Les salutations dans la communauté Tem

Avant de parler de la salutation dans la communauté tem, notons que la plupart des tem sont des musulmans. Alors, la religion a une place importante dans cette communauté et exige que chaque personne accorde un respect total à ses parents.

En tem, il y a trois manières importantes de se saluer au cours de la journée qui sont respectivement : baavίnɩ kazɔ́ɔ (matin), ńna wίsɩ (midi), ńna daanίŋa (après midi).

Premièrement, dès qu'une personne se lève à l'aube, elle doit d'abord chercher à faire l'ablution pour aller faire la prière de l'aube et c'est après cette prière que la personne va revenir à la maison pour saluer ses parents. On ne salue pas les parents une fois que cette conditions n'est pas respectée ou que l'on n'a pas encore lavé son visage. Le plus souvent, c'est au tour de 6h du matin qu'on salue les parents. Pour saluer, une personne doit bien s'abaisser, prendre position sur les orteils, les cuisses formant un triangle avec les mollets, les fesses presque sur les jambes et les bras au sol ou sur les cuisses. Ainsi commence la salutation:

baavίnɩ kazɔ́ɔ qui signifie littéralement (ils ont bien dormi = bonjour)

et à la personne qu'on salue de répondre par yaá (réponse à une salutation) et les deux vont continuer en disant ɩίŋ pour cesser après un bout de temps.

Si la salutation se fait entre un petit et une personne âgée, c'est le petit seul qui doit s'abaisser ; si c'est entre des personnes âgées, alors tous s'abaissent avant de se saluer. Notons que le fait de s'abaisser avant de saluer une personne est valable seulement pour cette la salutation de l'aube. Concernant les autres qui se font au cours de la journée, une personne n'a pas besoin de s'abaisser avant de saluer.

Si c'est à midi, il suffit de se courbé un peu si vous êtes en face d'une personne âgée sinon se mettre debout et dire :

ńna wίsɩ (signifie littéralement en tem ''là soleil'').

Cette salutation se dit le plus souvent autour de midi jusqu'à 14h30, le moment où le soleil est ardent.

Après vient la dernière salutation :

ńna daanίŋa (littéralement ''là le soir''= bonsoir) et qui se dit de 15h-19h et quelque fois tard dans la nuit.

Notons que toutes ces trois salutations peuvent être précédées de pronom personnel à savoir : Nyáávίnɩ kazɔ́ɔ ('Nyáá'= tu, si c'est une seule personne qu'on salue au petit matin);

mίɩvίnɩ kazɔ́ɔ ('mίɩ'= vous, si c'est plusieurs personnes qu'on salue au petit matin);

Nyána wίsɩ ('Nyá' = tu, si c'est une seule personne au tour de midi);

mίna wίsɩ ('mί'= vous, si c'est plusieurs personnes au tour de midi),

nyána daanίŋa ( si c'est une seule personne au tour de l'après midi),

mίna daanίŋa (si c'est plusieurs personnes au tour de l'après midi)

Il est important de noter qu'en tem, tout comme dans d'autres langues, on peut demander d'après les enfants au cours de la salutation :

bíya ni (et les enfants), la réponse est alaafίya;

si c'est pour demander d'après la famille, on dit :

koobíre ni ? Et la réponse est toujours alaafίya.

Ce qui est commun chez les tem est qu'on ne rentre pas chez une personne sans saluer, de plus, on ne doit pas dépasser une personne âgée qu'on connaît sans la saluer. Si une personne fait le contraire, cela est considérer comme de l'impolitesse à moins que la personne est étrangère à la culture.

En dehors de ces salutations importantes, il y a d'autres encore qui méritent d'être mentionnées à savoir :

ɩsɔ́ɔ féézi (que Dieu réveille = bonne nuit).

Cela se dit si des personnes se séparent la nuit après une longue discussion ou non et pensent qu'elles ne pourrons plus se voir jusqu'au lendemain ou que des personnes se sont vu en cours de route et savent que c'est leur dernière rencontre avant le lendemain.

Par contre, si des personnes sont sûr de se revoir encore le même jour, elles diront :

bɩláa tásɩ ( ça fait après = à bientôt).

