Oduri's Wedding

One of the teachers at St. Monica's solemnized their wedding on Saturday. I blogged about the wedding planning meeting that we attended a couple of weeks ago. See Wedding Planning.
They had asked to use our car to get the wedding party to the church and we were happy to oblige.

John was to have the car at their house at 7:00 am so it could be decorated. It was an extremely busy place with cooking for the reception going on, car decorating and the dressing of the male members of the wedding party. While they were waiting they were served a breakfast consisting of ugali, fish, and cooked cabbage.

The schedule of events was a follows:
9:45 Arrival of visitors
10:00 Arrival of groom;s party
10:15 Arrival of bridal party
10:30 Mass
1:00 Photography
1:30 Lunch
2:30 Entertainment
3:00 Speeches
3:30 Cutting of cake
4:00 Presentation of gifts
4:30 Vote of thanks and closing prayer
4:45 Guest leave at their own pleasure

As this is Africa, things never occur on time. I was told earlier in the week that the teachers needed to arrive in style together on the school bus. We needed to be at school by 9:00 so we could get there in plenty of time before Mass started.

Over 150 St. Monica's students attended the wedding plus all the staff. Mr. Oduri is the class teacher of Form IV South as well as the Scout Master. All the students from Scouts and his class went as guests. Then other students were selected for entertainment purposes - singing and dancing groups. Our school bus took three trips to the wedding. Teachers were still sitting in the Staff room at 11:00. Needless to say, we weren't there when Mass started!

While I was at school waiting to go to the wedding I stopped by the home science (home ec) room. Mrs. Okindo, our home science teacher and assistant principal, baked the wedding cakes. She was making last minute repairs to the decorations before taking them to the wedding. It isn't expected that everyone will get a piece of wedding cake. Instead the cake is cut into tiny slivers. The bridal maids them come among the guests and if you are lucky you are able to take a taste.

Much of the wedding is the same as our, however there are differences.
* One side of the church is for the groom's guests and the other is for the brides.
* The groom and his men come into the church and take their seats in the front row on the groom's side.
* The bride is escorted into the church by her best maid. They sit in the front row on her side of the church.
* The Mass begins and procedes through the homily.
* After the homily the groom's family and groom's men escort the groom to the front center aisle. Meanwhile the bride's family and bridal maids escort the bride to the front center aisle. Once there the family members greet one another and shake hands. Then they return to their seats. Now it is time for the vows.
*During the exchange of the vows they clasp hands high above their heads for all to see.

*The rings descended from heaven in a basket lowered from the ceiling.

* At this point, the train of the bride's gown was thrown over Oduri's shoulder. It was symbolic of their union like the rings. It remained over his shoulder during the rest of the day. They were't able to get too far apart from one another!

* Next was the signing of the marriage certificate by the priest, best maid, best man and married couple at the altar.
* The bridal party and St. Monica's teachers were then invited to come and greet the newly married couple at the front of the church before the Mass resumed. Now that the couple was married in the church, they could take part in communion of the Eurchrist.
* After Mass was over photographs were taken with anyone that wanted on the steps of the church.

Now it was tme for the reception. Tents were set up in a grassy area adjoining the church. A meal of rice pilau, cooked cabbage, chicken, beef, and chapati was served while more pictures were being taken. After the bridal party was able to get to the reception, they were served their meal and the entertainment began. Entertainment here consists of dancing, poetry recitation and songs.

There was the cutting of the cake. Do you see the train of the bride's gown across his shoulder?

The final part was the presentation of gifts. It was a presentation! The groups that had gifts for the couple danced their way carrying the gifts. It was probably the most fun to watch the groups that brought beds! Imagine a bed swaying above the crowd as it is being carried to the front! This is St. Monica's staff bringing our gift to be presented. We got them a gas cooker (propane stove).

For additional pictures of the wedding, click here.

Blood Donation

Yesterday St. Monica's had a blood donation drive. I knew that they had held them yearly but had never had a chance to participate. John and I decided we wanted to be donors so we stopped by school after doing our weekly shopping. I apologize for the quality of photos. We didn't have a camera so we used John's phone. The pictures are of a poor quality, but you can get the general idea.

We understand that the majority of adults in Kenya don't give blood. They are frightened of the situation. If a family member is need of blood, sometimes they will donate for that family member, but it is not common practice to donate to a blood bank. Therefore, there is an acute shortage of blood in Kenya. According to statistics, every 10 minutes someone dies because of a lack of blood. We thought it was a perfect opportunity to lead by example.

The blood banks here do blood drives in schools nine months of the year. The regional blood bank came and one of the nurses gave a talk to the girls about blood donation and answered any questions they had. They were hoping to be able to get 200 pints of blood from our girls and staff.

The rules for donation here are a little different than in the States.

You must be 15 years of age and weight 50 kilograms (110 pounds). The first step was to step on the scales to see how much you weighed. Then just as in the States, you start by filling out a questionnaire about your general health status. They asked pretty much the same questions as what we were used to. Then a nurse tested a drop of blood for your hemoglobin level. The next lady put the sticker on your questionnaire and handed you the bag for your blood. That was it. No private interview and further questioning.

