African continent Essay

My friend came from the African continent, we had shared a lot since we had met in high school and she had always told me stories of her country, most of the stories sounded interestingly and I knew deep down in my heart that it would be a place I would want to visit probably for adventure purposes. It was one of the school holidays when she had been preparing to go back home for an event that was important to her and her clansmen. She had told me that it would be great event and that I was welcome to attend, then event was supposed to go for a week. I was hesitant at first because I knew that I would a lot of money for my transport and accommodation but still really needed to go for an adventure. I thought about it for about six months and I approaching my parents to see if they could finance me. It took a few days when at last they both asked me how safe I would being that far from home. My dad had wondered how safe Africa could be and especially for someone like me who had never been there before. When I convinced them that my friend would take care of me and always give me company they granted my wish! I remember having sat next to my friend in the plane leaving for Nairobi with a lot of anxiety, many imaginations but soon feel asleep since the journey was a long one. We flew for many hours and eventually got to land in the large airport that was filled with peoples movements. We walked out through the arrivals exit and I followed my friends who led me to a huge group of people who I came to learn later that they were her relatives. We put our bags onto a car, entered and were driven off. We then reached to her parents’ home and for sure I could see that it was full of people, my friend told me that the main event was going to take place the following day and that is the reason there were so many people to do the preparation. We were walked through the people as we shook their hands a way of greeting in many parts of Africa. I was shown the room that I would spend my nights which was well lit and next to where my friend was to occupy. The next morning we were woken up very early, I had lost truck of time and I kept trying to figure out and adjust to the time zones. I had told that this day marked a very important transition period to the age group; it was their initiation day! That the process takes a week, which all the initiates had been sent away from home to the wild for months! When the right time reached I saw a parade of many young looking people all in traditional attires, they looked so wonderful! They had colors on their heads and funny slipper- like shoes. There was a lot of singing and dancing, ooh it was wonderful! The main ceremony/initiation process was to start at 4. 30 in the morning and it was a circumcision ceremony. Very old people were to perform the act, the initiates were many and that the process as painful as it is they do not administer anesthesia this way they rate the initiate who undergoes the whole process without any sign of fear or pain as the bravest one. Now I realized at some point that some girls I had seen at the parade were also waiting to undergo the same procedure! I couldn’t believe it, how could a society be so cruel? How could anyone want to mutilate the genitals of a female? I kept asking my friend and I was in total dismay! She kept telling me that it is the society way of intiating the girl child from childhood to adulthood. But I wondered why through such a cruel act? Can’t there be anyone who can stand against it and educate this society the health damages associated? I then observed that the same razor blades were used on all the initiates and at this point I made up my mind that I was not going to leave this place having not conveyed my dismay to the few people who would care to listen. There was so much tension as the process took place, much tension from the parents of the initiates because if anyone cried or screamed during the process they could be left alone and the whole society would treat such a person as a coward. Every time the operation went well there would be ululations in high voices. The few times the operation didn’t go smoothly there would kicks and blows it was so cruel. That whole event challenged me to try and convince the people there how wrong it was to use the same blades, the dangers of HIV and AIDS associated to sharing such items, the health problems associated to Female Genital Mutilation and for sure I was met with hostility but with time since it sank down in some people and they began to see the truth of the matter. Well, I got the contacts of those I found to be reasonable and I have continued to having communication with them, trying to educate them on these matters but the response is slow and I don’t think I will give up even if it takes my life time to have spread this word.