On Thursday we had the opportunity to
attend an Introduction and Give Away ceremony. It is a ceremony that
happens prior to a wedding. We attended the Give Away ceremony where
the bride and her family receive gifts from family members and
friends. The matron of the school, Helen, allowed us to come with
her. Her friend was getting married on Saturday and she said we could
go to the ceremony. The ceremony was out in Bwera close to the Congo
border. When we arrived, we were taken to these seats that were
basically front and center of where everything was taking place. We
were told to go down a food line which consisted of rice, matoke,
beef, sweet potatoes, peas, etc. Since there was no silverware at
this ceremony, we got to eat with our hands!
We saw many people miming and the
wedding party came down and danced. The bride and the party gave
presents away to her family and the bride also received many baskets
of gifts from friends and family. At the ceremony, rather than
receiving a ring, the bride receives a necklace to signify the bride
and groom coming together. We were fortunate enough to see the groom
put the necklace on his soon-to-be wife. There was also a cake
cutting ceremony where the bride cut the cake with her brother. Once
the cake was cut, the bride fed her brother some cake and then the
brother fed her some cake before the bridal party handed out full
cakes to various parties that the bride is affiliated with. But let
me tell you, there was a lot of singing and dancing. It was one big fat
party.
There was a primary school that came to
perform at the wedding. They performed a skit that was in Lukonzo. At
the end, they sang and performed the cultural dance of the Bakonzo
people. There was this little boy that is in P4 that played the main
part in the play and also sang a lot during their performance. People
were so inspired and impressed by the artistic ability of the young
boy that various people offered to give the boy services and items.
People offered to pay for his school fees up to secondary school,
take him to school in Kasese, give him a mattress, buy him shoes,
etc. It was an amazing sight to see that through this ceremony and
the chance to shine, the young boy took a burden off of his parents
as well as the opportunity to thrive and better his schooling
situation.
The whole ceremony was definitely a
great experience. I had always wanted to go to such a ceremony. I
have heard people talk about it before when I came and they have
wanted to invite me, but the timing was always off. It was great that
Helen was able to invite us and it is a cultural experience I won't
ever forget.
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