RITES OF PASSAGE SOCIETY & PROJECT

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What is rites of passage training all about?

 

A rite of passage is a socialization ritual event that marks a person's progress from one status to another. A change a fundamental status or basic role, such as from child to adult, or from single to married. It is a universal phenomenon (pattern) which can show anthropologists what social hierarchies, values and beliefs are important in specific cultures. Rites of passage are often ceremonies surrounding events such as other milestones within puberty, coming of age, marriage and death. Initiation ceremonies such as baptism, confirmation, Bar or Bat Mitzvah, sweet sixteen, Quinceañera, are considered important rites of passage for people of their respective cultures. A right of passage is literally a permission or right or chance to move to a higher level of human social and educational development.  The permission is granted by the community/society and signifies the successful completion of a developmental process earning of the respect of the community for having done so. Thus, the community empowers the individual to move forward. Conversely, an individual fully maturated and imbued with his/her rights and responsibilities to herself, her peers and her family is an empowering adjunct to the community.

 

 

Initiation rites are seen as fundamental to human growth and development as well as socialization in many communities. These rites function by ritually marking the transition of someone to full group membership. It also links individuals to the community and the community to the broader and more potent spiritual world. Initiation rites are a natural and necessary part of a community, just as arms and legs are natural and necessary extension of the human body. These three learning phases of rites of passage are linked to individual and community development.

 

MISSION AND VISION 
"Without A Vision, The People Perish"

ANNU Rites of passage program helps the participants to discover their inner vision and mission. The programme also empowers youth by actively promoting the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of youth through high cultural arts, education and advocacy.  The ANNU Institute is building an organization that produces nurturers; to empower young people using the core principles and oral  concept of family and community integration.

ANU Rites of Passage (initiation rites for adolescence entering into adulthood) program for boys and girls in Barbados is a living (evolving) independent educational programme. The programme consist of elements of cultural Indigenous initiations along with elements of our Caribbean needs.  It is a functional programme to address the current social ills of our dysfunctional society.  Children in Barbados are endangered." The convergence of these forces, inclusive of but not limited to, homicide, suicide, imprisonment, infant mortality, AIDS, alcohol, drugs, toxic waste, and cardiovascular disease all have the net effect of hastening the demise of Barbadian males.

 

 

GOAL OF THE PROJECT

 

The goal of the project is to institutionalize a process that will result in the development support and regeneration of a healthy and productive Barbadian community. A major goal of rites of passage adolescence to adulthood programs is to produce conscientious and productive adults. One component of this is to instill a positive sense of identity in order to overcome the negative images society has often associated with different ethnic groups. We found that participants in the ANU RITES program would be much more proud of their cultural background and were therefore more proud of themselves

 

 

The need

 

The distinctions between the developmental stages of a person's life in Barbadian culture have become blurred. A chasm has been created with respect to an individual's development from childhood to maturity; it has been filled by a loosely defined adolescence that can appear to have no end. 

 

The casual motif in modern society may eliminate the dramatizations of the passage from childhood to adulthood, but is does not necessarily eliminate the felt need for the individual to undergo that transition. The failure of modern society to dramatize or take serious the need for such transition during adolescence has contributed to disruptive social groups.

 

Barbadian males are at a high risk of facing problems such as drug use, poverty and divorce. Add to that a foster care situation, and the problems can be increased.  Research suggests young people with high self-esteem are less likely to become involved with drugs or criminal activity and the more likely to complete their education.  "Self-esteem isn't everything, but there is certainly enough research to indicate it's a strong factor in a healthy and happy lifestyle. So many of our children come into foster care situations with such a narrow vision of what they can do in life. Rites of passage programs such as the one we studied can be the first step toward helping them see their lives and futures in a positive light."

 

Graduates are expected to assume the responsibilities of adulthood, and not to be consumed by childish narcissism, condemning themselves to the fairy tales; never-never land of perpetual adolescence.  Participants will have the period between childhood and adulthood regulated by family/community so that age class members or individuals in the group will successfully come to know themselves and the purposes for existence. 

 

Barbados  needs a  national programs that teach children living in Barbados about the best of themselves and their high  cultural heritage that it may improve self-esteem and encourage the youths to take a positive interest in their communities and their future. 

 

Each Summer and Winter we host the Rites of Passage Porgramme

 

Five age groups

 

1. Ages 11yrs to 12 yrs ( Transition to secondary school)

2. Ages 13yrs to 19 yrs  ( Teenage Transitions )

3. Ages 20 yrs to 33 yrs

4. Ages 34 yrs to 50 yrs

5. Ages 51 yrs plus yrs

 

Sign up now for the Rites of Passage Program !

 

 

 

 

email: annuinstitute@hotmail.com 

Office Phone: (246)-420-4788 (Barbados)

Mobile Phone: (246)-243-0125 (Barbados)

Magic Jack Phone (917)-832-9546 (Brooklyn, New York USA)

 

 

 

Links

· HOPE For Children