Xhosa Boys Go Through Manhood Rituals

TSHATSHU, SOUTH AFRICA - AUGUST 20: Xhosa boys keeping warm next to an open fire as they go through a traditional manhood ceremony on August 20, 2000 in Tshatshu, in the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa. The ceremony lasts for about six weeks starting with a circumcision. The wound has to be healed in a natural way and the boys are guided by traditional healers and elders during the ceremony, which is to prepare them for adulthood. Former South Africa president Nelson Mandela went trough the same ceremony when he was young. The last years has seen an increase in botched circumcisions because some operators of initiation schools use unsanitary equipment and the risk of being infected with HIV. (Photo by Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images)