All language subtitles for Ed.Staffords.Rite.of.Passage.S01E01.1080p.web.h264-cbfm[EZTVx.to] 650

Failure is never an option when doing a
rite of passage into manhood.

I'm Ed Stafford. As an explorer and
survivalist, I've made a career out of

mucking about in the wild.

If I'm honest, I've never really grown
up.

So now, I've set myself a mission

to see how cultures across the world
navigate the messy business of

becoming an adult.

I believe many of us in the modern world
have lost our sense of identity.

But I'm hoping by immersing myself in
the often extreme trials that young

face, I can figure out how these rituals
make us better members of our

communities.

I've never experienced anything even
comparable in terms of pain.

By joining them on their journey, I hope
I'll learn to become a better man.

Maybe even grow up. Okay,

he wants me to jump it. I'm going to
jump now. And successfully pass my own.

Right of passage.

I'm deep in the heart of Ethiopia's Omo
Valley, heading to live with the Hama

people.

It's taken me three days of travel just
to get here, but I'm now only an hour

away from my home for the next week.

In one of the most remote areas of
Ethiopia, Shafala village is a community

surviving on the margins of existence.

While I'm here, I'll be living exactly
as the Hama do.

but I also want to take part in a very
special ritual.

Their cattle represent everything that
they own in life and are at the centre

their unique rite of passage.

It involves jumping up onto the backs of
a group of bulls that have been lined

up and running along them at least four
times without falling off.

Only then can they marry.

It will be an incredible challenge as
I'll have just seven days to discover an

athleticism that I've never really had.

But for which most of these hammer boys
have been building their entire lives.

Right, I'll jump out.

We're way off the beaten track.

There's no power.

No running water.

We're hours away from the nearest
hospital.

And, as this is Africa, the likelihood
of venomous snakes...

scorpions and other wild animal
encounters is high this really is the

nowhere the

hammer way of life hasn't changed much
in hundreds of years everything

is based around their livestock but
before i can make friends with the bulls

okay i need to meet the people and so
far That's proving tricky.

My translator, Killer, is meant

to be meeting me inside Chief Sembele's
hut. So until I find that, it seems I'm

on my own.

I'm Ed.

Nagaya. Nagaya.

Can I come in?

Simbali, the chief, is inside the house
and I've run out of local dialect, I'm

afraid, so I'm just going to take my bag
off and go in.

Nagaya. My name is Ed.

And, yes, an honour to be here.

I'm so not used to sitting on the floor.

Simbali, can I just start by saying
thank you so much for having me to stay

here. I hugely appreciate it. I've heard
a lot about...

Your people and your culture and your
rite of passage ceremony, and it's an

absolute honor to be here.

I would love to stay here for a week,
and I would love to take part in the

of passage ceremony that you guys do
with jumping over the balls.

Do you think that might be possible?

Thank you.

How

do

I say thank you?

Since I wasn't born hammer, being
adopted is the only way that I'm going

able to take part in the bull jumping.

It's a crucial first step.

Dancing?

Dancing.

I'm not a dancer.

For the Hammer, dancing helps keep
community bonds strong.

A lot of these boys are working towards
their own ball jumping ceremony.

And I can't help but notice that jumping
seems to be a theme here.

But the chief's son, Maggie, makes it
clear participation is not optional.

Here we go.

My worst nightmare.

Maggie's the boy I'll be doing the ball
jumping ceremony with in a

week's time.

For him... It's deadly serious.

I need to learn as much as I can if I'm
going to have any chance of succeeding.

It's a lot of jumping. It's a lot of
display of manliness.

And the women are coming in and kicking
dust on their feet.

Similar to giving an invite to a school
prom.

The girls kick the boys' shins as a kind
of flirting method to try and secure a

dance partner during the celebrations on
the day of the ball jumping ceremony.

It feels very inclusive, and I do feel
very accepted now amongst the boys,

certainly. I feel like I'm part of the
gang.

I reckon I got off pretty lightly by not
really having to do too much dancing.

And with my two left feet, I'm glad I
don't have to make a fool of myself

straight off the bat.

It's dancing over, and it's down to
business.

Maggie introduces me to his uncle,
Shardo, who is the local ball jumping

specialist and will mentor me in the
hammer way of life.

To the hammer, the ball jumping ceremony
is extremely important, so they take me

to a dry riverbed.

Well, they will need to test my skill
level.

Right, there's more coming.

Do you know what? I can do this.

No problem.

I'm going to do this.

Just jump up, run along the cows, jump
down.

Across town.

I'm going to just do this.

All right. I'm over.

I'm over.

I think it's just good having me around
for the entertainment value, basically.

