Male Circumcision- *WARNING* explicit content

*WARNING* some of the content is very graphic- please view at your own risk. So, this tradition is unique to only 2 tribes in the eastern region of Uganda. It occurs once every 2 years and one is not considered a man until the ritual is completed. Those who participate are to stay awake for 2 days time and parade around the town. They are then lined up and a surgeon cuts off the foreskin without the patient taking any painkillers. If the boy makes a sound or any facial expressions he is not a man and is out casted from his family. The boys do this in front of a large group of people. It is also interesting to note that if the surgeon misses and slices off anything that the boy wanted to keep or hinders his ability to have children the surgeon will face a mob justice killing. I have heard that there have been instances that the child has lost the ability to reproduce from the way he was cut and so the parents killed the surgeon; I mean after all, what good is a man if he can’t make more children. So there is a lot of pressure on the ones cutting as well. Also, once the boy is cut, he is given a house and land to start his own family (regardless of age). So a 8 year boy is expected to find a wife and reproduce just as an 18 boy is. I must say, it was a truly amazing moment to be caught up in the utter chaos of the festivity. All the men were rip roaring drunk and spitting an oatmeal home brew all over one another as a ceremonial right of passage; the women were dancing nonstop as if they had not a bone in their body; and everyone was jumping and shouting in excitement. After the cutting, the crowd broke up a little and the father of the youngest boy came forward and kissed him on the forehead. I don’t think I have ever seen a man so visual proud of his son than in that moment.
Also, those who are cut are not allowed to feed themselves or do anything really. They are waited on hand and foot- all food and drink given to them by their family members until they are ‘healed’. It was an amazing thing to witness but very intense.