Reflection #5

What do I think of when I hear the words Initiation and rites of passage? I think of the step into belonging somewhere or growing into a bigger and better person, a leap into another stage of life. Initiation rites are common everywhere. Whether is be in cultures, societies, or even in school, they are a part of the human life. Even though in Sambia cultures their initiation rites are quite different to any of those we have in American societies today, they have one thing in common; they are the passage to maturation. In Sambia, boys are forced to go away to a mens house in the village for several years. In that house they learn the process of becoming men through different initiations and activities. They even engage in homosexual activity as a passage to become “men”, pretty ironic huh? The younger boys are forced to conduct Regular fellatio, where they must swallow the semen of an older boy. That house that these men enter is like a school system now a days. We attend it for several years of our lives for the purpose of gaining knowledge towards life and getting a basic understanding of what society accepts and expects of us. We enter school as a five year old with no knowledge of the world around us. About 12 years later we walk out of high school as a new and mature person. We come out with a different personality and mind set of society. We learn from the experiences we face throughout those years. Education is the key to that passage of childhood to adulthood. Our graduation ceremonies would be our initiations as the Matuumo ceremony is to the girls from Gikuyu. These girls have a huge ceremony with dancing and several initiation procedures to introduce them into womanhood. We have huge celebrations and festivities to celebrate our graduation. We are taught through these 12 years of school everything that is going to prepare us for that “real world” we hear so much about. After graduating high school we are portrayed as different people and others have a new expectation of us and what we can and cannot do. We learn what society decides is necessary to be valued. That is why education is so fundamental. To some families, a member not graduating high school is an extreme let down and disappointment. I have met parents that have kicked their children out for dropping out of high school. Some parents take it as offensive as having a gay or lesbian child. It is all based on culture and belief systems. Just like the circumcision is so crucial to the people of Gikuyu, graduation and education is a very important rite of passage to the american society.