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Amos Nicol, a Soko Bana (elder) member of the Poro society demonstrates on November 21, 2108 his ability to cut himself without being harmed with a knife that has been purified with a spiritual oil. For youngsters in Sierra Leone, the end of a year in class can entail secretive tribal initiation rites far older than school, at a risk of scars and lifelong troubles. Women and men in the villages safeguard ancestral traditions and cultural knowledge pertinent to their separate sexes and take in boys and girls to start their grooming for tribal duties. (Photo by Lynn Rossi/AFP Photo)
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