The Fête du Mouton in Maroua
on Tomas in Africa (Cameroon), 13/Dec/2009 15:46, 34 days ago
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The Fête du Mouton takes place 70 days after the end of Ramadan. It is a very big event here and eclipses Christmas. It commemorates Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac, which happily was replaced by the sacrifice of a sheep. There is a Muslim ceremony at which a religious person (the son of the lamido in the case of Maroua, because the lamido had gone to Mecca) slits the throat of a sheep. After the ceremony those Muslims who can afford it slit the throat of their own sheep and cook it. A proportion is given to the poor and after the family has feasted there is much swopping ofmutton with friends. In the Far North of Cameroon this lasts for three days.Aicha's cousin did the needful for her (it has to be done by a male Muslim) and she provided a feast for a large population of volunteers, both VSO and Peace Corps.
