Earlier this week, I was invited to my first baby naming ceremony by another friend who is here learning Arabic before moving to another town. This friend lives fairly close to me and the new baby’s family lives in between me and my friend. It was very similar to the ceremonies I have attended in Senegal. We arrived around 1pm and greeted the many women scattered throughout the compound who were cooking the large meal or socializing on mats in the shade. Then, we were taken into the mother’s bedroom where she was sitting with her 7 day old baby on the bed underneath a mosquito net. She will stay in her bedroom or the compound for 40 days, if I understand correctly. We greeted her and the few friends and sister who were there with her and gave her our gift (blanket, socks, etc). We had a small snack of cookies, candy, and Chadian tea. We chatted with the family and my friend introduced me as one of their neighbors. This family has four wives and 40, yes forty, children. The compound is huge and each wife has a house of her own with mud brick walls around. The lady we visited this day has seven living children but has lost six children. The husband is in his 70s and I would say this lady was my age or a little older. We visited with her sister also, who was a very friendly woman. She was nursing her baby and when she finished we noticed how thin the baby’s arms were. It looked just like the photos of malnourished children we all have seen. She said her daughter, now 8 months old, had been sick for some time but is now better. That sight was a shock for me and heartbreaking also, but truly, this is a reality here that I am sure we will face over and over again in ministry. We finished our visit with the mom and friends by praying for her and the baby to be healthy and strong and for God to bless her family. Then we were taken to the house of another wife where ladies were sitting on a mat chatting until the food arrived. We had rice, meat, carrots, cabbage, potatoes, and a host of other things that were all quite tasty. We sat around a common large plate and there were several small bowls with different dishes for the celebration. I had to leave a bit early unfortunately, because our first language lesson was starting at our house, but my friend was able to stay and help wash dishes with them.
