THREE YOUNG BUKUSU BOYS HEAD TO THEIR LOCAL SURGEON FOR CIRCUMCISION IN KENYA, 2000-08-10 (photo)

Three Bukusu boys bravely walk to the local "surgeon" from the river where they were smeared with mud and their penises made numb in cold water in the Western Kenya village of Bungoma August 10, 2000. The elaborate circumcision rituals, an initiation into manhood, are traditionally held only on alternate years, but this year in an attempt to regulate the disruptions to daily life and econmic activity, tribal leaders ruled there would be two giant ceremonies - one in August and one in December. According to figures released by a local NGO, Bungoma Professionals Association, 20,000 adolescent boys underwent the circumcision. A similar ceremony took place across the border in Uganda among the Bagisu. AN/AA