Rites of Passage for Mesai and Nubian culture Research Paper

Rites of Passage for Mesai and Nubian culture - Research Paper Example In the Maasai culture, ceremonies are used as a way of expressing their culture and self-determination. All the ceremonies form a part of their lives because they are rites of passage. The younger Maasai boys and girls get very anxious to reach the right age and qualify to go through these rites of passage. The pre-circumcision ceremony referred to as Enkipaata is the first boy’s initiation. It is arranged by the fathers of the new age-set group. The ceremony is carried out only when the senior warriors have been settled. Boys aged between 14-16 years later move all around their land in a period of about five months giving information that they will be forming their new age-set. The boys going through initiation are offered a house which has been built in their respect. The Maasai prophet, known as Oloiboni, is responsible for choosing the location of the houses where all the boys of the whole community will be initiated. During this process, the chief of the boys, known as Olopolosi, is chosen, although this position is considered by the community as unfortunate. This is because the chief of the boys is the person supposed to carry all the sins committed by members of his age-group. The boys to be initiated are supposed to sleep in the forest, and at dawn they run towards the homestead and go in with a raider’s attitude. They dance throughout the day of the ceremony dressed in loose clothes. It is after this ceremony that the boys are ready for circumcision. The circumcision ceremony is the most important rite of passage in the Maasai community, for men and women. It is the process that develops young girls and boys from childhood to adulthood. However, due to upcoming challenges of civilization and the 21st century, circumcision for Maasai women has been fading over the years. Once a Maasai boy has been circumcised, they become warriors. After becoming warriors, they fully take the responsibility

Geography Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Geography - Assignment Example The first phase in weathering of rocks is fracturing, which entails the formation of joints and cracks. Jointing a means through which rocks yield to both external and internal stresses including tectonic movements, contraction and expansion as a result of chemical or physical changes. Joints in rocks result from cooling or when pressure on their rock surface gets offloaded through erosion. Joints facilitate weathering by creating free space weathering agents, which increasing the surface area of rocks exposed to agents of physical or chemical weathering (Spellman, 2009). â€Å"They play an important part in rock weathering as zones of weakness and water movement† (Spellman, 2009, p.96). A slope failure refers to the collapsing of a slope caused by weakened stability of the earth in the event of an earthquake or heavy downpour. In most cases, slope failure often catches people unaware when it happens near residential areas causing high fatality rates. In order to determine whether a building lot is safe, it is important to assess slope failure factors such as gravity, physical properties of slope materials, and level of saturation of the area. Assessing all these factors would reveal the level of safety of the building