Forty years ago, before the current high levels of debate, but through interaction between hospitals and the community, abakhwetha (initiates) were brought to the hospital by their amakhankatha (nurse-instructor). Still clad in their white blankets, they waited on the grass outside outpatients, apart from other people. After being safely circumcised under local anaesthetic, in theatre, they would return to their mkhwetha hut. This was at All Saints Hospital in the Chris Hani district of Transkei, where we also benefited by interacting constructively with traditional healers. – Ronald Ingle, Hillcrest