Do our parents and elders know better? This story from Didi Nwala has me wondering...

When the car drove in that day, I had run to it with all the strength I could muster to meet Mama before the car stopped. I had long anticipated her coming since Olamma’s birth last week. My mother had said she would come for omugwo. I was ecstatic because my mother had told me about my grandma and how she used native hands to nurture children which were more effective beyond what our contemporary time presented. I wanted to be part of this; to learn all I could from grandma. My mother said when I was born, she had come for omugwo too. I hugged Mama and carried the bag she was holding.

“Nyem! Give me! That bag contains a lot of things that can spoil in your hands”. When I squeezed my face, my mother whispered that the bag contained delicate things for the omugwo and I shouldn’t get angry at her outburst. I soon realized how delicate it was that night.

It was time for Olamma to have her bath and Mama had told my mother to boil hot water twice; one for bathing and the other for icho mma- to beautify. I did not understand icho mma to be anything else but what it literally was till she was done bathing Olamma. I watched closely as Mama started the icho mma. I thought she would apply eye pencil and lipstick on her so I would ask her to do same to me. Olamma’s legs were spread-eagled. Normally, whenever her legs were spread apart, my mother would pour Johnson Baby Powder around her buttocks because of rashes. I watched Olamma as she began to scream down the house. Mama dabbed a piece of cloth she brought out from her omugwo box, inside the second water my mother boiled. She held Olamma’s legs tight as she placed it, as steaming as it was, between her legs.

The house was shaken with screams from Olamma that night. I could not bear the sight for long before leaving her to ask my mother what Mama was doing. Whatever it was, I hoped I wasn’t a victim of it. She had said it would make Olamma to be faithful to her husband and that I would grow to understand better. I longed for more explanations but got none. When I went back to the room, Mama was rubbing the burnt part with coconut oil and sheer butter while Olamma slept and tears lingered in her shut eyes as she sniffed and heaved continuously.

That lesson, as meager as it was, has been etched in my mind till this day. I had prayed Olamma would be the last to experience it for I did not think I would truly ever understand.

Source: http://storried.com/grandmas-alarming-baby-care-lesson/

i dnt knw aw to read igbo's story

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwww. That is so superstitious

Child abuse.

How could this mother allow this to happen to her child?

What...i don't get it...was the baby circumcised?

texanomaly:
How could this mother allow this to happen to her child?

People hold on to many things in the name of culture and tradition.

I.dio.t!

Brainless i.dio.t!!

Her daughter was circumcised before her very eyes and she makes st.up.id comments like she'll never fully understand what happened? Did she not care to look between her baby's legs to see what was done to the poor child? Even the comment about the daughter remaining faithful to her husband always speaks for itself.

Come, Maclatunji, what sort of nonsense story is this, this early Saturday?

Okay I think I'm lost on this story, EfemenaXY help me out if you will - do they use just cloth and hot water to circumcise now, or am I missing a point in the OP?

maclatunji:


People hold on to many things in the name of culture and tradition.

Some traditions aren't worth upholding.

crackhaus:
Okay I think I'm lost on this story, EfemenaXY help me out if you will - do they use just cloth and hot water to circumcise now, or am I missing a point in the OP?

maclatunji:

When the car drove in that day, I had run to it with all the strength I could muster to meet Mama before the car stopped. I had long anticipated her coming since Olamma’s birth last week. My mother had said she would come for omugwo. I was ecstatic because my mother had told me about my grandma and how she used native hands to nurture children which were more effective beyond what our contemporary time presented. I wanted to be part of this; to learn all I could from grandma. My mother said when I was born, she had come for omugwo too. I hugged Mama and carried the bag she was holding.

“Nyem! Give me! That bag contains a lot of things that can spoil in your hands”. When I squeezed my face, my mother whispered that the bag contained delicate things for the omugwo and I shouldn’t get angry at her outburst. I soon realized how delicate it was that night.

