×
App Icon
The Standard e-Paper
Fearless, Trusted News
★★★★ - on Play Store
Read on the App

Sierra Leone's secret societies mark bodies and minds

Young girls in white face paint take part in a procession to start their initiation into the Bondo secret society, alongside a figure called the Black Devil. [AFP]

Wearing a fading Mickey Mouse T-shirt, her knees hugged to her chest, eight-year-old Musu Kamara sits in a corrugated shack in Sierra Leone's capital waiting for her initiation into a secret society.

Get Full Access for Ksh299/Week
Uncover the stories others won’t tell. Subscribe now for exclusive access
  • Unlimited access to all premium content
  • Uninterrupted ad-free browsing experience
  • Mobile-optimized reading experience
  • Weekly Newsletters
  • MPesa, Airtel Money and Cards accepted
Already a subscriber? Log in