Sharing a special day
On the eighth day of a baby’s life in Guinea, the village hosts a celebration. Steve and Casey Cretsinger were excited to share this special day with the family that was celebrating last month.
“It’s hard to believe that it’s been over a month since Fatou’s baby was born,” wrote Casey. “He is just a bundle of cuteness and I love any time I get to spend time with him.”
When the Cretsingers arrived for the ceremony the family was finishing up cooking rice for the occasion. Steve took his place with the big men of the village and Casey headed inside the house to see how the mother, Fatou, was doing.
For the ceremony, the men sit on one side of a circle and the women on the other. The mother sits on a mat in the middle of the circle with another woman who holds the baby for her.
The religious leader stands up, says a prayer, admonishes everyone to behave correctly and then announces the name of the baby. The baby is usually named after someone in the family whom they would like to honor. In this case it was after Fatou’s uncle who had died not long ago.
The people wailed in the deceased’s honor and then everyone gave the mother money to help her pay for the things that the baby will need. Then the bowls of rice were passed out.
Fatou wanted pictures taken with people, so Steve and Casey were snapping them quickly before an oncoming rain hit.
“It was so funny to see these groups of people in all the rooms of the house huddled around bowls of rice and sauce waiting out the storm,” wrote Casey. “Even though it got cut a little short, it was still a great celebration of little Daouda’s life.”
Please pray that Steve and Casey will have a positive influence in the lives around them as they build relationships and study the culture and language of the people.