You are the proud Godfather...

...Natalia Kaptembwa! A very good Kenyan friend of mine is going to be giving birth any day now. A few days ago, I talked to her and she was still thinking of a name for her soon-to-be new born baby girl.

Lillian andI had so much fun working together in Kenya. We kept the office atmosphere light and reasonably cheerful. I worked for an HIV/AIDS organization called the International Community for the Relief of Starvation and Suffering. During the spare times of the day, her and I would work on my Kiswahili and I learnt more about the idiosyncracies and nuance of East African culture. She was an incredible teacher. I would go home with a slight pain in my abs from laughing way too much. Even when I think about it now, I still give a small chuckle. :)

So, Lillian and I were talking and she was having the hardest time coming up with a girl's name. I really like the name Malaika (mah-LAH-ee-kah). In Kiswahili, it means 'angel'. The Indian version of the name would be Malika, which can mean a number of things - princess, garland/flower. However, she wanted an English (read: Biblical) name. So, I told her some of my suggestions (Christine, Ruth, Sarah, Suzanne). She shot all of them down. Then I though of the name Natalie. Why Natalie? Well, I was coming home from spending the afternoon with my friend Colleen from Calgary (she was here about 48 hours on business, which was promoting the University of Calgary at the University of Queensland Study Abroad Fair). And I rang up Natalie (she is a fellow med student from the British Crown dependency of the Island of Guersney) and she was doing some grocery shopping at Coles in Toowong Village. I met up with her as I was passing Toowong Village when I had called. We went back to her place and I marvelled at her (uber) modern kitchen and fancy appliances. I helped her make flapjacks. These aren't pancakes or flatcakes. These are rolled oats that have been mixed lots of butter and sugar and then cooked. Mmmmmmmmmm. She's heaps of fun - and she turns bright red whenever I yell out her name (most often in the lecture theatre). :)

Back to the story...I told Lilian this name and she loved it! Natalie (and its many variants) is of Latin origin and it refers to a baby that has been born at Christmas. Natal (and it many variants) mean Christmas in a number of languages. For example, natal means Christimas in Gujarati, natale in Portugeuse, and navidad in Spanish. So, the baby will be named Natalie Kaptembwa. After that process, Lillian asked me if I could be the baby's godfather. I don't think that I have ever thought about it, as the idea of godparenthood. A godparent is someone that has been selected by the parent(s) to ensure that their child(ren) are being raised as good Christians. However, I reckon that in this day in age (also my friend Gemma said this as well) that a godparent is someone that the child's parent(s) feels close to and would like to have a role in the upbringing (literal/figurative) in their child. Even though I know that I would have no clue as to how to raise Natalie as a good Christian, the honour that has been bestowed upon me is, indeed, quite great.