Out of Africa: THE "CLEANSING"

Mourning

This good Sister's husband passed away in June or July of 2012. It has been interesting watching the whole mourning process. For a year she was not allowed to speak in front of people in public (no teaching classes or giving talks etc). She wore the same style outfit the entire 14 months of mourning. A navy-blackish skirt, cape, blouse, and head wrap. The fabric was heavy and woolish. I don't see how she stood it in the hot, humid summer. Death is common here and you see many widow in black, young and old.

I have talked about her before in the blog. She is a really neat lady three years younger than I am and she never had any children of her own, but she has reared many children that belonged to sisters or others. She is still at it with FuFu the youngest (3 years).

Back to the cleansing, after the allotted time of mourning (determined by the deceased's brothers, or his church) they have this big to do. First two weeks before the "cleansing" celebration some people from his church come and some relatives and they burn and bury her mourning clothes. Then she has to stay in the house for two weeks, but she can wear regular clothes. But, basically she is not to go out into public.

Then starting Sunday morning at 9 or 10 the people from her husband's church come. They do some singing. The ladies are dressed in red below. Then their pastors or minister come and start this ceremony. People from our church came at 12 after church and it was still going on. I haven't really figured out what she had to be cleansed from, but it was to make her "new". Cleansed from her past life when he was living. I am not really sure and it has been difficult understand when other Africans try to explain it. I am not sure they understand it full. This is culture steeped in deep traditions, "its our way."

There were about 30 ladies dressed in their church regalia and they sang and chanted, then the ministers from the church did their ceremonial stuff.

Then the "cleansed" Sister Nobela emerges in beautiful traditional African clothes. Fu Fu is there with her.

After the "fr la la" the party began, There were maybe a 100 people there and sister Nobela and her sisters fed them all. Sister Nobela's sisters were all there and they had made tons of food. Much of the cooking is done outdoors.

These enormous pots were completely filled with food. One was pap (pronounce it pop). It is a corn maize that is made into this thick mush. Most people eat it every meal. And they LOVE it. It is very bland and sticks to your mouth. Many eat with their fingers, the youngers one not so much. They scoop up some pap with the two fingers closest to the thumb, then dip it in the stew. I will make some when I get home. It will be an event,

The plate below is typical of the food: pop, chicken, a beef stew and gravy thing, beets, a salad, sweet potatoes, cold slaw and some other things. It was very tasty. I felt funny because the brought this huge plate of food served on a tray. Everyone else ate on styrofoam containers. But, it was a fun event. It was also sun to see Sister Nobel at church the next two Sundays. She looked pretty smart dressed in nice outfits, a great head wrap one week and new hair the next.

THE GUESTS

There were a lot of people. The pictures below show some of them. The first group of pictures are members of our branch.People like to have their pictures taken....The girls to the left are ready for the pose. The two men at the right on the right and left are in the branch Presidency. The man in the middle is waiting to get baptized. He loves the church, but his wife will not marry him until he pays the Lebola! Isssssh is all I can say!

Sister Nobela greeting her guests. Bheksisa (the picture below) is a child she has reared since he was a baby. He is fourteen now and a character. He is great with younger children. The baby is his aunt's. FuFu that lives with Sister Nobela loves Bheksisa and let me tell you he caters to her every whim.

CUTE PEOPLE!!!

Elder's Quorum Pres. Mashego

He has been a long time member.

He wants a church building.

He is putting all of his faith in it.

FAMILY AND FRIENDS

Nice outfit on the person in
the center. It is more traditional.

THE GREAT AUNTIE OF SISTER NOBELA
AND HER SISTERS

She was really into getting her picture taken. All of the older ladies wear scarf head wraps (they are beautiful) or hats. You rarely see their natural hair. Younger women and girls have the very fancy hair do that change every week or so. Some will wear natural sometimes, but they keep it cut very close to their heads. But, hair is an event to them and many times I don't recognize them from one week to the next... because of the hair.