Si on sert à manger à une personne, ce qu'elle doit dire est :

ńna mɩzɔ́ɔ (''avec le fourneau'' pour faire référence aux affres du feu que la personne qui a préparé a endurée.) ou Nyána mɩzɔ́ɔ ('toi et le fourneau' pour saluer directement celle qui a préparée : c'est défini) ou encore mίna mɩzɔ́ɔ ('vous et le fourneau' s'il y a plusieurs personnes qui ont préparées) ; alors, que ce soit une personne ou plusieurs personnes qui ont préparé, la réponse sera : yaá.

Mais si c'est un cadeau quelconque, on dit ɩsɔ́ɔ bóɖi (que Dieu enrichit = Merci) et la réponse est toujours yaá.

Aussi, il est important de dire ce qui suit quand vous sortez :

maalίɩ na mɔgɔ́nɩ (je sors et revenir) ou ɖaalίɩ na ɖɩkɔ́nɩ (nous sortons et revenir) et la réponse à cette expression est tɔ́ɔ (interjection 'bon') suivi de ńbó na ngɔ́nɩ (allez-y et revenir).

Quand une telle personne sera de retour à la maison après ses courses, la salutation qui lui sera dressée est :

nooɖé (bonne arrivé) ou Nyánooɖé (bonne arrivée à toi) ou mίnooɖé (bonne arrivée à vous) et elle répondra part yaá.

Mais, si une personne part pour un voyage, elle dira :

mɛ́ndɛ́ɛ nίbááwʋ na mɔgɔ́nɩ (je vais au voyage et revenir) et on lui répondra par ɩsɔ́ɔ láázɩ (que Dieu accompagne) et après son retour, on lui dira gáábɩtɛ́ (soyez le bienvenu ou bonne arrivée) et à lui de dire yaá.

Pour finir, notons que ces salutations demeures, mais la manière de saluer est en disparition dans certaines villes et que pour bien vivre le quotidien des tem, il faudrait se rendre à Sokodé ou à bafilo et leurs petites localités comme Kadambara, Agouloudè, Kémeni, Soudou, Kéléwari.........    

The rustic work (farming) in Tem community

The rustic work (farming) in Tem community

When i was around 15 years old, i used to go to help my uncle to work on his farm during the raining season. So what I am writing is a pure experience of how the life goes on during the rustic work in tem community.

First of all, to farm, a person has to cut down small trees on the farmyard or to weed and then put the grasses and small trees together in order to burn them. The second step is to start cultivating the ground, i mean to transform the ground into something you can sow on depending on the type of plant, tubercles or cereals you need to have. Most of the time, it is cereal people used to sow on furrows. After transforming the ground, the third step is to sow seeds and hope that it rains on that day. Because, if there is the rain after you have sown, the probability of having a very good result is high and also, birds will not be able to scratch the ground in order to take away the seeds you have sown. After sowing, the next thing to do is to wait until you see the first shoots of your seeds or the first sprout of your potato or yam for example. Now, in order to prevent animals from eating these shoots of the seeds, a farmer will go to look for solid wastes the animals get rid of their bodies and put them in water for them to be liquid, then pour them from time to time on these shoots so that if animals smell it, they will not graze the shoots. The fourth step, is to weed after the shoots are little bit grown and especially when there are many weeds on the farm. Sometimes, farmers use to weed the farm two or three times before the harvest. Finally, comes the harvest after seeds sown or things planted are well grown. This harvest happens most of time during dry season.

What is important to know is that everything said so far is done by a human being and not a machine. So, for a big farm, many Tem people are invited to take part to these different activities and that is our concern in this work.

The rustic work differs from one area to another in Tem community. For example, in towns, people use to farm just behind their houses or somewhere very close to their houses. In these small farms, the work is down by father and his sons or only sons if the father is too old and cannot stand on his feet. Often, this farming is done on small scales and does not need a lot of people to do the work. In fact, during the raining season, you will see small farms everywhere in the town. Most of time, it is the corn which is grown in towns and it is not used in this area to be sold but to be used for cooking at home because in Tem community we use corn to make a lot foods such as the pastry, the baby food. Women take part to this rustic work in town only during the harvest which is not the case of what is going on in the villages. In addition to that, some women use to boil corns or to grill them and then you will see these women at the side of the road selling.

