More Xhosa culture

As much as I want to tell everyone about the medicine here I’m still learning so much about the Xhosa culture that I’d like to share some more.

It is currently the male circumcision season; at this time of year you see groups of young men parading down the streets carrying weapons such as knives and spears. It is all part of the preparation for their coming of age celebrations which involve a big party and a circumcision. After the party the new men burn all their clothes and wrapped in blankets with faces painted they leave to spend 3 weeks living in the bush with an elder. During that time they are taught all the skill needed to be a man in Xhosa culture, this includes hunting and even how to kill another man. At the end of the three weeks they can return to their village and dress in normal clothes and continue their life as a man.

The whole thing is interesting in itself but also has some medical implications. Firstly the tradition says that the same blade should be used on all the boys on a given day. In theory the rules have been tightened up in the HIV era but in practice this still goes on. As well as the risk of HIV transmission there is also a risk of wound infection. Apparently there is a whole ward full of men with circumcision infections at the referral hospital. Apparently they regularly come to our hospital but I’m yet to see one.

The other tradition I’ve learned about is Xhosa marriage; our social worker has just got married, she has had a legal marriage, a Xhosa marriage and is waiting to have a ‘White wedding’. Before the first marriage her fiancé had to negotiate with her family about how much ‘labola’ he was prepared to pay for her. The currency is ‘cows’ but for her one cow was equal to R1,500 (about £100), he eventually agreed to pay 17 cows! The traditional wedding involved her doing a lot of cleaning, making lots of tea for people and cooking a lot of food. She now has to wear a head scarf for a month as a sign of her marriage and most married women wear them lifelong.

If she has a baby it become a bit weird, she will have to bring the child directly to her mother-in-laws house and has to live behind the front door for a month just eating sleeping and feeding the child, her husband is allowed to visit but not to stay.