My Reed dance
Here I am with my Swazi friends: Cynthia, Ncobile, Londiwe and Phendulile on our way to Umhlanga.
I was the only white person at the Reed Dance dressed in the traditional Swazi attire and I was really proud of it. Never once did I feel uncomfortable; I really liked it and I will definitely wear my attire more often. There were other white people too who came to look, but none of them were dressed in the traditional way. Some of the women were even really disrespectful towards the culture by wearing shorts and pants. And this was one of the things that made me sad. I definitely don’t agree with the culture, but I do want to respect these people. If I respect them, they will respect me and then I can be more effective in my ministry to them.
(Oh, I was stop by the French media and they did a quick interview with me. So funny! My white skin did turn a few heads and I had a couple of requests for pictures / photo’s.)
But back to the dance: I have never in my life seen so many girls together. There were thousands and thousands of them. From young (really cute) ones up to 18 year olds. The newspapers say there were about 55 000 maidens cutting reed this year. Amazing! And they were all dressed so colorful in their traditional attires. It was awesome to hear them sing and see them dance. They were dancing for their king. (Wish all of us and them could be so passionate about dancing for our King!)
Through all the excitement I also had a few sad thoughts and questions. Are people using culture to justify sin? Or is culture the enemy’s way of deceiving people? Or is it both?
I don’t know. All I know is that here these girls were; dancing half naked and showing the entire nation the things that only their husbands are suppose to see one day. The more I am learning about the culture, the more I see things that I do not understand and many of it goes against what the Bible teaches.
Even sadder is the fact that many Christians here don’t see anything wrong with a lot of the things that are happening … because it is part of their culture. ‘First Swazi and then Christian,’ they say.
You Look SOOOOOO Great, Can’t wait to hear all about it when you get here. See ya sooooon !!!!!
Love
Pappy
jy lyk coooooooool! jy is n getuienis en voorbeeld vir ons almal!
luv
ons2
Hey, What a wonderful event for you to participate. Your face expression in the photo looks like you are having great fun.
Love
Hallie
You reed costume is not official! This the western reed dance, but i will be glad if you dress the swazi official way!
Please Make it and I will be glad to see that picture!
Dit is jammer dat the koning nie jou getuienis kan lees nie. Ek stem met jou heelmondig saam. Mog die Here Jesus ons vergewe vir ons ‘styfgyt’ voor Hom en ons ‘losgyt’ in die wereld! Amen.
Jy is tog te oulik!
Lief jou!
Oh my goodness,
YOU ARE The CUTEST thing I have EVER seen. I know how much you love to dress up. This must have been great fun for you!!!!!
Can’t wait to see you!!!
Hugs and Kisses,
Carol
i like your pics, you see the thing is we Africans long time ago i am sure we didn’t wear any cloth, wearing cloth is something am sure that we adapt from the western world, there are so many places in Africa that people don’t wear cloth at all, what can you say about that, it is our culture and i am very proud that Swaziland people are still maintaining thier culture, you see it as being sexually exposed, that is where you are wrong, i am not from Swazi but i am from Africa, and i know not all this girls show off thier body for sexual reason, its just part of thier culture and no one should pass judgement. The most beautifull country and people.
SWAZI CULTURE IS GREAT AND THIS IS THE REAL GEM OF AFRICA. AM HAPPY ABOUT IT . MAY I KINDLY KNOW WHETHER ITS A FORCING MATTER FOR THE LADIES TO ATTEND . SWAZI CULTURE IS BETTER THAN THE GAY OF THE WESTERNERS. WHICH IS BABARIC AND UNCHRISTAIN. WHITES STOP PRETENDING,YOU ARE NOT SAINT YET . COLLECT OR STOP YOUR GAY AND LESIBIAN CULTURE. THE STATED CULTURES ARE NOT AFRICAN.WE HAVE HEARD ABOUT BISHOPS BEING GAYS . THESE ARE SODOM CULTURES. GOD HAS A SPECIAL PUNISHMENT FOR THEM.
