Let me address a misconception that has been peddled by one Dr Peggy Gabo Ntseane in her article titled (Cultural Dimensions of Sexuality: Empowerment Challenges for HIV/AIDS Prevention in Botswana (2004). www.unesco.org/education/uie/pdf/
“The Baherero ethnic group have a
unique sexual practice traditionally associated with the belief that ‘for every
member of the clan who dies, there must be Otusira or ‘replacement.’ The night before a burial there will
be an all night memorial service at the bereaved family’s home to thank the
ancestors’ spirits for the life of the deceased and to request for a
replacement. However, while the all night service is on, an identified small
group of girls from the extended family of the deceased will be available for
unprotected sexual encounters with relevant extended-family male members. This
is done with the hope that one of the girls will conceive to replace the deceased.”
The
nation and the world at large is informed that this information is unfounded
and malicious in nature. To set the record straight Otusira is not a translation of ‘replacement’ as the author
contends, instead Otusira is a plural
of Orusira which means ‘a mosquito
net’ as far as I understand my mother language. One can go in his or her wildest
expectation to think that Otusira is
a true translation of ‘replacement’ only if he/she is informed by the desire to
derogate the group in question. Otusira/Orusira
was used as camping suit to provide accommodation at the funeral given that our
funerals are held in rural areas. The article in question was an opinion piece
and not founded on evidence provided for scholarly examination. Surprisingly Dr
Peggy Gabo Ntseane as she would prefer to be addressed never went to any of our
funerals to witness the event given the fact that she is a seasoned researcher
who understand the ethics of research. We have our people dying fortnightly;
doing that would not harm her any how since she never indicated that such
sexual activities are conducted in clandestine forums. In fact witnessing that
would add value to her chauvinistic article had she had an intention to be professional.
Dr
Ntseane must understand that our culture has never practiced such activities
before and will not practice that in the near future. We are a people of
integrity and dignity; that is why we have worked so hard to protect our
culture in an environment that was not conducive for its survival. In that we
will not let unfounded and malicious allegations reverse our courage. We have
gone through many trials and tribulations, some of them so atrocious for the
conscience of humanity, through stereotypes meant to belittle us but we managed
to emerge. In the modern world our children have gone to school and learned
everything accorded to every student including HIV/AIDS education. To say that
our youth engage in the so called practice of Otusira is a direct insult to efforts made by the government to
educate us up to at least the JC (form 3) level.
Research
ethics discourage unethical and unsound researches characterized by fabrication
and falsification. Given the pure fact that Dr Ntseane is a seasoned
researcher, I find it cynically impudent for her to produce and take pride in a
research which reflects the views of two people whom she did not even bother to
acknowledge for their input. Cultural issues are sensitive in nature and require
due diligence especially on sexual matter. The Dr in question never expressed
such diligence given the fact that her sources on the Ovaherero issue are just
two girls (out of about 20 000 Herero in Botswana) whom I suspect were sourced
from the peripheries to suit her pre-meditated conclusion. Her research would
perhaps hold more water if she included elders as they are rightful authorities
to speak on behalf of culture. In my view when conducting the so called
research she had a pre determined conclusion or stereotype that forced her to
fabricate and peddle lies that she presented to the world in writing and orally
in Thailand. This hypothesis is based on the fact that two girls can make a
culture or a practice by two can not be declared cultural. Anyone with a
critical mind can witness this in paragraph three where she states the
following:
“Another finding from this ethnic
group is that one message from the traditional sex education emphasized during
traditional religious ceremonies is that HIV/AIDS is incurable because it does
not originate from their culture. It is also stressed that sexual activities
should be confined to the ethnic group because traditional medicine,
spirituality and spirits of the deceased ancestor’s blessings are in place to
prevent and cure sexually transmitted disease. As one female youth put it, “we
are told by our grand parents and male
sex partners that sex from Moherero to Moherero should be unprotected because
you can not be infected with the HIV
virus.” In agreement another said: “In the urban areas we
use condoms with boyfriends from other ethnic groups but with a Moherero
boyfriend or cousins in Namibia I
enjoy real sex because they will not accept a condom.”
To set the record straight sex educations never
suffice at our traditional religious ceremonies unless the author saw them in
the cloud of cuckoo land. Our traditional religious ceremonies signal the
commemoration of our fore fathers and war veterans not the fabricated barbaric
sexual ceremonies as the Dr in question suggest. We are also not in possession
of any traditional medicine or spirits that cure STIs except only for
circumcision that has been scientifically proved to reduce the risk of HIV
infection by about 60 percent in men. Of late assistant minister of health Hon.
Gaotlhaetse Matlhabaphiri applauded our people or air for low HIV prevalence
due to our cultural practice of circumcision at least Dr Peggy Gabo Ntseane
would have alluded to that as an ethical researcher. All that the Dr in question
presented was a bunch of unprecedented set of lies informed by the spirit and
desire to derogate the ‘other’. For the last bolded part which I am even
ashamed to quote, I want to inform the public that as a people we recognize the
significance of condom use and we understand the implications of unprotected
heterosexual intercourse both in Botswana and Namibia.
Publications of this nature suggest adverse
intellectual pestilence requiring the attention of intellectual sanatoriums.
They are a true reflection of tribalism in its systematic and cosmetic form.
The proponent of these publications systematically chose to insult the
disadvantaged, vulnerable and excluded groups based on the assumption that they
are ill-equipped to rebut such publications. This approach is evident in Joseph
Conrad’s book (Heart of Darkness, 1792) in which he portrayed Africans as savages
with no language other than grunts and with no "other occupations besides
merging into the evil forest or materializing out of it simply to plague. In
the article in question the Ovaherero/Baherero are portrayed as savages with no
regard to modernity and sexual morality peddled by their desire to conceive as
many children as possible, in that they are oblivious of the implications of
voracious unprotected heterosexual proclivities.
The
Ovaherero/Baherero are here to stay and stay
they will even if the learned try by all means to shake them off their firm
cultural ground. It is clearly evident that those who lack the understanding of
our culture will choose to drag it on the mud and spat on it as they please but
they should be warned that truth will prevail over their evil endeavors and we
will remain attached to our culture as we did before.
*This article also appeared on Sunday Standard Newspaper on 19-04-2012 under the tittle "
*This article also appeared on Sunday Standard Newspaper on 19-04-2012 under the tittle "
A blatant deception by an
intellectual"
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