Thĩna nĩ rũhiu rwa, gũicũhia mũro.

Poverty is a good knife for sharpening the ‘mũro’.

[mũro is a short-sharpened stick used to dig up crops like potatoes]. In the traditional proverb, the word sharpening is used literally for making the ‘mũro’ efficient while in the postproverbial, sharpening is metaphorical motivation or imparting knowledge and reasoning on the needy. In a nutshell, the postproverbial posits that poverty is the most effective teacher.

• Postproverbial: Thĩna nĩ rũhiu rwa gũicũhia, mũthĩni.
  Translation: Poverty is the good knife for sharpening the poor.
  

Kenya (Gikuyu)

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