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Ed Staffords Rite Of Passage S Episode 2 Engsub
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00:22I've never experienced anything even comparable in terms of pain.
00:38This is an extraordinary thing to put yourself through, especially when in order to become
00:43a man in this community, you have to do it 20 times throughout your life.
00:58I'm Ed Stafford, as an explorer and survivalist, I've made a career out of mucking about in
01:04the wild. If I'm honest, I've never really grown up.
01:08Look at that!
01:09So now, I've set myself a mission to see how cultures across the world navigate the messy
01:21business of becoming an adult. I believe many of us in the modern world have lost our sense
01:29of identity. But I'm hoping by immersing myself in the often extreme trials that young people
01:36face, I can figure out how these rituals make us better members of our communities.
01:42I've never experienced anything even comparable in terms of pain.
01:47By joining them on their journey, I hope I'll learn to become a better man.
01:55Maybe even grow up.
01:56It's Billy Amos!
01:58Okay, he wants me to jump up. I'm going to jump up.
02:00And successfully pass my own rite of passage.
02:13I'm heading deep into the Amazon jungle to visit a people called the Satare Maui.
02:19I'm on the final leg of my journey, a two-hour boat ride up the Amazon to reach their remote
02:24village.
02:27They live on the Andira River, 80 kilometres from the nearest city.
02:33This community has a unique rite of passage ceremony that involves them putting their hands
02:38in gloves full of bullet ants.
02:42The bullet ant of all insects has the most painful sting in the world.
02:47The Wraith.
03:05It's been a while.
03:06This is the time to go.
03:07It's been a while.
03:07I'm in the queue.
03:10Dr. Horizons.
03:11I'm staying in with you.
03:14OK.
03:17That all felt rather stiff, if I'm honest.
03:21I think the guys knew that I was coming,
03:23but I think they were a little bit nervous.
03:25My name is Eddie.
03:28No, it's Adriana.
03:29Adriana?
03:30Yes.
03:30Very nice.
03:31You know, let's face it, it's not every day that a camera
03:34and a man comes into their village wanting
03:36to partake in this sort of ceremony.
03:38So I'm hoping that things relax a little as this day goes on.
03:58Just been given a necklace and officially welcome to the tribe.
04:02That is a good start.
04:03Obrigado.
04:04Obrigado.
04:04Obrigado.
04:06Obrigado.
04:15Obrigado.
04:18Obrigado.
04:32Obrigado.
04:36In terms of sort of architecture, there's quite a lot of traditional houses and there's
04:40a lot of concrete structures as well.
04:46Despite their remote location, the community's position on the river means that they are
04:51open to the outside world and the modern influences that brings.
05:12Every time we stop, I keep getting bitten by ants, but they're these tiny little ones and
05:16I'm trying not to react to them at all because, obviously, compared to bullet ants, they're
05:19absolutely nothing and yet they're infuriating because they're biting at my ankles and these
05:23guys are starting to laugh because I'm, like, literally picking these tiny little minute
05:26ants off my ankles, but they hurt.
05:30I might be in trouble.
05:32The centrepiece of the Satarema Way rite of passage is the incredibly painful tucandera ritual.
05:42Young men get stung by close to 100 bullet ants on each hand.
05:52And they have to do it at least 20 times.
06:02And one of those times is about to kick off.
06:06OK, so this is the central area where they conduct the ceremony.
06:19OK.
06:21My understanding of the ceremony today is that these guys are veterans.
06:26one of them has done it 34 times.
06:30It's all becoming a little bit real.
06:40It's been likened to walking on hot coves.
06:45Insect venom is scaled in terms of the pain from a one to a four.
06:50And the bullet ant is number four, which is obviously the highest level of pain.
06:55To put that into perspective, the sting of an average honeybee is generally just a two.
07:01It does something to the pain pathways within the body and stops the body combating that pain.
07:07So it keeps the pain pathways open longer than you would normally feel pain in any other situation in life.
07:32This is an extraordinary thing to put yourself through.
07:48What I understand is the dancing and therefore the sweating that allows the toxins to disperse.
07:54And this is to help them manage the pain.
07:58It has a large weight of the body.
