Mother’s day: A celebration of Motherhood

Recently, I heard about a celebration that is not so popular in the Rwandan culture, “The celebration of Mother’s day.” Surprised by this celebration, I right away searched for more information about it and found out that the day is widely celebrated in different countries and also on different days. Mostly, Mother’s day is celebrated in March, April or May as a day to honor Mothers and motherhood. In America, Mother’s day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May, each year. The date has been changed to fit already existing celebrations honoring motherhood, like Mothering Sunday in the UK or the Orthodox celebration of the birth of Jesus in the temple in Greece. In some countries, it was changed to dates that were significant to the majority religion, like the Virgin Mary day in Catholic countries, or the birthday of the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad in Islamic countries. Other countries changed it to historical dates where women participated. Mother’s day was celebrated for the first time on February 28th, 1909, in the U.S. It is now annually celebrated in many countries on March 8. After finding out the above information, I asked some people on whether they were aware that the day existed, or if there has been a day like this in Rwanda’s history. I discovered after talking to some elders that, in ancient Rwanda there was a celebration similar to Mother’s day. The celebration was a little more intimate. It wasn’t an official day as the latter. Mother’s day was celebrated within families where children performed dances, songs, sketched or recited riddles in reverence to their mothers. Although Mother’s day wasn’t an official day, it has always been in our culture to honor Motherhood. This should remain in our culture. It’s a lot more than a woman’s day; it affects everyone because without mothers, no one would walk this earth. Mothers deserve this honor for their courage and love. These superwomen deserve our time and appreciation if only for one day. Why not celebrate the day by giving gifts, organizing special dinners, or going out for a movie. enila38@yahoo.fr