Last weekend, Christine took me to the dowry ceremony for a woman named Hanna. Hanna works at Barclay's Bank and serves on the board of HOREC. She has been instrumental in obtaining some project funding for HOREC. Barclay's was the donor that provided the funding to build the original building, the girls' dorm.Kenyan tradition requires a man to pay a bride price to his future bride's parents. There are all sorts of rules on it and Kenyans are very superstitious about dowries. If they are not paid, Kenyans believe that it will bring their children bad luck. They believe that people have bad health or even die, if they do not pay their agreed dowries. It is also apparently rude to pay the entire dowry at one time. Grooms are to pay only 50 - 75% up front to ensure that they have a reason to visit their inlaws after marriage. Kenyans see the tradition as a means to ensure strong moral standards because the woman feels worthwhile to her husband and will stay faithful to the marriage
The ceremony was interesting. The groom's family came to Hanna's parents home singing a song, everyone got up and started singing and dancing, then a bunch of covered women were brought out and the groom had to identify which of the women was Hanna. After that we ate (A LOT, in typical Kenyan fashion), the pastor gave a sermon, the elder/traditionalist did some weird things with meat (I think a cow's shoulder), the husband and wife fed each other meat (like we would share cake in the US) and then everyone ate meat. I didn't understand a word of it as it was all conducted in Kikuyu, the tribal language, but the whole thing fascinated me.
Personally, I can't grasp the whole idea of a dowry. How would a woman feel to find out she was only worth 20 goats or even 300,000 KSH (about $3,000 USD)? How can Kenyans of such strong Christian faith believe in such superstitions? Christine said the groom's parents were very religious and were not fond of the idea of a dowry. She said the pastor's sermon spoke about how dowries are biblical. I think I need to do some research on this one.
What an opportunity to experience! This is so interesting - I wonder what traditions we have that would seem as intriguing? I can imagine that 4th of July would seem odd - the fireworks part, sounds like gunfire that we would stand around and see the effects of (the lights in the sky) rather than run away or be startled by the affair. It's kind of counter intuitive don't you think? I do love a good fireworks show though I think others might find it really strange. At least both cultures agree - let's eat!
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