07:59It is receiving the pain.
08:06It's just like the blood pressure.
08:06It's coming from going to the body.
08:09If it has been hard, it is able to take it off.
08:13As the body is cannot do this.
08:13It's the same.
08:13I am not doing this.
08:13That's fine.
08:18It's a full body.
08:20I try to to help you.
08:22I try to help you.
08:26And now his hands are shaking badly.
08:36You've literally got a veteran crying, shaking, trembling,
08:43experiencing a level of pain that I know I have never felt in my life before.
08:49It's scary.
08:59Can I see?
09:00Can I see?
09:01This is the first time that I've seen bullet ants on a glove like this.
09:09So the ants have all been sort of secured into this
09:13with their abdomen facing inwards
09:15and obviously the stings are on the abdomen,
09:18which is why it's on the inside.
09:21How many? How many do they have here?
09:23More or less. No one can see it, but we have more than 80.
09:2780? 80 each one?
09:36Oh my God.
09:43Can I see?
09:43Taniko has been through the ritual more times than anybody else.
09:47And he will be my mentor for the week.
09:50Can I see?
09:57Can I see?
10:00Can I see?
10:01Can I see?
10:02Can I see?
10:02Can I see?
10:07Do women ever go through the ceremony?
10:09No.
10:14They might not have to physically deal with the pain,
10:17but the women do seem to help the young men throughout the emotional ordeal.
10:26It's an extreme rite of passage.
10:33So why do they do it?
10:34Can I see?
10:36I'm aho.
10:43Can I see a child over here?
10:45Can I see?
10:46I'm a child.
10:50Can I see?
10:51Can I see?
10:51It's like a baby for us.
10:51I've got to go through.
10:52Can I see?
10:53Can I see?
10:57Can I see?
10:58Can I see?
10:58Can I see?
11:03Can I see?
11:08I mean, this is an incredible number. Why have you done it so many times?
11:23While there's no scientific evidence to show that repeated bullet ant stings improve the immune system,
11:28I can see how it could make the boys understand and manage pain much better.
11:34Is it okay with both of you that I take part in a ceremony in a few days?
11:40And I advise that I really pass a advice that doesn't fit in my hand.
11:48Good morning.
11:49You want to fight?
11:51Very careful.
11:52Thank you very much.
11:54Thank you very much.
11:56Thank you very much.
11:56Thank you very much.
12:03I can't believe this is day one.
12:07I feel like I've experienced so much already.
12:13The truth is, the auntie's been hooked.
12:16I'm under no illusions just quite how painful this is going to be.
12:21I've never experienced anything even comparable in terms of pain.
12:47The bullet ant ritual is still playing on my mind.
12:55The bullet ant ritual is still playing on my mind.
12:56It's a mix of emotions.
12:57It's a blender of butterflies and knives and all sorts of things going around my chest.
13:03I feel like the next few days are vital for me to nuance exactly my approach to how I'm going
13:09to conduct myself during the ceremony.
13:11But it's occupying every part of my being right now.
13:17I'm so aware of something coming that is enormous.
13:22Absolutely enormous.
13:25I guess my spidey senses were tingling as a morning storm quickly engulfs the area.
13:30So, while we wait for it to pass, Adriana asked me to help prepare some food for their meals.
13:37You're going to mix and then you're going to do this.
13:41The flour is very important.
13:43Because if you don't have the flour, no one eats it.
13:50Farine is a carbohydrate made of manioc root.
13:56And is a staple part of the Amazonian diet when there is no fish or meat to eat.
14:02It's quite flamboyant, isn't it?
14:03Yes.
14:08Is it always the women that do this kind of job?
14:11Yes.
14:17I'm happy to make the flour, because when he comes to home,
14:21we have the flour ready for our family.
14:25Okay, we're done.
14:27Yes.
14:32It's ready to do it.
14:34Excellent.
14:40Golden nuggets of pure joy.
14:47I took the moment with Adriana to find out what she thinks about the right of passage.
15:01How painful do you think it is for the man?
15:14How painful do you think it is for the man?
15:25I guess this ritual is basically the big equalizer.
