Weddings – Caboverdean style

Weddings are wonderful events where a new family is created! We were very pleased to receive a wedding invitation to the marriage of Ducha and Antonio on May 26, 2012. Ducha is a convert of just over 2 years. She is in her second year of university studies in social work. The only other member of the church in her family is her next younger brother. Antonio comes from a member family, all active. He is the oldest of the 3 Cruz brothers, all returned missionaries. He was recently called as Branch president of our sister branch, Mindelo Ramo 3.

Note: this is Ducha's "real" name. Most people have a name from birth and than another nick name that they go by. Sometimes we have no idea what their name on the church records are.

So, what is a wedding like in Cape Verde? We also asked that question and the event was a fun way to learn!!

The invitation said the wedding would be at the Registo Civil in the Palácio da Justiça at 4:00 p.m.  Not knowing the wedding customs, we decided to be on time!! We knew we were in the right place when there were groups of people, very dressed up, waiting outside.  Not much after 4:00, a decorated car drove up and Ducha emerged with others of the family. We didn’t see Antonio.
Everyone went in and the first set of pictures were taken.







Ducha and her father in the foyer of the Palácio da Justiça.

She is a beautiful bride, não é??

 A special room had been set up for weddings. It was very simple – about 50 chairs in rows, a table, and a picture of a rose and 2 golden rings on the wall. Everyone came in to take a seat and Ducha and Antonio (he must have already been there) came in and sat down, front and center.



The back of the room. You can see several of our young adults and two sister missionaries – all here to enjoy the event  and support their friends.

Picture taking was the order of the day.

 


Ducha and Antonio are waiting patiently for the justice to enter to begin the ceremony.












We were impressed that, as the justice read the various ordinances relating to marriage, he specifically said that marriage in Cape Verde is between 2 persons of different genders.

After a simple ceremony and ring exchange, Antonio signs the certificate. Ducha will also and then the 4 witnesses.

The newly married couple!

Exiting the Palácio da Justiça in a rain of rice!

The couple in the bridal convertible, decorated and ready to go.

The party is ready to begin. All the wedding guests get in their taxis and off we go in a long line. I guess there were about 10-12 taxies with the bridal convertible in the middle. The lead taxi took off and all followed. First, to the main plaza and circled around. And, by the way, every taxi is honking their horn!! Our taxi driver was particularly good!

Then we were led to the home of the bride. The honking taxis going through this section of town brought out the residents, wondering who in their area got married. It was quite a parade

Our companions in the taxi and ready to honk and roll! No reason not to have the taxi full! You paid the same amount.






After circling through the bride’s home area, we went back through town to the groom’s house where the party would be. It was a small home and the 50-60 people (at least) overfilled it.

The line to enter the house. We weren't sure how everyone was going to get inside, but they did!

As we entered the door, the first room was decorated and had a beautiful wedding cake on a table with the newly wedded couple standing behind it. Everyone that wanted to could get next to them for a picture. Of course we had to as well!!




A message of congratulations!
“Happiness to the betrothed”

The wedding cake. It was beautifully done and made to order for the couple.

The was hardly room to move with all the people that were there.



Notice the stairs on the left side of the picture. They led to the……


Roof top with a lot more room. There was a DJ playing traditional Cape Verdean music and a few couples dancing. And, best of all, with a nice cool breeze blowing, it was very pleasant on top.

We stayed for a while to visit with various people. But, it was time to go and we left the party in full swing.

On our way home, going down the hill, we looked back up to the home. You could see and hear the party going! It is the house on the top level on the far left (with all the people on the roof).

 
We pray that Ducha and Antonio will have great joy in their lives. They have a goal to go to the temple, maybe even this year, so their marriage can be an eternal one. We are very happy for them!

Cidade Velha

The Old City
 First some history.
After the island of Santiago was discovered in 1460, the port of Ribeira Grande was established and became an important port of call for travel to Africa and in the 16^th century became an important crossroads for international Portuguese trade. It was the first Colonial town to be built in the tropics. By 1466, it was chartered to allow slave trade. By the 1500’s defensive structures, the town hall and the first church were begun.
Being a successful and wealthy area, it was a great attraction for pirates. Sir Francis Drake sacked it in 1585. And in 1712, Jacques Cassard from France attacked and laid waste to the city. By this time, it was declining in prosperity and most of the commercial business moved to the current city of Praia. At that time the name was changed to Cidade Velha to distinguish it from another Ribeira Grande on Santiago.
It has been partially reconstructed and is still an important agricultural area.
(source: who.unesco.org/en/list/1310)

The Adventure
We found ourselves with a free day on our trip to Praia. We don’t know the holidays that well here and discovered that May 1 is the Day of the Laborer of Cape Verde and many other countries around the globe and every business was closed. We realized why we couldn’t get any appointments for that day!!
We spent the morning at Sister Cummings, the new mission nurse, with Dennis helping her on the computer as part of her assignment with the Perpetual Education Fund (she sends out text messages to the recipients thanking them for payments, reminding them about payments etc.). I was not involved, but enjoyed doing some indexing of the US 1940 census. So, I was kept happy and occupied.
We invited Sister Cummings to join us in discovering Cidade Velha which she gladly accepted. We found a hiace and took the 15 to 20 minute ride out of Praia.

Dennis told the hiace driver we wanted to see the fort and this is where the hiace dropped us off – out in the middle of nowhere. The only thing to do was follow the side road.
 
Yes!! There was a fort about 1/2 mile to the end of the road. No, I haven’t changed my hairstyle. It is just very windy!

