Feast Day

This prayer service in a soccer stadium in Mopti, a small city near the center of the West African nation of Mali, marks the beginning of festivities for the Muslim holiday of Tabaski. The festival, known as Eid in much of the Muslim world, commemorates Abraham's sacrifice of a lamb.

To prepare for Tabaski, people who couldn't afford to buy a lamb had bought a goat, or if necessary, a camel, "haggling over the purchase...at a giant outdoor market where many sheep are transported home strapped to tiny motorcycles." After prayers in the stadium, families go home to slaughter the lambs in their living rooms and begin three days of feasting and visiting. All the meat must be eaten within the three days.

This photo and the description of Tabaski come from Janet Goldwater, who has just returned from filming in Mali for her new documentary, Mrs. Goundo's Daughter. The film tells of a Mali-born family facing deportation from the U.S.; the parents are desperate to protect their two-year-old daughter from the near-universal Malian practice of female genital cutting. Mrs. Goundo's Daughter, Janet's sixth movie, is due out in 2009. To see trailers and all kinds of good stuff, click here.