Let’s use the ‘Bondo society’ to empower girls

It was a cold and dry harmatan morning of December in the early 90s. I was too young to be initiated into Sierra Leone’s ‘Bondo society’. This female only society is responsible for ritual female circumcision. It is believed to mark the beginning of age of young girls; a rite de passage from childhood to adulthood.

It was my elder siblings and cousins turn to become women. I was spared, at least at this time. They had been gone for three days to a village just outside Freetown.

Mama had decided I should escort her to the village to meet the new initiates (Bondo shamers). I had missed the noise in the house. Our home had been quiet since they left. Neighbours had been coming over asking for the ‘shamers’ and how they were fairing on at the ‘bondo bush’. We board the ‘poda poda’ (mini bus) on Goderich street in central Freetown. It was my first ride via that route. The drivers and apprentices had been shouting ‘waterloo’ ‘waterloo’, indicating the town where the bus will terminate.

We got off at Rokel village and had a long walk, through stony, dusty road, bushes with stuck out branches, to a house made of mud, thatch and rafters. I carried the basket full of provisions; milk, sugar, tea, ovaltine etc. As we got to what is meant to be the living room which looked like one of our local football field in Kingtom where we lived. The palour had benches neatly stretched out in a circle and a grass mattress at one edge of the room.

I watched as one by one the ‘shamers’ emerged from their bedroom, about seven of them in one room. They looked thin. They no longer shared the cheerful and playful smile they used to. Too many thoughts on my head. Why were they not walking normally like they did before? Why did they look pale? Even Mama didn’t look happier. But like all Moms, she had to pull that smile of courage and assurance that everything was going to be alright.

I spent the day with the ‘shamers’, talking, joking even though we were warned to be physically cautious. I also went with them on brisk walk to the fruit garden. We collected oranges, some bananas and plums. We made a delicious fruit salad.

At night, a lamp placed at the centre of the living room. There was no electricity. They sat in a row with feet stretched forward while the oldest of the initiators organised a singing session. They sang in the Temne and in Mende languages. It was great fun but not fun enough to override the excruciating physical and psychological pain the initiates were enduring.

As a first sign of attaining adulthood in the bondo society, a girl is nurtured to hold back her tears and any other show of agony; a symbol of her strength as a woman. This also brings home the moral that pain is part of a woman’s life; from menstrual pain, labour pain and child rearing. Pain is depicted as a strong sensation placed to mark the change from childhood to adulthood. Hence the bondo society initiation process involving circumcision ‘culturizes’ pain. I hold an indifferent view on this acculturation of pain on girls. I also believe by reimagining this society, restructuring it, it can become a powerful force for the empowerment of girls and women in Sierra Leone.

While it has been argued that the symbolic power of the society itself binds women together and gives them collective power, recognition and value within the male view, it is intrinsically clear that the current status of Sierra Leonean women does not give credence to such submission. The struggle to take political office, challenge negative societal norms/traditions, high rate of sexual violence/rape, high teen pregnancy, high maternal mortality makes the bondo society less significance to the value of womanhood in Sierra Leone.

For instance, in 2013, 36% of all pregnancies in the country was among adolescent girls while teenagers accounted for 40% of maternal deaths. A 2008 national health and demographic survey revealed that 1.7% of women compared to 1.2% of men in Sierra Leone were HIV positive. While in 2012, the Sierra Leone Family Support Unit (FSU) reported a total of 1,923 domestic violence cases in the Western area while in 2013 the number rose to 2,073. In 2014, a total of 11, 358 cases of child sexual abuse, domestic violence and rape against women and girls were recorded. The FSU also records a total of 2,201 reported sexual assaults in 2014, a rise from 1,485 in 2013. How do we change these horrifying statistics? How do we confront the issues embedded? What tools do we need to end this menace? And most importantly, where do we start?

The significance of the bondo society has over time been reduced to the sole purpose of circumcising girls and women; a process that is widely condemned by rights activists. A practice that is fundamentally disempowering. Yet, female circumcision is widely practiced in Sierra Leone with a 94% prevalence rate.

To expands it social and cultural importance, I will suggest that excision is removed and replaced with other important elements that will benefit girls for lifetime. It has been argued that initiators continue the act because of the financial benefits. Many initiators do so as a trade that has been transferred from one generation to the other thus it is common to hear initiators saying ‘my grandmother or my mother passed the blye on to me’, meaning she learned the act of circumcising girls from her grandmother or mother. By developing the initiation process into a traditional training course, initiators financial benefits will not be affected.

I will describe the initiation as a short course for girls transiting from girlhood to womanhood. The course could last for two or three weeks.

The training could involve: Business techniques; How to enter and survive the constantly changing business environment.

Political skills; basic skills on how to enter politics as a woman, challenges and how to overcome them, where to seek support and further political empowerment for women.

Skills in our indigenous creative industry; Sierra Leonean arts/culture, history, values, morals and food. This is an often ignored area especially for women. The attraction to foreign media has made it possible for girls in Sierra Leone to care about any cultural values and morals but Sierra Leone. Knowing and appreciating our values, morals, history and tradition is crucial in boosting self-esteem, creating a sense of pride and true patriotism.

Physical and mental wellbeing; girls need to be taught this as it is crucial for a life time of healthy mind and body. It is particularly important as the Family life and sexual health education no longer exist in the school syllabus. The bondo society could be the space to teach this as the general trust is that girls would not be taught the wrong sexual lesson.

I strongly believe after such powerful training, girls will come out stronger and empowered as women ready to face the challenges ahead and embrace success. Instead of cutting a part of their body and disempowering them, empower them with lifelong skills that will earn them a successful future. Let girls understand that they are no lesser persons to their male counterparts.

How I wish such skills training would have replaced the pain, paleness and despair I saw in my siblings and cousins eyes at that bondo bush in Rokel village. I am sure they could have had an even momentous time together, filled with great memory, insights, knowledge, entertainment and of course empowerment.