Let me start by letting you know that - unfortunately - the water problem In Dakar is not solved yet. The president Macky Sall decided to cut short his visit to the UN GA to return to Senegal to address the water problem and he promised that he would solve the problem within a few days. However, nothing has changed yet and as a result there are riots and protests on the street.
The water in the house of Bijou is still
running, which is such a relief. I do not face many difficulties myself: I can
wash myself every day, I can buy bottles of water to drink and have water to do my dishes
and flush the toilet. Of course I would love to take a shower in my apartment
and wash my clothes, but that is not really a priority taken into account
that many people do not have water to drink – and it is 35 degrees today…
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| Everywhere on the street you see people carrying water. |
After I wrote my last blog post, I went to
the house of Bijou to cook dinner together. She asked me quite nervously to
come and sit on the bed and she said: “I have to tell you something.” I became
very excited, at the same time a little bit worried, because she was extremely
serious. Then she told me that she and Bocar decided to get married – this
Saturday! Whooooow, I was so happy for them!!!! …But at the same time confused:
“Really, this Saturday? Like, in
three days?!” She showed me the dress she bought for an Islamic holiday that is
taking place mid October, but it will now be her wedding dress. It was a very
beautiful traditional African dress. I was sure she would look so pretty.
We both laughed and talked for more than an
hour about traditions in Senegal and the Netherlands regarding to marriage. I
tried to explain Bijou that Erik and I took 1,5 year to prepare our wedding, but
she stared at me as if I was crazy. ;-) She responded: “Some people even get
married the same day!” Haha, I just love these cultural differences.
The next day I picked her up at 9am to go to
the city centre to buy shoes for her wedding. We also visited the houses of
several ‘aunties’ to bring the good news! We first went to the first wife of
her dad, who lives around the corner of Bijou’s house: yes, polygamy is allowed
in Senegal! ;-) They offered to bake cookies and sweets. Then we went to a good
friend of Bijou she knows from university and some other aunts. I really enjoy discovering
the Senegalese culture from the inside, and to see how their houses look like,
how they communicate with each other, how strong the family ties are, etc.
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| On my way to Bijou's house. |
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| The street where Bijou lives. |
In the city centre we bought nice shoes for
Bijou, I bought some pots and pans for my apartment and then I returned home to
read some reports I gathered about the national law against FGM/C in Senegal.
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| 'My' street |
The picture above is the street where I live. In the morning I go to
the shop on the left to buy bread and a cup of café touba (Senegalese coffee). My apartment is located in the
second building on the right.
On Friday I worked from home, reading
reports I collected and I worked on my questionnaire. When I was working on the
questions and the finishing of the questionnaire is in sight, I became very excited! I am really looking forward to the interviews and
I am curious to know what people will answer to my questions. Next week I am
planning to have the first interviews to pilot my questionnaire.
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Writing and re-writing my questions. ;-)
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Friday afternoon we had a Mukomeze board
meeting in the Netherlands and I was able to be present via skype!! It was so nice to be more than 5.000 km away, but still be present and able to participate in the discussions we had. :-) I have said it many times, also when I was in Israel for 5 months: I just love the person who invented skype!!! I am able to talk to Erik every day and that makes life so much easier when you are abroad!
And… yesterday was the big day!! At noon, I went
with Bijou, her sister and her best friend to the hairdresser. We were there for more than 4 hours!
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| Bijou at the hairdresser. |
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| Almost finished. ;-) |
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| Men explaining to Bijou how to be a good wife. |
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| Bijou with her mother and sister. |
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| Bijou's friend from university, Bijou and me! |
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| The photographer taking pictures of the family. |
When the men left the house, the official part of was
done and everybody congratulated Bijou. Of course, bowls with food were put on the floor
(one thing that is common all over the world: when there is a wedding, there
should be enough to eat!) ;-) and everybody enjoyed themselves. After a few
hours, everybody went home and Bijou, a friend and me were brought back home.
As you can imagine, it was so special to be
part of this day. I asked myself a few times: “When does Bocar come? When will
he see his beautiful bride?” but then I realized that this will not happen. He
would never see what a beautiful bride Bijou was (apart from the pictures).
According to the Senegalese tradition, the men have their ceremony at the house
of the groom, and the bride has her ceremony with the women at the house of the
dad of the bride. Sometimes, couples decide to have an American/European style
party afterwards, but Bocar and Bijou decided not to do that.
The past week was very exciting and
special. I feel honored that I can experience all this. Next week I will
move one floor up to another apartment and I hope I will conduct the first interviews. However, everything goes ‘the African way’ and we’ll see what
will happen next week. ;-)
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| The internet cafe! |
I keep you updated!
Warm regards,
Annemarie
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