Babies and Tobaski

The beginning of October found me homesick as my brother’s first child was born stateside, but here too, babies were born. The same day my host father’s daughter gave birth to her first child, also a little girl and within the week another host sister had a baby. When a baby is born here, the child is not named until the 8th day. A naming ceremony is held that day, attended by family and friends. The baby’s head is shaven and the name is announced. Kola nuts (a large and very bitter nut) and soap make appropriate gifts.
Then in mid-October was the big celebration of the Muslim holiday, Tobaski. Tobaski celebrates when Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son at God’s command, but Muslim’s believe that the son he went to sacrifice was not Isaac as Christian’s believe, but instead Isaac’s older half-brother Ishmael. The story, as told to me by a friend here, goes that God told Abraham to sacrifice his son on the mountain as an offering to God. Ishmael knew what was happening and told Abraham to blindfold both of them so that Abraham would be able to do what God asked. Abraham blindfolded himself and his son, took the knife, and just as he was about to kill his son, the angel Gabriel switched Ishmael out with a ram. Abraham who could not see this switch, removed his blindfold and found that God rewarded his faithfulness and Abraham had not killed his son but instead a ram.
The holiday, as celebrated in the Gambia, requires an entire week off from school and work. Monday found my family cleaning every corner, dish and cloth insight. On Tuesday, family members who had moved away returned home, extensions were weaved, braided, and sewn into hair, and complets were ironed. Wednesday was the day for prayer. The men and children went to the mosque to pray in the morning. Then when they returned it was time to slaughter our own rams. My good friend, Kristin, stayed with me over the Tobaski, and she and I went with my host father, our ram, and two goats. The other families also brought their rams, but my host father, a prominent member of the village, was the one to butcher most of the rams as they faced Mecca.
Then we returned home and the cooking began. As meat is both expensive and scarce in The Gambia, we were all very excited. Kristin and I peeled and diced probably three dozen onions while some of the other women prepared the meat. As any good cooks would do, we snacked as worked- charcoal-grilled ram meat, organs, and what I’m pretty sure were the testicles. It was delicious and felt like a barbecue back home. After several hours cooking, lunch was quickly devoured around several food bowls. Someone had even gone to the town 20 kilometers away to buy ice. Hello cold juice! The afternoon was spent brewing attaya and meew. In the evening we got all done up to go to the drumming and dancing program.
Thursday was day two of celebration and this was the day that everyone broke out their brand new complets, shoes, and nicest of their nicest things. We continued to eat and eat and eat some more. Children went around the village asking for salibo, usually a dalasi or a candy handed out. More hot attaya, more cold juice, more drumming and dancing in the night. Friday was the big football (soccer) game- Village boys versus Kombo boys and all the women dressed to the nines to go out and cheer. They tied 1-1.
Celebrating Tobaski felt so much like celebrating Thanksgiving at home. How to people celebrate? Food, food, family, friends, some more food, and sports, the necessary elements for any festivity.
Now the upcoming month looks very busy. Next weekend I will be working with my headmaster and a teacher to put on a training on Learner Centered Teaching. We’ve also begun a reading club at my school, meeting with five students from each class, two times a week to catch up their reading skills. There will be another school training in a couple weeks, but one that I am not facilitating. After that, I’ll be interviewing community members and writing my baseline survey, the assessment of the needs of my village and what possible projects would be desired. Some of the adventure and newness is wearing off but I feel energized now by my work in the school, that an d it’s finally cooling off some. Hello “cold” season!