Togolese Festival of Knives

I'm hoping to find pictures of this, but i'll have to search for them on the web. Adossa - another big cross-cultural moment. Or, what's left over afterwards.

I took care of a patient a couple of days ago who also had a hernia surgery. His arms however bore the scars of a hundred cuts on them. Long scars from one side of his arm to another, all up and down the length of his arms.

So now of course, I'm worried. You see somebody at home with scars like that, they've been cutting on themselves, but usually they're shorter lacerations, in various stages of healing and lighter. Some will still be scabbed over, some still bleeding. This fella looked like he'd survived a murder attempt.

So I asked. Tracing the scars with my fingertips, and questioning look. Thank the Lord for interpreters-in the next bed over we have a patient who is also a Mercy Ships translator. He tells me, "Strength!"
Me, "I don't understand."
Translator, "He is strong. He has proved his strength."
Me, "He cut himself to prove his strength?"
Translator, "Yes. It is cultural here, in the northern province. You prove your male strength."

Come to find out, it's called Adossa Kadao, and is just that. Men of that province, as part of their cultural rite of passage, cut themselves to prove their strenght and fearlessness. The women dress up to the hilt and there is a lot of dancing as well. Once the festival is finished, the men who've participated in this Festival of Knives then rub ash into their wounds, so that their scars will be prominent and show to the world that they are a strong man. I suppose we have our western equivalent in our NFL rings to prove you've run headlong into a wall of muscle seemingly developed for human destruction as well. sigh. men. just gotta prove you're that strong. sheesh. Trying to read up on it, apparently the festival is not for the faint at heart even to watch, and also involves the men drinking some kind of potion that is supposed to protect them from the knives hurting them (according to the ever-infallible wikipedia).  :-)

There is a video on Youtube that somebody has posted, but I honestly can't say I can recomment it as I can't load youtube on the ship - takes too much broadband width, so it, along with skype, are out of the question, but I would be interested in hearing anybody's take on it. I also won't post anything more, shall we say, visually florid, than these pictures 'cause I know that there are children who read this.

My patient had a good laugh with me after he woke up from surgery, recovered well, and then he had to take his first postoperative walk down the ship hospital hallway. Hernia patient's abdomens are tender from their new incision, and I asked him if this is strong enough to prove he's a man- and he laughed at me and said yes, this is a big cut too, but that this one will end his suffering.

Such is the difference when God is in the picture.