Looking down from the fort to the valley far below. It was very green and lush, and obviously a farming area. This is a ribeira or river valley and it is grande.

Sister Broderick is ready to enter the fort! This is the only entrance on the land side and served as the gate to the city Ribeira Grande.

  The first thing you see is this large domed building. It is a large cistern, the dome covering a hole about 12 feet in diameter and 12 feet deep. There is a channel that focuses the water to enter and fill up the hole during the rainy season.

Below, to the right of the cistern, are the ruins of the building that house the ammunition. While most of what you see is restored, the ramp in the back is actually from the original fort.  It was how they got the guns and ammunition on the upper ramparts. It still is pretty steep, but slave labor was used extensively through the early history of Cape Verde.

To the left is the prison!! Each of those holes is a cell. When the prisoner was put in them, they covered it with a wire mesh. There was no protection from the sun which was most of the year or the rain for the little time it rained. It was a good idea to be good.

 
The upper ramparts. These are guns original to the fort. Although the fort was built to protect against land attack, the guns are placed to defend in all directions.
The soldiers had a great view of the city below. And it is nice to have a third person to take a picture of us together! Thank you, Sister Cummings.
 
Rank counts! These are the ruins of the soldier’s barracks. You can tell who was important by the type of floor. The enlisted men had rough stone while you can see the commandant’s quarters had a nice tile floor.












Our tour guide saying goodbye as we leave the fort and begin to descend to the valley and city below. Only recently has Cape Verde began a serious effort to preserve historical sights such as this and hire docents and guides. The restoration throughout Cidade Velha is gratis Spain.

Getting closer to the City

The path down was a mostly paved with cobblestone, though at times it was just plain “rocky.” Going down the path. The city is getting closer.

Almost down to the level of the roof tops.

As we got down to the city streets, we came upon 3 street soccer games in a row. Can you see them all? The residents were taking full advantage of this holiday. Down in the city, we found the ruins of the Catholic Church. It had been finished only about 60 years when the French pirate destroyed it.



This is the main square down near the beach. The pillar could be called a monument. It is actually the pillory they used to tie the slaves to for punishment.

















The winds had been VERY strong the night before and, the large mango tree in the square was blown down early that morning, taking with it several smaller trees. Fortunately, it was too early for people to be about so no one was hurt. And the tree fell away from the residences and the restaurant that is to the right of the tree. The residents were busy cutting up portions of the tree for future use. They don’t waste anything here! We heard from someone that a few treasures were discovered in the exposed roots.









Sister Cumming’s tour book said to be sure and find Banana Street. In our wanderings to find the convent, we came across Banana Street. It does have that European village charm with thatched roofs and stone walls painted white.
We continued our search for the convent. We finally found the upward path knowing it was the right way as the ticket taker was standing guard! (The ticket for the fort included the convent.) When we got to the place, we had to walk right through a “revival” meeting. We had heard the singing in our search.

This is the convent's chapel that has been restored

I would have like to have seen the original building. The arched windows were quite artistic. Unfortunately, this convent was also a victim of the French pirates. Even so, all the terraced planting areas were being cultivated and there was a feeling of peace and quiet. The children not wishing to listen to the preacher, were playing in the various ruined rooms. It was a good place!

The future is ripe with promise!! The many mango trees were loaded with green fruit. It tells us that mango season will be here soon! The wind had knocked off hundreds of mangos, but there were still tons on the trees. Can’t wait!
Back at the beach where the fishermen were relaxing next to another fallen tree. We were tired and it was time to find a hiace to take us back to Praia. It had been a good afternoon!

First Stake Created in Cape Verde

On Sunday, April 29, 2012, the first LDS Stake was created in Cape Verde. Elders Erich W. Kopischke and José A. Teixeira of the Quorums of the Seventy and European Area Presidency presided and read the letter from the First Presidency creating the stake. Members present raised their right hands to sustain the proposal and play their part in the creation of the first stake.

All three former members of the Praia District Presidency were sustained as the new Stake Presidency. Members of the new Stake wholeheartedly sustained their presidency and accepted the challenge from the visiting authorities to rise to the new level of church service and benefits.

The Conference session to organize the stake was held a few blocks away from the chapel in Achada Santo António in the large national auditorium.

 

 

 

Members gather from all over the island to participate in this historic day.

Buses and Hiace vans brought members from Assomada and Tarrafal, 2 to 3 hours away. But they would not want to miss the opportunity to sustain their stake leaders and to receive council from their Area Presidency. We and a few others had come from distant islands to witness the creation of the stake. One former mission president had flown in from Utah to attend. Of course we all had legitimate business to transact to justify our presence.

A district choir had prepared for months for this event. They had their choir robes, something that is very popular in the islands. They were well rehearsed and looked great in their national colors.

 

The new Stake President reviews meeting plans with the presiding authority prior to the meeting.

The mission president and his wife sat on the stand along with the two General Authorities and Sister Teixeira.

They all enjoyed the choir’s performance during the conference.

This event was of interest to the general public. The Cape Verde TV station ran a short new item on the conference which can be accessed here: TV Coverage

The American missionaries were a little too obvious on the front row. We enjoyed the very inspiring messages from the visiting authorities and Sister Teixeira. They addressed some of the opportunities the members will now have belonging to a stake. Building and strengthening families will be especially important.

Following the conference the members mix and enjoyed the euphoria from the messages and the impact of the event. There were many missionaries present, some ready to return home but blessed to witness this big step.

Here are shots of the stake president and his wife outside the auditorium as well as his first counselor with his family: