 |
The circumcision ritual at Songo: The operation and the circumcision day The operation usually takes place on a Thursday in late March. In the year 2000 (26 March), more than 60 boys were circumcised at Kondi Pegue. Generally these are from Songo, but boys from surrounding villages can also be admitted. In the early hours of the circumcision day, the boys gather at the site, which they have never been allowed to visit before. Besides the initiates, only members of the Guindo family and boys of the preceding age group are allowed to be present during the actual circumcision. The boys enter the site in the early hours of the day, their heads are shaved, and the circumcision is performed. The operation is undertaken by an elder of the Guindo family, who can be appointed for up to three circumcision ceremonies, i.e. nine years. This maître de circoncision selects other members of the Guindo family to witness the circumcision. His successor will be drafted from this group by a council of four Guindo elders. The first boy to be circumcised, kondi bala, is a son of the Guindo, the second, kondi seri, is the son of the parents who were the first to request the village chief for the circumcision ritual. According to the Guindo this is a fixed ranking. It is said that only once in their family history, still at Songo Kolo, has it happened that no Guindo son was of the proper age to be circumcised. After the circumcision ritual had passed with a non-Guindo as first to be circumcised, the maître de circoncision prayed to god to always bless his family with a son at the right age as the first candidate for the operation. Thus far, his wish has been granted.
During the operation the boys sit on a rock in front of the painted wall, with the maître de circoncision in front of them. Traditionally a specific knife, the circumcision knife, is used to sever the prepuce. The boys are urged to remain calm and to refrain from crying, which is considered weak and inappropriate to the occasion. After the operation the boys, now called kondigi (circumcised children), are led into the northern part of the site where they receive medical treatment in the form of traditional and modern medication. Better medical care has in recent years shortened the recovery period from about 30 to 15 days. By about six o'clock in the morning, when all boys have been circumcised, are dressed in special circumcision shirts, and are seated on rows of stones serving as stools in the northern part of the site, this part of Kondi Pegue is sealed off to visitors and the boys begin their recovery. | |
