The Baby is coming out

You think the title is a joke but really that is what happens. When babies are born here in Mozambique the Mother and the baby stay in the house for 1 month to keep the baby from getting sick and then they have a coming out party. With lots of singing, dancing and throwing the baby around. We have had 3 couples in the church that have had babies in the last month and a half. Last Saturday Nate and I along with two new missionaries got to experience this party for Juka and Elenas baby. We came a little late due to the new missionaries that flew in that day. When we arrived the baby was already being danced around. Normally they toss the baby up in the air(much higher then I am comfortable with) and then hand the baby to someone else and it goes on from person to person. Well one older lady thought she would add some excitement to the day and threw the baby up in the air only to catch her by her ankle, and everyone gasped. She then hung on to her ankle and like a windmill circled her arm. She decided that the toss wasnt enough and she pretended to drop her and caught her arm. As we watched the babys head and body jerk we thought, can this be a good thing? The grandma of the baby quickly grabbed the baby and held on to her tightly until the older lady sat down. Everyone then laughed and thought it was funny. The reason they do this is to scare the fear out of the baby, so she can be strong and healthy when she leaves the house. I am not sure if this works. They also have a little time to share and one of the major topics from the families was how long they should wait to have another baby. They even voted on it, making it 1 yr 6 mo before they could have another baby. We will have two more of these ceremonies in the next little bit and will let you know how they go. Below is a photo of the baby, Milca Mabel, the day of her coming out.