The Sunday News
Vincent Gono, Features Editor
THE celebration of cultural diversity in Zimbabwe as a tribal heterogeneous society is under threat as some socio-cultural practices and values such as circumcision that form an important component of a number of communities and define a people are buckling under the weight of global scientific health research trends in the area of HIV/Aids.
Although there is absolutely nothing wrong with the country flowing with the tide of internationally recommended HIV reduction strategies, incorporating pockets of the country’s communities where the practice of circumcision had a deeper meaning of belonging, identity and dignity rather than just prevention of HIV/Aids should be done carefully without tampering with the cultural meaning of the practice as is the case now, at least according to traditional leaders.
The practice had all along enjoyed mystification not only as a cultural definitive component but as one that encourages and maintains an ecological balance as it had a net effect of preserving forests and mitigate climate change.
The practice of circumcision is regarded as culturally sacred and is mostly done by the Xhosa in Mbembesi, Varemba of Mberengwa in the Midlands Province, the Tshangani in Chiredzi and Mwenezi and other parts of Masvingo Province as well as Beitbridge in Matabeleland South and parts of Matabeleland North Province.
Before its demystification it was hallowed and was often talked about in hushed tones even by those whose culture and tradition was defined by the practice.
But times have changed. The practice has been demystified and now even little children know what it means to be circumcised with adverts being flighted everywhere using various mass communication media platforms.
All this is done much to the chagrin and puzzlement of traditional leaders who are guardians of the practice as part of their culture definition, for they still hold esteem the practice and do not enjoy the way it has lost its weight.
According to Chief Chitanga of Mwenezi, the practice to them is still sacred because it defines who they are, therefore its exposure to various other communities erodes its dignity and is viewed in the same sense as the nakedness of all those who have been practicing it before its recent demystification.
Its demystification has largely been driven by the Government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) after it was discovered that circumcision can help a great deal in the fight against HIV/Aids besides of-course the smartness and the subtle sexual pleasure factor that it is said to provide.
In the cultural and traditional olden day however, circumcision was not practised in the homes, clinics and or hospitals. There was nothing called circumcision mobile or static clinic. It was done in the forests. And not every other forest was suitable for the practice. There were specific forests where the tribes or communities who were into it would gather and not at any time as is done now. There was a specific time of the year and a specific age group that was taken for circumcision every year.
The forests therefore became a part of the process and were also treated with the same kind of respect that the practice was honoured with. Cutting down of trees in the said forests was a gross violation of the entire community rite and would turn the whole community against the violator. It was seen as an act equivalent to that of undressing the community to shame it and would attract a beast as a fine.
The forests were not fenced physically, neither were they durawalled but it remained every community member’s obligation to ensure that they were protected, they were sacred. Trespassers were therefore prosecuted, even grazing animals in the forests was not allowed.
And the communities that practised circumcision unconsciously ensured the preservation of trees and natural vegetation.
They were always thickets and in climate change lingo forests are important in trapping some of the atmospheric gases such as carbon dioxide and they are called carbon sinks. Their destruction because the practice is no longer held there, therefore increases the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as there will be little vegetation to absorb it.
Chief Chitanga said the communities did not only go into the forests for circumcision but they went there for initiation rites for both girls and boys where they were taught various and important skills of life as they matured and graduated into womanhood and manhood.
He said the recent NGO-driven circumcision does not take into account most, if not all of those traditional practices and most traditional leaders where the practice was rife have expressed concern over the recent conscription and involvement of strangers, some of whom were women in the circumcision rites saying it had grossly compromised their culture that was to a large extent, defined by the practice.
They have also raised a red flag over the depletion of the circumcision rites forests stating that there was a lot of trespassing with NGOs that were pouring money for the programmes concerned about numbers and not the preservation of culture and the natural environment in the form of forests that were now facing depletion.
The traditional leaders admitted that there was some resistance when they were first introduced to the modern methods of circumcision but later embraced it after they were engaged by the Government.
“We are not trying to shut others out. We are happy that the nation has finally seen something good in our culture and has spelt an end to the era where we used to be looked at with disdain as backward and uncivilised.
“But while at it we implore the stakeholders to respect our culture and know that we are not after numbers when we do it but after fulfilling our cultural pride. The practice defines who we are, it defines our identity so we do not do it as an afterthought like anyone else.
“The other thing is the depletion of our cultural rites forests. There used to be thickets meant for that along the Runde and Save Rivers for easy access to water as the exercise requires a lot of cleaning but the new methods where clinics and schools are now a substitute of forests have seen a depletion of the forests as they have become redundant and are no longer preserved. As chiefs however, we continue encouraging people not to cut down trees and those that do so in such forests are fined,” said Chief Chitanga.
His sentiments were echoed by Chief Tsovani of Chiredzi who said the practice was now done in schools and hospitals and therefore compromising the initiation rites.
He said they usually perform circumcision in years of good harvest but due to pressure from the Government and NGOs that were chasing after numbers they were doing it more often, adding that promises of food aid during camps if they were held were usually not fulfilled, leaving the traditional leaders with pressure to provide resources for the functions.
He said in times when they go to camps they usually spend three to four weeks to allow wounds to heal. Chief Tsovani said they were against the conscription of strangers who he said would just be at work and were not be part of them culturally.
Headman Mpapa of Chikombedzi under Chief Sengwe in Chiredzi had no kind words on the way the current circumcision rites were done. He said the involvement of strangers and people who do not belong to their particular culture was taboo and was supposed to be dismissed with the contempt it deserved.
He added that current trends of circumcision were not doing anything to preserve the forests and were bad as they took little recognition of the deep seated cultural values enshrined in the practice of initiation rites.
Mr Barnabas Mawire, a sustainable forest management specialist said valuing socio-cultural practices was one of the most effective ways of preserving forests and a variety of other tree species from extinction.
He said trees were important in mitigating the effects of climate change.
“Conservationists encourage the preservation of forests through socio-cultural practices that makes it taboo to cut down trees and engage in unsustainable burning of forests. Trees need carbon dioxide in the process of photosynthesis, therefore the lack of vegetation means there will be a concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere which is one of the greenhouse gases.
“Trees act as carbon sinks and are very crucial in the whole equation of mitigation in the climate change discourse. We therefore encourage people to give respect to the socio-cultural practises and to all sacred forests in the country as their depletion expose us to the dangers of climate change. That is why the United Nations through the REDD+ (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) is incentivising the replenishing of degraded forests to create more carbon sinks and maintain a balance in the water cycle where trees play a crucial part,” he said.
He added that traditional leaders should take an active role in ensuring that socio-cultural practices such as circumcision that preserve forests and tree species were not trampled upon.
