Swahili

Majaliwa si mamoja:
Fate is never uniform

The Kanga, loved in East Africa for its patterns, colors and versatility is also, historically, a means of communication through the proverbs printed along the bottom border.

These proverbs communicate everything from personal feelings to political, social or religious axioms and often express sentiments the wearer chooses not to verbalize directly.

These social fabrics are given as gifts with messages of thanks or love, they are worn with messages of discontent to political rallies, and they may be worn as a warning to a friend or a neighbor with whom the wearer bears a grudge.

The proverbs are often ambiguous and have as many translations and meanings as they do people who translate them.