I am trembling in excitement as August approaches. It is yet another year that the people from my village painfully circumcise their young ones. The soon to be declared adults have started their rehearsals which include dancing, blowing of whistles, playing special bells called chinyimba and most importantly eating more than usual.
It is during such a season that events of August 2006 come to mind, it was the day my friend Wakukha was almost circumcised for the second time. For those of you who understand this scientific process, you only need the delicate operation once; afterwhich there is no much left for a second time. I guess you can now picture the gravity of the situation Wakukha was in.
Let us not rush into condemning the circumcisor and his team before getting his side of the story. Wakukha had diligently faced the knife in 2004 as per the Luhya custom. the only difference was that the boy opted to do it in hospital; something which did not go down well with Mukhebi (the village surgeon). A man from such a big household in the village, according to Mukhebi, should not expose themselves to those sophisticated equipment which were not painful enough to make one a man. So when word went out that Wakukha's younger brother was going to the hospital in Kitale to face the scalpel rather than the blessed knife of old, Mukhebi swore to reach for that foreskin before it traveled to the cool town!
Come the wee hours of his brothers circumcision morning, Wakukha got up earlier than usual. He wanted to milk the cows before the flies woke up. While he was busy pulling out the soft drink from the animal, he heard a circumcision song. Now Wakukha cannot be left behind on this things, he immediately forgot about breakfast, took out his vuvuzela and went to join the party. Coincidentally, the obscene song that was being sang happened to be his favourite...
"Eh mayi mbekho Panadol...." He soloed as he approached the cutting team. A few meters from the party, Wakukha realized all was not well. Mukhebi's knife was out. Everybody knows that when that weapon comes out, someone loses something they were born with!
"He has brought himself! The boy does not want to go to hospital either!" Mukhebi proudly announced with a tear of utter joy escaping his chang'aa tinted eyes. It took several seconds for Wakukha to realize that he had been confused for his younger brother. Within those seconds, the man was airborne with his fly halfway undone! His efforts to announce that he was a black skinned, red blooded Circumcised Luhya man fell to deaf ears! Mukhebi was saying special prayers to Mango, the father of the knife. you see special situations like this you don't just cut up a person... Were it not for the intervention of Wakukha's sisters, who are known for their anger, Wakukha would have been circumcised again. And that people is how not to circumcise a Luhya, do not circumcise him again!
It is during such a season that events of August 2006 come to mind, it was the day my friend Wakukha was almost circumcised for the second time. For those of you who understand this scientific process, you only need the delicate operation once; afterwhich there is no much left for a second time. I guess you can now picture the gravity of the situation Wakukha was in.
Let us not rush into condemning the circumcisor and his team before getting his side of the story. Wakukha had diligently faced the knife in 2004 as per the Luhya custom. the only difference was that the boy opted to do it in hospital; something which did not go down well with Mukhebi (the village surgeon). A man from such a big household in the village, according to Mukhebi, should not expose themselves to those sophisticated equipment which were not painful enough to make one a man. So when word went out that Wakukha's younger brother was going to the hospital in Kitale to face the scalpel rather than the blessed knife of old, Mukhebi swore to reach for that foreskin before it traveled to the cool town!
Come the wee hours of his brothers circumcision morning, Wakukha got up earlier than usual. He wanted to milk the cows before the flies woke up. While he was busy pulling out the soft drink from the animal, he heard a circumcision song. Now Wakukha cannot be left behind on this things, he immediately forgot about breakfast, took out his vuvuzela and went to join the party. Coincidentally, the obscene song that was being sang happened to be his favourite...
"Eh mayi mbekho Panadol...." He soloed as he approached the cutting team. A few meters from the party, Wakukha realized all was not well. Mukhebi's knife was out. Everybody knows that when that weapon comes out, someone loses something they were born with!
"He has brought himself! The boy does not want to go to hospital either!" Mukhebi proudly announced with a tear of utter joy escaping his chang'aa tinted eyes. It took several seconds for Wakukha to realize that he had been confused for his younger brother. Within those seconds, the man was airborne with his fly halfway undone! His efforts to announce that he was a black skinned, red blooded Circumcised Luhya man fell to deaf ears! Mukhebi was saying special prayers to Mango, the father of the knife. you see special situations like this you don't just cut up a person... Were it not for the intervention of Wakukha's sisters, who are known for their anger, Wakukha would have been circumcised again. And that people is how not to circumcise a Luhya, do not circumcise him again!