It was time for Olamma to have her bath and Mama had told my mother to boil hot water twice; one for bathing and the other for icho mma- to beautify. I did not understand icho mma to be anything else but what it literally was till she was done bathing Olamma. I watched closely as Mama started the icho mma. I thought she would apply eye pencil and lipstick on her so I would ask her to do same to me. Olamma’s legs were spread-eagled. Normally, whenever her legs were spread apart, my mother would pour Johnson Baby Powder around her buttocks because of rashes. I watched Olamma as she began to scream down the house. Mama dabbed a piece of cloth she brought out from her omugwo box, inside the second water my mother boiled. She held Olamma’s legs tight as she placed it, as steaming as it was, between her legs.

The house was shaken with screams from Olamma that night. I could not bear the sight for long before leaving her to ask my mother what Mama was doing. Whatever it was, I hoped I wasn’t a victim of it. She had said it would make Olamma to be faithful to her husband and that I would grow to understand better. I longed for more explanations but got none. When I went back to the room, Mama was rubbing the burnt part with coconut oil and sheer butter while Olamma slept and tears lingered in her shut eyes as she sniffed and heaved continuously.

That lesson, as meager as it was, has been etched in my mind till this day. I had prayed Olamma would be the last to experience it for I did not think I would truly ever understand.

~ What else do you think was in that bag apart from the piece of cloth rag that was used between the child's legs?

~ What did she need the hot water for? Why was the child screaming even before the rag with hot water was used on her?

~ Why didn't the writer stay in the room to see what was going on?

#Sickening story.#

"It will make her faithful to her husband"


I just can't.....

ileobatojo:
"It will make her faithful to her husband"


I just can't.....

Can you imagine?

It beats me how anyone can pretend not to know what happened. It doesn't have to be spelt out for crying out loud!

EfemenaXY:


Can you imagine?

It beats me how anyone can pretend not to know what happened. It doesn't have to be spelt out for crying out loud!

Funny enough, I wasn't even responding to your conversation, it's just the rationale for this whole craziness that takes my breath away. In a very bad way.

I wonder how it's possible that these people and I are the same species.

Nijiria
It is well

texanomaly:


Some traditions aren't worth upholding.

Tell that to grandma.

ileobatojo:




Funny enough, I wasn't even responding to your conversation, it's just the rationale for this whole craziness that takes my breath away. In a very bad way.

I wonder how it's possible that these people and I are the same species.

i wonder too

maclatunji:


Tell that to grandma.

Don't get me started! Do you actually agree with this practice Mac?

TO ME FEMALE CIRCUMCISION IS A BARBARIC PRIMITIVE ARCHAIC WICKED AND DEVILISH UNHEALTHY PRACTICE WHICH SHOULD ATTRACT SEVERE CRIMINAL LEGAL CONSEQUENCES ON PEOPLE WHO COMMIT AND PEOPLE WHO AID AND ABET AND SUPPORT SUCH PRACTICES

texanomaly:


Don't get me started! Do you actually agree with this practice Mac?

Of course not, but grandma will swear it is best for the child. You can't correct something effectively if you don't appreciate the thinking behind it in the minds of those who practise it.

Laird:
TO ME FEMALE CIRCUMCISION IS A BARBARIC PRIMITIVE ARCHAIC WICKED AND DEVILISH UNHEALTHY PRACTICE WHICH SHOULD ATTRACT SEVERE CRIMINAL LEGAL CONSEQUENCES ON PEOPLE WHO COMMIT AND PEOPLE WHO AID AND ABET AND SUPPORT SUCH PRACTICES

I don't agree that this is female genital mutilation from the story, it seems more like burning.

maclatunji:


I don't agree that this is female genital mutilation from the story, it seems more like burning.

Oh...well that's different. Of course Grandma is right. What was I thinking. It's only burning...


I hope you caught my sarcasm maclatunji!!

maclatunji:


Of course not, but grandma will swear it is best for the child. You can't correct something effectively if you don't appreciate the thinking behind it in the minds of those who practise it.

