The next day Chinese returned (we notified him that he had a new baby) and a parade of well-wishers came in to greet the newest addition to the Keita family. Mom and baby were fine, resting in the house.
It is Islamic custom to wait 7 days to name the baby. Until then it is called ‘baby girl’ (or baby boy if it’s a boy…). The mother should also do no work for those seven days. She should take the time to rest and be with the baby.
Because I am a stranger (guest) in the compound, Chinese ‘gave’ the baby to be, and the honor of giving her a name. (This an area of culturally treading lightly- walking the line between my culture and theirs, trying to honor their traditions fully without making promises I can’t keep or taking on responsibility I’m not capable of taking on.) 
With help from Peace Corps Language and Culture Facilitator Adam (my tooma or namesake) I suggested to Chinese the name Asi. It’s like my name (Ashley) but it’s a Gambian name and Gambians can say it correctly (unlike my name…).
What does Chinese say? ‘Oh, Asi is good. You know, Asi and Sira are the same, and Sira is the name of my sister and of Fatou’s uncles wife. Sira is a good name.’ So the baby’s name is Sira. And I think all sides of the family are fine with it. But people still say the baby is my tooma (namesake).
The week after she was born, Sira was named in a ceremony called naambo. The elders came early in the morning and prayed over the baby, blessing her. Then the griot proclaimed her name and more prayers were said. It was the first time since the hospital that she left the house. The women put her on Fatou’s back for the first time.
The whole experience was crazy and overwhelming. It was certainly unexpected, but that’s par for the course here. So far, mom and baby are doing well. Fatou is back to work, but her sister came to stay with us for a while and help out around the compound with cooking and the labor. 
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