Furore over botched traditional circumcisions in Pondoland on the medical website by Dutch Dr Dingeman Rijken: who is campaigning for traditional leaders to work with him to get circumcision rites done humanely. 825 youths have lost their lives in the Pondoland Eastern cape region since 1994, often dying in excruciating agony.
-----------------------
Feb 5 2014 - Traditional leaders have failed in a bid to get graphic photographs removed from a website highlighting botched circumcisions.
The website, by Dutch doctor Dingeman Rijken, has images showing botched circumcisions based on his medical experiences in Pondoland between 2012 and last year.
The website noted that 825 boys had lost their lives “in the mountains and hills of the Eastern Cape” since 1995.
The Film and Publications Board of SA on Friday placed an under-13 age restriction on the site because of “material which may be very disturbing and harmful to children”.
“Children under the age of 13 are not emotionally and cognitively mature to understand the educational value of the website,” it said.
But the Congress of Traditional Leaders of SA chairman Ngangomhlaba Mathanzima said the site was a “disgrace and should be pulled down”.
The influential political body intended to appeal against the decision and would also write a letter of complaint to the Eastern Cape Health Department.
“Young boys who have not gone to the initiation school would be reluctant to go, and this would diminish the culture,” said Mathanzima.
He believed the age restriction was too low as Xhosa boys wishing to go through an initiation school had to be 18 or older.
“We are custodians of this culture and we should have been consulted before this is seen by the world. We were never consulted,” he said.
The Community Development Foundation of SA had initially lodged a complaint, according to SAPA -- and Contralesa also objected to it in a letter.
Some critics and commentators on social networks said the publication of the pictures “betrays their culture” and traditional leaders, and they should have been told before uploading the pictures on the website.
A warning notice now appears when a reader visits the http://www.ulwaluko.co.za website.
Dr Dingeman Rijken posted that “from 1995 till now, 825 boys have lost their lives in the mountains and hills of the Eastern Cape”.
He added that many others were mutilated or had even lost their manhood.
43 BOYS DIED THIS SUMMER IN TERRIBLE CONDITIONS:
This summer, 43 boys had died in “terrible” conditions. “Forty-three totally avoidable deaths. Why do we sustain a ritual that slaughters boys in the prime of their age and physically and mentally scars many others for life?” asked Rijken.
By Sandiso Phaliso The Star 03/02/14 Early Edition - http://www.security.co.za/fullStory.asp?NewsId=27057
website: Ulwaluko - http://www.ulwaluko.co.za/Photos.html By Dutch doctor Dingeman Rijken:
Who writes: "Every single initiation season the media writes about complications accompanying the ritual: death, mutilation, physical abuse and torture. The magnitude of these complications is horrific: from 1995 till now 825 boys have lost their lives in the mountains and hills of the Eastern Cape. Many others were mutilated or even lost their manhood.
Male genital mutilation
The seasonal deaths and mutilations have become predictable. This summer 43 boys have died in abominable conditions. Forty-three totally avoidable deaths! Why do we sustain a ritual that slaughters boys in the prime of their age and physically and mentally scars many others for life? The ritual was traditionally intended as educational institution to prepare boys for the responsibilities of manhood.
Nowadays excessive emphasis is placed on the circumcision itself and on physical ordeal, with much of the educational aspect being diminished. It fills me with deep sadness that it has become a ritual of ‘male genital mutilation’ that promotes male superiority.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer said that the test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children. Nelson Mandela used similar words: “there can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children...”
Traditional leadership
The incompetence and indifference of the traditional leaders is shocking. These self-proclaimed custodians of the ritual call for one ‘urgent meeting’ after the other. They fail to act: the only noticeable changes in their seasonal reports are the dates that differ. And because of their lack of involvement the ritual is managed by youngsters which, ironically, accelerates the erosion of traditional authority.
They place emphasis on minor problems seemingly outside their sphere of influence; such as illegal initiation schools, bogus traditional practitioners, and pre-existing medical conditions. They are quick to play the blame game and fail to address real issues.
They complain about being attacked when problems are exposed. Members of the House of Traditional Leaders demanded that I should delete my clinical photographs.
When I asked them to contribute to the training manual they simply refused, branding it as ‘pervert’. Meanwhile they fail to come up with solutions and no progress is made.
