Kukujang Mariama Full of Grace
My host family here in The Gambia is Catholic. Usually when one says something like that here, it is just code for "oh you can drink alcohol with your people" but my family is actually very devout and doesn't really drink all that much except for the occasional palm wine for guests or quick sip of brandy on a chilly night.
This is a pretty unique aspect of my experience here because the country is 95% Muslim. My family is the only Christian compound in my village of about 1500 people despite their being a Catholic mission school and church in the village. The story goes that in the 50's a toubab priest used to live in the village and converted the majority of people to Catholicism. He died in the 70's and pretty much everyone proceeded to convert back to Islam, that is except my host father and his family. My host father emigrated to The Gambia from Senegal, where he was born into a Muslim family but was raised by a Catholic priest. PaSaine's own father decided that he admired the Christan faith, but that since he was a rather "big man" in the village, he could not convert himself without alienating the his community so he chose one of his 6 sons to be raised a Christian instead. Since the decision to be a Christan came from PaSaine's father, everyone in his family respects his faith and they get on very well. When my father was old enough to go out on his own, he took a Christian wife from his community in Senegal and moved to The Gambia in search of more fertile farming land. He stopped in Njongon, a mere 15 K over the border from Senegal and the first village inside of Gambia that had a Catholic church.
Over the years the village has grown and changed, the land is not so fertile anymore and many of the young people have moved to the city to find any easier life than that of their parents. The mission school is thriving and draws students from over 10 villages in the area because it is better run than most government schools and is seen as having better teachers and more resources. "Christians give to Christians" is a sort of Gambian truism and I am told many people initially converted to Christianity so that they could get all the aid that comes with it. The church is small but active although the priest, now a Nigerian, no longer lives in the village but in a larger town about 10 K away and the majority of parishioners come from another nearby village inhabited mostly by Manjagos, a tribe from Guinea Bissau. But PaSaine and his family remain strong and steadfast to their faith and to the success of their parish despite all the changes.
So with that background in mind, I can now expound upon the real motivation behind this entry - the annual Gambian Christian pilgrimage to the village of Kukujang Mariama, the only all Christian village in the country. The village itself is deep in the bush but because of the influx of money in the form of schools, skills centers and health centers, the village is growing and has a huge, beautiful church that is the envy of all. The pilgrimage is held the first weekend of every December to celebrate the advent season and is in its 20th year and as a way for Christians from all over the country to get together for fellowship.
Last year I didn't go to the pilgrimage, much to the disappointment of my family and the many Christian teachers that work at my school. Everything in The Gambia was still so new and disorienting and I was trying to get a handle on living in village and making connections with people I decided to sit it out. But this year, I figured when else does one have the chance to go on a pilgrimage in Africa so with two of my fellow PCVs, Jim and Dan, in toe, we boarded the bus in Banjul one chilly December morning with about 150 others from my parish we set out for the pilgrimage - singing, jumping and drumming all the way.
After a long and bumpy bus ride through the bush we finally arrived at Kukujang Mariama, just in time for the mornings mass. The grounds resembled a county fair with buses lined up, tents joined together to provide much needed shade for the worshippers, tons of people, food vendors, trinket sellers and children selling some very cool commemorative t-shirts. I estimate that there were close to 2 or 3000 people, all the Catholic hierarchy, and even the minister of tourism! The day included a very long mass, a break for lunch, afternoon prayers and singing and lots of food, laughing and greeting old friends and new friends. I was surprised how many people I actually knew - when the Christian community makes up less than 5% of a population and you live with Christians and work in a mission school you end up meetings about half of them.
All in all the day was full and it was great to see this minority thriving in their faith despite the odds against them. It was a great way to start everyone off on the right foot for the Christmas season. My sister Ansel was so excited for the day to come and had been counting down the days since August. She seemed delighted to have me and my friends there to share the custom with and kept coming up and hugging me throughout the day. Even though she was tired at the end of the day from being responsible for organizing the transportation and the lunch for close to 200 people from our parish, she seemed completely rejuvenated by the experience and just glowed and was decidedly, filled with grace.
