Every year we go to the village there's a special celebration to look forward to called the Village day, and in our case t is called Ndiebe Abam Day. It is basically an end of the year village festival that brings together indigenes from far and near. Most people returned home for it, and this year the governor was invited (though I'm not sure he eventually showed up)
The festival was scheduled for the 29th, so he next day after our arrival, preparations began early. The festival usually began in the afternoon so we had time to prepare.
waking up in the village or even at home there must be chores assigned to you, and since we also had other siblings and cousins at home, my only assignment was to sweep the compound that morning. And so I picked up the broom and packer and got to work
So after chores ,breakfast was ready. Once everyone was done eating we went inside to get dressed for the festival. Below is me, fully dressed and ready to step out.
My aunt, mom and two siblings were all ready so we all went out together
Yes it was still 11:00 am so we knew the event hasn't started yet, but my mom and aunt had plans to visit an uncle's house before the time of festival and of course we followed them.
We got to his house and warmly greeted him and soon found ourselves surrounded by conversations, the kind that only happen when relatives haven't seen each other in a long time. He served us drinks , I got a Coca-cola drink with POOKIE written on it, the name was cute though I'm not much a fan of Coke. But you can never return gifts that would be rude
After taking a few selfies at my uncle's place we were ready to leave...or so we thought.
We made another stop, it was at a different relatives house, conversations stretched again while my siblings and I waited patiently.
After about an hour they were done (which was actually fast ). We finally headed to the village field where the event is to be held. But due to some circumstances the organisers were running late, they were still setting up the venue
So we couldn't stay there, so we decided to go to my late grandpa's house and most of his wives and children and grandchildren were there. They welcomed and entertained us warmly, one of the wives offered us the seasonal fruit called Agbalumo (African cherry in english)
Then something unexpected happened. Someone brought in a live monkey he caught in the bush. It was my first time seeing one, and this one was about to be turned into a meat, I didn't even know people ate monkeys lol.
They went ahead to roast it over an open fire. It wasn't really a pleasant sight for me though but yeah they did it, they continued till it was fully roasted and cut into pieces for cooking.
I wasn't sure what they wanted to do with the head though whether they wanted to also cook it or throw it away. But one guy was holding the head of this thing in his palms. My aunt said it looks like a human and she could never eat anything looking like that. My mom agreed and shortly after that we all left and didn't get to see the final meal.
By the time we got back to the field, The event was already started and we took our seats under the canopy. There were drinks already placed at our table
We sat the observing everything, They started late so were rushing through the programs. Masquerades paraded through the village, which is a core part of the tradition.
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The chairman of the event introduced prominent attendees and gave some of them the opportunity to address the crowd. There were masquerade dances followed by performances from different age grades, all dancing to traditional music. Everyone was beautifully dressed in Igbo cultural attire.
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After the dance there were contributions made for the community future projects or the ones at hand, so the people felt moved came out, announced their names and the amount they were contributing, some large, some small.
Soon the event wrapped up, different meals were served, laughter filled the air and everyone simply enjoyed the moment. It was a beautiful reminder of community, tradition and the joy of coming home 🥰
Thank you all for your time here and I hope you enjoyed this part