There were two chairs with arms that John and I used being the first in line. We were in the physics lab, so they used the twelve lab tables as beds for the majority of people. There were three technicians in the room who drew the blood and watch to see that everything was going all right.

Just like in the States, after finishing, we got a bottle of soda and some biscuits (cookies). That was a real treat for the girls as those foods are outlawed in school. They only get to have them when they are home between terms.

Peeking in the window to see what is going on. They are mostly my Form II East class!

In Turkanaland

Last October John O'Donoghue, a fellow MKLM, had the opportunity to travel with a five member media team from the Maryknoll Society. We went to Lodwar about an eight hour drive from Kitale. While we were there we attended a confirmation at an outstation in Lorubum and went to Kakuma Refuge Camp. Here are links to post I made about them:
Lorubum Confirmation and Kakuma Refuge Camp.

Nine months later the Maryknoll Society magazine published two articles about our trip. The title of this issue of the magazine is "In Turkeanaland". Some of you may have the actual magazine, but for those of you who don't here's the link. I remember the young woman on the cover!

This is Michael Ball, one of the reporters interviewing Father Luke who runs a Don Bosco Vocational Training Centre at Kakuma.

The article titled "Famine in Turkana" by Kathy Golden was written at the confirmation. I danced with the women as the processed toward the church. You can see a picture of John O talking over the fence. Actually, that photo was taken at the airport and they were discussing soccer!

The other article titled "Guided by a Saint in Kenya" is about Don Bosco, a program run here in Kitale by Russ. You can see a picture of him!

On page 19 I have a similar photo of the kids at Kakama Refuge Camp singing to us in the chapel area!

Wedding Planning

There are two types of weddings here: traditional and church weddings. A traditional wedding is the most common and is the way it has been done for hundreds of years according to traditional ethnic practices. A down payment of the bride price (dowry) is paid to the bride’s family after a period of negotiation between the uncles of both parties. During the wedding the clothing is traditional as well as the ceremony. Years later after the entire bride price has been paid, some couples elect to have a church wedding. Our understanding is that you cannot have a church wedding until after the total dowry is paid. This can take years.

At our staff meeting in April, Mr. Oduri, a Kiswahili teacher, announced that he and his wife were going to have a wedding. At first I didn’t understand and thought he was telling us that their daughter was getting married. It wasn’t until fellow teachers were congratulating him and praising him because most men don’t honour their wives by getting married in the church that I realized that he and his wife were getting married. It is called solemnizing their vows. I’m guessing he is in his late 30s or early 40s. I’m pretty sure that they have a child in secondary school. (You don’t ask questions about people’s families so I really don’t know much about my coworkers lives outside school.)

Immediately after the announcement, several of the men volunteered to be his agents in the planning of the wedding. Oduri said that it is customary that the jumuwia (small Christian communities that meet weekly for Scripture study and prayer) does the organization since it was part of the church. He thanked them for their offer and said he would be happy to have them working with his jumuwia.

Several weeks later Oduri asked me if they could use our car, a Toyota Hilux, saying, “I need a beautiful car to escort my beautiful bride to the church.” We are happy to oblige.

Last week we were invited to an organizational meeting at Oduri’s home along with three fellow teachers, all men. On the way we were taken by the church and then on to Oduri’s so we knew the way. It was in interesting experience and gave us additional insight into Kenyan culture. That's Oduri on the left in the black and grey jacket with the big smile on his face.

There were elected officials in charge of the meeting sitting in front of the room. They had brought in chairs that were arranged in rows facing the head table. Two men were obviously in charge with a woman secretary taking notes. The primary purpose of the gathering was fund raising for the wedding. People would bring money up to the front of the room and give it to the chairman. Do you see the man in the yellow jacket?

He is the one leading the applause. Depending upon the size of the donation, he would lead organized clapping in appreciation. There are all kinds of Kenyan clapping: ascending, descending, hearty claps, flowers, etc. Then the secretary would record the amount in her book.

Odrui told me that I needed to announce the donation of the use of our car for the wedding. Of course we were applauded. Then the question was asked, “Does that include the fuel?” My response was, “Of course! You can’t have a wedding without the bride!” You should have heard the laughter and following applause. I guess normally that is a wedding expense, fuel.

After the fund raising part was over, committees reported on the cake, transportation, decorations, invitations, etc.

Then as with any gathering, tea was served. First is the handwashing. Someone comes around with warm water in a pitcher, soap and a basin. She pour the water over your hands so you can wash. Mugs were passed out and plates of mandazi (fried bread similar to doughnuts) and fried ground nuts (peanuts) were set out. Soon, a lady came by with the chai (tea made with milk)to serve us. Now it was time to socialize and visit.

We had to park the car about half a block away and walk the final distance. I thought you might like to see the path that leads to Oduri's house.

Look at his beautiful house!

The wedding is in two weeks. We are looking forward to joining in the celebration.