Umhlanga (Reed Dance) celebration

Greetings from Christine (an English teacherfrom Alaska):

Laura and I went to the main celebration day of Umhlanga, which was Sept. 1. In the background of this photo you can see just a portion of the amazing number of girls who had gathered from all over the country to parade and dance before the Swazi king and the queen mother. The huge line extended all the way around the giant stadium. The newspapers reported anywhere from 40,000 to 130,000 participants.