This is a pretty unique aspect of my experience here because the country is 95% Muslim. My family is the only Christian compound in my village of about 1500 people despite their being a Catholic mission school and church in the village. The story goes that in the 50's a toubab priest used to live in the village and converted the majority of people to Catholicism. He died in the 70's and pretty much everyone proceeded to convert back to Islam, that is except my host father and his family. My host father emigrated to The Gambia from Senegal, where he was born into a Muslim family but was raised by a Catholic priest. PaSaine's own father decided that he admired the Christan faith, but that since he was a rather "big man" in the village, he could not convert himself without alienating the his community so he chose one of his 6 sons to be raised a Christian instead. Since the decision to be a Christan came from PaSaine's father, everyone in his family respects his faith and they get on very well. When my father was old enough to go out on his own, he took a Christian wife from his community in Senegal and moved to The Gambia in search of more fertile farming land. He stopped in Njongon, a mere 15 K over the border from Senegal and the first village inside of Gambia that had a Catholic church.
Over the years the village has grown and changed, the land is not so fertile anymore and many of the young people have moved to the city to find any easier life than that of their parents. The mission school is thriving and draws students from over 10 villages in the area because it is better run than most government schools and is seen as having better teachers and more resources. "Christians give to Christians" is a sort of Gambian truism and I am told many people initially converted to Christianity so that they could get all the aid that comes with it. The church is small but active although the priest, now a Nigerian, no longer lives in the village but in a larger town about 10 K away and the majority of parishioners come from another nearby village inhabited mostly by Manjagos, a tribe from Guinea Bissau. But PaSaine and his family remain strong and steadfast to their faith and to the success of their parish despite all the changes.
So with that background in mind, I can now expound upon the real motivation behind this entry - the annual Gambian Christian pilgrimage to the village of Kukujang Mariama, the only all Christian village in the country. The village itself is deep in the bush but because of the influx of money in the form of schools, skills centers and health centers, the village is growing and has a huge, beautiful church that is the envy of all. The pilgrimage is held the first weekend of every December to celebrate the advent season and is in its 20th year and as a way for Christians from all over the country to get together for fellowship.
Last year I didn't go to the pilgrimage, much to the disappointment of my family and the many Christian teachers that work at my school. Everything in The Gambia was still so new and disorienting and I was trying to get a handle on living in village and making connections with people I decided to sit it out. But this year, I figured when else does one have the chance to go on a pilgrimage in Africa so with two of my fellow PCVs, Jim and Dan, in toe, we boarded the bus in Banjul one chilly December morning with about 150 others from my parish we set out for the pilgrimage - singing, jumping and drumming all the way.
After a long and bumpy bus ride through the bush we finally arrived at Kukujang Mariama, just in time for the mornings mass. The grounds resembled a county fair with buses lined up, tents joined together to provide much needed shade for the worshippers, tons of people, food vendors, trinket sellers and children selling some very cool commemorative t-shirts. I estimate that there were close to 2 or 3000 people, all the Catholic hierarchy, and even the minister of tourism! The day included a very long mass, a break for lunch, afternoon prayers and singing and lots of food, laughing and greeting old friends and new friends. I was surprised how many people I actually knew - when the Christian community makes up less than 5% of a population and you live with Christians and work in a mission school you end up meetings about half of them.
All in all the day was full and it was great to see this minority thriving in their faith despite the odds against them. It was a great way to start everyone off on the right foot for the Christmas season. My sister Ansel was so excited for the day to come and had been counting down the days since August. She seemed delighted to have me and my friends there to share the custom with and kept coming up and hugging me throughout the day. Even though she was tired at the end of the day from being responsible for organizing the transportation and the lunch for close to 200 people from our parish, she seemed completely rejuvenated by the experience and just glowed and was decidedly, filled with grace.
posted by Becca @ 8:58 AM
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