Inside the 'traditional' tribal wedding ceremony that still takes place in Kenya
This is the heartbreaking moment young girls in Kenya are sold into arranged marriages for a dowry of livestock as part of a traditional ceremony which marks their passing into womanhood.
Clad in tribal jewellery and with their hair tied up in braids, some of the women can be seen struggling as they are hauled away, traded by their fathers for 20 goats, three camels, and ten cows.
Many of the girls, who are members of the Pokot tribe, are not aware they have been bargained away until their husbands come to collect them after spending a month in isolation before the ceremony takes place.
How terribly sad. What beautiful children. They deserve better.
These are tribal customs that make no sense to our western eyes. Western governments and aid groups try to change them, and they should be changed.
Yet how ironic that these groups and governments are often the same people that bitterly criticize Christian missionaries past and present because, they claim, the missionaries are trying to change, alter or destroy native cultures in their efforts to help them better their lives.
How terribly sad. What beautiful children. They deserve better.
ReplyDeleteThese are tribal customs that make no sense to our western eyes. Western governments and aid groups try to change them, and they should be changed.
Yet how ironic that these groups and governments are often the same people that bitterly criticize Christian missionaries past and present because, they claim, the missionaries are trying to change, alter or destroy native cultures in their efforts to help them better their lives.
Seems pretty hypocritical to me.
Was this the method used by the Obama's? Was Michelle traded for livestock?
ReplyDeleteI've not a single F to give. It's not our country or our problem.
ReplyDelete