I am creating a "Gonjaba" puppet for the upcoming Amasong spring concert, "Renewal."
From the Ensemble Mzetamze website:
"Gonja (from gonji, ugly) refers to a man-sized doll of cross-wise bound sticks, which is hung with rags, sometimes smeared with mud and carried from courtyard to courtyard by women during the ritual. If the wish is for clear weather (as in this song), the onlookers try to scatter ashes onto the doll and its carriers, if the need is for rain, the women sing a slightly different text and are sprayed with water. Each household knows that the success of the ritual depends on everyone’s participation, and a donation from one’s provisions to the processional group is expected. If one proves himself to be miserly, the doll is lowered to the ground, which is a bad sign for his future harvest. The procession ends with a feast, where the donations are shared by all."

Amasong is directed by Meagan Johnson Smith,
and will perform on
Saturday May 3rd @ 7:30pm
&
Sunday May 4th @ 4:00pm

At McKinley Presbyterian Church

809 South Fifth Street, Champaign.

Suggested Donation $10-20
(more if you can, less if you can't)

And here are a couple of pictures on the Gonjaba as it stands (in my kitchen!)  I hope to eventually take some nice shots of it outside, and with Amasong, of course: