I just came across this old news video on the extravaganza we are witnessing in our communities. Start at the 12th minute.
youtu.be/A3nEe58EZMA
Are we in the diaspora losing our sense of priorities? The news above is what is happening in zoba Debub and what we witness in our own communities in the diaspora is worse. It suggest that something has gone badly off track. One cannot understand why people feel compelled to spend thousands of dollars on weddings, christenings, baby showers, birthdays, and graduations. For what? To impress whom? And with what lasting benefit?
Let’s be honest: Does a wedding that drains a family’s savings make the marriage stronger? Why not get married in what used to be called by Chiluq (ጭሉቕ)።
Does a child baptized with a full band, decorated hall, and imported guests somehow live a longer or more blessed life than one baptized quietly?
Does a student who throws a huge graduation party suddenly earn higher grades or land a better job?
Of course not. We know the answer. Yet the spending keeps growing, bigger halls, bigger crowds, bigger menus, bigger debts. What should be intimate, meaningful milestones have turned into competitive festivals where people perform for social approval and bankrupt themselves for a few hours of applause.
Worse still, we pressure relatives and friends across oceans to buy expensive tickets, take time off work, fly for fifteen hours, and spend money they don’t have, all for ceremonies that are over in half a day. It borders on absurdity. We are confusing celebration with spectacle, tradition with extravagance, and community with competition. Most of the wedding activities that we witness in the diaspora are imitations and amalgamations of foreign cultures.
If the price tag of a ceremony matters more than the meaning behind it, something is deeply wrong. In fact, I would respect any man or woman who walks away from a marriage discussion the moment they are pressured into throwing a grand, showy event. If the other partner, or their parents, care more about the size of the party than the strength of the union, then they are not ready for marriage at all. That kind of mismatch will cost far more than any wedding invoice.
We need to reclaim our values. We need to stop pretending that excess equals love. We need the courage to say “No” to pointless spending and “Yes” to building stable families, educating our children, and investing in our future, not in one-night displays of vanity.
It is not just unsustainable. It is foolish. And our community deserves better.
@GhideonMusa @hadnetkeleta @EliasAmare @hawelti @Yehdavid @SirakBahlbi @ytmn2 @YPFDJ @YPFDJNA @NUEWEritrea