I thought they might just call me Mogom for a few days until the novelty wore off, but I guess it’s not really a novelty to them, as they all have local names as well as ‘Christian’ names. (They are given their Christian names when they are baptised in the Lutheran Church).
More and more often they called me Mogom. Somehow I seemed to elicit a laugh and a happy sigh of ‘Oh, Mogom!’ rather frequently, even for no apparent reason! But it was said in a positive affectionate way and I liked it.
My new name became so commonly used that one day when Sara was talking with our ‘wasmama’, our wasmama couldn’t even think of my English name, Julie!!
One time when I met a new person, they asked me in the local language ‘Awa nanar unim?’ (What is your name?) and I replied ‘Inyar unim Mogom.’ (My name is Mogom). Normally I said ‘Julie’, but because they asked in the local language, I replied with my local name.
It was really special when in the last week our village sisters told me their local names. They don’t generally tell outsiders their local names until they have a relationship, so I knew that I had developed good relationships with them, and I felt accepted and happy about that.
Now that I am not in the village anymore, I don’t have anyone calling me Mogom everyday. When I come back to Australia, you are allowed to call me that as much as you like. I’d like it to catch on.
