Government, Ngos save the day for annual Shangaan circumcision rite

next month after Government and non governmental organisations offered food and other crucial consumables required for the programme.
The event has been in doubt after the community failed to mobilise food and other materials.
Shangaan leaders then appealed to Government and donor organisations for food assistance to carry them through the month -long camping periods prior to and after the actual circumcision ceremony.
Masvingo provincial Aids action committee co-ordinator, Mr Evos Makoni, yesterday said the circumcision of Shangaans was now going ahead next month.
“The programme is now going ahead and those that will undergo initiation will go into camps next month because some non governmental organisations and the government agreed to provide food assistance and other consumables needed to carry the programme forward and plans are now at an advanced stage in terms of preparation for the programme,'” he said.
Mr Makoni said that the inmates would undergo circumcision at five different centres to accommodate the high number of anticipated participants and also increase the surface area to make sure that all those who wanted to be circumcised would get the opportunity.
He added that some of the camps would be at Gezani, Sengwe, Save, Chilonga and Chikombedzi areas to make sure that all the candidates get a chance to be circumcised.
“We expect the programme to start end of July and run for one and half months with the inmates finally graduating in early September this year before schools open and we are very excited that the people of Chikombedzi will finally be able to go ahead with their programme, which is part of their culture that they treasure so much,” said Mr Makoni.
Besides playing a key role in reducing the chances of contracting HIV by about 60 percent, circumcision is also regarded as a cardinal sign of manhood amongst the mostly conservative Shangaans.