In Pondoland both Royal Houses were interested to integrate safe circumcision into the ritual, which would be performed by medical practitioners.
These plans were thwarted by a few local traditional chiefs, who were backed up by the Eastern Cape House of Traditional Leaders and by a delegate of Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi.
Their vigorous opposition to ‘modern’ or ‘western methods’ is remarkable -- seeing the catastrophic consequences of the crude traditional methods. More especially because certain traditional methods that were effective in safeguarding the health of initiates have been abandoned without evoking any resistance; such as frequent washing of instruments and hands, the use of leaves instead of plastic for the construction of the initiation school, and the use of animal skin as bandages.
Regrettably, many of the traditional cultural elements have also disappeared.
In a traditional leadership meeting at one of the Royal Places in Pondoland it was suggested that their wages would be docked if they failed to take greater responsibility for initiation schools in their areas. They responded immediately with loud protest. When a little later an amputee shared his personal experiences, they could not be bothered to listen and left one after one.
Reasons for publication
Winter 2012. Groups of young boys with white faces were brought out of a secret dark world into glaring hospital lights. Sunken eyes from dehydration, flaky skin from malnourishment, bagged eyes from sleep deprivation. Frequently you would smell the rotting when they were walking past. I spend many hours cleaning their wounds, trying to insert urinary catheters in their botched penis, battling to explain 17-year-olds that they had lost their manhood.
Together with a former traditional attendant we developed an outreach program. We visited initiation schools, attended numerous meetings with various stakeholders, did awareness campaigns in communities and schools, organized trainings, wrote a training manual, established community forums in each location around my hospital, etcetera.
Despite all our efforts, the winter season of 2013 was catastrophic. A total of 68 initiates were admitted in my wards, 8 of them being ‘amputees’. I felt I had no other choice then to lift the veil of secrecy and speak to the media.
Shortly afterwards, I received a notification of possible suspension for speaking to the media and for ‘compiling an unlawful book displaying private parts’ that had ‘brought the Department of Health into disrepute’. A fortnight later baby Ikho died in my hospital due to an oxygen stockout for which I filed an incident report. I was suspended the very next day.
After another few months of working with traditional leaders I came to realize that they are unlikely to make a positive change with respect to the ritual. After much deliberation I decided to prepare this website, to inform prospective initiates and the broader community about the dark secrets of the ritual. While it is regrettable that the disclosure of graphic details is needed it is my hope that this will effect change at last.
Conclusion
I pray for the community to rise up and urge their traditional leaders to take radical steps. Circumcision should never lead to death or mutilation. The crude traditional circumcision methods have to be replaced by circumcision performed by qualified medical practitioners, especially in Pondoland. Only this will put an immediate end to the predictable and avoidable initiation deaths and mutilations.
The complications will continue for as long as traditional leaders are looking away. More and more young boys will choose medical circumcision over the ritual, which will deprive them from what could have been a beautiful and valuable cultural experience.
It should be kept in mind that initiation is a wonderful opportunity to disseminate specific messages at such a crucial point in the life of an adolescent boy.
It has an immense potential in addressing societal problems, and I look forward to the contribution it can have in building our society. May God be with all of us.
===================
Also read: the boys who lost their manhood:
Dr Rijken:
"Doctors stitch circumcision wounds but traditional nurses usually don't – they use bandages. A good traditional nurse will bandage a penis in such a way that they will pull the penile skin up so that they reduce the wound effect [make the wound smaller]. If you've got a bad traditional surgeon, a good traditional nurse will be able to fix his mistakes. Unfortunately few traditional nurses in Pondoland have been properly trained," said Rijken. He and Dakwa have started to train traditional circumcisers in Pondoland at their own expense. "We include information on hygiene such as washing hands before circumcisions, using gloves and one blade or spear per initiate in order to prevent the transmission of infections such as HIV or hepatitis. We teach wound care and how to spot the early signs of infection.
"However, the most important thing is that they know they can call us when things go wrong," said Dakwa.
They plan to introduce "super" bomas in December. At these special tents, they'll integrate medical circumcision with initiation.
"If we get some schools to buy into this, it will be a start to break down cultural prejudice that prevents people from accessing medical help when needed," said Rijken.
http://mg.co.za/article/2013-08-16-00-the-boys-who-lost-their-manhood
↧