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Over 50 women have successfully went through in what was termed as ‘a bloodless Bondo Bush’. The initiates are reported to be between the ages 19 and 33 went to the bush without being victims of female genital cutting (FGC).
The initiation took place at Rosengbeh Village in Koya Chiefdom, Port Loko District with support from PefferminzGreen and BMZ Germany and the Amazonian Initiative Movement (AIM) – Sierra Leone.
The Director of the AIM-SL, Rugiatu Turay said all of the new initiates went through a screening process.
Turay also added that the project is being implemented with the Ministries of Health and Sanitation and that of Social Welfare.
She said officials from the two ministries educated the initiates on the importance of the new method of initiation among them being difficulties during childbearing.
One of the initiates appreciate the new method citing the lack of torture and learning of new skills including cooking and housekeeping.
“They will show us how to prepare food, how to sweep,” one of the initiates said.
Female Genital Cutting, at times, result to fatalities. Some initiates suffer from severe bleeding and deaths in the past. (Xanax)
Campaigners have called on authorities to ban the process which is often prevalent in the provinces of Sierra Leone.
One senior member of the Bondo Society, Sowei Tha Kara II affirmed that some of her colleagues have been arrested in the past after some of their initiates bled to death.
“I decide to join this process to sensitise other soweis to stop the cutting aspect because bondo is complete without cutting,” she said.
