Outventure - Article - Man Building Machine Project

Outventure is an adventure group, enjoying a wide range of adventures while challenging and building one another up.

It sparked off in February 2005, when two mates recognised there are more young guys out there enjoying the adventurous life, who would also have better fun sharing great times with a bigger group.

Currently we have over 80 members in our non-profit adventure club ... guys in the age range 23-37, living in Gauteng, South-Africa.

We explore a broad range of activities to cater for different interests and to accommodate the pace of city life, so guys can leave their daily responsibilities, worries, and reservations behind and come live life to the full.

ADVENTURES - ROAD TRIPS - CAMPING - BONFIRES - BEACH VOLLEYBALL - DIVING - SUN - WATER - RAFTING - HIKING - PAINTBALL - OFF-ROAD - QUAD BIKES - OUTDOORS - EXPLORATION - CHALLENGES & DARES - FRIENDS - CAMPFIRES - FUN - ADVENTURE CLUB - GAUTENG - SOUTH AFRICA - GO PLAY OUTSIDE - OUTVENTURE
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Outventure Project:
THE MAN BUILDING MACHINE

Just a bit of history and the philosophy behind this project ... In recent South-African history, our military training, that used to be compulsory for all young guys after school or studies, has been phased out. Although we don't agree with everything the former system stood for, the military training did turn young boys into men (sometimes good and sometimes not so good). Since this has been phased out, we now see a generation of guys who have to accept the responsibilities of adult life, but had no coaching or didn't face the necessary hardships to assist them in having the backbone to face everyday adult life and hence "fake it to try and be it". Thus character traits like commitment, integrity, "biting the bullet" and "making it work, regardless" are lacking more and more. We then started looking at other societies and how they bridge this gap. It seems like the Fraternity society is the only one actively striving to turn boys into men (although they've also had their challenges and failures in the process). We'd like to somehow incorporate the good of other initiatives and incorporate it into a South-African based initiative for Outventure members.

Although we are South-African based and not a fraternity in the traditional sense of the word, we strive towards strengthening the bond between guys and our aim is a "buddy" dynamic where guys can leave their daily responsibilities, worries and reservations behind and get into each other's personal space in order to move all the masks & 'pretends' aside and be real with one another ... talking about the things that men in our traditional upbringing are not 'supposed' to talk about and strengthening the camaraderie amongst us as "brothers".

Along the way we incorporate various other proven methods, philosophies and programmes. We steer clear of religious, spiritual and other connotations/rituals that may appear "weird" or be offending, so guys can be part of this project while keeping within their own religious/spiritual paradigm.

Unlike most other programmes, this is an ongoing project and therefore we incorporate it in an informal way into our day and weekend events so it doesn't feel like a typical lecture or workshop (while we play outside and enjoy adventures), but still drives us towards the end result of being the best men we can be and not standing back for any other.