Stories From Kiribati

My seven year old daughter was watching her mother eating her meal of boiled breadfruit and salt fish. All of a sudden, she asked her mom, “Kamai berona bwa kanau!”

I thought my ears went wrong so I listened carefully if she would ask again … and she did, “Mummy ngka berona bwa kanau!” this time she was actually pointing to the seed of the breadfruit.

Well, I laughed … ‘cos it sounded funny and strange. But I knew why she made such a mistake. So to guide her to the right word, I asked her mom the same question and also pointing to the seed of the breadfruit, “Kamai ‘koraana’ bwa kanau”

When she heard me saying ‘koraana’ instead of ‘berona’, she looked at me for a while and then laughed. I guessed she had learned something.

Note: In Kiribati language, the word ‘koraana’ is the name of both the ‘seed’ of the fruit and the ‘testicles’. On the other hand ‘berona’ is the word for boy’s weenie (penis).