The Flores Journey

Andy, Leigh, Claire, the two babies and I took a trip into Khayelitsha a couple of days ago to visit some of the young men and women there. We noticed that Mpepe, one of our friends from last year wasn’t anywhere to be seen. We asked about it and were very surprised with the answer.
The Xhosa people along with many of the other tribes of native South Africans in the area have a very interesting tradition that they observe. When a young man turns a certain age (late teens to early twenties) he is given the opportunity to “become a man”. That was exactly what our friend Mpepe was doing.
I asked to hear the story of one of the young men who had already done this, because I was very curious. He said that it was a very celebrated occasion in the community. Before he was taken into the wilderness the community gave him a party. They feasted on meat and other meals and danced and played music. He told me that He was led off into the wilderness by one or two of the elders in the village. They took him to a place in the wilderness where there weren’t any people and they constructed a shelter for him to stay in. He described the shelter as being constructed out of plastic and other makeshift items. During this time they circumcised the young man and left him there where he had to stay until he recovered. I was told that it took some of the young men several weeks, even a month for the healing to take place. The elders of the community would take turns coming out to the isolated location, where the young man was, to bring him small amounts of water and food. They weren’t allowed to eat anything for a few days and some were barely allowed to drink anything at all. This was all part of the tradition of becoming a man. “We were told that there are many poisonous snakes out in the wilderness and I was given a large stick in case anything came into my location.” Said the young man I was questioning. “For the first few nights I didn’t sleep at all. It’s fearful being alone in the wilderness in all that pain. With all the noises in the dark, who could possibly sleep. After I had been out there for so many nights in a row I just got used to it. I was too tired to care what could be out there, I had to sleep.” He continued, “For the first week I could barely get off the ground I was in so much pain. When wind or any sort of weather came in, I had to try and hold the shelter together. ” He smirked at that. I could tell he was reliving the experience that he had had.
When the boy comes back to the village, he is no longer a boy anymore. He is given much more respect in the community. When he speaks, he is listened to. His words carry much more weight in the community. If however, the individual doesn’t participate in this tradition and people in the community find out about it they are not given respect at all. In fact people from your own household, even your own children, don’t have to listen to you. I thought that was very interesting that he mentioned even their own kids will give them less respect if they don’t take part in this experience.
I have always been interested in surviving off the land. I had thought that this is what was required of them. However, it was mainly a circumcision that had taken place. I am very excited to talk with Mpepe when he comes back from the wilderness to get a fresh account of his story. I want to hear from him if he saw any wild animals during his trip or if the rain, which we have had recently, affected him at all. It seems like every day we encounter something new. The Xhosa people are a proud people. I am really enjoying getting to know who they are as a people, though I have only begun to learn. I pray every day that God will give me a love for the people and those I am working with. I don’t want to be a “sounding brass or clanging cymbal.” (1 Corinthians 13:1)
(Bryan)