cross the river in a crowd

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

a Swahili proverb — rendered as vuka mto ukiwa na watu in the original — advising that dangerous passages, difficult transitions, and uncertain undertakings are better navigated in company than alone; the river is a recurring figure of liminality and risk in East African oral tradition, representing the boundary between safety and the unknown; crossing with others distributes the risk, enables mutual rescue if someone falters, and makes the group visible and formidable enough to deter threats; the proverb is applied to any collective challenge — migration, social reform, economic hardship — where solidarity transforms a potentially fatal individual vulnerability into a shared and manageable ordeal