Amazing Talent on Display

Iftar Dinner

On May 19 I had the privilege of attending an Iftar Dinner for the breaking of the day’s Ramadan fast.  The Interfaith Council of Westport/Weston and TEAM Westport presented the event. There is no mosque in Westport or our neighboring smaller town of Weston; the dinner was held at Saugatuck Congregational Church.

I arrived at 7 and took a seat by a friend. I nearly reached for the bottle of water on the table in front of me when I noticed that no one else was drinking. Then I read the program cover: “Please refrain from eating and drinking until after the call to prayer.” Of course I did as instructed.

We were treated to a most amazing dance. I’d never heard of the Tenoura or Tanoura. Have you?

As the program said, “The Tenoura is the Egyptian version of the the Turkish whirling dervish.” Yasser Darwish, the dancer, held me spelll-bound. How could he spin for 15 minutes in one spot, while holding shields that he manipulated in a variety of positions, then threw away one by one? After that, he shed the layers of the dress he wore.

In the program notes, I read, “Each layer is shed throughout the dance symbolizing a shedding of one’s ego and a changing of the seasons. The dancer spins in a circle mimicking how planets rotate around the sun.”

About 10 minutes in, the lights on his remaining layers came on, as they do in the video. And that was even more thrilling to watch.

Later he was asked how long it took him to learn to do the dance without getting dizzy. “Five years,” he said.

Soon after the dance ended, the Imam from a nearby mosque issued the call to prayer. The Muslims went outside where cloth had been spread on the ground to pray.

I took one of the dates, a common first food after breaking fast, from the small plate on our table. Then I joined other non-Muslims at the buffet.

For my first helping I had baba ghanoush, hummus, and pita bread. Then I returned to the other buffet line for lamb and salad.

The food was delicious, the dancing fabulous, and the opportunity to share an evening with Muslim neighbors was most welcome.

Prize for Nigerian Writer and Activist

The 2019 Gerald Kraak Prize has been awarded to Nigeria’s OluTimehin Adegbeye, for her nonfiction piece, “Mothers and Men,” I learned from Brittle Paper today. I’d never heard of the prize; this is only the 3rd year it’s been awarded.

Adegbeye is a Nigerian writer, speaker, and activist. Her work “focuses on gender, women’s rights, sex, sexuality and sexual violence, urban poverty, and sustainable development,” I read.

The article about her award mentioned her TED Talk, “Who Belongs in a City?” It was named one of the ten most notable of 2017. She speaks about Lagos, but her comments are true of cities around the world and governments around the world.

You can watch her talk. She said before her grandfather moved to Lagos after graduating from the University of Ibadan, fisher people had come to take advantage of the creeks and ponds. In the past few years, these early settlers have been pushed out.

Recently the Lagos State Government has been bulldozing settlements to make way for expensive homes with a beach view. People have died and many thousands have been left homeless.

She mocks the government which has said Lagos should be the new Dubai. “You don’t need to be the ‘New Dubai’ if you are already Lagos,” she said. The poor are part of what makes Lagos so vibrant. Without them, there would not be the music and constant activity.

People in the shanty towns, she said, have found ways to make their areas more habitable, including developing “a flood-safe eco-friendly community toilet system.”

The government says Informal settlements are the problem. But the real problem is not seeing poor people as people. “We must remind them that government exists not only for those in luxury homes but those who clean and guard them.”

Solutions that include the poor are critical. “The future we dream of must include all of us,” she says.

Ikem on a Horse

On the lighter side, our daughter Beth sent a photo today of 5-year old Ikem on a horse.

His school takes the children riding every Thursday.

His joy is apparent!