Inside a rusty old caravan, brides-to-be try on gleaming white wedding dresses whose pricetag would normally put them way out of reach.
Parked to the side of a Harare courthouse where couples go to tie the knot, the caravan even enables brides to get fitted on the way to getting wed. It is not exactly something borrowed — the business is a commercial venture, hiring out wedding dresses, bouquets and decorations.
However, in Zimbabwe, plagued for decades by poverty, unemployment and high inflation, the rental service is an affordable godsend.
Photo: AFP
“Young and old, they come in here,” said Daphne Siwardi, the elegant 37-year-old owner, her hair pulled back in short dreadlocks.
Brides can have their hair and makeup done too before heading into the Magistrates Court to make their vows.
Typically, Siwardi has up to six customers a day.
Brides arrive first thing to prepare for their big day, before meeting their groom outside and going to the ceremony, she said, sorting through a rail of Chinese-made gowns.
Mother-of-three Gloria Mutero, 45, is won over.
“To buy from somewhere is very expensive,” she said, adding that renting a dress from a shop in town costs US$150.
However, she said she was unwilling to spend a lot on something she would only wear for “three [or] four hours.”
“I like this one,” she said, looking at a dress on display in the caravan.
It is “decent” and “cheap,” she added.
“Maybe if I negotiate, they are going to give it to me for US$50,” she said, looking toward Siwardi and her assistants.
The white-roofed caravan is one of three offering similar services outside the court.
Siwardi, a widow and former teacher with a broad smile, said her profession has at times turned her into a confidante — particularly for brides who “rush” into things.
“Some call maybe after a month and say: ‘I want to divorce,’” she said with a giggle.
Airlines in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Singapore yesterday canceled flights to and from the Indonesian island of Bali, after a nearby volcano catapulted an ash tower into the sky. Australia’s Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin Australia all grounded flights after Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki on Flores island spewed a 9km tower a day earlier. Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, India’s IndiGo and Singapore’s Scoot also listed flights as canceled. “Volcanic ash poses a significant threat to safe operations of the aircraft in the vicinity of volcanic clouds,” AirAsia said as it announced several cancelations. Multiple eruptions from the 1,703m twin-peaked volcano in
A plane bringing Israeli soccer supporters home from Amsterdam landed at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport on Friday after a night of violence that Israeli and Dutch officials condemned as “anti-Semitic.” Dutch police said 62 arrests were made in connection with the violence, which erupted after a UEFA Europa League soccer tie between Amsterdam club Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Israeli flag carrier El Al said it was sending six planes to the Netherlands to bring the fans home, after the first flight carrying evacuees landed on Friday afternoon, the Israeli Airports Authority said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also ordered
Former US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi said if US President Joe Biden had ended his re-election bid sooner, the Democratic Party could have held a competitive nominating process to choose his replacement. “Had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race,” Pelosi said in an interview on Thursday published by the New York Times the next day. “The anticipation was that, if the president were to step aside, that there would be an open primary,” she said. Pelosi said she thought the Democratic candidate, US Vice President Kamala Harris, “would have done
Farmer Liu Bingyong used to make a tidy profit selling milk but is now leaking cash — hit by a dairy sector crisis that embodies several of China’s economic woes. Milk is not a traditional mainstay of Chinese diets, but the Chinese government has long pushed people to drink more, citing its health benefits. The country has expanded its dairy production capacity and imported vast numbers of cattle in recent years as Beijing pursues food self-sufficiency. However, chronically low consumption has left the market sloshing with unwanted milk — driving down prices and pushing farmers to the brink — while
RSS