I
was born in the 70's in a farming community in the Eastern Cape of
South Africa. Unfortunately I was born prematurely, and wasn't
circumcised as a result. Almost all of my English speaking friends were
circumcised, especially in the farming community.
The
Eastern Cape is where the Xhosa (black) tribe is predominant. Their
culture is for boys to be circumcised as an initiation to manhood,
around the age of 18.
I was
shipped off to boarding school at an early age, an expensive private
boys school. At a guess I would say that about 75% of the guys were
circumcised there. I was never teased about it (teasing a strapping
young lad wasn't a good idea). The private schools used to have
different school holidays to the local government schools, mainly
because a lot of the kids came from far and wide, and had to travel
large distances. As it happened we had nearly a month more school
holidays than our government counterparts. We had a 3 term system,
whereas the government schools had 4 terms, meaning that our holidays
didn't co-inside, except of the long Christmas summer holiday (we got 8
weeks, government schools got 6 weeks)
As
young kids, my friends and I used to swim in the river on the farm.
Joined by the local farm kids (Xhosa) everyone swam naked. As I
mentioned earlier, almost all of my English (white) mates were
circumcised, the young black kids and myself weren't.
After
writing my final exams in December 1990, we were allowed to go home
before the school closed. I went back to the farm, and learned that some
of my black friends were due to have their initiations done. One of
them jokingly suggested I join them for it. I thought why not, firstly I
would get circumcised like my mates, and secondly I would gain a lot of
respect from my Xhosa friends.
There
are two "circumcision" seasons, a winter and a summer one. They both
are so to fit in with the two longer government school holidays
(June/July and November/December).
A
date was set for the initiations to be done, I spoke to the tribal
headman who agreed that I should do it too. I had a few reservations, -
the operation is performed without anesthetic, and the circumciser would
use his own implements. I went to meet with the circumciser, and asked
him if I could provide my own knife for my circumcision, and be
circumcised first. He agreed to that.
I
bought a large wooden handled knife (the blade was about 20cm long). I
planned to sharpen it more, and then boil it to sterilize it). I was
excited about the whole prospect. I was chatting to my Xhosa mates (I
speak their language fluently), when I was told that would also need to
have my frenulum cut, before the circumcision. This to allow the
foreskin to be drawn out during the circumcision, and not being
restricted by the frenulum. They had all had theirs done around 14 or 15
years of age, in preparation for their initiations. A Xhosa mate who
had been circumcised in the last circumcision season said he will cut my
frenulum for me.
The two of us
went into the small forest on the farm, he asked my to take my pants off
and lie down on the ground. I was lying on the ground, he retracted my
foreskin, and rubbed some surgical spirits onto my frenulum (which was
quite thick). He than used a normal sewing needle to pierce the membrane
under my frenulum (this was quite painful as a sewing needle isn't that
sharp). I had sprouted an erection by this time, I think with the
excitement and the cool air on my head of my cock. He wasn't phased by
it at all, and with the needle under my frenulum, he then took a razor
blade, and severed my frenulum, suing the needle as a base on which to
cut down to. This too was moderately painful, but the cutting of the
frenulum itself was quick. Of course it bled, not for very long though.
He swabbed it again with the surgical spirits which of course stung like
hell. After the bleeding had stopped, he simply pulled my foreskin back
over the head, and that was it.
The
circumcision day was panned for a Saturday morning, about 10 days after
my frenulum had been cut, although this had no bearing on the
circumcision day, - the circumciser would have merely cut my frenulum
before he circumcised me.
I had
told me father that I had been invited to be initiated, he said I was an
adult, and could decide for myself. (my dad was in fact circumcised as a
baby). I didn't tell my mom (it's a man's thing, women do not get
involved much)
The night before
the circumcisions took place, the 4 of us were made to sleep in a cattle
kraal. We were told to shave from head to toe, as we were now entering a
different stage of our lives, and we were "babies" again. We helped
each other shave, head (we didn't shave our eyebrows) and pubes. We then
had to wash, and daub ourselves with a white chalk (which was a powder
which we mixed with water to make a paste). We were then each given a
white blanket which we were to use during the initiation.
The
following morning, before sunrise, we were woken (those of us who had
slept - knowing what was about to happen - circumcision without any
anesthetic), made to put our blankets over ourselves, and then "chased" -
we had to jog to the "boma", a small grass hut that had been
constructed, where we were to stay in isolation while the circumcisions
healed. It was roughly 1/2 a mile from the houses where the staff lived.