I should hang out here, charge for my
services, and everyone will be a lot

happier.

However,

the laughs soon fade, and I'm putting on
a brave face.

But my first ball jumping test is
nothing short of an embarrassment.

There's something else that's crucial to
the ceremony besides balls.

Ball jumping without sorghum beer would
be like a wedding without cake.

Providing a lot demonstrates the
family's social standing while fostering

between villages and marking
celebrations.

Maggie takes me to one of the fields
where they grow this gluten -free grain

that's a vital source of food as well as
a drink.

Maggie's job is to keep it safe, and I'm
going to see if this is somewhere where

I can actually help.

It's a very beautiful place.

It's a very

beautiful place.

Let's hope my slingshotting is better
than my cattle jumping.

This kind of slingshot is one of the
hardest methods of hunting that I've

actually done, and incredibly difficult
to get accurate, and incredibly

difficult to get fast.

Clearly, these guys have been doing it
all their lives since they were, you

know, probably knee -high.

How do you get the snap, like that?

F*** me.

That went over there somewhere.

That

was

exactly the same as what I did.

That is next level slingshotting.

All right, last go, then I'm going to
have to call it a day.

Oh,

that almost did a little snap thing.

Almost.

Don't laugh at me.

At the moment, I feel like a total joke
to the hammer.

At least the slingshotting wasn't as bad
as the ball jumping.

Back at the village, my ball jumping
coach, Shado, has very kindly sorted me

with a roof over my head during my stay
here.

In here?

Okay. For me?

Thank you.

Crumbs.

Although fairly inconvenient for me, the
small doorways in traditional hammer

huts are supposed to help keep the
elements out, which is pretty critical

harsh environment like this.

Cool, OK, so this is my home for the
next week. It's, um... Yeah, it's, um,

amazing that I've got somewhere to stay.

Cool. And this mattress, I think it's
new, actually. Oh, naturally.

Food's gone.

This is definitely one of my more unique
sleeping arrangements.

All right, cool.

See you tomorrow morning.

I didn't realise how little impact there
has been from the outside world.

There's no power at all.

I've seen two or three mobile phones,
but they're the old sort of Nokia mobile

phones. At night time, there's no light
at all. There's no light pollution.

I've lived with a lot of indigenous
tribes, never one that was quite as

authentic as this one.

And therefore it's all the more of a
privilege to experience a culture which

so, so different to my own.

I'm keen to immerse myself and then pick
up as many of the skills that they're

using as possible.

To get a better handle on exactly what
I've got myself into, I asked Jupe

Sembele if he can tell me more about
Maggie's and my upcoming ball jumping

ceremony.

So we're days from Maggie's rite of
passage ceremony.

Is it such a big event that it's causing
you some stress?

Obviously, Maggie is the chief's son.
He's your son.

If the pressure of the event gets too
much and he doesn't succeed, does he

another ceremony? Does he get a chance
to do the whole thing again?

I can understand why you're stressed
now.

That's good advice. Do it like you,
because you succeeded.

How big is this event? How many people
will come?

What can we expect?

Can you tell me a bit more about it?

I can let you into a little secret. I'm
not very good at the moment.

I'm really not very good.

And if I was to fail, would that be a
shame for me and my family as well?

Or on you?

In a way, I don't think I'd fully
realize just how serious this ritual is.

have now.

Okay. I will try and not humiliate you.

I'm worried that if I don't improve a

lot, I'm going to embarrass Mbele.

and ruin the most important day in
Maggie's young life.

With preparations for the bull jumping
ceremony now going into overdrive,

and Belle's sister -in -law is hard at
work making one of the ceremony's

indispensable staples using sorghum.

What are your names?

Inwaku. Inwaku.

Inwaku. Waku. Waku. Waku.

Can you explain what you're doing now?

Can I get involved in this?

How many of these do we need to do to
make the beer?

A lot?

A lot?

OK, there's all that over there.

And is the rite of passage, does it
change the men in your eyes, or are they

more attractive, are they more eligible
as husbands?

Yeah?

So are you two married?

You're married, yeah.

And how many children do you have?

Six children.

I've got four.

Do either of your husbands have other
wives? Because I heard in this community

the men can have more than one wife.

No, just you.

And same with you?

Are there two?

Okay, and do you mind me asking, how do
you feel about the other wife?

And does she become like your best
friend?

Yeah, that's cool. I like that.

That's amazing.

Although it's unlikely in this village,
and most places around the world for

that matter, for the women to be allowed
to have two husbands.

It's funny how polygamy tends to work
more in favour of the man.

And when you're not making beer, in an
average day, what would you guys be

in the village?

