The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.1979, Qupperneq 7

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
5
GUEST EDITORIAL
CHRISTMAS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA
by Freyja Thomas
It is now approaching the Christmas sea-
son once again and as happens so often, one
thinks back to other years and other places
where one has been at this time of the year.
I found that it took me many years to
become accustomed to Christmas in Africa,
in mid-summer. It was so hard to believe
that the showy red poinsettias were really
growing and flowering in the gardens for all
to see and enjoy, instead of the pictures
printed on the cards received from friends.
Both in the sub-tropical areas of Natal and
northern Transvaal the trees, shrubs and
flowers are in full leaf and flower, with
colours of all shade of yellow, red and blue
catching the eye and filling one with wonder
at the bounty of nature.
As in every land, the warm weather usu-
ally means holiday time for most people and
this is the order here in South Africa. The
schools in all parts of the country close at the
beginning of December and re-open during
the latter part of January. Many families
with school-going children take their holi
days over this period, some spending the
free time at home, but most travelling to the
mountains, nature reserves, inland resorts
or taking their choice of the Atlantic or In-
dian Ocean sea side resorts. To add to the
general holiday atmosphere all factories and
businesses employing labour close for the
annual holidays on the 15th December and
work begins again about the middle of Janu-
ary. Thus, except for essential services and
retail outlets, everything is at a standstill.
Christmas bonus pay is added to the wages
of the staff that have holidays at this time, so
much is spent on Christmas shopping, lay-
ing in food suplies and at the bottle stores.
The shopping is all done during the day, as
no stores are open in the evenings, so the
towns and cities are all very busy at this
time.
Over the years that I have lived in Africa,
I have been very interested in seeing how the
different population groups react to the
Christmas season. While we lived in Ethio-
pia, my husband and I tried to learn a little
about the customs and religion of the Ethio-
pians. This is a very old race and they be-
long to the Coptic Church, which is based
on the old Testament. They do not celebrate
Christmas, but their festival is the 12th of
January — the Epiphany. After we had been
in Addis Ababa for a year, we were invited
to attend this ceremony, which seemed to be
held only for the men of the community.
The function was held in a large open area
beside a big ornate pool, starting at 7 a.m.
with an assembled crowd of men quietly
waiting for the ceremony to begin. After a
short time the Emperor, Haile Selassie and
his retinue arrived, short speeches were
made and then he appeared to bless the wa-
ter. This was the signal for what seemed to
be a general baptism and all the Ethiopian
men, who had been waiting, plunged into
the pool. We had not known what to expect
at this function, so this was a bit of a sur-
prise. The Emperor did not join the throng in
the water, but walked away with great dig-
nity.
In South Africa there are many popula-
tion groups and they all have their religions
and their customs that they remain faithful
to. The large Indian section are mainly
members of the Hindu or Moslem faith and
they do not take part in the Christmas festiv-
ities. The Coloured Community is a large
one, living in most areas of the Republic,
but the greatest number resides in the Cape
Province. They are all Christians, belonging
mainly to the Protestant church and, of
course, look forward to and celebrate
Christmas with great joy. They follow the
old Cape traditions in food, using Malay