All males in the community undergo the manhood rite. Somé says that, having been raised outside of the culture and not speaking the language made the month-long, baor process, believed to unite soul and body, more dangerous for him than for the culturally-Dagara youths undergoing the rite.
In this community, all males undergo a coming-of-age ceremony. Somé suggests that his outsider status and lack of fluency in the local language made the initiation process, which is meant to unite the soul and body, more challenging for him than it was for the Dagara youths who were culturally familiar with their rite.