Oops…I accidentally joined the women’s choir at the village
church. Accidents happen, right?
Or is this fate? Or Whoopi
Goldberg’s next movie? You decide.
I was sitting, on a reed mat, outside my neighbor’s “nyumba”
(house) and this cheerful and plump Mama greeted me and asked that I go with
her. Why not? So I am walking with her and follow her
into the church. At this point
another woman joined us and they began singing. One by one about a dozen women came in and the voices grew
stronger and stronger. But we…yes
we. Weren’t just singing. We were dancing too. This was no average church choir with
white and blue haired ladies. This
was a group of women that sang from somewhere deep within, from their soul. Their colorful voices matched their
African patterns that they wore as skirts or head wraps or baby carriers. Their years of fieldwork, fire
starting, wood collecting, child bearing and rearing, nsima preparing, and
ground sweeping, were reflective in their movements and in their call and
response songs. The dancing was a
mix between a P90x regimen, a Vegas nightclub, a jazzercise at the local Y, and
a doo-wop background dancer, with additional farm mocked movements. Now I know why there aren’t any Curves
for Women here (other than the obvious
economic reasons) the women have found a safe place to exercise and be
free. The words to sing and dance
are synonymous in the local vernacular.
It is well known that I can’t sing…at all…but dance…okay! I have finally found a choir I can
handle. We danced and sang for
over an hour while sweat was layering the room, along with the laughter and
smiles and awkward hugs because although I may be white as can be…can hold my
own on the dance floor…or in this case, on the church floor.
So this Sunday I will be joining the ladies in front of the
church. I will resume my spot in
the front right, trying to blend in.
You will know which one is me because I will standing about 6 inches
taller than the other women and about 20 years younger, and trying to be like
my sisters not just as an act, as an act of solidarity.
