42-year-old who is proud to undergo the ‘cut’

Jonathan Sunday,40 with his wife Reginalda Auma at their Bunjonjori village home. He was among several men circumcised through the voluntary medical male circumcision initiative in Busia County. (PHOTO: JOHN SHILITSA/ STANDARD)

When in 2008 the government launched Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) as one way of fighting the spread of HIV and AIDS, Patrick Ojamoo showed no interest. In Bubango Village in Busia County where he comes from, circumcision is not traditionally practised.

But one day, the 42-year-old father of five’s encounter with a physician at Port Victoria Hospital changed his perception. “Dr Alex Onyango told me there was a correlation between circumcision and the spread of HIV. He said the prevalence was high in areas where people are not circumcised,” he recalls.