Not so outside, where women from all around the area are gathering. They have brought the milk that will be mixed with blood and are presented with sugar and tea leaves in exchange. Outside the acacia thorn kraal (fence), old men are waiting for their share of the meat or tobacco which is also given out on such occasions. The bride's clan has to be generous: the wedding will not be complete until the men chant a prayer and the women intone a blessing song. But this can be done only after the meat has been presented to the bride. Four hefty strips of the underbelly are ceremoniously borne into the hut by the groom and his best man. Once inside, they are received by the women and carefully placed under the roof between the supporting beams. The symbolism of this is unclear: possibly it is just the place where the meat is not going to get dirty. 

It is now time for prayers. The men kneel down and Arabic gum incense is lit. Their prayer is melodic and they rhythmically stand up and kneel again. Then the women gather around the hut entrance and intone a song that has been written specifically for the occasion. Only after she hears the song can the bride leave the house. There is no exchange of rings or affection between the bride and groom — it is only much later, when they are out of the public gaze, that he may embrace and kiss her. This will be done in the "white house", a brand-new hut that will be built by women for the new couple. It will take 30 of them most of the day but it has to be finished there and then for the ceremony to be complete. It is now time to dance and feast. 

It is during the feast that the benefits of the new road can fully be appreciated. Crates of Coca-Cola and other drinks are brought in and placed on the desert dust — not in the sun, but under the canopies of snow-white marquees. The bride is finally seated in the cool shade, her beads and goatskins replaced by muslin and stilettos. The groom also no longer sports ochre face-paint but a top hat. The 400 guests are either seated in the shade too or dancing to the rhythms of Céline Dion and Michael Jackson. But for the 40° heat (and lack of rain), this could almost be an English wedding — although in England the dancing guests do not have to negotiate their way through goats and chickens, which are brought in as gifts. 

The way tradition and modernity meet and intertwine among the Rendille is refreshing. To see USAID food sacks lining the inside of traditionally built huts, or plastic syringes decorating warriors' ears may bring a smile to visitors' faces, but is also a sign of the adaptability and longevity of Rendille traditions. It brings hope to those who believe that globalisation can be reconciled with the preservation of time-honoured ways of life.