12:00 pm
For generations, the Tonga tribe of the Bantu people have practiced a pre-marital rite of passage that marks a young lady's final transition to-womanhood, called "Kulongelela" (KOO-LOH -NGEH-LEH-LAH). Literally: "the packing/moving“. A week of instruction and counsel from the home of one of her mother's culminates with this celebratory "revelation day". This is the first time the bride will be seen in public after being kept out of sight during her 7 day preparation. The guest list for this particular celebration is limited to the women of the bride's family and their female friends. It is a graduation and farewell wrapped up together and calls for a full day of song and dance, food, advice and bittersweet tears. After the party, the bride's belongings are packed up and she and her sisters await the arrival of the groom - he can arrive at any time but no one on the bride’s side of the family will know exactly when.
2:00 pm
The groom's story begins after his family meets the family of his bride to present "Lobola" (LOH-BOH-LAH) - a monetary (cash or livestock) expression of gratitude to the brides family for raising her, an investment for future progeny as well as a prenuptial buffer to protect all parties in the event of divorce or future financial difficulty. It is then the duty of the groom to prepare a place for his wife-to-be. In traditional Tonga practice, this takes about a year. During that year the groom will build a house and secure an income. He is ready when his father expresses that he has done a satisfactory job preparing. When the groom is ready, his family will call for an entourage to escort him to the home of his bride. They make their way in song and jubilation, arriving without warning to tow ("kwela") the newest member of their family. There is jest and more song as the bride's entourage teasingly, reluctantly follows the groom's party back home where even more celebration awaits.
11:00 am