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00:17Am I ready?
00:18Yeah.
00:18Failure is never an option when doing a rite of passage into manhood.
00:27I'm scared.
00:37I'm Ed Stafford.
00:38As an explorer and survivalist, I've made a career out of mucking about in the wild.
00:45If I'm honest, I've never really grown up.
00:47Look at that!
00:48So now, I've set myself a mission to see how cultures across the world
00:59navigate the messy business of becoming an adult.
01:05I believe many of us in the modern world have lost our sense of identity.
01:09But I'm hoping by immersing myself in the often extreme trials that young people face, I can figure out how
01:17these rituals make us better members of our communities.
01:21I've never experienced anything even comparable in terms of pain.
01:26By joining them on their journey, I hope I'll learn to become a better man.
01:34Maybe even grow up.
01:36Spelliamus!
01:37Okay, he wants me to jump out, I'm gonna jump out.
01:39And successfully pass my own rite of passage.
02:01I'm deep in the heart of Ethiopia's Omo Valley, heading to live with the Hama people.
02:08It's taken me three days of travel just to get here, but I'm now only an hour away from my
02:13home for the next week.
02:16In one of the most remote areas of Ethiopia, Shafala village is a community surviving on the margins of existence.
02:24While I'm here, I'll be living exactly as the Hamadou.
02:34But I also want to take part in a very special ritual.
02:39Their cattle represent everything that they own in life and are at the centre of their unique rite of passage.
02:44It involves jumping up onto the backs of a group of bulls that have been lined up and running along
02:50them at least four times without falling off.
02:54Only then can they marry.
02:56It will be an incredible challenge as I'll have just seven days to discover an athleticism that I've never really
03:03had.
03:05But for which most of these hammer boys have been building their entire lives.
03:12Right, I'll jump out.
03:19We're way off the beaten track.
03:22There's no power.
03:24No running water.
03:27We're hours away from the nearest hospital.
03:29And as this is Africa, the likelihood of venomous snakes, scorpions and other wild animal encounters is high.
03:37This really is the middle of nowhere.
03:47The hammer way of life hasn't changed much in hundreds of years.
03:52Everything is based around their livestock.
03:56But before I can make friends with the bulls, I need to meet the people.
04:01And so far, that's proving tricky.
04:04Cimbale?
04:06Cimbale?
04:06Cimbale?
04:07Cimbale?
04:07Yeah?
04:08Oh.
04:09Yes.
04:16Good local dialect, Ed.
04:18My translator, Killer, is meant to be meeting me inside Chief Cimbale's hut, so until I find that, it seems
04:24I'm on my own.
04:25Hello, and hello again.
04:27Nangaya.
04:28Nangaya.
04:29Nangaya.
04:30Nangaya.
04:31Nangaya.
04:32I'm Ed.
04:33Nangaya.
04:34Nangaya.
04:34Nangaya.
04:35Can I come in?
04:36And you wanna come in ?
04:36Uh, Cimbale, the chief is inside the house and I've, I've run out of local dialect.
04:43I'm afraid so I'm just gonna take my bottle and go in.
04:47Now go Anyone?
04:57Nangaya.
04:58Nangaya.
04:58My name is Ed, and yes, an honour to be here.
05:08I am so not used to sitting on the floor.
05:20Simbala, can I just start by saying thank you so much for having me to stay here.
05:24I hugely appreciate it.
05:25I've heard a lot about your people and your culture and your rite of passage ceremony,
05:31and it's an absolute honor to be here.
05:34I would love to stay here for a week,
05:37and I would love to take part in the rite of passage ceremony that you guys do with jumping over
05:42the balls.
05:43Do you think that might be possible?
06:01God you are a punk man,
06:04and you are a punk man.
06:06I am a punk man.
06:11I am a punk man.
06:13I am a punk man.
06:22Killer, how do I say thank you?
06:24But join me, but join me.
