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Initiation ceremonies: necessity or outdated rite?
2005-11-08 09:06:41
By RAYMOND FARAI
Many things happened during traditional ceremonies most of which are today subjected to much debate.
Tanzania, as other African societies in the past, practised various initiation ceremonies, communal educational institutions that taught the youth to conform to adult life.
Central to the practice were discipline, the roles men and women played, art of bravery and beliefs.
When both girls and boys reached puberty, they were required to attend initiation ceremonies.
Very few communities still practise these ceremonies, however, girls were the most affected.
During the ceremony girls were sometimes beaten or punished as a way of training them to endure pain during childbirth or when their future husband beats them up.
The Kwere of Chalinze would seclude a girl when she reached puberty.
During this period the girl would carry a wooden doll and take great care of this doll so as to be bestowed with fertility.
In some tribes the girl would be confined in a hut where she would be taught to respect adults, she would also be instructed on hygiene and how to dress properly.
The girl will also be taught all the techniques of sexually pleasing the future husband.
In other tribes girls were supposed to bite a goat with their teeth if the goat bleated the girl was a virgin.
If it did not, she was not. If the latter was the case the girl would become a victim of much disgrace.
During this period girls were not allowed to take a bath.
They were made to dance in a manner that was sexually provocative.
They would be instructed to lie next to an older woman who would teach them how to move their bodies in order to satisfy their future husbands sexually.
When the final day arrived, a big ceremony was conducted. The girls would dance in public, half dressed, their breasts exposed.
A man who was impressed by any would propose to her on the spot and she was not expected to refuse because she would be insulting the man’s family.
Most girls I spoke to despise the practise. They feel it is humiliating, degrading, oppressive and backward.
Mgdalene Lymo of Tabata went through this initiation rite and regrets every bit of it.
There is nothing you are taught besides being subservient to men. You are told to be humble and be under your husband’s feet.
As if that is not enough, you are taught how to satisfy him sexually even if it is at your expense.
You are totally reduced to a sex object or sex bowel for him to relieve his sexual burden,” she says.
She went on to explain that during this period most girls are circumcised and they are subjected to a lot of pain and complications because of this operation that is usually conducted by unqualified old women who normally use blunt unsterilised tools.
Sandra Bindi, went through the same ordeal. I felt extremely shocked after the ceremony.
The old women who conducted the whole ceremony were nothing but a bunch of cruel old witches, she says.
Describing the terrible picture that confronted her, she adds, They neither smiled nor spoke nicely. All they did was to order us around as if we were a group of prisoners.
I learnt how to respect elders, not to sleep around with men and how to treat my future husband. My mother had already taught me most of the things at home.
For instance, how to respect adults and not to sleep around with men. So this whole exercise was nothing but torture and humiliation.
Imagine dancing in front of the whole village with your breasts exposed. It is so embarrassing.
From the expression on Sandra’s face one could feel the humiliation that she had suffered.
Tradition is not bad at all, especially when adults are preparing the young for adulthood. But some negative elements should be removed.
When our youngsters are being taught to respect adults, personal hygiene, how to relate with members of the opposite sex and how to become responsible future mothers and fathers, it is development in the right direction.
But when certain negative elements are included in the whole exercise, it becomes a cause for concern.
Magdalene and Sandra indicated terms that they hate the whole exercise because of the bad elements they were exposed to.
Although it is a tradition, it should be reviewed and the necessary changes be instituted.
A random survey showed that most young girls are no longer interested in the practice because of its negative elements. If the modern girl is to benefit from it, changes must be made to it.
Female circumcision should be excluded for obvious reasons.
It should be taken into consideration that the role of today’s woman has changed as compared to yesteryear’s woman. The role of the man has also changed.
However, most girls feel that they are getting the necessary advice from their parents.
Despite its irrelevancy today, some girls think the initiation ceremonies protect girls from early and unwanted pregnancies, an unfortunate fate that turns girls into mothers too early.
In today’s world most parents are too busy trying to make ends meet, leaving them with little time to teach their daughters what they need to know about reproductive health.
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