Krobos girls and Dipo Puberty rites of passage in the Eastern Region of Ghana

Globalization has broken all socio cultural  and economic barriers and also the growing rate of societal awareness has no doubt challenged many African cultural rites.

One of such is Dipo, a krobo cultural puberty rite which has been criticized by many people especially on the treatment of young girls. But the krobo have managed to sustain it due to its  centrality to their culture as the ceremony is instituted to promote personal hygiene, home management and morality.

The ceremony which typically takes place once in a year , usually in the months of March and April during which the females involved are confided into a special room and bathed in special herbs and receive blessings from the priestess .

One of the most distinctive aspects of the Dipo ceremony is the girls wearing of beads and cloth called dip-yo specially designed for the ocassion and are meant to symbolize the girls new found status as women, and at the end of the seclusion period there is a public ceremony in which the girls dance and display thier newly acquired skills and knowledge. This ceremony is a source of pride and celebration for the entire community and it marks the girls formal entry into adulthood.

While factors like urbanization, educational opportunities, access to global media and social mobility has influenced the youth’s participation in this traditional initiation , the krobos have managed to keep thierd Ofcourse modifying some of the stages of the rites while others were maintained to reflect ideas relating to the belief system and practices which have been passed from one generation to to the other.

In summary this rite is believed to address personal hygiene, promiscuity and teenage pregnancy. People who have not undergone this rite are afraid to partake im immoral acts before initiation because they haven’t come off age.

What other facts have you heard about the

krobos? Do you think rites like Dipo should be continued?