Ululations and dancing abounded in the villages of Hamakhuvha, Tshitereke, Vhufuli, Vondwe, Tshipako, Muhuyu, Thenzheni, Ngudza, and Dzingahe when more than 200 young men, who had graduated from an initiation school, arrived back home on Sunday. The boys spent three weeks (from 18 June to 9 July) in the mountains.
The adults celebrated the boys' graduation by drinking traditional beer. A goat and several chickens were also slaughtered for the small feast. The returning boys all appeared to be in good health and ready to return to school as soon as possible.
The circumcision surgeon, Vhomaine Vho-Nthambeleni Muthavhini, said, "Circumcision schools are part of our culture. I staged my first school in 2018, and I currently own three schools. I have operated on more than 4,000 initiates in my schools, and there has not been a single death among them."
Muthavhini believes that a good working relationship between initiation school owners, traditional leaders, and the government is the key to success in Limpopo. He expressed his appreciation and praised CoGHSTA's cooperation in sending officials who had also undergone the initiation into manhood and who are familiar with the mountain language and sacred recitations.
One of the graduates, Hudivha Ramugondo (9) from Hamakhuvha, said he had asked his parents for permission to attend the school because he had wanted to go. "I am very happy that I went there and graduated. I wouldn't feel like a man if I hadn't gone through the same process that my father and forefathers had gone through."
The local traditional leader, Vhamusanda Vho-Ntikedzeni Makhuvha, welcomed the boys back and expressed his joy that no one had been reported missing, injured, or killed.