06:25better doing it since I wasn't born hammer being adopted is the only way that I'm going to be able
06:33to take part in the bull jumping it's a crucial first step I'm a little water more cut cut to
06:42give me a mother why them talk to you look at everybody god in ill care about the cabin on
06:48a
06:48bit dancing dancing I'm not for the hammer dancing helps keep community bonds strong
07:19a lot of these boys are working towards their own bull jumping ceremony and I can't help but
07:25notice that jumping seems to be a theme here by the way I'm not doing a classic cliche white
07:35mountain going into the middle of dancing but the chief's son Maggie makes it clear participation
07:46is not optional here we go my worst nightmare
08:02Maggie's the boy I'll be doing the bull jumping ceremony with in a week's time
08:11for him it's deadly serious I need to learn as
08:14much as I can if I'm gonna have any chance of succeeding
08:25it's a lot of jumping it's a lot of display of manliness and then the women are coming in and
08:31kicking dust on their feet similar to giving an invite to a school prom the girls kicked the boys
08:38shins as a kind of flirting method to try and secure a dance partner during the celebrations on the day
08:43of
08:43the bull jumping ceremony I reckon I got off pretty lightly by not really having to do too much dancing
09:05and with my two left feet I'm glad I don't have to make a fool of myself straight off the
09:09bat
09:14dancing over and it's down to business
09:19Maggie introduces me to his uncle Shado who is the local bull jumping specialist and will mentor me in the
09:25hammer way of life to the hammer the bull jumping ceremony is extremely important so they take me to a
09:31dry riverbed where they will need to test my skin
09:34skill level right it's more coming
09:37you know what I can I can do this no problem I'm gonna do this just jump up run along
09:53with cows jump down
10:06straight up across down
10:10yeah
10:11I'm gonna just do this
10:31I think it's just good having me around for the entertainment valley basically I should hang out here charge for
10:38my services and everyone will be a lot happier
10:46however the laughs soon fade and I'm putting on a brave face but my first ball jumping test is nothing
10:52short of an embarrassment
10:57there's something else that's crucial to the ceremony besides balls
11:01ball jumping without sorghum beer would be like a wedding without cake
11:08providing a lot demonstrates the family's social standing while fostering unity between villages and marking celebrations
11:16Maggie takes me to one of the fields where they grow this gluten-free grain that's a vital source of
11:21food as well as a drink
11:23Maggie's job is to keep it safe and I'm gonna see if this is somewhere where I can actually help
11:30so these are your crops
11:32and I didn't pack it in me
11:34I mean I can tell you in the corner and over the world
11:37and over the world
11:40oh
11:40oh
11:40oh
11:41oh
11:42oh
11:42oh
11:46oh
11:47oh
11:48oh
11:48oh
11:48oh
11:48oh
11:50oh
11:50oh
11:50oh
11:50oh
11:50oh
11:50oh
11:51it's gonna becano
11:52oh
11:54oh
11:55oh
11:55oh
11:55oh
11:56oh
11:59me
11:59oh
11:59oh
11:59oh
11:59oh
11:59oh
12:18can you show me how you use it
12:19My cattle jump in.
12:20OK.
12:25Yeah, hell.
12:32OK, I didn't kill myself.
12:39This kind of slingshot is one of the hardest methods
12:42of hunting that I've ever actually done,
12:44and incredibly difficult to get accurate,
12:46and incredibly difficult to get fast.
12:50Clearly, these guys have been doing it all their lives,
12:52you know, probably knee-high.
12:58How do you get the snap like that?
13:09F*** me.
13:11That went over there somewhere.
13:15Erm...
13:23That was exactly the same as what I did.
13:26That is next-level slingshotting.
13:29All right.
13:30Last go, then I'm going to have to call it a day.
13:35Oh, that almost did a little snap thing.
13:39Almost?
13:41Don't laugh at me.
13:44At the moment, I feel like a total joke to the hammer.
13:48At least the slingshotting wasn't as bad as the ball jumping.
13:54Back at the village, my ball jumping coach, Shado, has very kindly sorted me out with a roof over my
13:59head during my stay here.
14:01In here?
