Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Kom Traditional Marriage

Just thought I'd give you a brief description of the traditional marriage that I attended this weekend! It was the last traditional event for "my people" that I think I had yet to witness. Some other PCV friends joined me, which made it that much more fun. I had a connection to the marriage since it was the sister of two of my NGO members, Simon's wife Rose and her sister Olga (my good friend)-it was their sister who now lives with her husband in the London environs:

The marriage was a great experience. They are different in every ethnic group (keep in mind there are over 200 in this country)! The funny thing was that it wasn't the actual bride and groom-just stand ins (brother of the groom and sister of the bride)-since the bride and groom are in the UK. They sent money so that the family could celebrate and the community as well.

We carried firewood and then threw it on the ground, as an "offering" to the bride. BIG loaves of fufu were prepared by the bride's family and then later eaten with njama njama (with red palm oil, but without salt-as it was prepared in the old days) by the wedding party. Traditional fabric was chosen and worn, both by the family of those getting married and then separate for the bridal party. The bride was adorned with beads and she and the bridal party were covered in what seemed to be red palm oil powder. There was a comedian/MC whom also conducted the marriage ceremony and had his cell phone go off a few times and yes, he answered it. The stand in groom had to "ease himself" halfway through and there was a sudden eruption of singing to
fill time. There was much food and drink---and lucky for the flow of the afternoon, the eaten and drinking started off the event, instead of after 5+ hours, which is typical at funerals, meetings, and most occasions around here. I had helped prepare the "chewables" as they call snacks/hors d'oeuvres --- chin chin (fried dough), fried peanuts (flour and nutmeg covered) and small doughnuts. And yes, we all were
Jewish grandmothers and figured out ways to take it all home in our purses! :)

1 comment:

  1. thanks for sharing, I am also preparing my coucine's traditional marraige to a Kom man and I will like to learn more about the Kom tradition.

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