WHO Guides the Bagisu Community on Carrying out a Cultural Norm while observing COVID-19 Guidelines
Format
17 February 2021
The period between August to December of every year is cherished among the Bagisu, a tribe in the Mbale sub-region, eastern Uganda. This is the time when the highly revered traditional circumcision ceremony of boys known as “Imbalu” is held.
To the Bagisu, “Imbalu” marks the initiation of boys into manhood. Every year, hundreds of boys aged 16 and above qualify for the “Imbalu”. The ceremony is eagerly anticipated by all people in the sub-region and parents with candidates often talk and walk with exuberant pride in the villages promising whoever cares to listen, a show of bravely from their sons.