“Some call any who aren’t Ugenini, Asili, or Maroon outsiders. It doesn’t matter. It’s the nature of humanity to latch on to differences. Still, that goes against the Muungano way. All are and should feel welcome, or else we are failing our own ideal. What matters is if you are steeped in the culture and understand the nature of the work. We encourage our people to always find someone who doesn’t look like them or think like them. It’s how we grow our perspective. The tension of not agreeing is where creativity is sparked.”

Jaha understood the root of his insecurity but, more important, appreciated that he kept asking the right questions. Ishant had followed a strange path to Muungano membership, the journey of the outsider. Born in Thailand, he studied dance and regenerative economics in what remained of California, after the coastal reshaping by what was now politely referred to as “climate terraforming.” It was there that he joined the Liberation Investment Support Cooperative, the corporate entity running the O.E. government, just as they decided it was fitting to move the nation’s capital inland to Indianapolis, since its layout mirrored Washington, D.C.’s. While no longer the arable breadbasket of the world, the Midwest was still relatively stable.

Afterward, Ishant returned to his homeland, where he worked in his family’s restaurant until he figured out what his next move would be. Ishant didn’t have the language for the hole he felt in his emi, which led him to join LISC Corps, LISC’s volunteer civil organization. It steered committed members toward public service and helping others, with their stated goal of “meeting the critical needs in the community.”

The fact that LISC worked so hard to mimic the language of Muungano always amused Jaha.

LISC Corps assigned Ishant to the Thema Academy as a community ambassador. He worked alongside their students, gradually shifting more and more into Muungano space and culture until he formally applied to the academy’s equity fellows program. For the last eight years, he worked there, rising to become Jaha’s right-hand person.

“Today’s Leah’s Naming Ceremony. We should send notice if we are not planning to attend,” he said.

“I have trained that girl since she could raise a chakram. We’ll make it, but we still have a job to do.”