In Gabon, the wedding season is in full swing. There are ceremonies of custom throughout Libreville every weekend. For some bridal couples, the preparation has become a headache, as some desired gifts are no longer on the market. This is the case with the anvil, requested by Téké in the province of Haut-Ogooué (southeastern Gabon).
as reported from Libreville, Yves Laurent Goma
Her son is getting married in a few weeks. The father Sébastien Difouta Mouboumi is responsible for finding the cleaning required by the parents-in-law. We find him in the narrow corridors of the Mont-Bouët market. “It really is a chance to find this coveted symbol,” he explains. There I will surely have a beautiful wedding, because if you do not have an anvil, the wedding can not take place. ”
Martin Obiang is from the ethnic group Fang from northern Gabon. His brother is getting married to a Téké this Saturday. The family could not find the anvil. “We have been looking for this for a long time, we have really suffered. So I rented it ”.
“Without an anvil, no marriage” In Gabon, almost all blacksmiths who knew how to make anvils are dead. The few pieces that are still on the market come from Congo, Ghana or Nigeria.
However, Jean-Posé’s father, who is Téké, cannot imagine a Téké marriage without an anvil: “It is up to the son-in-law to provide the anvil. Without it, there is no marriage. The blacksmiths are all dead, what do we do now? What are the people trained in the schools to do? “
To get around the difficulty, many families will rent an anvil just during the ceremony.
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