African Impact Memory

What does a name mean? What judgments can a person make, or see through the first thing you tell them about yourself? A name that's shorter, am I giving less away? I have realized the impact of a name today. What I tell everyone first, what they will ultimately remember and grasp about me. This is the first thing a person I meet here will ever here me say, what does my voice sound like? A twenty year old  friend and local Mozambican that I met while volunteering at a local orphanage in Vilankulos named Zacharias who I had simply introduced myself to came to me later in the day and asked, “What is your real name?, what does it mean?”. I tell him Abigail, figuring he wasn't satisfied by Abby as many people I meet here aren't. “Ah, Abigail," he says, “ that is a beautiful name; you should always tell it to others as you have just told it to me." He asks again what it means and I reply, “Sacred daughter."
"Your father must love you," he simply answers. Instantly I realize the weight my name holds; what I can portray and embody with a simple name, a small chat, and a realization of the encompassing strength my name ultimately holds when names are  the only breach, connection, from me to them. Abigail can resonate, it passes through the crevices of language and it is spoken.

– Abby, Junior, Pennsylvania