The fon's Wives

Yesterday SG and the mayor arranged for me to visit the fon of Ndu. We had not called round earlier as the mayor had been out 

of town. Apparently, this is a special occasion and SG,MT the mayor and others wanted to come along. I think they wanted to hear me address the fon and tell him about my work here and, they wanted to watch as I greeted him formally.

So, after finishing another lively focus group, George the town planner and I went to a bar, with sub-chiefs from the meeting, to wait for George the driver. The four sub-chiefs of Ndu are deputy Fons, and will be at the palace when well turn up.

I have told you about waiting for George and today was no exception. We sat and drank,  and as Town Planner  George became more animated, we discussed is plans for developing Ndu town centre.

Two hours later we phoned driver  George. He was in the market looking for my Manjuh hat, collecting palm wine and rounding up all the people who wanted to come with us.

One more hour later he pulled up with Felix, Caroline, Ernestine, Kevin, MT and SG. The mayor pulled up in his jeep, with Genesis the driver. We all piled back into the bar to discuss hats and wine and the excitement of the day - should I greet the Fon in the traditional way, at the beginning of the meeting, or should we first introduce ourselves and explain that I have been initiated, then greet him? Half an hour later, with my hat on my head, we set off for the 20 minute drive to the Fon's palace with an agreement to greet him after being introduced.

Every village has a Palace and the entrance is usually marked by large corrugated iron turrets. Inside the entrance was not as I expected. I had an image of the wonderful Indian forts with every room beautifully proportioned to allow for maximum view and shelter from the sun. How wrong I was.

A huge expanse of dry and dusty parkland was surrounded by crumbling modern brick buildings. Children and women filled the space, chatting, playing, sleeping and watching me.

We were all shown into a dark room full of benches and a table was brought in so that we could display our drinks and carry on boozing. We had to wait.... No surprise there then. The Fon was busy hearing a land dispute in his tribal court and would be about an hour, which gave us all time to drink some more beer.

Eventually we were shown into the meeting room and after being introduced by the mayor, I had to speak to the Fon and tell him about our project. He listened, I greeted him as Manjuh, everyone smiled and then, because of my title, I was invited to meet the Fon's wives in the women's quarters.

Fons are polygamous. They have to take on all their fathers wives and then can add to them too. The Fon of Ndu has 29 wives and has lost count on the children front but, looking around, I would say there must be in excess of 75.

There was great excitement in the women quarter. The men had to sit in the car and i was accompanied by Caroline and Ernestine and the Queen of Ndu, who is, if I understand right, one of the Fons daughters, a beautiful woman of about 25.

I had to greet all the wives. They live a squalled compound of red brick huts with shared 'kitchens' and sleeping areas. There is no electricity, little furniture and home comforts at all. 

In honour of my visit it was agreed that they would perform a little dance and we were shown into another hut whilst the band gathered. Around 20 wives joined in and we danced and laughed together for 10 minutes before joining the men in the car park. They were bored and needed another beer. So, with Genesis at the wheel, I left the women to their merry-making, dropped the boys off at another bar and went back to my room for a moment's peace and quiet before my walk to Jane's for supper.

Another full day in Ndu ends and my head is fit to explode with new experiences.