Half day, half day.

Long way. Long way to get water.

That's an underground oven.

The sticks within the water and the
balls are going on top of the

sticks above the water and being
steamed.

They're kind of half boiled, half
steamed.

This is the...

Most bizarre beer making ceremony or
process I've ever come across.

Where are we taking this? Back inside?

Okay.

Good morning.

It's quite firm, this matches.

The voice of a goat is very, very
similar to the voice of a screaming

or human being.

These

chaps

here, who are keeping me...

Awake for the majority of the night.

Not terribly respectful of a good
night's sleep, they're not.

Head or foot.

I think the idea from my mentor,

Shado, is that let's get a small ball.

Let's up the ante a little bit.

Clear the ball.

Clear the ball.

Sail through the air. Clear the ball.
Down.

Down.

Land on feet.

Turn around. Wink.

I guess you

could say the stakes are high.

It's small. Brilliant.

Okay.

And any last -minute tips?

Tips the next day.

Good, thanks.

Okay, let's jump a cow.

Jump higher.

My advice, jump higher.

Go on, Maggie.

So, I mean, Maggie clipped it with his
foot.

I mean, he's an athletic beast.

OK, he wants me to jump it. I'm going to
jump now.

Yeah, that went pretty well.

Maybe I clipped it a little bit harder
because the reaction of the bull was

slightly more dramatic.

I've jumped a cow.

I've jumped a cow.

That's a big step forward.

I'm actually quite pleased that I've
done that.

Also pleased that I haven't broken the
back of the little bull.

So what do you think of my cow jumping?

Yeah? Really?

So, Maggie, you actually hit the ball.
Does that worry you a little bit that

didn't clear it cleanly?

Yeah, yeah.

I believe you. I believe you.

In the Omo Valley, the hammer people
must make the most of what little

are available to them.

Shade's got an arrow and he's sharpening
it up.

So there's a rope going on like a kind
of tourniquet.

Exactly like a tourniquet.

So the blood is actually going into a
jug that has already been used to

milk. So it's a mixture of blood and
milk in there now.

That won't affect the cow.

It'll be fine.

Why are you stirring it as much as you
are?

Is it for everyone or is it more for the
children?

The gentleman here is sick and

therefore the cow has been bled in order
to give him the nutrients that he needs

to get better.

No, never.

Although hard to eat raw, blood is high
in protein, iron and other vitamins and

minerals that may be hard to find
anywhere else out here.

Thank you.

It's not meat.

It's all come out of the cow.

This is coagulated blood.

But interestingly, he's referred to it
as meat.

I'm quite...

capable of eating many things, but this
coagulated blood is worse than drinking

blood. That is... It's chewy.

Across the world, blood is used in
various dishes to avoid any waste.

Back home in England, it's called black
pudding.

Wow, look at that.

It's like Ribena in milk.

Obviously, when there's less food,
there's less water around.

You've got both nutrients and hydration.

And this one does not taste too bad.
That is good.

For a tribe that is literally occupying
an area where it is only just possible

to live, they are using absolutely
everything at their availability to

Incredible.

Glad to join you.

The day before the ceremony,

Oh my goodness, that's beautiful.

Doesn't blood look amazing when it's
being poured?

We're making a mixture. I love making
mixtures. We're making a mixture out of

milk and blood that's been drained from
the neck of a cow.

And it's part of the celebration drinks
for tomorrow.

And it's very much part of the ceremony,
is eating and feasting, but also

drinking this amazing concoction.

That looks amazing.

It looks like sort of strawberry and
chocolate milkshake.

Maccy D's.

It literally does look like you've put a
strawberry milkshake and a chocolate

milkshake in one big bowl.

It would be so much better, wouldn't it?
It would be so much better if we spoke

the same language.

I'm sorry, Maggie. I will try and learn
Hammer next time.

Nice one. Thank you, mate. That's really
sweet of you.

That's my last night in this Hammer
village.

What an experience. I mean, living with
the hammer has been unlike any

experience I've ever had in my life
before.

It's been humbling time and time again.
I've been laughed at more

in the past ten days than I've probably
been laughed at ever in my life before.

But I feel like I've come on a huge
amount.

The only way through was to accept that,
you know, I am.

Compared to hammer people, I am almost a
laughing stock. If there's no

surprises, I feel like I'll be all
right.

If there are surprises, I might
struggle.

I think it's time to hit my sack.

So that's it for me.

It's the day of the ball jumping
ceremony.

And all the women of the village are
blowing horns to signal to their

that a boys' rite of passage is about to
begin.

But the ceremony can only properly start
once a group of men called Maza join to

lead the proceedings.

