Last Thursday was a big day for WAFF. One of the nurses, Nancy Augustine, was getting married. Everyone had been anticipating the festivities with great excitement. When I received my very fancy invitation\wedding souvenir with the complete program of events included, I got a bit of a clue as to what was in store…it was going to be a BIG day.
As per tradition in Sierra Leone, all guests who are part of a group, wear clothes of similar fabric. This helps identify who’s who and is termed ‘ashobi’. I was subsequently measured up and the next day presented my top and skirt by Lansana.
The wedding was to be at noon and due to the typical traffic gridlock in Freetown, we arrived at the Faith Baptist Church in Lumley about 15 minutes late. I was feeling disappointed to be missing the grand entrance procession. Not to worry! As per most events in Sierra Leone, everything runs late….at least an hour, including weddings! When we arrived the only clue that there was to be a wedding was an arch of balloons before the altar and a band tuning up in the corner. There were just a few guests milling about in their finest attire. Alyona said, “Have you heard of GMT? In Sierra Leone we are on BMT…Black Man’s Time.” We waited and waited, serenaded by the band which started belting out what I would term gospel reggae. It was ear splitting and the church was an oven.
Finally the bride arrived and the service began at 1:30. There was an entourage of adorable page boys and flower boys, ushers and bridesmaids dressed to the nines. The bride wore the quintessential white wedding dress and was positively sparkling under her veil.
There were 5 clergy people performing the service which had many prayers, hymns, and readings. It was relatively solemn. After the vows, the whole congregation broke into applause and joined the band in singing and dancing. It was wild and the church aisles were filled with jiving, dancing bodies. Per tradition the bride and groom each hold out a bag and turn to greet the congregation. Everyone formed a conga line up the aisle to give money and hugs. The bride was exceptionally radiant and had the hugest grin dancing with her friends as they came up in swarms. She was definitely the happiest bride I have ever seen.
After this almost half hour interlude, things settled down again into sermons and hymns. Then there was another dancing interlude, as well as a repeat of the offering to the bride and groom, but this time the money was for the church.
Finally we were near the end of the program when the marriage certificate was to be signed. Here it is not just signed by two people, but actually many family and friends who are called up one by one. As this is happening many of the groups got up to sing and dance, including the WAFF group. It was all a very amazing scene. When this process was finally completed there was a grand processional with everyone closing in behind the newlyweds singing and dancing. After photos on the church steps we departed. It was about 4:30. I was about to keel over with dehydration, as in the rush to get to the church on time I had neglected to take my water bottle.
We returned home to rest as the reception was to be at 7:00 that night. We arrived at 7:30 anticipating BMT, but our timing was still off. Things didn’t kick off until almost 9PM. The bride and groom entered in matching shimmering golden outfits and sat at a table with their wedding party. An interminable amount of speeches followed, including a series of introductions to the introducer of the introducer to the introducer of the emcee for the evening! Then there were more toasts and responses to the toasts, with offerings and presents given.
By 11:00 dinner was just getting served and Gwen and I were ready for bed and decided to head home.
I was very lucky to be able to experience this slice of Sierra Leone’s culture and couldn’t help contrasting it to the wedding Judy and I attended in Kashmir last April.
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