The Taita are a Coastal Bantu community inhabiting the majestic Taita Hills of Taita Taveta County, and who speak Kitaita/Kidawida. In Kitaita, rites of passage called kuchwa were part and parcel of community traditions.
The Taita initiation had two phases: circumcision and seclusion. Both boys and girls underwent the initiation. Circumcision was the first rite of passage, then the girls and boys went through a second initiation in their later years to transition them from childhood to adulthood.
Boys were circumcised between the ages of eight and twelve in a ceremony that took place at the boy’s homestead. The initiates were taken to a respectable clan called Mzi in Taita, where they would be circumcised. After the boys underwent the cut and were recuperating, a goat would be slaughtered, and celebration ensued.
Girls had a similar ritual done during infancy as the community believed that during childhood there was less bleeding and wounds healed faster.
Once the boys and girls were of age and ready to become adults, they underwent a second initiation where they would don the hats of adulthood. This initiation was called ngasu and mwari. It mainly consisted of a seclusion period where elders of the community taught the boys and girls the ways, and ‘secrets’ of the community.
Boys underwent ngasu while the girls’ training was called mwari. Besides learning about the ways of their community, they were taught about their roles in the home, and the community in general. Afterwards, the girls were considered ready for marriage while the boys were left until they expressed their desire for marriage.
Infant girls’ circumcision is no longer practised by the Taita. This is because it negatively impacts a girl’s reproductive health, education and general wellness. In addition, the transition of a majority of Taita people to Islam and Christianity shifted the prevalence of this cultural practice.
As for the boys, mzi has also been severely affected by the HIV/ AIDs pandemic, therefore, parents opt to have their children undergo the operation at a health facility.
*
Despite the contents within this story, we still advocate for the end of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) which has ended the lives of many women despite being a cultural practice.
*
Curious to know about other Taita rites? Here are their death rites.
#KeRites