In villages, the rustic work is done in a different way from the one in town since it is the area where there are very large farms. There, many people take part in the processes of farming. If somebody needs help from his neighbors, he has to inform them many days before and prepare a quantity of food he will cook for them on the day of the work and that is what we call in tem kɩgalawʋ. This kɩgalawʋ is mostly done by men especially leaders of the village and it will be very strange if a woman calls for it. The food he has to cook for the farmers who will come to help him must be sufficient.

On the day of the work, early in the morning, those who are invited to be for help will directly go on the farm and there will be many people coming from one side to another of the farm. After a while, they will gather in order to have the instructions and discuss about the way the work must be down. Once this is done, they will change their dresses and put on the old clothes before starting to work without wasting time and during the work, there will be some who will always say jokes and others will be laughing. Sometimes, they tell stories about a kɩgalawʋ they have done on somebody's farm and other various stories. Then, the owner of the farm will go from one area to another to see if everybody is fine and encourage them with some technical words such abaaláa mίna konkárί (men thank you) or say the following if it is a woman: aláa gɛ bɩgɛ́ɛ (this is a woman). In Tem, to call people by saying abaaláa (men) or aláa (women) means that they are brave, strong and courageous. In fact, some women will be around to bring water if somebody is thirsty while others will be at home cooking for farmers. When doing the work, it happens that the farmers kill snakes. So women are not supposed to pass the places where there are weeds or small trees nor going in front of the place farmers are doing the work. It is said that the bad animals (reptiles) living in the bush take these directions when hearing the noises from the movement of the farmers' cutlasses. In fact, within farmers, there are some who are very good at making traditional medicines out of leaves of some plants or roots. If somebody in the group is wounded by a cutlass or bitten by a snake, they are they ones who will quickly take care of him or her. Others are good at fixing cutlasses or sharping them and will always be for help if somebody is in need.

The farmers will work from early in the morning till the time they sow women coming with food and this happens most of time at midday. From that time, they will directly know that it is time for the rest and then continue the work after they have finished eating. So the arrival of women with food announces this time of rest. The food will be put in big bowls for farmers to eat in groups. Most of time, the food is composed of beans with many gari (traditional food) inside and palm oil or the ordinary one ; water will be always close to them. Those who eat and do not feel full will ask more by joking and finally the get it. It is the place people will get to know one another with many questions and the discussions go on while eating. After eating, some will change again their dresses, perform ablutions and pray God before waiting a little bit for the work to start again. Others will be lying on the floor in order to rest.

We have to know that, the farmers will not go back home until the whole work is finished. For this reason, to invite people to be for help, the owner of the farm will take into account the length of the land, then imagine the number of people needed for the work. The work is done only one day unless there is a natural disaster which prevents them from finishing the work.

The rest moment will last at least two hours and most of time from 12h to 2h pm, I mean the time the sun is very shining and people feel very hot.

After, eating and resting, the work will start again and now only elders will do the great part of the work and young people will be collecting some stalks lying on farmyard and helping women to bring water to workers. The work will be going on until 5h pm and it before finishing. After the end of the work, there will be some exchanges of thanking between the owner of the farm and the workers who will reply by thanking for the food especially if they got a lot of or have some food left to bring at home. No money is given to anyone of them.

As well as the rustic work in the town, it will take most of the time three months before everything can be grown on the farm and the farm must be at least weeded two times for the things sown to grow very well. Then comes the moment of the harvest.

For the harvest, there must not be as many people as the time of cultivating the ground. For this time, many women will be involved especially when it is peanut or maize. If it is peanut, it is during the work that people will be eating and until the end of the work, their stomachs are full. Some will even make fire on the farmyard to cook it and this is the same if it is maize, they will cook it to eat on the farm. At the end, they will bring the product of the harvest at home. Sometimes, the harvest can last three days depending on the quantity of the products on the farm.