It sounds like you had a great experience.
Except, who told you that only your husband is allowed to see you naked?!
These people have an old tradition which, even though strange, we should respect.
I grew up in Africa in the 60’s and to say your dressed as the natives is such a sham.
No one is silly enough to believe that just because you don a few African outfits that “Jesus” can be trusted thoroughly in Swaziland. WE rebuke you and your colonialist religion. May the Ancestors be merciful to your grandchildren who will undoubtly be spiritually saddled with your own misdeeds.
Your statement about showing things only husbands should see shows just how detached you are from this culture, imposing your own moral standards, and failing to undertsand the original. True it stinks that porn pervs mill around these ceremonies trying to get pics of naked women, but thats down to the problems our western cultre has, NOT the African one.
Don’t forget in these cultures for centuriesit was the cas ethat naidens went uncovered until they married, and ONLY prostitutes covered themselves completely. WHen your predecessor missionaries went round forcing their “parishioners to cover themsleves up thy must have caused major upset as to the women it was as if they were eing treted as prostitutes, when they were not. ANd all to protect the weak will of the imperialist missionaries who couldn’t cope with a naked woman in front of them.
How sad that everything has to be see via a book written in a different time and in a different region. Also even though I have lived in the west for 17 long years, I have never been able to fathom the hypocrisy and dual standards. If a native in his/her own region due to climatic conditions and tradition wear sparse clothing, its considered savage and barbaric and yet, for years we find fake plasticized and surgically augmented western women posing nude, selling their body and having turned themselves into a commodity feeding a nefarious industry, dancing on poles, going to nude beaches, wearing clothes which are provocative and tasteless and only meant to titillate and yet all that is considered sophisticated, suave and civilized. Snap out of it and look in the mirror and then make the judgements. Go and see what your daughters do in school, they put pictures of themselves in the nude on Facebook, Orkut etc. and peddle raunchy MMS around among their friends. All your menfolk attend disgusting striptease where the mafia control and make the girls as commodity. They lure young girls into this trade promising easy wealth and then hook them to a life of drugs where there is no escape. How can you call a society normal and chaste when they take their children and go and at at a place like Hooters where the only purpose is to glorify fake breasts, thats pathetic and shameful.
On the other hand, take a look at the beautiful natural girls in the reed dance, all innocent and pure and no surgically made up fakes. They are comfortable with their bodies and sexuality and don’t have fake morality and dual standards. If western society as well as other societies were like them, we wouldn’t need porn or make women into a exploited commodity.
Preacher………heal thyself.
once again beautiful pictures. i am a Swazi living in europe and this is like one of the few people that has respect for lelisiko letfu (our culture!) even though i am proud of where i come from, my king and the culture ka Ngwane, there are also certain things that i dont fully agree with. but what pleases me most is that you have respect for us Swazis,(you people that were in SD, AND PUBLISHED THIS) and that really makes me happy that not all people are ignorant. also one thing you should know is that this is our way of living, we come a long way and as someone mentioned we didnt wear proper clothes,only the old men and women who had children as we didnt have anything to hide!! and we wont just give up our culture like that. sometimes i even get pissed off when people go to swaziland and then report things that arent true about our country. but to you people may God bless you as you have shown the true kingdom of eSwatini,gave your opinions honestly without offending anyone, and also showing respect to our beautiful culture.
once again beautiful pictures. i am a Swazi living in europe and this is like one of the few people that has respect for lelisiko letfu (our culture!) even though i am proud of where i come from, my king and the culture ka Ngwane, there are also certain things that i dont fully agree with. but what pleases me most is that you have respect for us Swazis,(you people that were in SD, AND PUBLISHED THIS) and that really makes me happy that not all people are ignorant. also one thing you should know is that this is our way of living, we come a long way and as someone mentioned we didnt wear proper clothes,only the old men and women who had children as we didnt have anything to hide!! and we wont just give up our culture like that. sometimes i even get pissed off when people go to swaziland and then report things that arent true about our country. but to you people may God bless you as you have shown the true kingdom of eSwatini,gave your opinions honestly without offending anyone, and also showing respect to our beautiful culture.
