The Price for a Daughter & Riding through the Dust

My writing is turning into a bit of a weekly thing now. The power situation was again not the best last week, and after another couple of days of chasing power around town (also I have to admit searching all over town for cold drinks as that seemed equally as crucial) I gave up. But power is back and has been stable and online for the last few days, although I probably should not say that as it might jinx it.

It is Monday here, but a public holiday, liberation day to be exact, or NRM day as most like to refer to it as. But as we have a busy few weeks in front of us KDF is in office and working away at planning and writing.

The weeks seem to be flying past now, as tomorrow should have been the day I was  going back home, but I am very happy I’ve been able to extend my stay for another couple of months as I definitely do not feel ready to be flying back yet. Although I know I have a family back home that wishes I was travelling home tomorrow, but I will be home soon enough and until then I plan to make the most of every experience I have here.

So this weekend was another adventurous one here. I ended up at an introduction ceremony in a village about 40 minutes from Moroto. An interesting experience of seeing how traditions have blended together to create a bit of a bizarre event.

Simon exploring Lotome

To get to the village we went by boda, an experience in itself. I have always loved that aspect of being in Uganda, that you can just ride on the back of a motorcycle, with no helmet and go just about anywhere, dirt, pavement, through rivers it really doesn't matter. My first time in Uganda I found myself with four other guys wading through a river with water up to my waist carrying the bike across, obstacles on route are always overcome.

My personal Boda driver who only made me fly a few times

Teba and Simon were riding so for a change I actually knew the person who was driving me, not sure if that made me feel safer or not, but regardless we did make it there. Only minor scare was when a truck passing us going the opposite direction slid out on the dirt road and nearly came crashing into us, but thankfully that was not how my story of being in Uganda ended and we continued on to Lotome.

Lotome was where the introduction ceremony was to be held, but it is also Teba’s home village, so he was kind enough to take us around and show us his family home, his school and the other sites of the village.

Supposedly being in Karamoja is supposed to make you taller, still waiting for results

With Teba in his home village of Lotome

I love seeing the village life in Uganda. The place where I am living, Moroto, is more of an NGO city than anything resembling a traditional town or village, so it was refreshing to have a day away from that and having someone I know show me his home and family was great. Sitting under the big trees in the family courtyard listening to the mom explain her recipes for orange wine and the dad’s tales of where the goats were herded today, all while sipping on some local wine, with music playing in the background from the nearby ‘bar’. It was definitely my favorite part of the day.

The best of family life 

After seeing the family we went on to the introduction ceremony, which was a much bigger event than I had imagined. It seemed like everyone from Moroto and around had come together to this village for the day, I met people I know working for the UN, the government and other NGO’s. So for this Saturday Lotome was ‘The place to be’ in Karamoja. The ceremony itself was a mix of many different traditions, including the normal rings of a Western style wedding, but also a tricking ceremony and all while wearing traditional or traditionally upgraded clothes.

A guest traditionally dressed for the introduction

The tricking part was the most entertaining of the ceremony. Here 5 different groups of girls and women were brought forward to the husband to be and he had to choose his wife to be from them, if he chose the wrong girl he would have to pay a fine. The first group were little children, the second were slightly older girls dressed moderately, the third more daringly dressed girls and then came a group of big mamas and finally a group of covered up young women. The wife to be was amongst the last group of covered up women and her future husband had to pick her out by simply looking at feet. An interesting concept as I am not sure my boyfriend would be able to pick me out from a line up by simply looking at my feet, surely not something I’d like to test out and risk a fine of a 1 million UGX, but very entertaining to watch.

Is this his wife to be?

Rejected the little girls dance away

The rest of the ceremony turned more into a bit of western wedding with giving out of rings and then cake, and people bringing gifts forward. Although there were many people at the event, it seemed many were not too comfortable with how far from tradition this ceremony was going. The traditional aspect of an introduction ceremony has more to do with getting the right price for the woman, this includes how many cattle and also how much money, but traditionally as I was told this is conducted in a much more low scale ceremony involving more the shepherds of the goats and cattle rather than the extravagant party I was seeing.  I was also told that the family of the husband had to pay around 10 million UGX for the woman, which seems a bit excessive, I realize the whole having to pay for someone in the first place might be a bit of a strange concept for most where I come from, but it is more understandable if you look at it from the traditional perspective of seeing cattle as not just a currency but the livelihood and connection of communities. It is also interesting though that it is the family of the man that must pay the family of the woman, so it is in fact quite profitable to have girls here, especially if you can get rates as high as 10 million UGX, or in one case I heard as high as 20 million UGX for your daughter.

Traditionally dressed with a bit of modern bling

The beauty of the Karimojong

So the ceremony although it was interesting, did not really interest me as much here as the more traditional ceremonies I've attended. I like the idea that they are blending the traditions together, as it does create a sort of uniqueness in itself, but this was a bit too much blending for me. And as weddings tend to go on for hours and hours, I am not too big a fan of the waiting and the speeches.
A bit of a sad reality as well was that the ceremony because it was such a big event in the area brought together many politicians who were sort of using the event as a platform for campaigning for the upcoming elections. I know politicians have to be creative to find their platforms, but I would like to think the day that I get married that no politician will be there to give a speech on what is good for the country etc. Kind of ruins the atmosphere a bit. But as I have been told here: ‘Sex, Marriage and Politics are all linked together very closely’ – I’d prefer them as separate entities.

The ceremony was of course held under a big UNICEF tent

After the wedding we headed back to Moroto, which turned out to be a very dusty ride while the sun was going down. I still do not understand why cars here feel the need to drive so fast, especially when they are passing people on motorcycles and they know the dust will make it almost impossible to see. It has become the norm to be dusted down by some sort of NGO car every day here. So by the time we reached Moroto at night, my hair and skin had changed color to a sort of dusty grayish/brown. Thankfully a cold Nile Special was waiting.