Mar. i6, 2007
WORLD & NATION
www.guilfordian.com
Greensboro. N.C.
Cutting more than education in Kenya
Jewel Anderson | Staff Writer
Because they were uncir
cumcised, 18 male students
were sent home from Kiriani
High School in Meru, Kenya.
The principal's decision to
send the students home started
a controversy.
After the students were sent
home, the education ministry
stepped in to allow them re
admittance, but it is unknown
whether or not the students will
be safe or comfortable enough
to return to school after being
violently intimidated by their
peers in the school showers.
Since it is taboo to be uncir
cumcised in Kenya, there has
been much speculation as to
why the 18 students were not
circumcised prior to beginning
high school.
Traditional circumcision
rituals are very expensive, so
it's possible that the students'
families could not afford the
ritual in addition to school
fees.
"A certain amount of bulls
must be slaughtered and also
you must pay a circumciser,"
said Kenyan first-year student
Kevin Muhanji.
It is also a possibility that
the boys were uncircumcised
because they did not want to
risk losing their lives or the
organ itself.
Muhanji explained some of
the dangers associated with
traditional circumcision in
Kenya. Before the act is per
formed, boys and young men
must walk outside together on
a cold night with meat slung
around their necks and chest,
which can cause pneumonia.
In many traditions, several
boys are circumcised on the
same night, and the same knife
is used on each boy, often with
out proper sterilization. This
can transmit blood disease or
AIDS. It is also common for a
boy to bleed to death from the
practice.
Muhanji said there have
also been cases where, because
of the circumciser using drugs
or because of the surround
ing chaos of the ceremonies,
the circumciser has cut off the
entire penis.
"Maybe the students, being
educated, knew about the
health consequences of tradi
tional circumcision and did
not want to die, but they did
not have access to a hospital
to have it performed there,"
Muhanji said.
Kenyan parents are now fre
quently taking their
sons to the hospital
to be circumcised,
realizing the injus
tice and danger of the
traditional ritual, and this
is becoming an increasingly
acceptable option. Muhanji
said it does not matter in most
tribes whether boys are cir
cumcised in the hospital or
not, just as long as they are
circumcised.
"It's what makes you a man.
It makes you macho accord
ing to our traditions," said
Muhanji.
So when the students of
Kiriani High School discovered
in the shower that a recently
admitted student was uncir
cumcised, they intimidated
him by chanting war and cir
cumcision songs, calling him
names, and demanding that he
leave.
Apparently, the boy rushed
to the principal's office and
was followed by 17 other uncir
cumcised students who had
also been recently admitted.
The 18 students spent the night
in the boardroom in fear.
After this, the princi
pal decided to send the boys
home.
"Not observing the tradition
sion makes your peers
feel like you're not following
tradition. It's like betrayal,"
said Muhanji. "But then on the
other side, it's not fair to chase
the students from school just
because they're not circum
cised."
Some local elders have said
that they agree with the princi
pal's decision.
One elder, George Njagi,^aid
to the BBC, "Uncircumcised
and circumcised boys are not
allowed to bathe together, share
towels, and on some occasions
sit together to discuss issues."
Another elder, Titus Munde,
expressed that he agreed with
the principal's decision.
Munde said to the BBC,
"The principal is very right,
because it is very risky to mix
the boys."
However, the ministry of
education has condemned the
principal's decision to make
the uncircumcised students
leave.
Regional edu
cation director Beatrice Adu
said to the BBC, "Circumcision
is not a requirement for one to
be admitted to high school."
Adu told the BBC that public
institutions should not be run
according to certain cultures
and that the principal was to
be reprimanded, but did not
say what his reprimand would
entail.
Despite the ministry of
education's involvement,
if the students do not wish
to become circumcised, it is
possible that they will not
return to high school because
of the power that circumcision
holds in Kenya as a cultural
norm.
"If you are uncircumcised,
you will be looked down upon
forever. It's so crucial," said
Muhanji. "Men simply have to
do it."
Ghana celebrates 50th anniversary
Katie Yow I Contributing Writer
"Ghana at 50!" has been a nearly
omnipresent theme during the first
two months of our stay in Cape Coast.
