March 6, 2020
My mother taught me to tie Gele
“Fold it in front first, a little less than halfway
And place it firm on your forehead
Make sure it covers your ears”
My mother taught me to tie Gele
“Take both ends behind your head
Cross them over
And hold them firmly sideways”
My mother taught me to tie Gele
“Take one of the ends first and lay it across your head to meet the other end you are holding
Now do the same for the other”
My mother taught me to tie Gele
“Hold whatever is left in the middle of both ends and knot them behind your head
Tie it twice otherwise it’ll fall off”
My mother taught me to tie Gele
“Now adjust your Gele to the shape you want.”
My mother taught me to tie Gele
Funny enough I’ve taught other ladies to tie it too
She passed down the knowledge to me
Which I passed down to other people already
Which I will pass down to my girl children
Gele is so different
It’s sturdy, bold and noisy
New ones are always difficult to tie but after tied a few times, it softens and becomes more friendly.
Gele has different personalities
I realise that even more so now as I embarked on this project
My mother taught me to tie Gele
But the lessons I received opened up opportunities to see that although, Gele is referred to as just one piece of fabric
So much can be done with it
Wealth of knowledge for knowledge given
My mother taught me to tie Gele
This is what I have gained.
