PHILOSOPHY AND PURPOSE

The program is an initiation into womanhood and based on concepts from our ancestors and African Culture.

• These concepts are basically a tradition of training and teaching what has been passed down from generation to generation.
• The intent is to provide support and nurture the girls and young ladies as they experience life.
• We accomplish this through structured teaching, mentoring relationships in addition to the participation in programs and activities that address pertinent issues of today and their impact on Black Christian women.
• Intonjane is a mentoring ministry where young girls are taught how to love and respect themselves and love and respect others.
• We attempt to identify the meaning of womanhood through spiritual, physical, emotional and social experience.

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

The purpose of INTONJANE is to provide nurture and support for Black Christian women as they experience life. This will be done through the development of support groups and mentor relationships, in addition to the participation in a program of activities which address pertinent issues of today and their impact on Black Christian women.

WHAT IS A MEMBER?

A member is any female 8 years or older who believes in the ideals stated in our purpose and has a desire to share in the learning experiences of the group. After several years of dedicated participation and after the proper evaluative process, young women (about the age of 16) will be invited to prepare for and participate in the Orita (Rites of Passage) Ritual. The overall intention of this ritual is to impress upon young persons the assumption of responsibility for their moral conduct from a Christian perspective. We pray that the Orita Ritual will serve as a spring board to set in motion a concern for the future of the nation and the role the Black community is to play.

STRUCTURE

Youth members are divided into Circles of Sisterhood.

• 7-10 are in Kirabo (childhood circle)
• 11-13 are in Sangoma (puberty circle)
• 14 - 18 are in Nya Akoma (adolescence)

Each circle has a circle leader who is responsible for developing programs that encompass the curriculum that has been established for the ministry.

Intonjane is open to girls from other churches and the surrounding community.

Adult members of Intonjane are called sponsors and should be 21 years old, a member of Trinity and have taken at least two bible classes. The role of the sponsor is to become an active participant in the planning and implementation of our programs. The sponsors are role models: we teach by example.

CURRICULUM

At the beginning of each year sponsors meet to design a program for the ministry that touches on all segments of the proposed curriculum.

We select a book for our curriculum for the year.

Intonjanes program is broken down into segments, health and hygiene, education and career, culture and arts and economics and finance.

In addition Intonjane gets involved in community programs and projects.

Lastly, our Rites of Passage Program is an African Ritual that has been adapted and designed to teach, explore and emphasize lessons on how to become a young Christian woman.