The Masaai Age-set
The boy is not charged with much from the time they can walk. They spend most of the time playing and looking after lambs and calves. Ritual beating is a must for the boys to make them build endurance and courage. Once they reach the age of 12 to 25 years depending on the last circumcision ceremony, they are circumcised and they become junior morans. This is a very painful process that is done with no anesthetics. The elders who circumcise the boys do it with a sharp knife and use cow hides as bandages. The boys take 3 to 4 months to heal.After the circumcision, they are adorned in black clothes for the next eight months. They live in a manyatta build by there mothers. These shelters do not have a secure wall encompassing them as most masaai homesteads have. This is to emphasize on there role as the protectors of the community. The junior morans become the junior elders and subsequently senior elders during the next circumcision cycle which takes place after 15 years.