The Maza are a group of young men who
have themselves only recently done a

-jumping ceremony.

and must then help the boys from nearby
villages do theirs, both practically and

symbolically.

We're heading down to the dry riverbed
where the women have gone down to now

because the Mazar have arrived.

And Maggie's presence there will
initiate the beginning of the whipping.

And this is definitely the most
contentious part of the ceremony.

So I definitely want to go into this
with an open mind.

and not a judgmental one, but it will be
somewhat challenging to witness.

One of the most controversial duties of
the Mather is the whipping of the

village's women and girls.

OK, so from what I understand, the
whipping is about to start, and this is

something I've never seen before, but
can you tell me what the whipping

represents in Hamar culture?

And does it take a long time for the
scars to heal?

So you actually bring the sticks
yourself.

Is part of the process that you invite
the mother to whip you?

They're whipping you with your own
stick?

Okay,

so...

It's something that you would definitely
want to keep in Hamakocha. You wouldn't

want it to be part of the Hamakocha that
died out.

OK,

and the whipping is started.

It's very difficult to address this
whole subject without looking through

Western lens.

But the women are lining up to be
whipped.

There's no crying out in pain.

And there is an obvious readiness to be
whipped. And they really want to

demonstrate their loyalty, support, love
for Maggie.

And this is the way of doing that.

there's a hard one to compute it really
is obviously deliberately putting myself

in that space where i'm trying not to
judge trying not to have um a

on it that isn't appropriate to their
culture

they're

being whipped and their backs are
bleeding and they're um very accepting

fact, wanting the suffering attached to
demonstrating their love to Maggie.

It's such a juxtaposition. It's quite
difficult, especially when you're

into the faces of the girls who an hour
ago I was just laughing with.

I obviously can't condone anything like
this.

And through a Western lens, it could be
seen as degrading to women.

But this is not my place to judge or
change these traditions embedded in

culture.

We're heading towards the cow jumping.

I have to admit, the old butterflies are
starting to stare in my stomach.

Hammer boys do the ball jump totally
naked.

symbolically bringing nothing with them
as they transition into adulthood but

luckily i've been given a pass on that i
don't think anyone wants to see a near

50 year old bloke jumping the balls
naked anyway clearly it's not really

me it's about maggie but um i don't want
to um i don't want to fail this one i

want to i want to give it my best so one
two three four five six seven eight

nine ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen
fifteen sixteen 17 cows?

This is just ridiculous.

There's another seven coming behind.

That makes 24.

Never even heard of 24 cows being used
for this ceremony.

Aye, aye, aye, this is getting real now.

Look at the size of the horns on that
one.

I feel like it's my first rodeo.

These cars are bigger than the ones in
the village, aren't they?

They're bigger.

I'm scared.

Hi Maggie.

He looks nervous.

He looks nervous.

My thoughts are starting to get
scrambled, if I'm honest.

There's so many things. There's the
physical danger of doing it. There's all

the attention.

There's the kind of ridicule.

There's the size of the cow. There's so
much going on.

just visualizing clearing the first cow
skipping lightly across them all and

coming down the other side and then
doing that eight times

the

smaller cows are being removed from the
herd and only the big ones are going to

remain

Looks like they've picked six of the
biggest balls for this.

But thank God they've left a small ball
in front to help us through the jump up.

One of the bulls was a bit spooked and
moved out, but the rest of them are

in line.

I'm about to be called out.

The small cow on this side has been
taken away.

Yeah, because that's the medical cow, I
told you already.

Okay, but that makes it easier to get
up. Yeah, but you can stop from here, no

problem.

is to let Maggie, Chief Sembele and
myself down by humiliating us all.

The cow that Maggie used to get over has
been taken away. That's his cow.

It's not graceful, but I'm over and
that's all that matters.

Well done, mate.

I just want to say thank you so much for
letting me share your ceremony, because

I know this is a really special day for
you, so thank you so much.

Mate, it was a pleasure. Come here,
honey.

I think

one thing I have learned from the Hamma
people is that failure just isn't an

option.

I didn't come here to show off. I didn't
come here to beat my chest. I came here

to learn, and I've learned so much. It
was a big success for Maggie.

He's now on his way to becoming a man.
He's passed his right of passage.

But for me, it's just about the lessons
that I've learned. And above everything,

it's the resilience that the Hammer
people have shown throughout the entire

week. It feels like I've been accepted
amongst the Hammer people. It feels like

I could carve myself a life out here if
I wanted to, but I'm not 100 % sure.

that i would want to because to live out
here you need to be ridiculously tough

is that gonna work you

like laughing at me don't you

Used to play football for England,
though.

Didn't you?