14:02Yeah.
14:03OK.
14:03Yeah.
14:04For me?
14:04Yeah.
14:07Crumbs.
14:08Although fairly inconvenient for me, the small doorways in traditional hammer hoots are supposed to help keep the elements out,
14:15which is pretty critical in a harsh environment like this.
14:19Cool.
14:20OK.
14:20So, this is my home for the next week.
14:22It's, erm...
14:24Yeah.
14:25It's, erm...
14:26amazing that I've got somewhere to stay.
14:31Cool.
14:32And this mattress.
14:33I think it's new.
14:35Actually.
14:35Oh, no, actually.
14:38Ah, food.
14:40Go on.
14:42This is definitely one of my more unique sleeping arrangements.
14:47Mate.
14:47Cool.
14:49See you tomorrow morning.
14:53It's 5.06 in the morning.
14:57I just feel a bit rude.
14:59Staying in my house.
15:00Something coming out.
15:09I didn't realise how little impact there has been from the outside world.
15:16There's no power at all.
15:18I've seen two or three mobile phones, but they're the old sort of Nokia mobile phones.
15:23It's...
15:24At night time, there's no light at all.
15:26So, there's no light pollution.
15:27I've lived with a lot of indigenous tribes.
15:29Never one that was quite as authentic as this one.
15:39And therefore, it's, erm...
15:41All the mobile privilege to experience a culture which is so, so different to my own.
15:46I'm keen to immerse myself and then pick up as many of the skills that they're using as possible.
15:57To get a better handle on exactly what I've got myself into...
16:03I asked Chief Zembele if he can tell me more about Maggie's and my upcoming bull jumping ceremony.
16:09To wear days from Maggie's rite of passage ceremony.
16:13Is it such a big event that it's causing, erm... causing you some stress?
16:17Yes.
16:18To be honest.
16:19To be honest.
16:20To be honest.
16:21To be honest.
16:22To be honest.
16:25Obviously, Maggie is the chief's son.
16:27He's your son.
16:28If he does...
16:29If the pressure of the event gets too much and he doesn't succeed, erm...
16:34Does he have another ceremony?
16:35Does he get a chance to do the whole thing again?
16:49I can understand why you're stressed now.
16:58That's good advice.
17:00Do it like you.
17:00Because you've succeeded.
17:04How big is this event?
17:05Like, how many people will come?
17:07What can we expect?
17:08Can you tell me a bit more about it?
17:24I can let you into a little secret.
17:26I'm not very good at the moment.
17:29I'm really not very good.
17:58If I was to fail, would that be a shame for me and my family as well? Or on you?
18:04Ah!
18:09But nothing
18:09You're not a good friend
18:11In a way, I don't think I'd fully realise just how serious this ritual is.
18:20And I have, now.
18:21OK. I will try and not humiliate you.
18:32I'm worried that if I don't improve a lot,
18:35I'm going to embarrass Embele
18:38and ruin the most important day in Maggie's young life.
18:47With preparations for the bull jumping ceremony
18:49now going into overdrive,
18:51Chief Embele's sister-in-law is hard at work
18:53making one of the ceremony's indispensable staples using sorghum.
18:59What are your names?
19:01Nwaku.
19:02Nwaku.
19:14Can you explain what you're doing now?
19:16Nwaku.
19:24Can I get involved in this?
19:29Nwaku.
19:31Nwaku.
19:32Nwaku.
19:33Nwaku.
19:34Nwaku.
19:35Nwaku.
19:47How many, how many of these do we need to do to make the beer?
19:52A lot? A lot?
19:55Okay, there's all that over there.
20:01And is it, is the rite of passage, does it change the men in your eyes or are they more
20:07attractive?
20:07Are they more eligible as husbands?
20:17So are you two, are you two married?
20:23You're married? Yeah, yeah. And how many children do you have?
20:27Six children? Six. I've got four.
20:31Do either of your husbands have other wives? Because I heard in this community the men can have more than
20:36one wife.
20:37No? Just you? And same with you?
