Cultural Experience: A Field Trip to Mbale

Gathering around the circle where the ceremony took place. 

The young men escorting the boy to the circle.

The boy in the middle of the circle getting circumcised.

This past weekend we went on a field trip with our Africa Traditional Religions class. We traveled a few hours to Mbale, which is in the East part of Uganda, early Saturday morning. We went to attend a cultural circumcision ceremony.  We took a bus and a van. We were driving up Mount Elgon (where the Bugisu people live). This is where the actually ceremony would take place. It had rained so much that vehicles could not drive because it was too muddy. We hiked for over an hour through the mud. Once we arrived, we were met with excitement. This ceremony among the Bugisu people, is when a boy becomes a man. It is a ceremony for all to attend, it is such a huge turning point in a young male’s life. Circumcision in the Bugisu world is not an option, in order for a boy to become a man he must be circumcised.
The boy was brought up in a parade of young men waving sticks, beating the sticks together, and dancing. The father and surgeon were in the middle along with the boy. After the ceremony the boy was a man. This ritual is taken so seriously that once a boy is circumcised if he is called a boy, he may be so offended that he would kill the person who had insulted him. After the ceremony, we made the trek back to the vehicles and spent the night in Mbale. We traveled back to campus Early Sunday morning.