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Yesterday the students were invited by the local Muslim priest to attend a celebration at an Islamic Madrasa down the road from our school. The school Manager explained to me that students from different Madrasas were convening in Nyamisati to celebrate Maulid (the birthday celebration of the Prophet Muhammad) and there would be music and singing. He said the students at the nearby Madrasa had been practicing their routine for more than a month, which suddenly helped me to understand why I had been falling asleep every night to the sound of nearby drumming.

Not all the students were eager to attend but two other staff members and I escorted a large group down the road in the darkness. Events started very late in the evening and unfortunately the organizers were having a problem with their electricity to run the microphones, speakers and lights. Around 8:30 pm we decided to lend them our generator and then waited another hour and a half for things to get rolling. We were a big group, around 63 people, but they laid out mats for the girls and I to sit on. I politely removed my shoes and sat quite comfortably amongst the performers with my students.  We had privileged seats while others in the community had to stand around the perimeter to see. I definitely stuck out, being the only Caucasian and for lack of a proper kanga the girls had helped me to wrap a stripped scarf over my head. A couple people in the crowd were furiously snapping pictures of me. I don’t blame them!

Before leaving the school for the Maulid (It sometimes startles me when I see a picture of myself and realize how pale I am compared to everyone else!)

The celebration was taking place on the side of a dirt road on a patch of sand in front of some small mud buildings. It seemed that most of the village had come out to watch. They had decorated by hanging coloured flags overhead and the students from various Madrasas were dressed nicely in matching clothes. Boys were carefully moistening and tightening the hides of their drums and older students were maneuvering younger ones into orderly lines on the mats. The whole event was fascinating to me. I am so ignorant of Muslim culture. The music consisted of drums, sometimes a flute, singing and dancing. The girls would always be seated in rows and would sway back and forth to the music while the boys would stand and dance in unison. Sometimes the crowd would catch the rhythm and join in. We watched various schools perform until the power suddenly cut out and the crowd was left in darkness. It was about 11:30pm anyway and the girls were desperately tired, so we decided to walk back to the school. It was a marvelous evening.

The gathering crowd.

A group performing in front of us - hence the blurred images of the boys who were swaying to the music. You can see the drums if you look closely.

Students seated beside me. They were wonderful company, answering my questions and teaching me new Swahili words.

I was told today that after they got our generator going again, it had poured rain. But people insisted on staying and finishing their performances. They had, after all, come all this way. Apparently the Maulid didn’t finish until 8am. I’m not sure how the little kids had made it through the night. Many were under 10 years old. There were probably some very exhausted people on dala dalas today.

Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Cheers,

Marike

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