Churches in bid to stem ‘unkindest cut of all’

Rite of passage, symbolised by the cut among the people of Central is an important custom. Unfortunately, traditionally, it was not just a time of much pain, but one where societal vices like premarital sex and taking alcohol were glorified in the name of becoming a man.

Until the church stepped in. Today most teenagers, just after sitting their KCPE no longer retreat to a cubicle - a one roomed house that gives young men unlimited, unsupervised entry to conduct dirty business- but stay at a camp under the watchful eye of elders and counsellors.

They no longer sing traditional circumcision songs with unprintable profanity; but biblical hymns.

Most churches, from Catholic to PCEA have adopted this programme, while others like Nairobi Baptist, Nairobi Chapel, Buruburu Baptist Church, Karen Community Church and Kileleshwa Community Church have come together in a bid to tackle the contemporary problems of the youth. The five churches formed a charitable trust, Tanari which runs the Rites of Passage Experiences (Ropes).

In PCEA, the Presbyterian Church Men’s Fellowship (PCMF) mentors boys, both within and without the church. They organise the rite of passage programmes around parishes.

It is in the Rungiri Presbytery which comprises of five parishes, Kikuyu, Rungiri, Kinoo, Uthiru, Kihumo and Rungiri that The Standard on Saturday meets 14-year-old Harrison Kiambuthi. On November 14th, Harrison joined 123 boys at the PCEA Kinoo Girls High School and they faced the cut, or rather the doctor’s scalpel.

“At first I was scared,” he says, “but before facing the doctors, counsellors who were with us the entire two weeks prepared us for the procedure.”

The boys then, in groups of six would enter the room where six surgeons were at hand to carry out the delicate exercise that separates men from boys, especially in the Kikuyu culture.

Michael Kamunge, the Rungiri Presbytery PCMF chairman says they had contracted doctors from the Catholic Medical Mission Board. “There were 18 medical professionals including the support staff. They erected a temporary theatre with six operating tables.” The health workers got to work from 10pm, and by 7am, all the boys had been initiated from childhood to adulthood.

“But this, (the cut) is a small part of the programme,” says the chairman, “the boys spend the first week recuperating, and in the second, they embark on a journey of life changing lessons.”

Indeed. Harrison tells us that in the second week, they would wake up at 6am and by 8am they would be in class where they would start with devotion, in line with this year’s theme, mentored for Christ. “We had teachers for different topics including on drugs and self-esteem, HIV and Aids, how to cultivate self-esteem and the best ways to relate with our parents.”

The courses are geared to serve as a roadmap for the young adults, most of whom are exposed to technology, television and the internet, where they might learn the wrong things.

“The boy child has for a long time been neglected. And even though in the early days of the rites of passage programme we also incorporated girls (he tells The Standard on Saturday they were clashing with the Women Guilds mentorship programme for girls), we felt that boys need this kind of guidance so that they will be responsible adults and future husbands and fathers.”

Apart from the life-skills and devotional lessons, the boys were also taught entrepreneurship to in-calculate a business culture at a young age. This is the process adopted by churches and other organisations that are coming up with similar rites of passage programmes.

However, Peter Mukiri, the Rungiri Presbytery vice treasurer says that some people have taken advantage of the programmes.

“You will find some places charging exorbitant prices, while having the boys for only one week.” At Rungiri, they charge each boy Sh6,000 for the two weeks. “It is worth every cent,” says Harrison’s mother Rose Nyambura, “though Harrison is an obedient boy, he has become more responsible since he went for the rite of passage, a surprise because after circumcision, many boys feel that now that they are ‘men,’ they do not need to be told anything.”

In the old days, initiates would be roving the streets, chest out, basking in manly glory. However, three weeks after their camp, we meet a dozen, including Harrison at the PCEA SGM- Church Kinoo junior youth church, singing hymns.