Cheap cellular calls connect Somalia's courting couples
November 6, 2009
Somali courtship was different in Hassan Aden's day. When he was a teenager, you gave the girl's parents 11 camels and an AK-47 assault rifle as bride price, and then waited respectfully.
Now, the 55-year-old says, a cellphone service that seems to be the only thing working in the failed Horn of Africa state is helping drive a rise in elopements and pregnancies out of marriage.
"The youth of today enjoy modern technology, fast transport and free-of-charge marriages," Aden, a store owner, says at a coffee shop in Mogadishu. "Today, even reasonable boys pay just $50 (R390) bride price and a copy of the holy Qur'an after making the girl pregnant or seeing her secretly for months."
In a land where rebels are trying to topple a fragile government and nearly 20 000 civilians have been killed since the start of 2007, cheap mobile communications are one happy diversion.
The entrepreneurial spirit of Somalis and an absence of taxes have helped domestic cellular operators thrive despite the chaos.
Many older residents say the prevalence of handsets and cheap tariffs - among the lowest in the world - makes the lives of youngsters unrecognisable. A month of local calls costs about $10.
The cheap calls and extended mobile network make it easier for Somalis to arrange quick assignations. - Reuters
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