It is undoubtedly the most famous locution in the Swahili language on an international level, and it is no coincidence that it certifies what is a trend, an instinct, perhaps then stifled by modern life, concerning East Africa.
We are talking about ‘Hakuna Matata’, or ‘no problem’ (someone also translates it as ‘no worries’, which instead would literally be ‘bila wasiwasi’).
The expression does not go unheard by thousands of tourists who every year holiday not only on the beaches of the Kenyan coast and the island of Zanzibar, but also in the great Kenyan and Tanzanian parks and reserves, in the Ugandan forests in the presence of gorillas (where if you don't behave yourself, on foot, some ‘matata’ can occur) and even in Zambia and in the north of Mozambique.
Meeting smiling people who live on little or nothing and die and see them die for much less, and hearing their ‘hakuna matata’ always has an effect that, whichever way you look at it, does not go unnoticed and makes us reflect on the weight we give to things and the haste and superficiality with which we measure the blurry boundary between poverty of spirit and richness of soul, often without using a compass, but compassion.
Hakuna matata. Even those who have never been to Africa, or that Africa, learned it, thanks to the release of the very famous animated film ‘The Lion King’, which contained the song with hakuna matata in the title and refrain, written by Elton John and performed by Jimmy Cliff. In the weeks in which the ‘prequel’ to ‘The Lion King’, ‘Mufasa’, has also arrived in cinemas around the world, the charm of the savannah and the philosophy of the equator are back in the limelight, bolstered by a more than good tourist season.
Not to mention that with all the shenanigans (and then some) gushing around, between ongoing wars and others that have only ended on paper, hakuna matata is a dream, a hope that in the times of unbridled individualism, for everyone takes on a different meaning. But for everyone it is an invitation to take a little more lightly what we see and hear around us, without either ignoring it or thinking it is normal.
Simply to know that a world where ‘hakuna matata’ was a fundamental rule of life, would not be extravagance, nor selfishness, but a change of course from ‘matatizo’, a world of messes.
To lighten up the concept in pure holiday style, here is a song that is a far cry from the compositional prowess of Sir Elton Hercules John and the singing verve of Jamaican legend Jimmy Cliff, but ironically illustrates what we have just stated.
We gladly participated in this ‘game’ and produced this animated video and as stated at the end of the song by King Midas and The Creek, there are so many troubles in Africa and so many ways to express them with a word...the important thing is to put a ‘hakuna’ in front of it!