About Kikuyu Boy Child Circumcision - Irua
A physical, mental and spiritual ceremony marking the passage from boyhood to young man
The Riika Program is a Kikuyu Culture based Circumcision Rite of Passage Program. Boys between age 13 to 15 years undergo a 12-day program observing and fulfilling Kikuyu culture circumcision requirements, activities, rituals and ceremonies.
The program is based on the founder's belief that the Kikuyu boy child circumcision ritual ceremony is strictly a cultural affair.
However, for effective communication purposes, the program management, information, instructions and counsel to the candidates and initiates is all conducted in the English language. In an effort to accommodate all boys, and in recognition of the many intercultural families, the program also conducts a Multicultural Rite of Passage Program cohort.
In Kikuyu Culture, Irua is a physical, mental and spiritual ceremony (igongona) whereby a big boy (kĩhĩĩ) undergoes physical circumcision (cutting off the foreskin of his penis) to mark the transition from boyhood to a young man (mwanake). Circumcision is not optional in Kikuyu Culture for the boy child; he MUST get circumcised when he becomes of age (usually 13 - 15 years).
The circumcision rite of passage process is a common cultural practice among many cultures in Kenya, Africa and around the world, though it may be done for different reasons and seasons.
The Meaning and Kikuyu Cultural Belief in "Kũrua"
Kũrua (the Kikuyu verb for undergoing circumcision) is more than just the physical cut; kũrua kahiũ (to be circumcised with the knife). It is also kũrua ũmũ (to be "circumcised" in the mind and spirit). The outcome of the ceremony is not just the physical but also the mental and psychological transition into the journey of life as a "young man"; not a child any more.
Deeper into Kikuyu cultural spirituality, Kũrua (circumcision) is a blood ritual. When one sheds blood during circumcision, you are spiritually "linked" with ngomi (the spirits of your ancestry in "sleep") as the blood touches the soil (where ngomi are sleeping). When you die in Kikuyu culture, you are referred to as gone into "sleep" (gũ-koma, hence the adjective Ngomi). Kikuyu belief is that once you die, you continue to communicate in spirit with those you left in life, including "interceding" for them in prayers to Ngai - Mwene Nyaga (God). A circumcised man in Kikuyu Culture is therefore a man of God (Mũndũ wa Ngai).
Furthermore, in Gĩkũyũ cultural spirituality, an uncircumcised boy (kahĩĩ), or big boy (kĩhĩĩ), cannot be affected by any curses within the family, by virtue of the fact that they are not yet "connected" with Ngomi (which, as explained above, happens once you shed blood during circumcision). Consequently, once a boy gets circumcised, the Kikuyu believe you inherit all "the blessings" and in equal measure all "the curses" of your family ancestral lineage.
Kũrua is so deeply entrenched in Kikuyu culture that it is totally culturally unacceptable for an adult man to be uncircumcised in the community. There have been very many cases witnessed of grown-up men being circumcised by mobs in public when they are discovered to have "evaded" circumcision.
Kĩhĩĩ (the term used to refer to an uncircumcised big boy) is often used as a derogatory term to insult or "put down" a man. "You're behaving like a Kĩhĩĩ" is a very demeaning insult to a man in Kikuyu culture. In contrast, Kũrua, in Kikuyu metaphorical communication, is also often quoted as "Ndĩ Mũruu" (I am circumcised) to communicate "you are bold and fearless"; attributes you had to have to "face the knife".
Finally, and most importantly, is the psychological conviction of the initiates that by the act of getting circumcised, they have abandoned "childishness" and transitioned into a man of credible character in the society.
At the Kumĩra ceremony (graduation from the circumcision camp), the freshly circumcised young men "swear/vow" that they have stopped Wana (childishness), Ũrimũ (stupidity), and Ũhĩĩ (the foolishness of an uncircumcised big boy).