot of words of human anatomy but as we moved to the city and later on to the refugees we started to lose the knowledge of knowing those words.

Indeed we are making the same point Prince. However, I think this issue is related to learning too.

[PrinceDaadi]

Lamgodle: Problem identified is a problem half solved. one of the things that happened in the west was that Hospital employed young guys/guls from either ciyaalka xaafada or grew up in the refugees whom their afsomali is not proper to be translators and translate from old Somalis who neither speak afciyaalka xaafada or the refugee slang. these Old Somalis were using strong Somali terms which was difficult for these translators to understand.