In Bungoma, a remote region of western Kenya, members of the Bukusa group of the Luhya tribe have a tradition each August when boys are finally seen as men.
The youngsters, all under the age of 16, dive into a cold river in preparation for their circumcision ceremony, the operation which is conducted without recourse to anaesthetics or any alcohol.
The night before the ceremony, a male family member must slaughter a cow and dress the youngster in a chunk of the meat to announce that he may proceed with the ceremony.
After diving into the lake for a few minutes, the boy must emerge and undergo the circumcision procedure without flinching.
The Bukusa sub-tribe is one community to continue this ancient, if someone barbaric tradition.
The teenagers must immerse themselves in the cold river passing through Bungoma in western Kenya before they undergo their own circumcision ceremony .
The boy is taken from the river to the centre of the village, in front of the entire community where his uncle dresses him in a slab of dead cow slaughtered for the day.
The teenager is paraded through the village wearing a piece of dead cow, slaughtered by his uncle in preparation for his own circumcision ceremony in Kenya
An elder member of the village community covers each of the youngsters in mud in before the ancient ritual can proceed any further
As part of the ritual, the teenager from the western region of Bungoma, Kenya, is smeared in mud as the ceremony approaches its barbaric finale
Once the mud is dry, the boys are paraded through the streets of the village before the entire community before they are finally cut with everyone watching
Moments after he is circumcised, the young teenager is given a blanket as he recovers from his ordeal before his entire community
Eventually the boy is returned home where the man who circumcised him checks on his work and assesses whether the procedure was a success
Following the ceremony, the youngster sits on some leaves while his parents rest on the only two chairs of the family's home in Bungoma, Kenya
The teenager is paraded through the village wearing a piece of dead cow, slaughtered by his uncle in preparation for his own circumcision ceremony in Kenya
An elder member of the village community covers each of the youngsters in mud in before the ancient ritual can proceed any further
As part of the ritual, the teenager from the western region of Bungoma, Kenya, is smeared in mud as the ceremony approaches its barbaric finale
Once the mud is dry, the boys are paraded through the streets of the village before the entire community before they are finally cut with everyone watching
Moments after he is circumcised, the young teenager is given a blanket as he recovers from his ordeal before his entire community
Eventually the boy is returned home where the man who circumcised him checks on his work and assesses whether the procedure was a success
Following the ceremony, the youngster sits on some leaves while his parents rest on the only two chairs of the family's home in Bungoma, Kenya
In this modern time?
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