Denkundi - Baby Naming Ceremony

I’m excited to share with you this really fun cultural experience.

Last week we went to the village our team has been involved with for several years, for the denkundi of the baby of one of Karim's and Salimata's sons. Awa is the second wife of their second son. His first wife is Batoma, for whom I am named. 

A denkundi is the baby naming ceremony that takes place on the 7th day after the baby was born. In the morning the father publicly told everyone the baby's name is Suliman. The men from our team were there for that. 

In the afternoon, all the women from the HUB went for what was like a baby shower. Many gifts and money were presented to the mother. 

When we got there, Awa was already fixed up. She had beautiful makeup on, beautiful clothes, and her musoro (head covering) was absolutely amazing. Batoma was still in the process of getting her makeup and musoro done. A man was the makeup and musoro artist.

They had a canopy up in the courtyard and chairs all around. People were beginning to gather. They had mats on the ground under the canopy. We had to be careful not to walk on the mats.  

We first went into a room where we were introduced to the baby. He was so little and cute. Salimata brought him out and gave him to me. This is because I am togoma (name sake) with Batoma. When one wife has a baby, it
belongs to all the wives. So in a sense, the baby was mine too. They paint the baby's eyebrows dark. It looks a little
strange. 

Then we were called to go eat. We were the last to eat. Everyone else had eaten before we got there. We had rice and meat. Not sure what kind of meat it was. After washing our hands in a community bowl of water, we ate with our right hand, which is the custom here. No utensils. The rice is good. The meat, a little tough.

Then we came back to the courtyard, greeted people and sat down. It was almost time to start. 

Someone put a blanket on the mat and the mother came and sat down. Then many ladies all dressed beautifully, sat down with her. Batoma (in red) sat beside Awa (in blue). 

They hired singers to sing about the ladies and the people giving gifts. Someone presents each gift, telling what was given and how much money was given. We, the HUB ladies, gave her 2 pieces of material for dresses for herself, some socks and clothes for the baby, and some baby soap and perfume. The ladies seemed to be pretty stoic through it all. Karen said they had to be. It is considered prideful to be too happy about it. 

Toward the end of things, Salimata brought us more food. This time it was pasta. We again washed our hands and then ate around the community bowl of food, using only our right hands. 

As the evening came to a close, we were saying goodbye. Salimata told me that Batoma was pregnant. I went right over and gave Batoma a hug and congratulated her. She said something to me that I didn't understand, so I asked Karen to come interpret for me. Batoma told me, "when a baby comes to me, it comes to you too." How neat!  It would be fun to go to her denkundi and be a part of the ceremony. But, unless she's pretty far along already, I
probably will not be in Africa. 

I thank God for these opportunities to become a part of this family and culture.