John Manners thinks he can explain. He's a retired journalist who for a long time had a specialty in covering the exploits of African runners. Now he runs a nonprofit, KenSAP, that helps place academically gifted Kalenjin kids into Ivy League schools.
When Manners was 12 years old, he lived for a while in Kalenjin country, where his dad was an anthropologist. And as a boy, Manners noticed his friends had scars on their arms and legs where they'd burned themselves with hot coals.
The Initiation Ceremony
Manners soon learned that they were practicing for an initiation ceremony, a rite of passage that is all about enduring pain.
Elly Kipgogei, 19, remembers going through the ceremony at age 15.
First, he says, he had to crawl mostly naked through a tunnel of African stinging nettles. Then he was beaten on the bony part of the ankle, then his knuckles were squeezed together, and then the formic acid from the stinging nettle was wiped onto his genitals.
But all that was just warm-up; early one morning he was circumcised, with a sharp stick.
That is some bizzare stuff. meanwhile in okuyu all you needed is to ask to be take to the clinic for circumcision. My friend dad was a super rich. So one day he decided he was going to take any boy in his household that wanted to get cut to the clinic. my friend who was just 9 years asked to go with his elder brothers. the oldest was 12 years. They go into the clinic and his brother goes in. He sees peeps into the window and see what they deal was and took off and hid. his dad just go him a ride home and he waited for 3 more years.
Being cut in primary was a big thing. You joined the big boys toilets and smoking ring.
