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Olufuko The initiation ceremony, called Olufuko, normally marks the final passage from childhood to adulthood and focuses heavily on preparing a young girl for her future role as a wife and mother. The official ceremony, which lasts about seven days, although pre-ritual preparations can take up to six months, is also a event to publically announce to the community that the girl has adopted the stature of a woman full of dignity and grace and is eligible for marriage. Olufuko arose from the deep-rooted Ovawambo traditional belief that a woman is born with a curse hanging over her and unless ‘cleansed’ by undergoing an initiation rite, she is prone to childbirth before marriage or the inability to conceive after marriage. When a mother feels her daughter is ready for Olufuko, she approaches her husband, and, only when he consents, do the pre-ritual preparations begin. Although a girl can refuse Olufuko, it is traditionally frowned upon to decline and in so doing she has placed a curse and shame on her family. An initiation rite amongst the Ovawambo that had effectively gone underground and was practiced mostly in secret because of opposition from the ELCIN church has gone public again in somewhat modernised form. Olufuko is a traditional process rites of passage for girls entering womanhood. Over the years these ceremonies have been carried out by the Ovawambo ethnic group. It gathers young women who are then prepared for future roles as wife and mother. Different traditional activities are carried out by the young girls, from cooking to ethics of a wife towards her family. This stage marks the Olufuko, whereby now the young girl is declared an adult and ready to get married. The Olufuko ceremony lasts about seven days, however the preparation take as much as six months.

Origin The Olufuko Tradition comes from a depth believe that Women are born with a curse hanging on their back and that it should be cleansed before they marry. This belief has resulted into the traditional initiation rite. The woman's parent approach her "to be" husband and the pre-ritual preparation begin after the Husband's consent. The Women can however refuse "Olufuko" but she could be outcasted from the family as she may be potrayed as a cursed person and has embarrased her family with shame. In recent times, most of the Ovawambo tribes have been performing this rituals secretly. This is perhads due to the modern norms of the society. This tradition has long died in the Ovawambo communityOver decades, the culturally rich Ovawambo tribes have conducted traditional initiation ceremonies as rites of passage for girls entering womanhood. The initiation ceremony, called Olufuko, normally marks the final passage from childhood to adulthood and focuses heavily on preparing a young girl for her future role as a wife and mother. The official ceremony, which lasts about seven days, although pre-ritual preparations can take up to six months, is also a event to publically announce to the community that the girl has adopted the stature of a woman full of dignity and grace and is eligible for marriage. Olufuko arose from the deep-rooted Ovawambo traditional belief that a woman is born with a curse hanging over her and unless ‘cleansed’ by undergoing an initiation rite, she is prone to childbirth before marriage or the inability to conceive after marriage. When a mother feels her daughter is ready for Olufuko, she approaches her husband, and, only when he consents, do the pre-ritual preparations begin. Although a girl can refuse Olufuko, it is traditionally frowned upon to decline and in so doing she has placed a curse and shame on her family.

It is therefore no surprise that the importance of Olufuko, practiced mainly amongst the Uukwambi, Ombalantu, Ombandja, Okalongo, Uukwaluudhi, Uukolonkadhi and Ongandjera tribes, is emphasised from the onset and girls are made to believe from an early age that the initiation rite can only bring prosperity and wealth. On the first day of initiation, a ritual called Ekoho takes place in which the young bride prepares the homestead by starting a fireplace and the elders dress her in beautiful hand-made beaded jewellery and plait her hair with long braids to attract the opposite sex.

On the second and third days, called Omakunde and Okambadjona respectively, the young bride’s father and mother slaughter cows to celebrate their daughter’s transition into womanhood. The fourth day, known as Efundula, marks the commencement of festivities and the young brides are paraded to the community as well as eligible bachelors who express interest by placing a bracelet on the wrist of the girl of their choice. If she is not interested in the proposal, the girl removes the bracelet and can leave the initiation ceremony without a potential husband. In the event that a girl keeps on the bracelet of a suitor, the man is traditionally required to go to her parent’s homestead after initiation to formally ask for her hand in marriage.

Although the ceremony is not restricted to virgin brides, it is restricted to childless girls and during Efundula a girl is expected to do physical labour like pound mahangu to prove she is not pregnant. On day five, a ritual called Epitoletando is performed in which each young bride walks half naked around the homestead at sunset next to a young boy, generally under the age of 13, who represents a groom. The brides are paired with younger boys, who unlike older boys, pose no immediate threat and cannot take advantage of them.

On the sixth and seventh day, called Ondjibulula onene and Okandjibulula respectively, the girls remove their decorative jewellery and the skin dye smeared on their skin during the first day of initiation is removed with traditional porridge. On the last day, each girl is also given a different hairstyle by pulling her hair back as a symbol of maturity and adulthood. She then leaves the homestead where the initiation process took place and heads back to her home where her past carefree childhood ways become a thing of the past. Reviving Olufuko

Olufuko, which, contrary to popular belief, never died out but was instead practiced in secrecy amongst traditional families in mostly the Omusati Region, has over the years modified its practices to fit into the modern society which largely emphasizes human rights. Virginity testing and outdated initiation rituals that women had to go through in the past to prove that they are virgins have been done away with in keeping with social norms. It was, however, the knowledge of the initiation rite being performed behind closed doors that triggered the idea for the Outapi Town Council to reintroduce Olufuko on a public platform to attract visitors to the Omusati Region. Shortly after the announcement to revive Olufuka, human rights leaders and the ELCIN church condemned the ceremony, dubbing it as unchristian and called upon its members to distance themselves from the festival. The criticism of the event from religious leaders had a devastating impact for the organisers.

Although the organisers of the Olufuko Cultural Festival initially received 30 applications, the number slowly dwindled down to 12 as families slowly withdrew in fear of becoming church outcasts. The organiser of the festivalclaims the girls taking part in the ceremony – the youngest aged 14 and the oldest 26 – were required to sign consent forms with their parents.

Namakalu added that despite the storm of criticism, he strongly believes that Olufuko has its place in modern society and the ancient African female initiation ceremony can co-exist with religion. “People want to abolish Olufuko, but I’m of the opinion it has its place in today’s society. The problem we have now is that people are still practicing Olufuko but shy away from church leaders by performing it in Angola or in secrecy.”

”Instead of banning it, we should embrace our cultural roots and work together to adjust Olufuko so that it fits into the modern world of religion and human rights,” said Namakalu, then an organizer of the Olufuko Festival.

Reference

http://assignment-andorra.oc-npw.com/services www.namibian.com.na/news/.../group-wants-olufuko-criminalised/ www.namibiansun.com/.../understanding-‘modern-day’-olufuko www.outapitc.org.na/about_olufuko.html