Week 3- Reed Dance

8-28-12

     Today is the day that King Mswati III calls all of the young maidens to come and dance for the Reed dance.  The maidens are supposed to represent the youth, virtue and purity of Swaziland.  The women dress in traditional costume which is basically a belt and a tasseled sash that hangs over one shoulder, and not much else.  Many of them leave very traditional rural villages, perhaps for the first time to travel and camp at the King’s residence.  They are chaperoned by the headman and guarded by the king’s soldiers.  There is little supervision of the girls and very little protection from anyone who would take advantage of them.

    Because the Reed Dance is a national holiday, we are not supposed to be having girl’s camp today.  We could be fined by the government.  However, a government fine is the least of our concerns.  Adolescent camp has been a real learning curve.  First of all, as I have shared previously it is pretty weird for us to be having camp with adolescent girls at all.  Add on to this the language barriers, and this is one of the more challenging youth programs I have been involved with.  The girls are kind of stoic and taciturn, more than even the average adolescent girl, and that is saying something.   We are using community health evangelism lessons, but clearly we have a long way to go to adapt them in a culturally appropriate way.  Today we talked about communication.  Talking to your mom or even your friend or sister about boys or personal matters is very bizarre concept for these girls.  We had lots of blanks stares.  I’m sure some things are lost in translation, but most of these girls are learning at school only in English.

          As we drove back from Buhleni, we saw many girls in traditional clothing, a skirt with a wrap worn over one shoulder carrying a suitcase on their head or rolling a one behind it.  Girls of varying ages ( you can participate until you are married or have had a child) were riding in the back of trucks.   

    On Saturday, the maidens will be transport to a place where they can select and cut their reed.  The reed symbolizes their purity.  If it is straight and doesn’t bend, it shows that their virginity is intact.  On Sunday, the maidens present the reed in a ceremony to the King and dance.  On Monday, they dance for the King and all the tourists and spectators assembled.  There is usually a lot of drinking.

   We saw a group of girls practicing their dancing.  The Headgirl greeted us and explained some of the dances and also verbalized that she might be missing several important tests because the exams had been scheduled during the reed dance.  Take from that exchange, what you will, but for this young woman it was just one more challenge in successfully completing her education. 

     The Reed dance is also divisive in many churches and Swazi communities.  Some see it as an expressive of National pride and cultural tradition.  Many individuals in the church express that sending a girl is an unnecessary expense.   One of our friends and the mother of a young adolescent shared, “You must think I’m crazy to send my young daughter to dance practically naked in front of soldiers, drunk men, and foreigners.”  She is not alone in that sentiment.  However, not sending a girl, is defying the king, who has called all the young maidens to come and dance.   There are few consequences for this defiance; some send their daughters to visit relatives at this time.  Fines are rarely if ever imposed.