age 15
Fatima and the rest of the village look forward to the wedding season, usually sometime in early winter. She puts on new clothes, wears lots of jewelry, and paints her hands red with henna. With her friends and family, she walks to the edge of the village to greet the new brides that come to live in Askole. When she marries, she'll move to a village across the river from her village. Fatima's new home will be much like her old one. She'll do many of the chores that she has been doing in Askole. Each day she's responsible for making her family's chapattis (bread), washing dishes, helping with the field work, and watching her young cousins. Fatima lives with her mother, father, grandparents, brothers, aunt and uncle, and four cousins in one house, so there are lots of people around to chip in with the household work.