20:41Oh, there's two? Okay. And do you mind me asking, how do you feel about the other wife?
20:46Uh-huh. Uh-huh.
20:51Uh-huh.
20:55And does she become like your best friend?
20:59Yeah. Yeah? That's cool. I like this. That is amazing.
21:06Although it's unlikely in this village, and most places around the world for that matter, for the women to be
21:11allowed to have two husbands. It's funny how polygamy tends to work more in favour of the man.
21:17And when you're not making beer, in an average day, what would you guys be doing in the village?
21:32Half day, half day. Long way. Long way to get water.
21:36You're not making beer.
21:38You're not making beer.
21:46You're not making beer.
21:49That's kind of an underground oven.
21:51Uh-huh.
21:54the sticks within the water and the balls are going on top of the sticks above the water
22:02and being steamed a kind of half-boiled half-steamed
22:07this is the most bizarre beer making ceremony or process i've ever come across
22:15why are we taking this back inside
22:41good morning it's quite firm this mattress
22:48the voice of a goat is very very similar to the voice of a screaming child or human being
23:08these chaps here who are keeping me awake for the majority of the night
23:15not terribly respectful of a good night's sleep they're not
23:25i think the idea from my mentor shadow is that let's get a small ball
23:36let's rip the ante a little bit now clear the clear the ball clear the ball
23:49jump up sail through the air clear the ball down down down on feet turn around wink
24:06i guess you could say the stakes are high
24:12right it's small
24:19and any last minute tips
24:26tips next day
24:28okay thanks
24:31okay let's jump a cow jump higher
24:38my advice jump higher go on maggie
24:49so i mean maggie clipped it with his foot
24:53i mean he's a he's an athletic beast
25:01okay he wants me to jump i'm going to jump now
25:08i'm going to jump
25:11oh
25:33I think that went pretty well.
25:40Maybe I clipped it a little bit harder because the reaction of the bull was slightly more
25:44dramatic.
25:46I've jumped a cow.
25:47I've jumped a cow.
25:49That's a big step forward.
25:51I'm actually quite pleased that I've done that.
25:54Also pleased that I haven't broken the back of the little bull.
26:00Watch.
26:01Watch.
26:04So, what do you think of my cow jumping?
26:09Yeah?
26:10Really?
26:19So, Maggie, you actually hit the bull.
26:21Does that worry you a little bit that you didn't clear it cleanly?
26:26Yeah, yeah.
26:34I believe you.
26:35I believe you.
26:36Better join me.
26:37Better join me.
26:43In the Omo Valley, the hammer people must make the most of what little resources are available
26:48to them.
26:48So, Sade's got an arrow and he's sharpening it up.
27:01So, there's a rope going on like a kind of tourniquet.
27:05Exactly like a tourniquet.
27:07Exactly like a tourniquet.
27:35Yeah.
27:37That won't affect the cow.
27:39It'll be fine.
27:46Why you're staring it as much as you are?
27:53Is it for everyone, or is it more for the children?
28:03This gentleman here is sick, and therefore the cow's been bled
28:07in order to give him the nutrients that he needs to get better.
28:15No, never.
28:18Although hard to eat raw, blood is high in protein, iron,
28:22and other vitamins and minerals that may be hard to find anywhere else out here.
28:31It's not meat. It's all come out of the cow.
28:35This is coagulated blood.
28:40But interestingly, he's referred to it as meat.
28:44I'm quite capable of eating many things,
28:47but this coagulated blood is worse than drinking blood.
28:49That is...
28:51It's chewy.
28:54Across the world, blood is used in various dishes to avoid any waste.
28:58Back home in England, it's called black pudding.
29:04Wow, look at that.
29:07It's like ribina and milk.
29:10Obviously, when there's less food, there's less water around,
29:13you've got both nutrients and hydration.
29:19And this one does not taste too bad.
29:21That is good.
29:24For a tribe that is literally occupying an area where it is only just possible to live,
29:29they are using absolutely everything at their availability to survive.
29:34Incredible.