We arrived and were made to sit and wait for the spectators to arrive
(and of course the circumciser). A small crowd of onlookers arrived,
only circumcised males are allowed to watch. I had asked my best friend
to come along too. I was comforted when I saw him among the 15 or so
people who had come to witness the event.
We
were made to sit in a row, next to each other about 2 meters apart. We
were stark naked, except for a small leather girdle and our blankets
which covered our shoulders, back and most of our bodies. We were told
to open our legs, and bend our knees. The spectators were chatting among
themselves, standing near us. They started coming closer, and I knew
what this meant, the circumciser had arrived, and I was going to be
circumcised first.
The circumciser
squatted in-front of me, leaned forward, and took hold of my very limp
cock. He held it for a moment, and then retracted my foreskin all the
way back. He twisted it and inspected my frenulum, it was cut. He
relaxed his grip, and then started pulling the foreskin forward. I was
looking down between my legs, he was pulling so much that my balls and
sac were being pulled forward. I was then told to look away, I turned my
head so as not to look. The sun was rising, and my eye caught the glint
of a knife being brought closer. He had his thumb on the head of my
cock, with his 2nd and 3rd fingers holding my foreskin. I wasn't looking
by that stage, but I felt the cold blade on my foreskin. I felt nothing
for a few seconds, then a burning pain for an instant. Naturally I
turned my head back to look at my cock, the severed foreskin was lying
there, and I saw part of my inner foreskin which looked white and shiny
(almost like a piece of calamari). Blood was oozing from the cut line. I
was surprised at how little it was bleeding. I was still looking down,
the two cut edges were pinched together, and the now bleeding cock was
wrapped with a special leaf (which grows abundantly here,- part of the
aloe family, - great healing properties). The Xhosa's are very
superstitious, the foreskin needs to be destroyed so as not to allow it
to fall into the hands of a witch-doctor, each initiate had to dispose
of his own foreskin, I buried mine in an ant heap. One guy threw his
into the river, one guy put his into the fire. One of the guys even
swallowed it, and I've seen this happen on some of the other
circumcisions I have witnessed.
He
then left the knife there next to my severed foreskin, and moved on to
circumcise my Xhosa friend sitting alongside me. After he had
circumcised the 4 of us, he chatted with the spectators, and then left.
My best friend came up to me and said how impressed and proud of me he
was, I didn't even flinch during the operation.
We
had to stay as a group in the "boma" while our circumcisions healed. We
had an overseer who dressed the wounds 4-5 times a day, we were fed by
the community. My best friend visited us every day for the 4 weeks were
staying there. We used to wander around, shooting small birds etc, and
just passing the time. We were lectured by the menfolk of why the
circumcision is so important in the culture, and one of the things I
remember all too well is that there will always be hardship in life, -
its how you deal with them that makes you a man. We slept on the floor,
were only allowed to eat certain foods, and had to cover our faces with
the blankets if we saw a woman (so as not to get an erection). Erections
were extremely painful, especially in the first week, the scab would
break open of course, and without any stitches in place, it was very
painful.
After about 4 weeks we
were all inspected and our circumcisions had healed sufficiently to be
"discharged". We left the "boma" in a group, and received new blankets.
The "boma" was then burned to the ground, we were made to walk away in
single file, and not allowed to look back at the burning "boma".
Everything we had used during our period of isolation was burned, it was
now the past, hence we were not allowed to look back.
We
arrived back in the community, a party was held, we received new
clothes and gifts from well wishers (mostly money). My best friend, and
other friends, mom and dad were there as well , my mother having been
informed by one of her kitchen girls that I had undergone the
circumcision ritual, and that was the reason I wasn't at home.
Apparently she cried. My best friend asked a medic mate to look at a
small piece underneath that hadn't bonded nicely, he popped a few
stitches in there, another painful experience, scraping the dead skin
away, making it bleed and then stitches without anesthetic.
My
best friend also told me that he would have loved to have taken part of
this real bonding exercise, however he was already a man as he had been
circumcised. I replied yes and not, he was circumcised, but his
frenulum remnant should be cut. He agreed so I cut his for him. He felt
the pain, the blood was drawn, he is like a brother to me, and hence our
brotherhood was formed. That brotherhood is now about 600 strong, it's a
trust thing, a true bonding thing, every guy has had his frenulum or
frenulum remnant cut mostly by myself, we have circumcised guys and a
few uncircumcised guys in the "hood"
