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Among the elders of the Chagga group from Tanzania who speak both Chagga and KiSwahili, there is a saying that a person who lives for eternity must leave a child behind. As well as their Supreme Deity Ruwa as well as the names of their ancestors (especially their past kings) who are of central importance to the Chagga, it is considered a positive value that people can live eternally through their children because posterity is responsible for remembering the deceased.
Each community takes the teaching of children as a measure of survival and therefore introducing children to responsibilities early is a way to prepare them for handling the more significant rituals of memory for the ancestors. Thus, young children are given chores and are required to carry out duties with diligence. Some children are herders; they wake early and go follow the herd of cattle. Others learn to grind corn or clean out the cattle stalls.
Although children have these duties, they must still go through the “Kususa” rite. This is an elaborate ritual that has one principal goal: to intercede in the lives of unruly children. Thus, a child of 12 years old may be brought before an elder woman who teaches the child about good behaviour. Other children who are already initiated will be asked to give the new initiate advice about morality. The previously initiated children then sing songs and chant proverbs that are meant to influence the new initiate.
Thus, both the elders and the youths are brought in to assist with the ritual of Kisusa. Afterwards, there is both a sacrificial and a purification ceremony, one followed by the other after a month. In previous (just to add), the Chagga also held separate rituals for boys and girls before they were married.
