Come on people, It's pointless some of you getting on your high horses, bashing the doctor on this forum, and judging practices and the AIDs pandemic from your 1st world reference points.
I live in Africa and grew up as a young lad on a farm in Northern Zululand. Although I would be classified as belonging to the white race group, I consider myself a WHITE AFRICAN. My ancestors sailed to Africa 200 years ago from Europe, some took black women to be their brides, and others married women from Europe.
In the Zulu tradition it is still customary practice to pay for your bride / buy her from her parents for the equivalent of 10 ~ 20 head of cattle.
Traditional Zulu men's Wealth / status is measured by how many wives you have, AND HOW MANY CHILDREN YOU FATHER. Our county's prime minister, President Zuma has just taken his 5th bride, and is most proud of his achievement, and I'm told, has his sight on another bride.
Because children are an indicator of wealth or potential wealth, it is very common for an African Zulu woman to fall pregnant by her lover, to prove her fertility.
The introduction of white Christian missionaries a few hundred years ago, introduced to the Zulu culture, the idea of monogamy, as well as other things like the wheel.
The wheel was a rip roaring success, but monogamy was not.
Circumcision in many African regions is NOT routinely performed on infant males, but is a rite of passage into adulthood. The teenage boys have it very tough during their period of training to be a man, and they proudly and WILLFULLY proceed with the circ ceremony. For eternity this ritual has been performed in very remote and rural areas. No shelter, No running water, No bandages, No proper surgical tools, totally inadequate hygene, AND ABSOLUTELY NO OUTWARD SIGNS OF PAIN, NO CRYING OR COMPLAINING.
Modern doctors are encouraging safer methods of performing this ritual.
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Circumcision seems to be mandatory for certain tribes, but not for others.
We have HIV awareness campaigns on TV, RADIO, PRESS, BILLBOARDS. However there is a very strong denial that HIV exits, and certain groups of the population are dying like flies. The funerals at weekends line up at cemeteries. Our province of Kwa Zulu Natal, is said to have the highest HIV infection rate in the world. CONSERVATIVE ESTIMATION IS 42% AND CLIMBING.
This means statistically in every mini bus people transporter, there will be 5 or 6 HIV + passengers.
There are complete villages devoid of people altogether / inhabited by babies and children up to 12 and very old people. All of the productive adults have MYSTERIOUSLY died.
It is thought by medics, (who are working mostly for free as volunteers through international health organizations.) that the uncircumcised penis, sometimes traps vaginal fluid under the foreskin. The longer HIV+ fluids are in contact with the fragile mucous membranes of the penis, the more chance there could be of HIV transmission.
Condoms dished out by the health department are not popular at all. 1) Size is said to be too small. 2) A white coloured condom does not look at all kewel or hip worn on a brown coloured penis.
I had the very difficult task of translating to a young Zulu man, who is employed by me, that he is HIV +
This Zulu man and I are very close - we work together as a team, and because I care a great deal about him and his future, will do everything possible to prolong his good health.
So in closing, if circumcision in the adult male population makes the circ'd penis skin tougher and prevents female to male transmission by even 1% then several thousand lives would have been saved, and several thousand less AIDs orphans will be on this planet.
Millions of beautiful children are born and are growing up without adult supervision, proper infrastructure, without family unity, love and nurturing.
Will these AIDs orphans become sociopaths, and a threat to society in the next generation?
White passionately African, living on the Eastcoast of Southern Africa.
Tom Durban
