My Uganda Girl

[Jaga]

I was wondering whether Charles, Pieter or somebody else who is familiar with Africa will know the explanation - why girls in Uganda have often shaven heads. My sponsored child, 7 years old and her older 8 years old sister have shaven heads. Their grandmother has hair and their younger sister also.

Is it fron sanitary reasons or because of some cultural reasons?

[bescheid]

jaga

I am unfamilar with Uganda,sorry. South Africa and Namibia some what. Shaved heads...I have not even thought of this for quite some time both with unpleasant desire to forget, and time complets the remainder

With every township it would so seem, different customs and some not so different.

With the little lady you are sponser of. I would suspect it is both style and sanitation. With children, they have a tendency to pick up lice and ticks and what ever. I had mostly considered the pratice of head shaving as being of the Bushpeople, but I was flawed in my thinking. You see so much as being as it seems, the people have their own manner of living that is theirs alone.

Zulus will go both ways. The Natal District of Kwa Zulu. Some shave their heads after marriage to remove the maiden hair, the guys will in a seporate building, shave their pubic hair before marriage. Whilst in another township, the fellow following a divorce, will keep his hair shaved for a year to show to all, that he is divorced.

Whilst in the city {Pretoria}{Windhoek-Namibia} it is common to see young ladies with covered heads that are shaven for style, whilst at same time, others with braided hair, and at same time, ladies with straight shoulder length hair. Many of these ladies are very attractive and as well educated as you will find. There are quite a population of Indian {East Indian} people in South Africa usually in and close into the city.

But, with Uganda, I am at a loss.

I would enjoy what Pieter has to describe. I think he was in the North Cape and West Cape area.

I am sorry Jaga if my answers do not fit the text book descriptions, but, I do trust what little I have to offer, will lend to you some help. My time in South Africa was very business and on occassions, not so very pleasant.

Charles

[Jaga]

Charles,

you were the most helpful. I agree with you - the reasons may be multiple - sanitary being one of them. I am including the photograph I received today from Brande's father. Here is Brande (Brenda) with her older and younger sister and with the grandparents who raise the girls. I think, this is a beautiful picture. It looked like a poor quality one but scanning helped:

[bescheid]

Jaga

That is a lovely family photo! Thank you for showing it! They are all dressed up for their photo, I do hope they have kept a copy for them selves.

I would wonder as where the man works and the lady. These people are a proud people and it is not fair to compair of their manner of dress to western personal standards or their living standards. For every day clothing, it is what works for the occassion. It is as what is neccessary. In the Rural areas, the man works at what he can. If it is the farm, fairly often the woman will work in the fields or in the house as a keeper or in cooking.

South Africa is a different life depending upon location. Very difficult to describe as it is a personal perception. One of an excellent experience, is to ride the trains. If it is long enough for the meals, be prepared! For what ever the cooks. For it may be on one train, Indian cooking {East Indian}very spicy, or local Bantu type, very good with variety of spice and rice dishes. If a person enjoys roast lamb or a type of goat stew made with vegetables, it is deliciious.

My self, I hate insects and snakes. But love the early morning cool breeze off the velt, for it smells of dew, plants and flowers.

Charles

[rdywenur]

Jaga.. I posted that question on my travel site and no one came up with an answer they were sure of. Most stated it was probably because it is so hot there and also for sanitary reasons..lice etc and would be easier to detect. The Africans are a poor people and have no money for soap to wash or time to fuss on upkeep. But if that is the case then why is the smallest girl in your foto also not shaved.

[Jaga]

Chris,

thanks for the efford. I am not sure still why it is. Maybe we would find somebody to explain it to us.

[rdywenur]

Jaga, here is a reply I just recieved off of Yahoo Answers. To me it feels the closest to correct.

well girls attending school in uganda are often required to shave their heads. they dont have to be bald but they have to keep their hair short. its basically for the same reasons they wear uniforms. they dont want the children to be distracted by their hair or worry about it. most kids (at least in the city) attend boarding school and so since they do not have their parents around they would have to take the times to take care of their hare themselves and so i guess its just easier to keep it short.. especially when you have very young kids in boarding school. also black hair is not like other types of hair. its much harder to manage. and if you are poor i guess you would keep it short for sanitary purposes as well.

Source(s):
my mom is ugandan

[Jaga]

Chris,

that makes quite a lot of sense, thanks! Where is the forum you asked the question located? Can I see it or I need to be registered to see it?

[rdywenur]

Jaga,
I just posted the question to Answers on Yahoo. I think to post you do have to have an account with Yahoo so just sign up unless you already have an account.
tinyurl.com/yr6m9y

[pieter]

Jaga,

I know very little about the Black African culture, because as a result of the Apartheid system in the
Country of my sisters husbant, I only know about the segregated Western culture in South-Africa.
When I visit South-Africa I visit the White, English speaking community where my sister lives in.
I don't even have a lot of contact with white Afrikaanders (Old 16th century Dutch, with French and
German elements speaking people). When they do not speak English I can't understand the Xsosa
speaking people of the Western Cape province. If they speak English or Afrikaans I can communicate
with black, coloured (half-blood people), Indian and Malayan (South-African muslim) people.
Most coloured people speak Afrikaans like the white farmers and bureaucrats, military and police of the
ancience regime. The English speaking South-Africans (ancesters of the Brits) were often in economical
sector (business, trade, real estate, banking, law firms and politics too).
South-Africa has a lot of tribes and so languages, the Bushmen or the Khoi and the San are the oldest group in
South-Africa, and there are only a few hundred thousands of them left.
Both the incomming Zulu and Xsosa tribes and the white men exterminated a lot of Bushmen in the
last centuries.

The Xsosa people have their own tribal rites of passage.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zulu
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AmaXhosa
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shangaan
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tswana_language
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tswana

Black South-African jews
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lembaa
www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ven

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swaziland
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swazi

The Afrikaner
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afrikaner
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afrikaans
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_Franconian_languages

English South-Africans: (the husbant of my sister and their family)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-African
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_English

[pieter]

I haven't seen shaved black girls in South-Africa! It must be Ugandan.

[Jaga]

Chris,

thanks for the link. I did not really know about these questions and answers abilities in yahoo.
Chris, I agree with you that this was probably the best answer.

Pieter, as always you did a great search for everything about Africa. I hope that I would have a chance to see at least a part of it in the future.

[Jaga]

I am so excited about Brenda, my sponsored child! Her father writes me regularly in good English. he seems to be quite educated and honest.

Here is another photo of Brenda with a piggy which was bought for the money I sent for Easter



on this picture Brenda looks lovely, she had a bit of hair and nice dress

[rdywenur]

Jaga...why not ask the father why the girls shave their heads. Will they be raising the pig for food or is it a pet. I see she is barefoot. Ouch ...I could never go without shoes on that ground. Is it because they are too poor to buy shoes.

[Jaga]

Chris,

I do not know why she is barefoot. But I sent some money for a school uniform for her and her older sister, this includes shoes.

In the generation of my mother and grandmother in Poland - not everybody had shoes. Shoes were so expensive that villagers were walking barefoot to the church and they only put the shoes on before entering the church