Young Women Mentoring Organization The Ashanti Mentoring Program was developed in 1996 under the leadership of Vickie Wofford.
Originally, Ashanti began as a one-to-one mentor program for girl’s ages 12 to 18. In 1998, the program became more focused on Bible lessons and had a one-to-many mentor relationship. Consequently, the name was changed to the Ashanti Protégé Program. Currently Ashanti is a one-to-one and a one-to-many mentoring program. Our Monday classes give us an opportunity to work at creating a true sisterhoo
d among the mentors and disciples. Independently, each match will work together to fulfill specific goals that they have laid out with one another on an one-to-one basis. Considering that all Christians are disciples of Christ and that we should be creating disciples of those that we minister to for Christ, the Ashanti Disciple / Rites of Passage Program is now both a mentoring program and a discipleship program. The purpose and goal of Ashanti is to disciple girls ages 8 to 18 from a Christian perspective in order to equip them with the life skills necessary for their transition into womanhood. This will be accomplished by focusing on spirituality, personal identity & self-development, African and African American cultural awareness, our role in our family & community, stewardship and cooperative economics. SOCIAL HERITAGE
The Ashantis or Asantes are one section of the Akan ethnic group who live in central Ghana in West Africa, an area rich in gold.2 The word Akan derives from Kann which means: patently clean and free from adulteration, or, light and free from darkness. The Akan feel their social heritage is distinctive. The Akan precepts or general rules of life are: a) A charge to keep what they have; b) To glorify the human race; c) To love their neighbors as they love themselves; and, d) To raise human esteem to a higher level.3
TRADITIONAL VALUES
The Ashantis stand for traditional values: fairness, respect, honesty, integrity and each being his/her brother's keeper.4
CULTURE
The Ashanti culture, as is most African culture, is rooted in a system of extended families.5 The family structure is matrilineal which is based on tracing descent through the female line.6 The woman is the custodian of all knowledge and treasures of the community. No Ashanti community exists without a social group of some sort and from girlhood to womanhood the female must be seen to play an active part in the social life of the community. Lessons on greetings and respect start very early in life and youth are taught to comport themselves with dignity under all circumstances.
