Baby naming

Our neighbors had a baby-naming ceremony over the weekend and invited us to stop by. It was a half-day affair that mostly consisted of praying, so we weren't really expected to stick around for the whole thing. In fact, most of the neighborhood seemed to be wandering by to stand around, listen to the prayers and drumming, and congratulate the proud parents.

The hosts set up a little sound system in front of the house and hired a group from the neighborhood. I thought they were quite good.

Let me know if you have problems with the video; I can't get it to play back properly, but our internet is really bad at the moment.

The music may have been done by men, but the ceremony was clearly for the women. A large number of female relatives had been brought in from a remote location, and they occupied the front room of the house, looking very sparkly in their best headscarves. Sometimes they listened to the music and prayers that were happening out front, and sometimes they had their own prayers, led by a woman.


Apparently the highlight of the ceremony is when a lock of the baby's hair is cut. Tragically, I missed this part. I was told it wouldn't happen for another twenty minutes, so I scampered home to get another memory card, and when I got back it was over. It's one of the few times I can think of when something happened ahead of schedule here.

I did manage to snap a nice picture of parents and baby, though.