Many young people have to save for years before they can afford a wedding, which in traditional Sudanese society can involve a large dowry in addition to celebration costs and setting up a household.
In the large enclosure of the Shahid mosque, hundreds gathered below a shady red cloth canopy after prayers. Colourfully-dressed women ululated and clapped as men dressed in white performed a traditional dance with swords held high. "This is a blessed day, a sweet day," 20-year-old bride Shadia Shezali Youssef said, sitting among female relatives, her hands covered in a dark henna floral design.
"It makes it easier for people, to gather them together like this for marriage," she said, adding that each newlywed couple would leave with a suitcase full of clothes, kitchenware and a present from the organization.
Abdullah said the mass wedding was the sixth the charity had organized in the past five years.
Source: Sudan Tribune
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