15:29You didn't want him to do it initially and you've now decided that you do want him to do it.
15:34Why have you changed your mind?
15:54I think if a 12-year-old can do it, I'm hoping that at 49 years old, I can do
16:01it as well.
16:05I'm going to tell you how I'm going to help my son, right?
16:14I am touched by Adriana's promise to help me through the ceremony.
16:18At this point, with the bullet ant ritual only four days away,
16:22I'm going to take all the help I can get to overcome the pain.
16:48Jose is helping to teach me the steps needed during the right as a way to help deal with the
16:54pain.
16:59You'd think that would be easy, wouldn't it?
17:03It's because it ends on a right foot, and then it starts with the right foot.
17:10And so I'm like, I want to do my left foot.
17:22I know it's not complicated, but that's quite imbalanced.
17:30I'm not really renowned for my dancing.
17:34I think I've got it.
17:43You were really stamping hard. Was there a reason for that?
18:13I've watched him almost come apart, you know.
18:16I've had tears streaming down his face, body convulsing and shaking.
18:21Obviously, it's somewhat intimidating, to say the least.
18:27There's no rules or expectations surrounding crying.
18:31She does good. When we cry, it's not a shame. It's nothing.
18:36It hurts. You have to jump.
18:39Yes.
18:47There is no hiding the fact that this is going to be extraordinarily more powerful than anything I would have
18:53ever felt through my nervous system before.
18:59I'm aware that my mind state will make all the difference.
19:02I think I just need to reset, recharge.
19:04Sleep will give me the resilience that I need.
19:07Sleep will give me the strength of my heart.
19:14Morning, and traditional preparations are in full swing for tomorrow's rite of passage.
19:21Let's go!
19:29Do the work!
19:53It's all, it's making the gloves sort of, making it at home.
19:57Yeah.
19:59Yeah.
19:59That's right.
20:05To do the back, you do this.
20:11Here.
20:13And here.
20:15That's it.
20:18That's it.
20:24So what I'm doing is cutting the little strips that end up being woven together in order to make the
20:29inner gloves, the ones that the ants are actually woven into.
20:38The outer gloves are permanent and they're held within the village hall.
20:42So, it's the end of this.
20:51Gloves woven.
20:52The boys' night also need to get ourselves prepared.
20:55And it's suddenly all becoming very real.
21:19The boys being painted will do the right with me.
21:22Because I've always wanted to know the pain that they feel.
21:27Because...
21:27My grandfather said that...
21:30To learn to be a...
21:31Whatever we want, we have to go through.
21:36Mm-hmm.
21:37To Nikko's grandson, Esau, is 12 years old.
21:41And like me, he's doing the bullet ant ritual for the first time.
22:01I can see it in your eyes.
22:03Are you nervous about doing it for the first time?
22:07Yes.
22:08Yes.
22:08And it's my first time.
22:10It means that it's a lot for me.
22:11Yes.
22:15Yes.
22:15It's a great thing, right?
22:18Mm-hmm.
22:19Mm-hmm.
22:31I'm nervous.
22:32I'm nervous.
22:36I see your mom or your dad giving you any last-minute advice.
22:44OK.
23:09My body is ready.
23:11And for the first time, I'm starting to feel more confident about the rite of passage.
23:17But Taniko's asked to meet.
23:41We have to breathe a little water.
23:43But the other thing is that we don't have any conditions for anything.
23:51With the pressure of the dor, we don't have to force it.
23:57We have to relax.
23:59We have to wait for it.
24:00If it's slow, then the blood comes and falls.
24:07Then it's mannered with the dor.
24:12But if the dor is alive and you want to be more than her, she will cry.
24:20In terms of the order of the ceremony, Jose indicated to me that the reason he was in so much
24:26pain was because he went first.
24:28Obviously, I'm only going to do this once in my life. Would it be okay if I went first?
24:33It's you who will have to say this.
24:36It's not a joke. If you move, you will have to finish.
24:41If we call you, you will have to go right away.
24:45If we call you, you will not come, you will be scared, you will be ashamed of us.
24:52And for the people who are looking at it, you will be ashamed of us.
24:54And for the people who are looking at it.
