大象传媒

Ndibulele Sobhoyisi and Estiaan Swanepoel are both 18 years old, and best friends. They're from South Africa's Eastern Cape and last week they returned from a month at a Xhosa initiation school. This is an important coming of age ritual, where boys are sent away to become men, and part of it involves being circumcised by a spear. This can be very dangerous - it's reported that around 45 boys a year die from complications following botched circumcisions - and others have lost their penises. Estiaan's decision to go with his Xhosa friend caused quite a stir, because he is white Afrikaans.