Today was a great day filled with laughter, clapping,
singing, dancing and smiles surround everywhere. I got up and took my bucket bath and headed
outside to have breakfast with my family.
Today was a day that everyone had been waiting for because today was the
day that each of us were to receive our Gambian names given to us by our family
we were staying with in our training villages.
After finishing up my breakfast my family gave me the clothing attire
that I was to wear for the ceremony. It
was a dark blue think wool dress that I put over the clothing I had on. The wrapped a hair piece around my head, drew
me some black eyebrows and put red lipstick on my lips and then I was ready to
go. We then headed to a section of the
village where it would be held. When we
arrived there were so many people from the village cheering and smiling as I
took my seat next to the other trainees.
All three of us girls had on the same attire and Michael being the only
male had on his attire. We sat there for
a while melting in the hot sun surround and hovered over by the village people
starring at us waiting for the ceremony to start. Finally we moved location and the ceremony
began. Each one by one we kneeled on a
mat while having our heads shaved, they then chanted some words in the local
language and the announcement of our Gambian name was reviled. When it was my turn they called out “Jenaba Jarjue”,
and the crowed clapped and yelled in excitement. From that moment on I was no longer to be
called Selina Green. The ceremony was
finished with singing, dancing and taking many pictures with my host family,
other trainees and the village people.
It was a great day, one that will never be forgotten.
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