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By Nathan Musonda – SAR CVA Communications and Documentation Officer – July 2014

Re-entry of pupils in schools has increased in Lenkoane community, Berea district -Lesotho and seen a significant reduction in a number of boys and girls enrolling for initiation schools at wrong times. This is because the local community has advocated for revision of admission requirements to initiation ceremonies.

A lack of legislation stipulating a minimum age at which boys in Lesotho can attend an initiation school and be circumcised saw boys as young as 10 dropping out of school and heading for the mountains.

Boys desperate to be ‘men’, used to lie about their age or skipped medical examination because they were scared of missing out on the ritual and consequently not become ‘men’.

“Many children dropped out of school to enrol in initiation schools where they usually spent three to four months in the mountains, preparing to be circumcised and subsequently ushered into adulthood. After returning, they rarely continued with their education, because they culturally viewed themselves as men ready to practise what they had learnt and manage their own homes”, Sebutsoe Massello, a community member said.

During circumcision, a traditional healer pulls the foreskin over his thumb and severs it with a knife or razor blade. Often no anaesthetic is administered. The traditional healer’s hands are often unwashed. Prepared herbs are applied to the wound, which is then bandaged, sometimes so tightly that oxygen is cut off and an infection ensues. A traditional healer dresses the wound, often reusing razor blades and bandages on other boys.

A period of seclusion follows, lasting up to two months. For a week, the initiates cannot leave the camp.

Through Citizen Voice and Action (CVA), community members came together to discuss how they could enrol more children in schools, and sending them to initiation schools, at wrong times, was identified as a serious problem.

Community members were invited to discuss best strategies that could improve the welfare of their children. They created a CVA committee that was mandated to educate other community members more especially Traditional Leaders and Traditional Healers on the risks associated with children dropping out of school and subsequently being enrolled in initiation schools.

Following the formation of this committee, re-entry of pupils in schools has significantly increased and there is a corresponding manifest reduction in enrolment in initiation schools by both boys and girls.

Community members now ensure that before a child is enrolled in initiation schools, a duly issued birth certificate is produced as proof that he or she is above 18 years. Those that are of age and are still in school can only be initiated during school holidays.

Traditional healers - in charge of the boys in initiation schools are now part of the CVA committee and have collaborated with several communities in ensuring that persons wishing to enrol for initiation are above 18 years. They have also ensured that HIV tests are conducted, with the support from the Ministry of Health.

Tumisang Matlere, a traditional healer and one of the experts in initiation, says “No one under the age of 18 is allowed to join initiation schools … the practice of using one razor blade to circumcise several boys has been discontinued. In addition, we carry out HIV tests before enrolling any person into our schools,” Tumisang concluded.