24:59That's it. There's no backing down now.
25:02I just hope I don't live to regret it.
25:12It's my last meal with the family.
25:16And Adriana has made sure we're all well-fed for the ceremony.
25:20There's the rice, the macaroni, the bread.
25:26But it also feels a bit like a condemned man's final meal.
25:30It's hot.
25:34It's hot.
25:35It's hot.
25:47It's hot.
25:50It's hot.
25:51It's hot.
25:52I'm going to put my hand on it for the first time.
25:55It's hot.
26:00I'm ready.
26:01I think so.
26:03I think so.
26:09Big day tomorrow.
26:12It has involved a lot of mental preparation.
26:14It has involved strategizing.
26:17But I feel like I'm there.
26:20And it may well be the last time in my life that I ever experienced that sensation.
26:25So I want to experience it.
26:27I want to relish in it.
26:28I want to revel in it.
26:30I want to explore it.
26:34And dare I say it, I don't want it to be over.
26:42It's the day of my rite of passage.
26:47And it wouldn't be much of a ceremony without the star of the event.
26:52Chinico is blowing a musical instrument at the front,
26:56which is part of the ceremony in terms of attracting the ants
27:01and drawing them out of their home.
27:15The tobacco smoke and rubbing of the tree aggravates the ants
27:19and drives them out of their nest, ready to sting.
27:35Wow, that's quite a lot on the pole.
27:40There's a lot of ants going into this tube.
27:44A huge amount.
27:46Every one of them has a sting.
27:49Considerably worse than a scorpion.
27:56Back in the village, while the boys and I steal our nerves,
28:02Tinico sedates the ants using leaves from the tapabera plant.
28:24It's a skillful art, and Tinico must work fast to weave the ants into the gloves before they wake up.
28:47This is it. The sedative has worn off, and the ants are ready to attack anything and anyone that goes
28:53near them.
28:55Undeniably, there's this surge of energy that is rising in my body.
29:07It's kind of a mesh of excitement and elation and fear.
29:20I think, actually, in my life, the closest I've come to this is a boxing match.
29:25You know, somewhere where there's nowhere to hide.
29:27Somewhere where, if you mess up, it's going to be very visible to a lot of people.
29:43Once the gloves go on, I'll be entering a world of pain that I've never felt before.
29:50So the ants are going into the gloves now, being tied up.
29:54And there will be nothing I can do to stop it for over 12 hours.
29:59He's being held to various bodies.
30:03Like this?
30:07Movie ends
30:09Movie ends
30:11Movie ends
30:37**Sangé¢ singing**
30:40**Sangé¢ singing**
30:59I may look composed but the pain is excruciating, somehow it's almost making
31:08me feel high, I'm charged with adrenaline and completely focused on the dance, the
31:19repetitive steps are giving me something to focus on but the searing pain is like
31:25nothing I've ever felt before.
31:55So
32:03so
32:10so
32:25I've never experienced anything to this intensity in my physicality.
32:33Literally like my hands are on fire, right in the heart of a fire.
32:37.
32:39.
32:44.
32:45.
32:46.
32:55My thought was to put him and send him out, but he didn't resist.
33:05His preparation was very good.
33:14If you were to spiral into a panic with this level of pain, it would be awful.
33:28It would be then unmanageable by definition.
33:45If it's this hard for me, a grown man, I have no idea how the boys are going to cope.
33:51I'm not going to do this.
33:53I'm not going to do this.
34:11I'm not going to do this.
34:22Now it's all about withstanding the incredible pain.
34:31Taniko warned me there would be intense peaks to this pain.
34:38It feels like I'm hitting the first of these now.
34:41I guess this is now the phase where there's no abatement.
34:44The pain is, if anything, it's growing slightly.
34:50If anything, it's getting more painful.
34:52And it's managing that.
34:55I'm not going to die.
35:13I'm not going to die.
35:13It's a big pain.
35:37An hour after the ritual and the pain is only increasing.
35:43The decision is made to move us to the village hall so that we can be closely monitored.
36:03But it's as close to as unbearable as I can contemplate right now.
36:10Hats off to these people who do it 20 times.
36:13Crikey.