29:36About to join you.
29:40It's the day before the ceremony.
29:42Oh, my goodness, that's beautiful.
29:46Doesn't blood look amazing when it's being poured?
29:53We're making a mixture.
29:55I love making mixtures.
29:56We're making a mixture out of milk and blood
30:01that's been drained from the neck of a cow.
30:05And it's part of the celebration drinks for tomorrow.
30:11And it's very much part of the ceremony,
30:13eating and feasting, but also drinking this amazing concoction.
30:20That looks amazing.
30:21It looks like a sort of strawberry and chocolate milkshake.
30:25Mackey D's.
30:28It literally does look like you've put a strawberry milkshake
30:31and a chocolate milkshake in one big bowl.
30:38It would be so much better, wouldn't it?
30:41It would be so much better if we spoke the same language.
30:44I'm sorry, Maggie.
30:45I will try and learn hammer next time.
31:03It's my last night in this hammer village.
31:06What an experience.
31:07I mean, living with the hammer has been
31:09unlike any experience I've ever had in my life before.
31:14It's been humbling time and time again.
31:16I've been laughed at more in the past ten days
31:22than I've probably been laughed at ever in my life before.
31:25But I feel like I've come on a huge amount.
31:28The only way through was to accept that, you know, I am...
31:35Compared to hammer people, I am almost a laughingstock.
31:38If there's no surprises, I feel like I'll be all right.
31:41If there are surprises, I might struggle.
31:45I think it's hard to hit my sack.
31:48So that's it for me.
32:00It's the day of the ball jumping ceremony.
32:08And all the women of the village are blowing horns
32:11to signal to their neighbours
32:12that a boy's rite of passage is about to begin.
32:22But the ceremony can only properly start
32:24once a group of men called Mazza
32:27join to lead the proceedings.
32:32The Mazza are a group of young men
32:34who have themselves only recently done the bull jumping ceremony
32:37and must then help the boys from nearby villages do theirs,
32:42both practically and symbolically.
32:48We're heading down to the dry riverbed
32:50where the women have gone down to now
32:51because the Mazza have arrived.
32:54And Maggie's presence there
32:56will initiate the beginning of the whipping.
33:00And this is definitely the most contentious part of the ceremony.
33:04So I definitely want to go into this with an open mind
33:07and not a judgmental one,
33:09but it will be somewhat challenging to witness.
33:15One of the most controversial duties of the Mazza
33:17is the whipping of the village's women and girls.
33:21Okay, so from what I understand,
33:22the whipping is about to start,
33:23and this is something I've never seen before,
33:25but can you tell me what the whipping represents
33:28in Hama culture?
33:34And then does it take a long time for the scars to heal?
33:42So you actually bring the sticks yourself.
33:45So it's part of the process
33:47that you invite the Mazza to whip you?
33:52So they're whipping you with your own stick?
33:58Okay, so it's something
34:01that you would definitely want to keep in Hama culture.
34:03You wouldn't want it to be part of the Hama culture
34:06that died out.
34:22Okay, and the whipping has started.
34:36It's very difficult to address this whole subject
34:39without looking through that Western lens.
34:44But the women are lining up to be whipped.
34:50There's no crying out in pain,
34:52and there isn't an obvious readiness to be whipped.
34:57And they really want to demonstrate
34:59their loyalty, support, love for Maggie.
35:02And this is the way of doing that.
35:04It's a hard one to compute, it really is.
35:07Obviously, deliberately putting myself in that space
35:09where I'm trying not to judge,
35:11trying not to have a perspective on it
35:15that isn't appropriate to their culture.
35:24They're being whipped,
35:25and their backs are bleeding,
35:26and they're very accepting
35:28and, in fact, wanting the suffering
35:31attached to demonstrating their love to Maggie.
35:33It's such a juxtaposition.
35:36It's quite difficult,
35:38especially when you're looking into the faces
35:40of the girls who, an hour ago,
35:42I was just laughing with.
