Prayers For Aja

Wednesday was the last day of school for Diana Mariam children this would normally have meant a party with music however due to the death of Aja they had decided to invite the Iman in and hold prayers. When I arrived there were tented areas with chairs for parents as they were also invited. There was also an area of mats for the Iman to sit on. The children were wearing traditional African dress most of the girls had also brought scarfs which were used to cover their hair during prayers. I found a seat with some of the year 2 girls and we then waited for something to happen. Eventually at 10.30am the Iman and a group of men arrived and seated themselves on the mats. He distributed books amongst the men which I think were verses from the Keran. They then started to read aloud from the back to the front of the book at their own speed. This meant they all finished at different times so the chanting got quieter and quieter it took about forty minutes for everyone to finish. Durring this time some younger children required the toilet or drinks, also mints and bottles of water were handed around to the parents so it was very informal. Prayers were then given for Aja and a couple of teachers spoke on behalf of the school. Two hours later it was all over, the children ate their food whilst waiting to be picked up to go home.

Maimuna, Tida, Fenda, Ishatou, Khadija T, Khadija C

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