A boy has won a wrestling match once he has flipped his opponent on to his back.
The Evala ceremonies last most of the month of July. First the boys compete with other boys in their village, or they return their family’s ancestral village and compete with boys there. The winners from those competitions go on to compete at the county level. These early matches are held on school soccer fields. The event is festive: women from the village sell local beer and food, and there’s usually a drum group. Eventually, there is a final round of competitions. The final round of matches are more elaborate. Attending these competitions feels like going to a big sports match. The matches are held in stadiums, there are food vendors from restaurants, and there are huge crowds of people. The president of Togo, who is Kabye, usually flies in on his helicopter to watch the match.
In Kabye culture, boys have several successive coming of age ceremonies. There are even some ceremonies after Evala. But Evala is especially important, because after this ceremony, the new men are deemed old enough to marry. In Kabye culture, the role of the husband and father is to protect his family from violence and to farm the staple crops, which include yams, cassava and corn. Physical strength is a prized characteristic among Kabye men. In proving his ability to fight, a boy shows that he is strong enough to defend his family.
These ceremonies have additional uses. Kabye society is hierarchical. That means some people are considered higher up in society than others. The U.S.