36:14What an extraordinary way of facilitating them to turn from young boys into adults.
36:24Crikey.
36:25A little bit of panic that the pain is still as bad as it is.
36:29That I'm just trying to calm within myself.
36:38This is kind of the darkest part for me now.
36:52As I put my hand in the gloves first and for a longer time, I received more venom.
36:58Now, I'm struggling to cope and my team are concerned.
37:03Hello, G.
37:04Hello.
37:05How are you?
37:06How are you?
37:12I'm going to be careful of your vital signals.
37:15Yes, yes.
37:26How are you?
37:27I'm going to be careful of your vital signals.
37:28Yes, yes.
37:29How are you?
37:30I'm going to be careful of your circulation.
37:32for the demas and the inclamation.
37:39It's been 4 hours that I've no...
37:42I've got no peace.
37:44So I'm concerned about it, yes?
37:46Okay.
37:50My concern was that he was entering
37:52a background of dehydration,
37:54which is common in this moment
37:55at the exposition and by the ritual
37:57and the toxin of the rammus.
38:11after taking in fluids and being carefully monitored by the doctor
38:15i'm finally back on my feet but the pain was way more traumatic than i had ever anticipated
38:25it's kind of changed from burning fire to they've been smashed with a sledgehammer
38:39in the dance i just sort of found myself next to another guy whose hands were completely
38:44messed up so we couldn't kind of link arms
38:49and um this quite young girl called fran came up and linked arms
38:54there was just something so special about the fact that she'd noticed and that she cared enough
39:03i think their role is vital absolutely vital and then it's funny isn't it you go through all that
39:10pain and the thing that makes you close to tears is the care that you've been presented with and
39:17offered
39:26adrianna i mean literally constantly helping me feeding me binding my hands
39:33uh
39:34i want you to walk away
39:46thank you
39:49hi
39:50oh
39:51oh
39:51oh
39:51oh
39:51oh
39:53Don't cry. Don't cry.
39:55Don't cry. Don't cry.
39:56Don't cry. Don't cry.
40:05I've never been presented with so much care and love
40:09and I would never have got through that ceremony
40:12if it wasn't for you all.
40:13I'll never forget it.
40:20I'll remember it.
40:32Thank you very much.
40:35It's very good you and Eric,
40:37to save our culture
40:42to take forward.
40:45It's very good
40:46what we are doing here.
40:48I don't have a lot of words,
40:53but I thank you very much.
40:56From the bottom of my heart
40:56and my family who are united here.
41:02I came here thinking
41:04that this ceremony was all going to be about
41:06proving how tough I was.
41:09Proving how I could do this on my own.
41:13And, uh...
41:15It's not true, is it?
41:17It's not true of the ceremony,
41:18but it's also not true in general.
41:19It's like...
41:20You don't have to do it well on your own.
41:23You can let people in.
41:27You can let them help you.
41:34It's beautiful.
41:35It's absolutely beautiful.
41:56I feel a bit buttered and bruised this morning,
41:59if I'm honest.
42:01That level of pain for that amount of time
42:04just almost doesn't feel natural.
42:09I think I'm starting to get an understanding
42:11of how rites of passage are really essential to communities
42:14because, on the face of it,
42:15they look like things that allow young boys to show off,
42:18to prove that they're tough,
42:19so they can become a man.
42:20Oh, it's the last one.
42:26Thank you very much.
42:27And maybe we'll see you in the future.
42:30Yes.
42:34The ceremony last night changed my opinion on that.
42:38It was about the community coming together.
42:40It's the very soul of the community,
42:42and it's what pulls everything together.
42:46I've been fighting my whole life,
42:49fighting to prove that I'm tough enough to survive on my own,
42:52and the inherent epiphany of last night
42:55seemed to be that you don't have to.
42:57You can come into a village,
42:59and seven days later,
43:00they're calling you part of their family
43:01and giving you so much love and support
43:04that you're reduced to tears.
43:06I mean, that's...
43:06I don't know of many things in life
43:08more powerful than that, really.
43:21Sounds like a cartoon anvil falling from the sky.
43:26...
43:30...
43:37...
43:38...
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