Ululate off, GSGC style

We settled with the girls of Rise & Shine Lupinyu under the village head man’s thatched meeting space in his family compound. It’s an open-air structure that serves as the girls’ safe space to talk. This day, it also would be an embarrassment-free zone for three Global Sojourns Giving Circle supporters trying to learn the ancient practice of ululation.

Ululation is a long, wavering, high-pitched vocal sound resembling a howl with a trilling quality. It is produced by emitting a loud voice with a rapid back and forth movement of the tongue and the uvula. Uvula? Really? Getting the tongue to obey was hard enough. We certainly didn’t advanced to manipulating that little hanging flap at the back of our throats.

Ululation is common in much of Africa, the Middle East and Central and South Asia. In Africa, it is widely practiced in the cultures of Eastern Africa and Southern Africa, including here outside Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. It is a sound of good cheer, and women use it to give praise at celebrations, even in church. Auntie Sfe, who leads Rise & Shine, uses it to show pride in scholastic achievement, she said.

Three Lupinyu girls volunteered to give us Vancouver, Washington residents a brief ululation lesson and then compete in an ululation off, so to speak. A few other girls formed teams to take us on. The audience would decide the winner.

We set inhibitions aside and attempted to cross a cultural divide.

The girls took us each on for a couple minutes lesson. They volunteered with good humor and patiently demonstrated how they flipped their tongues from side to side or up and down. I found my tepid sounds gained depth, another rhythm, when I patted my mouth at the same time. The Cheater’s Version of manipulating my uvula, I thought.

My instructor and I were first up. I needed her to lead the way, establish the tone and pace. As we wrapped up our brief presentation, I made an unexpected sound I hadn’t made during practice. Points off, I was sure.

Kathy Gordon and her instructor were next. They seemed like pros to me. Then Janet Andrews and hers. I was resigned to defeat.

Then the Lupinyu girls took center stage. Three teams in all. With gusto, they delivered a wider variation of sounds and threw in a few dance moves. Yep, we Americans were blown out of the water when the audience’s applause was tallied.

“What I lacked in technique I tried to make up for with enthusiasm,” said Kathy. “But it soon became clear that my ululating skills barely approached the girls’. I especially appreciated their patient coaching and encouragement as we got a tiny peek into their lives.”

All was as it should be. We were there to learn, to see the auntie and girls GSGC supports and how. Barriers had come down in a sea of laughter. Along with respect and giving back, fun is a tenant of GSGC clubs. These girls have enough stress and challenges. They, like all of us, need some comic relief from time to time. I certainly got some. I think they did, too.

Click here to see, hear and feel ululating in action…it will make you smile.

— Holley Gilbert