My first Malawian Wedding!

Last Saturday I was lucky enough to go to my first Malawian wedding! It was a lot of fun! In many ways it’s very similar to weddings back home, the bride’s in a big fancy dress, lots of friends and relatives (400 actually), LOTS of dancing and happy faces. I was going to a coworker’s house for dinner last Thursday and we stopped to pick up his wife at the wedding rehearsal. His wife was a “Lady in Waiting”, a woman asked to help in the wedding planning, preparation and coordination. When we arrived at the rehearsal the children and the rest of the bridal party were practicing their dance up the aisle. There were 6 children in the bridal party. Two are designated as the “mini bride and groom”. These two are dressed up similar to the main couple, complete with fancy white dress and all! Another two are like a mini bridesmaid and groomsman and finally there is a Page Boy and Petal Girl, who is similar to a flower girl, who throws flower petals as she goes down the aisle in front of the bride and groom. There were 2 bridesmaids and 2 groomsmen. As we waited on the sides watching the dance rehearsal we managed to finagle an invitation to the main event!

So the wedding reception was supposed to start at 1PM but like weddings back home, it was a little late… in this case about an hour late. But the wedding party made their grand entrance, followed by more relatives who followed behind the bride and groom, singing and ululating which was very cool to hear. Ululating is a sound that women make, it’s difficult to describe but it’s often heard during celebrations or big events. The reception hall was decorated nicely in peach and white, lots of balloons and ribbon. Once everyone was seated, the main event started and here’s where it’s very different from weddings at home. It seemed to me that the secondary goal of the event, beyond the celebration of the happy couple which was evident and very exciting, was to make as much money as possible. Various groups are invited up to “greet” the bride and groom, and by “greet” they mean donate money. It may be relatives, then people who have come to the reception with a spouse, then men who have come on their own, then coworkers of the bride’s father or friends of the groom or a free for all when everyone is invited. The role of the MC is to try to get as much money as possible for the couple. Sometimes the well wishers are invited to the stage and at others the bride or groom or both stand on the dance floor with a basket and people dance to the front and throw money into the basket or just on the floor. “Cashiers” are friends of the couple given the task of collecting the money from the basket or off the floor and counting it. Since you are expected to go up in any group that applies or whenever the feeling moves you so you can spend an awful lot of money! Cashiers are also available to change larger bills into smaller ones so that you can throw many smaller bills instead of huge ones! So everyone’s up dancing, there’s money everywhere, in the air, on the floor, and everyone is just having a great time! It was a lot of fun and the couple managed to collect the equivalent of about $2000 USD so that is used for their honeymoon (often a few days near the lake) and to start off their new life together! In between dances and “greetings”, there are speeches and snacks are handed out. The whole event lasted about 5 hours. Everyone was very friendly and eager to include me in the festivities and my coworkers 6 year old daughter, Chisomo, did a wonderful job of keeping me company and translating speeches to make sure I was in the loop! I've included a few pictures here but more are posted with other photos of mine at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/heather.anderson76 if you are interested.

The Happy Couple

Mini Bride and Groom

Dancing up the aisle

I head for Machinga this afternoon. We have a WaterAid retreat for 3 days in Liwonde which is the town next to Machinga. I’m really excited about it as it is a sort of reflection meeting where we discuss the successes and failures of the last year, identify some lessons learned and plan for the year ahead. I’m not sure exactly what to expect but I think it’s pretty exciting that the organization does this and I think it has a lot of potential. During the evenings, I’ll be headed out to find a family to adopt me. James, my coworker used to live in Machinga and has identified about 5 families, who are friends of his that he thinks would make a good match. So we’re out to visit with them in the evenings so I can meet them and get better acquainted and hopefully I click with one of them and will ask them if they will take me in for the next few months. Then when the WaterAid gang heads back for Lilongwe, I’ll get moved in and start my life in Machinga which I’m really excited about! I’ll be sure to let you all know about my new adopted family and how I’m settling in!