Need a good fundraising idea? How about a mock wedding? Really…just get some couple that’s already married and pretend to have the wedding all over again – just the reception part – where people give you money. Totally normal, right? Well, our friends who run a sports ministry here said that’s the first thing that came to mind for their Malawian co-workers when the topic of fund-raising came up! And so that is just what they did! When in Malawi, do as the Malawians!
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| Note the “bride and groom” up front. There was even cake at the end! They also “auctioned” off smaller cakes throughout the event. |
Now, a Malawian wedding reception has some different aspects to it than the typical American version. Instead of calmly slipping an envelope with a card and check for the newly-wed couple into a decorated box on your way into a fine dinner and dance, you stock up on lots (I mean LOTS) of small bills before attending. Then, as the master of ceremonies announces, you go forward to participate with your gift(s). It might go something like this:
- MC calls up a group of people – gentlemen, ladies, people with 20’s, people with 50’s, people with 100’s (remember 100 kwacha is roughly a U.S. quarter), etc.
- Loud dance music in the background
- The bride and groom hold large shallow baskets at the front and the current group of people begin dancing (not filing, mind you!) to the front and begin throwing (far from discreetly) their bills into the baskets one at a time…to make it last longer (to show more support?)…generally keeping their movements with the beat of the upbeat music playing, of course. It doesn’t matter if your money makes it into the basket or bounces out, it’s all good. And if you happen to run out of money, just take some out of the basket and keep on throwing it!
- Go back to your seat.
- Repeat for a few hours. (I’m not kidding!)
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| This woman just took her whole wallet up and one by one, with the music, put her bills in the basket (notice the bills on the ground – see #3 above). |
We were so excited to attend this mock wedding, not only to support our friend’s ministry, but to have this cultural experience. Another interesting note is that a similar style of giving happens in the Malawian church. It’s called “Paper Sunday”. It is well publicized and guests may be invited. The Paper Sunday happens once a month to raise money to pay that church’s pastor. Not all churches do it the same way, but it may be held in the afternoon, or sometimes during the morning service.
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| I just had to participate, but didn’t want to be the only white person up there, so I gave my friend some bills to put in too so we could go up together! |