to answer the question, a lotta peeps put a bead or something to get the congo started and just never take it out. also, congos can get painful and sometimes its necessary to tie or wear the dreads in a certain way to prevent painful pulling on the scalp
MANZIER! about the congo thing, i think those wraps/bands are just for decoration. maybe they like to have something like that readily available and that's just a place to put it?