December 2016 – January 2017
Intro
Featured Image
Grande Mosquée, Porto-Novo, Benin
Koutammakou, Togo 📍 - what an absolutely #amazing experience this was: while driving through the #tamberma valley, we came upon this traditional house full of people gathered around it and on top of it - turned out it was a `coming of age` #ceremony for girls in the #village, which only happens every 3-4 years. each day during the month-long #celebration during jan. or feb., one girl per day who is around 16 years old participates in the ceremony while the other girls wait outside the circle of people, while wearing antelope antlers or "corps de boufon", a symbol of beauty. no photos allowed, my guide tells me, and I am clearly the only non-local there. after greeting the girls` future husband, the villagers allow me into the middle of the circle, where I participate in the ceremony by blessing each member of the family and offering each a small gift of a few CFA, beginning with the elders and ending with the bride-to-be. this tradition is only open to family and friends, and I was so lucky they let me join in! each time I offered a coin, the whole group of villagers would cheer with a chorus of "la-la-la-la", and the family would thank and bless me, it was incredible! one of the elders, a 90-year-old woman asked me in french "do you love me?", and I responded "bien sûr!" 😂 after giving the final gift to the young girl, now a woman, I was offered a celebratory sip of tchoukoutou, the local brew - and how could I refuse? now a friend of the family and the village, I was allowed to snap this priceless photo! 😉👍🇹🇬
Sketches
