Yah Jonah

If you’ve been reading my blog, you might remember my post, “they call me Bekah Jonah.” Well, shortly after I posted that, I earned a new name:

“Yah”

I’m called “Yah Jonah.”

I thought being called Bekah Jonah was special, but words can’t describe my delight for Ma and Pa to dub me their “Yah.” It means second daughter and from what I gather, it holds very strong ties with the African culture. It’s not a name you just give out or throw around. Though you might have many “sons and daughters” (it’s very common for Liberians to take others into their home and then refer to them as their own), you only have one Kou, one Yah, one Yei, etc. The moment Ma first called me her “Yah” in a women’s meeting she brought me to one Saturday, every woman in the room stood up and rushed to hug me – though every one in the room had greeted me previously already. From that point on, I knew if I wanted to make others happy, I just had to tell them I was “Yah Jonah!” This name was met with even more delight when I wore one of the African dresses Ma bought me. She would dress me up and proudly show me off to the other Mas in the church. By the end of my time there, it had become natural for me to respond to “Yah.” Ma and Pa completely stopped calling me Bekah altogether – only Yah.

I guess my words fail to try and explain the importance of this name to me. I wish I could communicate it in terms for others to better understand. I wish you could see the kind of smile it put on my face. I wish I could explain the joy it put in my heart. I wish I could explain, but I can't. I don’t know what I did for Ma and Pa to deserve such an incredible honor or such a genuine acceptance into their home. And while I don't know the answer to that, I do know that I am so blessed beyond measure. This name is something I will carry with me as a sign of how much I am cared for at this little orphanage and a reminder of how blessed my time was there. 

Ma, Yah, and Pa Jonah