Last week, I attended the baptism of my colleague's newborn. In accordance with the local Muslim tradition, the ceremony was performed a week after the child's birth. Hundreds of people attended the event and I saw almost every person I knew there. Even though the mother lives in Kandi, the event was held in Sonsoro, the father's fiefdom. The baby is the father's ninth child but his wife's first. The father is polygamous and had his other children with four other wives, only one of whom is still married to him.
The celebration consisted of at least four components. Early in the morning, the baby was officially named: Rabia. The name was chosen by the father from a choice of three names given to him. Over the few hours that followed, there was an informal receiving line. Each guest popped into the bedroom to take a look at the baby, then congratulated the father and offered him a cash gift as a token of affection. Most gifts ranged from 20 cents to $1, and the amount was intended to reflect the giver's affection for the father. As this process went on, the imam took advantage of the gathered crowd to preach. At the same time, everyone sat around eating a meal offered by the father of the new baby.
In preparation for the ceremony, the family had purchased 100 pounds of rice and unknown quantities of pasta, meat, and eggs. My plate of pasta and sauce was brought to me with five hard-boiled eggs, and I was expected to eat them all. Each guest was also given a soft drink, quite an expense considering that the cost of a single drink is equivalent to half of the median daily pay for a Beninese person.
The baptism prompted a whirlwind of rumor and gossip in the afternoon that followed the event. I got an earful during the hour or two I spent in the village shop. Until the baptism, the father had kept this wife a secret from all but his closest friends, so the unexpected wife and pregnancy set the village abuzz. The fact that the wife was of a different ethnicity and substantially younger than the father (she's still a teenager) made the news juicier yet. There were also rumors flying that the father's other wife had shunned the new mother since the latter arrived for the baptism.
All in all, the event was a major milestone in the week. Since babies are born on a daily basis in Sonsoro and I only occasionally hear of baptisms of much magnitude, I assume that the grandeur of the event is related to the father's social status and wealth. He is, after all, one of the few men in village to draw a salary and he is also a Bariba king. In any case, congratulations to the new father.
The celebration consisted of at least four components. Early in the morning, the baby was officially named: Rabia. The name was chosen by the father from a choice of three names given to him. Over the few hours that followed, there was an informal receiving line. Each guest popped into the bedroom to take a look at the baby, then congratulated the father and offered him a cash gift as a token of affection. Most gifts ranged from 20 cents to $1, and the amount was intended to reflect the giver's affection for the father. As this process went on, the imam took advantage of the gathered crowd to preach. At the same time, everyone sat around eating a meal offered by the father of the new baby.
In preparation for the ceremony, the family had purchased 100 pounds of rice and unknown quantities of pasta, meat, and eggs. My plate of pasta and sauce was brought to me with five hard-boiled eggs, and I was expected to eat them all. Each guest was also given a soft drink, quite an expense considering that the cost of a single drink is equivalent to half of the median daily pay for a Beninese person.
The baptism prompted a whirlwind of rumor and gossip in the afternoon that followed the event. I got an earful during the hour or two I spent in the village shop. Until the baptism, the father had kept this wife a secret from all but his closest friends, so the unexpected wife and pregnancy set the village abuzz. The fact that the wife was of a different ethnicity and substantially younger than the father (she's still a teenager) made the news juicier yet. There were also rumors flying that the father's other wife had shunned the new mother since the latter arrived for the baptism.
All in all, the event was a major milestone in the week. Since babies are born on a daily basis in Sonsoro and I only occasionally hear of baptisms of much magnitude, I assume that the grandeur of the event is related to the father's social status and wealth. He is, after all, one of the few men in village to draw a salary and he is also a Bariba king. In any case, congratulations to the new father.
