Thank you for being so clear Baba; I have read about the removal of youth from the rest of the community in order to pass through this transition. I am not sure if this is across the board throughout Africa or specific to particular cultures ( I have read that it occurs in "most" African societies). I overstand that for HIM to receive a house of his own was reflective of the high status of his family, however I was thinking that the space of his own served the purpose of separating him from the rest of his family at that critical time.

I have read that the Bambara of Mali have a six stage ritual that is designed to "create men who are morally and intellectually enlightened and metaphysically endowed with immortal souls". Also that Bakongo youth in Zaire are put through religious rituals symbolizing the "death" of their childhood and "rebirth" as adults.

***Generally when they return to their Villages, they are welcomed back as young adults, and are given the responsibilities, of how to help to care for the village and general community, and how to make the community a better place to live for all the people***

Even though the youth are removed from the rest of the commuinty for a period of time it seems to I as such a critically communal process for the youth! It is not a rejection or negative segregation in any way, unlike the removal of youth from their families and communities in Western culture. In my opinion these rites of passage are a POSITIVE and THOROUGHLY NECESSARY part of development and InI youth in the West suffer terribly from being denied this ancestral knowledge..