Page 92 - MANDERA-COUNTY- THE 2019 MAGAZINE

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Pomp and glamour

CELEBRATIONS GALORE AT FIRST

EVER SOMALI CULTURAL FESTIVAL

A in times of scarcity and plenty. several camels (orofa ile) in Somali
symbolic gesture that peace
dialect lit the stadium when the hardy
For milk, the incontrovertible primary
was taking root in Mandera
County and the entire North
animals and their handlers clad in tra-
food of pastoral communities, it was
Eastern Kenya region happened shown the special way it is squeezed ditional gears lumbered around. The
when a refurbished Moi Stadium that from the udder to deftly cleaning its scene was ‘lit’ with excitement galore
featured everything but grass literally container - an art passed down the when the Governor and the First Lady
pulsated with white gowns during the generations. It was the preserve of descended from the dais to join the
first ever Somali cultural festival. women to extract ghee, an exercise caravan as the animals strode past.
that seemingly took them hours on
There were Governor Ali Roba and the entire end to acomplish, juggling a wooden Long-forgotten dancing styles were
container called diil.
county leadership, invited guests
performed to deafening cheers. The
times when and performers of various activities Any grown man found tinkering with cheering crowd was left enthralled
we could not retrieved from the past wore white diil to extract ghee was liable to a when an agile man gyrated on his
outfits with matching headscarfs and severe punishment of spending his head undaunted by the dust, his legs
gather like this green belts holding ceremonial dag- life without a wife, cultural experts flailing like wooden marionettes in the
peacefully, gers in conformity with the Somali explained. air as women clapped and shouted
yet now we traditional attire dating back to a past To give milk the best smell and taste, heart-warming praises.
Governor Roba said the success of
dominated by Arabs.
twigs from a particular tree were
can dance and Women donned white and impres- pushed into fire and the smoky end the inaugural cultural festival was a
used to fumigate and clean the diil
bold indicator that security had not
sive gaudy colours, enhancing their
make merry feminine beauty. The First Lady was containers. only returned, but was flourishing in
in the open resplendent in a glittering crown. the county once deemed the most
for three days Disappearing cultural activities such Not to be left behind were migratory dangerous in the republic because
huts known as erio, walled and roofed
of repeated Al Shabaab attacks.
without an as best practices in milking camels, with grass. It was quite a fascination
ugly incident goats and cows using the right imple- when a traditional Somali wedding “Times were when we could not
gather like this peacefully, but now
ments and age-old methods to pre-
was held in the erio with camel milk
- Capt Roba serve milk and meat were on display and meat taking the centre stage to we can dance and make merry in the
for the younger generation to learn eclipse conventional wedding cake. open for three days without an ugly
and copy how their forbears survived A live migratory caravan comprising incident,” said Capt Roba.