35:55I obviously can't condone anything like this,
35:57and through a Western lens,
35:59it could be seen as degrading to women.
36:01But this is not my place to judge
36:03or change these traditions
36:05embedded in their culture.
36:11We're heading towards the cow jumping.
36:13I have to admit,
36:14the old butterflies are starting to stir in my stomach.
36:22Hammer boys do the ball jump totally naked,
36:26symbolically bringing nothing with them
36:27as they transition into adulthood.
36:30But luckily, I've been given a pass on that.
36:33I don't think anyone wants to see
36:34a near-50-year-old bloke
36:35jumping the balls naked anyway.
36:37Clearly, it's not really about me.
36:39It's about Maggie.
36:40But I don't want to fail this one.
36:43I want to give it my best.
36:47So, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13,
36:5214, 15, 16, 17 cows?
37:02I think this is just ridiculous.
37:05There's another 7 coming behind.
37:08It makes 24.
37:10Never even heard of 24 cows
37:12being used for the ceremony.
37:14Aye, aye, aye.
37:15This is getting real now.
37:19Look at the size of the horns on that one.
37:30I feel like it's my first rodeo.
37:43So, these cows are bigger than the ones in the village, yeah?
37:47They're bigger.
37:51I'm f***ing scared.
37:53Yeah, I'm scared.
38:07Hi, Maggie.
38:13He looks nervous.
38:37My thoughts are starting to get scrambled,
38:39if I'm honest.
38:40I, um, there's so many things.
38:44There's the physical danger of doing it.
38:47There's all of the attention.
38:49There's the kind of ridicule.
38:52There's the size of the cows.
38:54There's so much going on.
39:16I'm just visualizing clearing the first cow,
39:20skipping lightly across the mall
39:21and coming down the other side.
39:23And then doing that eight times.
39:32The smaller cows are being removed from the herd
39:34and, um,
39:36only the big ones are going to remain.
39:50It looks like they've picked six of the biggest bulls for this.
39:53But thank God they've left a small bull in front
39:55to help us do the jump up.
39:57They're gonna, they're gonna pass.
40:08They're gonna pass.
40:09They're gonna happen.
40:10They're gonna pass.
40:22I'm not wearing them.
40:24I'm not wearing them.
40:25They're gonna be fighting.
40:26They're getting paid so much theì² turintdown.
40:27Maggie said it very gracefully I have to say one of the bulls sort of was a bit
40:32spooked and moved out but the rest of them are still in line I'm about to be
40:36called a small cow on this side has been taken away yeah but that makes it
41:02easier to get up this cannot be happening the last thing I want is to let Maggie
41:06chief Zembele and myself down by humiliating us all it's not graceful but
41:26I'm over and that's all that matters
41:41it's not graceful is it
42:05OK, OK, OK, OK.
42:08Hey!
42:16I just want to say thank you so much for letting me share your ceremony,
42:20because I know this is a really special day for you, so thank you so much.
42:25Mate, it was a pleasure. Give me a hug.
42:36I think one thing I have learned from Nahama people is that
42:39failure just isn't an option.
42:42I didn't come here to show off. I didn't come here to beat my chest.
42:44I came here to learn, and I've learned so much.
42:47It was a big success for Maggie.
42:48He's now on his way to becoming a man who's passed his rite of passes,
42:52but for me, it's just about the lessons that I've learned,
42:55and above everything, it's the resilience that the Hammer people have shown
42:58throughout the entire week.
43:00It feels like I've been accepted amongst the Hammer people.
43:04It feels like I could carve myself a life out here if I wanted to,
43:08but I'm not 100% sure that I would want to,
43:12because to live out here, you need to be ridiculously tough.
43:20Is that going to work?
43:25You like laughing at me, don't you?
43:26Oi!
43:27Oi!
43:28Oi!
43:30Oi!
43:38Yes.
43:42Used to play football for England, eh?
43:45No, I wasn't.
43:46Didn't you?
43:46I'll be accenting.
43:48I'm not.
43:49I'm not.
43:50I've had a chance to play football for England,
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