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Debating manhood at Orange Farm

By Wilson Johwa

 

CATEGORIES: Fellows Blogs | Men and HIV | Circumcision

12 August 2010

At Orange Farm, a township outside Johannesburg, boys barely out of their teens, and fully grown men sit together in a queue as they wait to be circumcised.

Had I not arrived at 9am to find a fully formed queue of men - and boys - I would not have believed that this winter an average of just over 100 men and adolescents are circumcised every day. This is twice the average number recorded per day in summer.

While a few boys mill around the entrance, about eight are already in a communal counselling room, prior to seeing counsellors individually. The nurses are casually preparing the main surgery room, which has seven beds. They unwrap circumcision packs – each costing R140 and packed specially for the centre.

The other surgery, with two beds, is upstairs and is often used for older participants who require a little bit more privacy. The manager of the centre, Daniel Shabangu, tells me that the oldest participant they ever had was 68 years old. "He came with his son and we circumcised them together," Shabangu says.

Today, most of the participants are young, barely out of their teens. Some have come a long way, as far afield as Tembisa.

They all mention a desire for prevention against HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Clearly they are well counselled. George seems more honest, confessing to having had “drop” – a type of sexually transmitted disease.

Someone says it is better to do it here than in the mountains. I get a nod when I ask about whether enhanced sexual pleasure is among the reasons they are here. But Themba, a 24-year-old I catch on the steps on his way to the surgery upstairs, is the most forthcoming on this point. “It relaxes after circumcision, and may get bigger,” he says, in all seriousness.

Dirk Taljaard, co-founder of the centre, had told me that it appears many men come because deep down they had always wanted to circumcise, perhaps to complete the transformation into what they believe a man has to be. I wonder if deep down the belief in enhanced sexual performance is what drives many men to circumcise.

It is apparent that the large numbers at Orange Farm are due to any one or all of three reasons: there is no fee for the procedure. My visit is done during school holidays, and winter is not yet over. The belief that it is better to do it in winter survives. But Shabangu dismisses the assertion that healing is better in winter, saying this is not borne by evidence.

Being at Orange Farm, on a cold morning in winter left me with mixed feelings and a strong appreciation of just how complex male circumcision is. Each man is here on his own free will. Each is here for his own reason, informed by myth or reality. It is hard fathom what male circumcision actually means to everybody aside from offering protection against HIV and STIs.

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