My Olufuko Experience

I WENT through the traditional Oshiwambo rite or initiation ceremony called olufuko.

I felt it would be of great importance to me as it will help me in my adult life. Olufuko has been widely misunderstood because of biases against it by Christians and those Africans who chose to follow western civilisation.
Olufuko has a broader meaning to it than just making women ready for marriage. It teaches women to behave in the correct ways, it makes women ready for adulthood, and it similarly instills self-respect and self-worth into women.
Way before civilisation and Christianity olufuko was already practiced; it is a norm in Oshiwambo culture, just like mahangu porridge and oshikundu. I went through olufuko because I felt it’s important for my upbringing, because that way I am paying. homage to my tradition, it defines who I am.
It was an educative experience. Olufuko does not and will not promote whatever they say; olufuko is not violence against women; nobody is forced to take part in olufuko.

Monika Kapweya Shifa
By email

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