Men are often seen as the protector of communities, the bone, and the strength of every Tribe, and as such, the responsibility of being strong and being adequately so is often left to these men. They are expected to eat well, grow well and learn to fend for themselves as early as they can all so they could keep their family and community safe from predators and several forms of danger. However, to prove this strength to a community of men who are older and more mature than they are, these young men are expected to go through certain processes, rites, and traditional practices. In recent times, to prove that a man is grown enough to handle life as a family man, he is expected to have been able to fend for himself and must have been able to keep a job.

However, in ancient times, and perhaps to date in some African tribes, this is not enough. They believe that it is not enough that a young man or boy can farm and be agriculturally productive and well-grounded enough to provide for himself, rather, he must also be able to go through certain things, things that are perhaps designed to weaken him, test him and show, eventually that he is indeed a young man who is ready for the future and life as a man in terrible, simple and strange situations. Such rites and practices are often called initiation rites or processes and they have been seen or practiced from one Tribe in the Amazons to ancient tribes in the Americas and even more so in Africa. For instance, in some parts of Africa, young men are locked in shrines for days, beaten sent to battle lions, and as interesting as that sounds it doesn’t seem as “cool” as the Vanuatu tribe’s initiation process for boys.

The Vanuatu tribes, called or referred to in the plural sense because the Vanuatu nation is a place with at least 83 islands and as such, several sub-tribes in the area. In these areas, many boys are forced or compelled to go through a process that many experts have called death-defying. During this process, often referred to as one of the world’s Deadliest initiation processes, these boys are so lucky not to die or face death as they get involved. Interestingly, not only is this ceremony believed to be a way for boys to prove their strength and Readiness for adulthood, marriage, and growth into other stages of life, it also has been said by natives of these tribes to be quite effective in curing illnesses and perhaps diseases. This leaves one wondering, what exactly does this ceremony entail?

This ceremony often done or put together during the country’s wet season has been described by some to be the earliest form of Bungee jumping, where men and daring women jump from high structures of mountains down to the ground. However, modern bungee jumping requires safety precautions but in the case of these Vanuatu boys, this is not the case. According to sources, this strange and quite deadly Rite often begins with the construction of a tall tower. The tower, made out of locally sourced materials such as bamboo sticks and the likes, is done in such a way that it reaches at least 30 meters high, and is built about five weeks earlier. 30 meters high should be at least 66 to 98 feet high.

Once the tower is done to completion, completely done and ready to be used in this ancient traditional proactive, a boy is taken to the top of the tower, where vines are tied to his ankle. These vines are designed to hold said boy from hitting his head on the ground but aren’t always very effective in that regard. So to avoid any accident, they also tilt the bottom of the tower, gather round sand just in case the boy falls. Regardless of these precautions, a boy who falls may sustain such serious injuries that it leaves him very damaged.

According to ancient Origins, “The men who jump are defying death. Their goal is to brush their shoulders against the ground, after plummeting down to the ground from an extreme height.” Interesting isn’t it? While they brush their shoulder to the ground, their ankle through the vine sustains them in the air and keep them from an unpredictable accident. However, experts have noted that a simple error or mistake can lead everything to become very dangerous and this doesn’t matter as it is believed to be the luck of said boy or young man.