"The alley ways of Stone town (Tanzania) are fantastic (and really, I mean FAN-TAS-TIC) to play hide a seek in. You needn't even try to hide, you get lost if you daydream for but a moment. But none-the-less, the children play hide and seek. A lot. And this is the little song that they use to choose who is going to be on (it's like Eenie, meenie, miney, moe), and it's in nonsense Swahili…" –Lauren Kent

Notes

Dickson Ndambuki wrote, "This is not Kiswahili, though it sounds Bantu, probably from the Congo. I think the rhyme is challenging a girl/lady whose name is Anna to meet the poet "face to face". Here's some Swahili words that can be derived from the rhyme- with meaning: ana kwa ana/uso kwa uso= face to face. 2. Duku duku/ mshangao= surprise/ exclamation, 3. Mitindo= ways, behavior."

Thanks and Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Lauren Kent for sharing this choosing rhyme. Lauren has a blog called African Walkabout about her travels in Africa.