The Touchwood Project

We just finished a grant application to Learning Launchpad to run a pilot project aimed at young men 14 – 25 that we’ve dubbed ‘Firekeeper‘. In a community, the firekeeper is responsible for the safety and well-being of all, the father of the tribe.

Malcolm tending his fire New Years Eve

But too often these days, we act as perpetual children, looking out only for ourselves and what we want.

When does a boy become a man?

One of the phrases that really summed this up for me comes from last night’s viewing of Lars and the Real Girl (an absolutely brilliant film) where Lars asks his brother, Gus, ‘How did you know you were a man?’ and his brother says:

There’s still a kid inside but you grow up when you decide to do right, okay, and not what’s right for you, what’s right for everybody, even when it hurts.
Lars: Okay, like what?
Gus: Like, you know, like, you don’t jerk people around, you know, and you don’t cheat on your woman, and you take care of your family, you know, and you admit when you’re wrong, or you try to, anyways. That’s all I can think of, you know – it sound like it’s easy and for some reason it’s not.

We want to run a 21st century take on the ancient idea of a rite of passage to manhood. And being who we are, that’ll naturally include bushcrafty things like making fire and building shelter.

It’s not about being macho

But it’ll also include things like cooking, cleaning and repairing a community building. Because, at least from our perspective, being a man isn’t about being macho (or being weak for that matter either) — it’s about doing the right thing, being a steward for your community. It’s about being gentle and caring, the wise tribal leader rather than the hot-blooded young warrior.

As Malcolm says all the time, it’s about ‘leaving things a little better than you find it‘.

We’ve submitted the initial application and should know in 2 weeks whether we’ve been shortlisted.

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