Working at the local play place we go to, is a young man called
Freedom. He is one of the helpers on the
floor and ever since we first started going there, Adam and Freedom have had a
special bond.
A few months ago Freedom’s mother, who also works at the play place as
a cleaner, told me that Freedom and his brother were due to go away for their
ritual initiation of becoming a man.
” In order to be accepted as adults by their community, young Xhosa men must go through initiation.”
“Initiation is
characterised by three stages: preparation of the seclusion, the seclusion, and
the initiate’s coming-out as a man. Initiation is our way of marking the transition
of a male from the status of a child to that of an adult.” Source
The poor mom had to pay quite a lot of money for transport, for a whole
new wardrobe and for cow or goat to be slaughtered. Adam and Kate gave Freedom a little something
to help pay for part of his journey.
“Khwetha is regarded as an essential step into manhood ….. is a significant event and may be marked by the sacrifice of a goat.” Source
The young soon-to-be-men spend at least a month in the bush, undergoing
an initiation ritual which ends in their circumcision, the mark of them
becoming a man.
“When they emerge on the opposite bank, they are no longer boys and are
then painted with red ochre and receive from their fathers a new blanket or
suit of clothes. The boys return home and will usually wait the customary four
years before they marry.” Source
Apparently (and this is where my understanding is fuzzy), the young men
have to wear their new clothes for three months after the ceremony? Rose told me that the outfit Masande is wearing in this photo is his ‘after initiation’ outfit and that he was to wear it for three months? Not sure. (Masande too became a man this December)
Freedom said it was VERY tough. (For a first person account of the process, read this article) He was so thin when he came back. And it is not like he had any spare weight to lose!
(Just read on one of the articles that most ‘modern’
initiation is done during the December holiday so that the young men don’t miss
work or school. Ah, so that is why both
Freedom and Masande did theirs last month)
It is so fascinating, living in this country of mine. Where Western culture lives side by side with
traditional beliefs and practices, often within the same person. Young men like Freedom and Masande, who live
and work in modern urban cities, who have cell phones, snappy clothes and
university degrees, and who go away to live in the bush for a month to honour
the ritual of becoming a man. I love
living here, and I love being South African.
For an excellent video and photo essay on the initiation ritual, see The Times piece here