User:Klaudia.Magongo

Olufuko festival in Ombalantu, Namibia


Olufuko is a cultural practice among the Oshiwambo in the north-western Namibian. Helvy Shaanika(2012:12)remarks that 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 at risk of not conceiving after marriage. Thus, I argue that Olufuko is like what an anthropologist Victor Turner (1975) termed rite of passage, which is defined as event that marks a person's progress from one status to another. Thus, Rites of passage are often ceremonies surrounding events such as other milestones within puberty, coming of age, marriage and death Shirungu 2010:52. Hence, Nashuuta (2012:14) argues, that 80 years ago Olufuko was carried out privately among the ovawambo communities, after it was banned by Christian authorities. She shows that the name Olufuko came from the word ‘’Okufukala” which means to go through traditional wedding ceremony.

However, his ritual was revived In August which show cased women dressed in attractive hand-made traditional jewellery and animal hides and dresses like Odelelela.As such, more than ten young girls aged between 16 and 19 years took part in the Olufuko ceremony. The ceremony includes pregnancy testing. Making sure a bride is not pregnant while going through the process is vital and it’s done when a bride is asked to physically work in order to prove that she is not pregnant. Other activities include pounding grain such as mahangu and sorghum during the day. According to the beliefs, if the girl vomits, then she is pregnant. She is disqualified from the rituals if she found to be pregnant.

Reference

 * 1) Helvy Shaanika (2012) Olufuko festival ends on positive note, New Era Publications.
 * 2) Lahja Nashuuta (2012) Olufuko Namibia’s Own Reed Dance, The southern times.
 * 3) Shirungu Michael (2010) Cultural and social factors impacting on the programme to prevent mother-to-child- transmission of HIV in Namibia. A case study of the Kavango region.
 * 4) Victor tuner (1967) the forest of symbols, aspect of ndembu Rituals, New York, cornell University press.