Tabaski in Tem community (Togo)

The Tabaski is considered as a very big feast in Togo. People start the preparation of Tabaski one, two or three months before the exact day of the feast. First of all, they buy cows, bullocks, sheep to breed so that they can be able to sacrifice them on the day of the feast. Once these animals are bought, there will be someone who will be in charge of bringing them to the place where there are many grasses so that they can graze. On this area, people use to let two sheep face to face and make them bang each other after what people will see which one of them is stronger than the other one. Sometimes, one of the fighting sheep can have injury or have one horn broken. The one who is in charge of this injured animal will be severely blamed or punished once he or she comes back home since the owner of the animal will probably know that this animal was fighting with another one and that is the reason why the animal is injured. What is very shocking is that this wounded animal cannot be used for sacrifice since Islam rules say that, an animal which is supposed to be used for sacrifice must be the normal one, without any physical injury on it. Others who observe the rules of Islam do not let their sheep fight and they breed them in a very good way so that in long run, the animals become very fat and more bigger than they were by the time their owners bought them. The animals are kept in the place where there are many grasses from morning till the afternoon with a bucket of water close to the place the animals are tied. The one in charge of the animals will be around to protect the animal against any bad aggression or to prevent them from being stolen or to be attacked by other animals.

The reward of the one in charge of breeding the animal is that, He will get a special gift which are the testicles of the animal on the day of the feast once the animals is killed for the sacrifice.

In almost all the houses, there must be at least one sheep. For example, if we consider ten houses , we can find sheep in six houses. For cows and bullock, they are not most of time brought at home prior to one week before the feast since they are big creatures and not easy to breed. Even if they are bought as soon as possible, they will not be brought to the house of their owners. They will be kept with the sellers in the village especially the group of people known as peulh (fulfulde) in Togo. It is then only some few days before Tabaski or at the eve of the feast that they are brought to their owners in town.

Some small groups of families who want to buy bullock or cow and do not have enough money to afford it, put the money together to buy one bullock or cow and share the meet among themselves on the day of the feast.

As far as the Tabaski is concerned, the following statement collected from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_al-Adha. announces the beginning of the feast:

Allāhu akbar, Allāhu akbar, Allāhu akbar	الله أكبر الله أكبر الله أكبر
lā ilāha illā Allāh	لا إله إلا الله
Allāhu akbar, Allāhu akbar	الله أكبر الله أكبر
wa li-illāhil-hamd	ولله الحمد

Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest,

There is no deity but Allah

Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest

and to Allah goes all praise

Collected from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

After the morning prayer, the Muslims have to utter this statement three times.

Early in the morning, that is the statement a person will hear everywhere and children are very proud hearing this song because it is the day the will eat a lot of rice and meet. People are going from house to house to greet one another. For some children, this is an opportunity to get money since they go to greet the members of their families and by doing so they get some coins in exchange. In addition to that,it is the day people remember their dead people in order to ask Allah forgiveness on their behalf.

Around 9h am, there will be a prayer called 'Idi'. It is after this payer that the Imam will kill his sheep before other people can do it. People go to this prayer in group by saying the statement cited above and when coming back they pass through another road. After the prayer, people go home and sacrifice their own sheep or bullock/cow. Most of time it is the father or the elder son who kills the animal. Around one sheep, you can see many people and each one of them has a specific role to play. Some people are there just because the want to steal meat and you can see them in trousers with big pockets so that they can put meat in. Others, don't wear trousers but they will steal meat and hide it somewhere else. For these latter, if they are not lucky, it is a dog for example which will draw people attention to the place they have hidden the meat or sometimes the dog succeeds in taken the meat.

Women are not involved in the sharing of meet but they get meat after everything is done by men. They are the ones who will prepare and fry the meat. Sometimes, it takes people a whole day to work on the sacrificed animal.

The meat of the sacrificed animal is divided into three parts, one for the owner and his family, second part for his neighbors Tem Muslims who are not able to sacrifice and the third part for non-Muslims that are living nearby.

At 3h pm, young children will be very well dressed and start going from house to house to sing and get money or food in exchange. This is what is called 'Baraka Sala'.

In Tem community, It is the day a person can eat meat and food as much as he or she wants. Nobody feels hunger and even people can save their meet till one month, especially those who killed bullocks or cows.

One week after the Tabaski feast, football matches will be organized and also many festival will be arranged since foreigners and Tem people living abroad come in this Tem community to feast.

Tabaski is the one of the biggest feast in Tem community, wish you experienced it one day.