The fact of Ghana's upcoming birth
day is clear, but the implications and
realities of Ghana at 50 are complex.
I have been an observer in this place,
trying to listen and learn as much as
I can, but still I cannot sum up the
meaning of Ghana's 50th anniversary
of independence.
"Ghana at 50!" is not only exclaimed
in celebration, but it's a very common
expression used to sum up the dis
satisfaction or frustration with the
state of things. Watching the news at
night, my host mother Gifty shakes
her head at stories about maternal
mortality, water and electricity short
ages, disease and poverty, and says,
"Oh, Ghana at 50!"
Common worries concern the cur
rent economic position of Ghana and
the lasting effects of colonial oppres
sion that some feel compromises the
idea of independence.
But despite the significant chal
lenges that are currently facing Ghana,
there is a lot to celebrate. Ghana's
independence in March 1957 marks
it as the first sub-Saharan. African
country to overthrow colonial rule,
precipitating the numerous African
independence movements of the 1960s
and beyond.
The Gold Coast Colony came
through a history of European exploi
tation of resources, the horrors of
the trans-Atlantic slave trade, wars
to suppress indigenous power, and
generations of foreign rule to become
a self-governed Ghana (named after
an ancient African kingdom) under
the leadership of the infamous pan-
Africanist Kwame Nkrumah. Ousted
by a coup in 1966, Nkrumah died in
exile, but is now revered as a national
hero.
Ghana is known as the "Black Star"
of Africa, seen as the hope of Africa
because of its
relative stabil
ity and pros
perity. While
troubled by
serious pov
erty and other
problems of so-
called develop
ing countries,
Ghana has
avoided the
kinds of vio
lence and civil
war that have
plagued other countries on the con
tinent. This fact is prominent in the
dialogue about Ghana's successes as a
country.
On March 5, Chantal, Rachel and I
join Akwasi, the assistant to Professor
Owusu-Ansah, the coordinator of
the program here, to travel to Accra,
Ghana's capital, to witness the events
of Ghana's 50th anniversary.
Arriving in Accra, we find the city
covered in the red, gold and green of
Ghana's flag.
Accra is like most big cities I've
visited — busy, bustling, a collage
of different kinds of people and cul
tural influences. In the midst of all
the jubilant activities and mood, we
still see the obvious signs of poverty
everywhere we turn, contrasted with
great wealth that exists nowhere else
in Ghana.
We go to the area around Nkrumah's
mausoleum. His tomb is housed inside
huge
Gifty shakes her head at
stories about maternal
mortality, water and elec
tricity shortages, disease
and poverty, and says, “Oh,
Ghana at 50!”
marble
structure,
designed to
represent
the trunk
of a tree,
built on the
spot where
he declared
Ghana's
indepen-
dence. A
reenact-
ment of
Nkrumah's independence speech is
happening in the mausoleum park
— "Ghana, your beloved country, is
free forever."
There is a concert featuring high life
(a kind of Ghanaian popular music),
reggae, and hip life (a blend of hip
hop and high life) musicians, many
of the most prominent in Ghana. The
long avenue is one huge dance party.
We stay until 4 a.m., and as we leave
the party continues unabated behind
us.
In the morning, Chantal and I turn
on the TV in our hotel room. President
Kufuor is looking on at marching lines
of armed forces and school children
as they parade through Independence
Square.
At the parade, Kufuor steps up to
light the "Perpetual Flame," and the
newscaster's voice comes over the
air again. "This flame is not just for
Ghana, but for the whole of Africa, to
say that we have come of age. We have
come of age."
We take a car as close as we can
get to Independence Square and walk
down a street packed with people,
hawkers, women carrying babies at
their backs, groups of drummers and
musicians, almost all wearing patri
otic colors. Many people have their
faces painted.
We talk to a young couple with
two children. The mother tells me
that she has lived in Accra all her
life, but never been to Independence
Square before. I tell her today seems
like a pretty fitting first occasion. She
smiles and says, "This is a memorable
day." Looking at her children she
adds, "They are very small, but this
will still be a memory for them."
For more coverage of Ghana's indepen
dence celebrations go to allafrica.com.