Saturday, May 8, 2010

More from Nqiningana, The Big Day!

Mama Tumeka took good care of me and taught me how to make Umqombothi, a traditional beer made from Sorghum. The umqombothi will be used for our cultural ceremony the next day.

We stir the mixture with branches from trees.

Mama Tumeka makes our floor "nice" by applying a freash coat of cow manure. When it dried I must say that it looked very nice and certainly less dusty!


She went to fetch a bucket of water and this is what she brought back...... There are two sources of water in this village, a small pool that gathers at the bottom of the mountain and a well that the government dug. This is from the pool and at one time was the only option. People still drink this water today but I refrained, my delicate Canadian stomach is no match to what was swimming in there! There are many times that I feel like less of a person because they are so much more tough here then me!


Mama Tumeka and I showing off the drum of Umqombothi, ready to serve!


Yum yum....actually is does taste pretty good, but only if you try to forget the process. There were bits of sticks, grass etc in there that we strained out ha ha.
This Grandmother really made me laugh, I really love her, she has so much energy and loved to dance. Gcinisizwe can be seen sitting on the floor to her right.
This grandmother smokes a traditional pipe

Gcinisizwe's Grandfather danced the entire day, he is a really great dancer too!

The singing was so wonderful, it never really sounds as good on video but here aer a few videos for you to enjoy


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