Christianity came from the west, and saw everything Arican as barbaric and atheist. Granted, there were desirable consequences of the Christian phenomenon but I disagree with the notion that some cultural practices are bad as white people make them out to be. How many nudist beaches are there in the western world, how many western women walking the streets of europe and america are better covered up than these girls in the name of fashion. What do we have now? The same white people, so called christians are redefining marriage, redefining sexual relationships, telling us it is normal for a man to be sexually with involved with another man, their so called priest sexually molesting children. Women are openly displayed in Holland and some other european cities naked. Women dance naked in strip clubs for men to enjoy the site gleefully. Pornography came from the west.
Let me educate you, in traditional African way of life, women are respected, not seen as objects or toys of sex which is why in many rural unspoilt African villages, virgins go about with their torsoes uncovered. I have lived in a village like that for a year, and not any one of those girls had been reported as having been molested.
Africans have to be careful with what they copy from other cultures.
We don’t have to be wrapped up like mummies nor wear sandals and flowing gowns nor change our skin colour simply because Jesus is a Jew.
So purge yourselves of your cultural bias and stop bastardising everything African.
Stop brainwashing Africans so that they will continue to depend on you for everything, there are a lot you can learn from us.
How many sexually matured women in France can boast of being virgins?
Shhhhhhhhindwe kabisa wewe, If there was an entry gate at the reed dance they wouldnt let you in with that,what is your future husband going to see in that? Shindwa kabisa na ulegee wewe!
What’s Sad is that you start of by congratulating yourself on embracing one form of the swazi dress, enjoying the attention , denoucing your fellow whites as being ignorant and disrespectful, unlike you. Then go on to denouce the traditionally dressed maidens as not been according to the western bible. Is that not a part of the swazi culture?, infact is that not part of the exciting reed dance that you attended and subsequently wrote about.
you are obviously a long way from understanding the culture of the people you wish to serve. your senses and sensibilty colored by the western view on nudity. So you think maidens should cover up to avoid sin, according to western culture…..hang on…. then will this still be SWAZI culture.
you are no different from the colonialist and missionaries of old
‘Through all the excitement I also had a few sad thoughts and questions. Are people using culture to justify sin? Or is culture the enemy’s way of deceiving people? Or is it both?
I don’t know. All I know is that here these girls were; dancing half naked and showing the entire nation the things that only their husbands are suppose to see one day. The more I am learning about the culture, the more I see things that I do not understand and many of it goes against what the Bible teaches.
Even sadder is the fact that many Christians here don’t see anything wrong with a lot of the things that are happening … because it is part of their culture. ‘First Swazi and then Christian,’ they say.’
And I say to you Madam Evangelist, what makes you think that your culture is superior to African Culture? We were perfectly happy in our world before you came to foist your language, religion and way of life on Africans. And you stole the land as well through colonization! Don’t you think that those are all crimes against humanity? There is a history behind the Reed Dance. If you don’t understand our way of life, that’s fine. You really don’t have to. Africa is the cradle of mankind and civilization, that’s why your brethren came here to loot it. We are Africans and proudly so.
What we should have for other people’s culture is respect and tolerance. I think the Evangelist tried to achieve that and this is commendable, that is why she was able to put on the traditional attire. Everyone cannot be christian. Not everybody we follow the teachings of the Bible. We have to accept that this is a pluralistic world and God is a God of variety. You can imagine if all races think and talk the same way. I suppose life would not be as interesting and exciting as it is now, that is why God made it so that we see life differently. We do not have to adopt people’s way of life in order to love them, if we don’t believe in their way of life we can move on with our own and respect theirs.
deuteronomy 12 read