Knowing that grandma believes it's the right thing to do doesn't change the fact that she tortured a baby. It dosen't change the fact that the child's private parts have been mutilated. (Oh pardon me...they were "just" burned) It doesn't change the fact that the child will grow into a woman who has had a God given gift taken from her. It won't change the fact that she will enjoy sex less than she would otherwise.

Knowing grandma thinks she is doing the right thing does not change the fact that if she doesn't enjoy sex as much her husband will not either. As a matter of fact it may give him more cause to seek a fulfilling sex life elsewhere.

Hopefully this disgusting ritual will die with Grandma!

maclatunji:


I don't agree that this is female genital mutilation from the story, it seems more like burning.

Do Muslims do this?

Granny of life




















......and death

whether you cut it off or burn it off, genital mutilation serves the same purpose: to minimize a female's sexual desire and preserve virginity.

moral: don't let your village grandmother touch your baby. You never know what these deprived old women went through in their time and they will want to put your baby girl through the same.

What do you mean by it was "only" burning? The poor child was mutilated and the hot water was used to clean the injury. Sickening. And it's the women who are hurt by these practices that are perpetuating same practices. Terrible.

aishaquest:


Do Muslims do this?

You mean is it a part of Islam?

No.

If some Muslims do it, it would be because of something else outside Islam.

I could easily ask if this is a part of Christianity but that would be myopic.

LewsTherin:
What do you mean by it was "only" burning? The poor child was mutilated and the hot water was used to clean the injury. Sickening. And it's the women who are hurt by these practices that are perpetuating same practices. Terrible.

Well, the writer did not say so. You inferred, I don't know what the culture is, maybe there is a belief that dabbing a child with hot water there after birth would achieve a purpose.

I am reading the story as presented, not adding or deleting details. The writer suggested she experienced the same thing but never mentioned being mutilated.

maclatunji:


Well, the writer did not say so. You inferred, I don't know what the culture is, maybe there is a belief that dabbing a child with hot water there after birth would achieve a purpose.

I am reading the story as presented, not adding or deleting details. The writer suggested she experienced the same thing but never mentioned being mutilated.

I know this isn't your story so my angst isn't directed at you.

With that out of the way, making inferences from incomplete information is a time-honoured practice of living things. I can infer that it's raining outside from the sounds of water hitting my roof. I don't need to see the drops of water falling from the sky.

1. Baby starts crying before a hot water compress is applied. More like baby starts screaming for her life.
2. Applying a hot compress is a venerable african tradition for cleaning and disinfecting wounds and cuts
3.Grandma said she did something that will make the little girl faithful to a husband she will meet in at least 18 years time! WTF
4. Female genital mutilation is defended as necessary to keep girls from becoming promiscuous.

My inference? Baby girl was mutilated.

maclatunji:


The writer suggested she experienced the same thing but never mentioned being mutilated.

I didn't see where that was suggested.

LewsTherin:


I know this isn't your story so my angst isn't directed at you.

With that out of the way, making inferences from incomplete information is a time-honoured practice of living things. I can infer that it's raining outside from the sounds of water hitting my roof. I don't need to see the drops of water falling from the sky.

1. Baby starts crying before a hot water compress is applied. More like baby starts screaming for her life.
2. Applying a hot compress is a venerable african tradition for cleaning and disinfecting wounds and cuts
3.Grandma said she did something that will make the little girl faithful to a husband she will meet in at least 18 years time! WTF
4. Female genital mutilation is defended as necessary to keep girls from becoming promiscuous.

My inference? Baby girl was mutilated.

To this extent, we don't have concrete evidence. Your inference would have been water-tight if the writer pointed out 2 things:

1. Bleeding of the baby.

2. That she is circumcised.

African people love using hot baths around the time of childbirth. In Yoruba culture, the mother of the newborn is made to have a steaming hot bath to remove the "remaining baggage" of the pregnancy.

There are more than enough "helpers" if she is unwilling to do so herself.

I might be wrong but I am interested in what "icho mma" means here.