FOMBAS

Fombas are customs or beliefs of a culture here in Madagascar. Some of them are difficult for me to wrap my head around.

Witch Doctors

My tutors bother-in-law passed away last month at the age of 40.  When I ask how he passed he told me that someone in the village had hired a witch doctor to put a curse on him. The brother-in-law had recently inherited some land from his father and people were jealous.  They believe it was his best friend, only because his best friend walked by the house and two hours later his brother- in-law was dead.

I asked a few questions, was he sick? I was told that the brother-in-law’s stomach became very distended. Did he go to the doctor?  Yes, he said, but the doctor could not find anything wrong and that is how they know for sure it was witch craft.  With witch craft, the doctor is not able to see or find any disease.

My tutor is an educated man and it is hard for me to believe, that he believes this. I try to be respectful and not ask too many questions like “ARE YOU CRAZY? IT IS 2017, OF COURSE THERE IS A REAL MEDCAL REASON HE DIED!!”

Crossed Eyes

Another time a mother told me her child’s eyes were crossed because during his first hair cut the lady cutting the hair turned around.  This evidently turns the eyes as well.

First haircuts are a big tradition.  The mother looks for someone with great hair that she admires.  They believe that the baby’s hair will be like the hair of the women who performs the first haircut.  But if the women or man cutting the hair turns in anyway during cutting the hair, the childs eyes will cross.

Fahamadinana

A fahamadinana  is held every 3-5 years.  The entire family visit the family tomb where all family members are laid after death.  They open the tomb and take out the skeletons which have already been wrapped in lambas (bright colored clothes, like a sheet) and they re- wrap each skeleton in a new fresh lamba.  Of course, there is eating, drinking, music and dancing during this ceremony.  In all honesty, I think I would have to do a lot of drinking before opening the tomb and re-wrapping all those skeletons!

Marriage Proposals

If my son Doug was here, our family would have to offer two of our best oxen to the family of the bride in exchange for their daughters hand in marriage.  The bride’s family provides a place, food, drink for this exchange. The groom’s family comes with two oxen and sits apart from the bride’s family. Then they begin  the “kabaries” – speeches.

The grooms’ family starts out with at least 30 minutes of apologies.  Apologies for what?  To begin with we would apologize for not having someone more worthy or higher up to be present and give the speech.  “We are so very sorry, we were not able to bring the Pope to come and offer our sons request for your daughter’s hand.  We are just poor, lowly people who are not worthy to ask etc, etc.

We apologize for the oxen – no matter how healthy and big they are, we say “We bring our two best oxen, we are so very sorry that they are not bigger, fatter etc.

The entire time the groom is sitting alone at a table and the bride is outside not in the same room.  Then after many kabaries, the bride’s family discusses it and accepts and only then is the bride brought into the room.  Then the bride’s family provides food and drinks and there is of course another party.

I remember the day I tell Mamy about our American “Fomba” of spending money at a “spa” covering ourselves in mud, to make ourselves “beautiful”.  I suppose our customs and beliefs sound just as strange.

The greatest prison people live in, is the fear of what other people think!

Mamy got a real toilet- it is in the outhouse out back, but it actually flushes!

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