Dress codes

At the airport

The traditional dress here is called a salouva, and they have a turban on their head, known as a kishali, often just worn as a scarf over the head. It’s all very colourful, though probably not terribly practical. Salouvas are made from three lengths of material sewn together, basically a long tube of material which is about 1m50 in diameter. Girls and women here wrap themselves in this material, knotting it in front. The salouvas don’t seem to stay up that well, as the girls in my classes are always getting up in the middle of lessons to retie the knots. Kishalis are usually made from the same material, they wrap it round their heads and tuck it behind their ears to distinguish from the Muslim veil which covers the ears. This always causes a bit of controversy, as any ostentatiously religious signs are forbidden in schools, but the official story is that they use the kishalis to protect their heads from the sun. Most don’t bother about a few ears showing or not showing, but I have to be a bit careful, I caught a girl the other day who was happily listening to music in lessons and hiding the earphones in the turban.

I had read about this traditional dress before coming to Mayotte, but thought it was mainly a ceremonial dress, as in the traditional dance you can see in the photo (called m’biwi). In fact, ladies wear these wraps all the time. The material is very thin. Underneath, they wear a coloured t-shirt which goes with the material, and under the wrap itself, they wear light trousers or leggings for the younger girls, a lace skirt for the ladies. And on their feet, mucky flip-flops for the poorest or for the children, heeled leather sandals for the richest.

 

M'biwi, a traditional dance to welcome new arrivals.