Tobaski 2005

My Village - Tobaski 2005	Jan 21-24, 2005
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me and my buddy Amadou	The lineup of kids in their nice new clothes	circumcision spiffies.	yes, girls too. small ones.
the first batch of children finishing up the circumcision ceremonies.	eating in celebration of the circumcisions (the men eat outside, the women go back behind the houses to eat in privacy)	leaving the village and heading out to the prayer grounds	mid-morning on Tobaski, the deep deep drums sound, and everyone (well,not quite everyone: the men, the old women, and the children) gathers at the village praying grounds. Too big of a gathering to be held at the mosque, my village opts to pray under the giant silk cottonwood tree.
finding our seats to pray	a group of Islamic leaders, including the Imam from my village and from the village across the street, lead the group in prayers. Islam nicely circumvents the problem of whether to conduct the ceremony in Wolof or Mandinka; everything is done in Arabic.	praying	The prayers are suspended for everyone to stand up and greet one another - the men, sitting in front, mingle to shake hands and say "Balal ma waxaka" (essentially, forgive me for my words and acts). The women and children, sitting at the rear of the congregation, do the same among themselves.
the village elders leave the prayer grounds and go to the Imam's compound, where they sacrifice the first of the rams. For the rest of the morning, the air is thick with the sounds of the death cries of livestock.		Malik (family planning agency volunteer, and tailor) and his daughter	Mai Khan struts her new prayer clothes
good times in Karantaba	while the women cook... the men listen to music and play cards.	2nd round of circumcision parties. Dawda and Ably- celebrating Ably's completion of "circumcision school"	Celebrating circumcision... in style!
Celebrating circumcision... in style!	Celebrating circumcision... in style!	Celebrating circumcision... in style!	Celebrating circumcision... in style!
This is Fatou Jallow and baby Aji. Yup, even Aji, the 6 month old girl in my compound, was circumcised. I know. I cried when I found out. But you know, it's too complex of asituation to change in a year, 2 years, 5 years, a decade. If I were here another year, maybe I could start making inroads. For now, I just try to listen and tell people what I know, without being judgemental. "Yes, Wolofs in this area circumcise their daughters. Yes, it is your tradition. What I have heard is that the practice can be very dangerous for women, when they are going through childbirth. You have heard that UNCIRCUMCISED women have more difficulties in labor? Hmm. I've heard the opposite. You are right, there are many women here, and they give birth all the time. Some of them have difficulties; many do not..." And it goes on..		hangin with the girls from the chief's compound	. Hunta
		my boys hamming it up.	kids out looking for treats
in the evening, all the women in the village come by my compound, dressed to the 9s. They sit around brewing attaya (sugary super strong green tea) and lei (sweetened milk) over coal pots; chatting; showing off their new clothes.	my sitemate Cheeta and I, dressed up for the holiday	Cheeta and Yusupha (my host brother)	Yusupha and me
the women from my compound (plus a few extra)	village women	village women	village women
village women	village women	village women	village women
village women	A little movie of my villagers