Women of Comoros
The Comoros Islands form a tiny archipelago off the coast of northern Mozambique. They look like no more than a sprinkling of spices in the Indian Ocean, but these islands are big in heart. Their unique blend of gentle Islam, African customs and constitutional equality positions women as central in society.
Last year, Thomson Reuters Foundation asked 336 gender experts which Arab country was the most advantageous for women to live in. They looked at education, domestic violence, rape, discriminatory laws and property rights and, among the 22 states assessed, Comoros (with its population of 800 000) came out tops.
The islands are matrilocal – a husband moves into his wife’s house – and, in the event of a divorce, she keeps the land, house, furniture and children. They are also matrilineal, so lineage and inheritance are transmitted through the eldest daughter.
Women pamper themselves with white herbal beauty masks and face paintings of rice, as well as massages using rose petal and ylang-ylang oil. There are special treatments for girls entering puberty, new moms, and for newlyweds.
On Ngazidja Island (Grand Comoros), families build lavish houses for their daughters, hoping to attract a wealthy husband and enjoy le Grand Mariage. This extravagant feast – up to nine days of free food and music for hundreds of locals – confers power and social status. People save for years and plunge into debt to pay for this rite of passage.
A husband will offer his wife gold jewellery as a dowry. The gold, from Dubai, is crafted into delicate filigreed necklaces, earrings and bracelets, which the women wear with pride.
Their jewellery offsets the traditional, colourful shawls they wear, their hair braided with flowers and their cheeks speckled with gold dust.
Once, when leaving an all-women wedding party at midnight, I saw richly bejewelled women walking into the dark medina, the old town, each wearing thousands of rands worth of gold.
“Aren’t you afraid of muggers?” I asked. “No”, they laughed. “It’s safe here.”
Indeed, crime is almost non-existent in the Comoros, perhaps because alcohol is forbidden. (You can, however, enjoy a drink at one upmarket hotel in the capital, where a beer will cost you R100.)
Experience the gentle islands for yourself by visiting during the coolest and driest months (April to September) and immerse yourself in the spicy mix of Swahili, Arab, African, Persian, Portuguese and Indian culture in the islands of the Moon – the Arabic meaning of Comoros.
Words by Mercedes Sayagues
Image – Mercedes Sayagues & Getty Images
