Funeral ritual

It was a special feast day in the Netherlands today. After more than 130 years a king would be crowned- Koning Willem Alexander. We dressed in the appropriate colour - Orange, our attempt to unify us with the home front. We were kept informed of some of the festivities via CNN.

Hier in Bamenda we too were privileged to attend a special celebration. We were invited to attend the funeral of the mother of the Fon ( elected village head) of Bamenda Kwe. Kwe is a fondom ( village) north of Bamenda.

Due to our intense contact with Mr Tangy, the head of the fondom- like our mayor, and also because that is where our water project was realised- our whole contingent was invited to participate in this ritual.

Ritual dance at the funeral in Bamenda Kwe

This was a celebrational funeral. Due to the position of the family many dignitaries were in attendance. Many of these high positioned visitors were from the surrounding villages. Dance groups from these other villages also took part in the ceremony. To honour the deceased and their family - many dances were performed as a mark of respect.

Dance groups from various villages attended the funeral.

After we greeted the Fon ( elected village head) we were requested to take our places on the front row- as honoured guests. The respect we held for each other was mutual. Quite special to have such ties. It was alos permissible to take photos during the ceremony. Funnily enough we were also subject of curiosity. If memory serves me, we were also photographed at least 50 times.

After a 4 hour session of dance and other rituals we left the gathering. One last applause and bow to the village head ( Fon) and we returned to our vehicle and back to our lodgings.


On our return journey we discussed the uniqueness of this experience which none of us would have wanted to miss.