| Opinion
& Essays - Apr, 1991 Issue |
Anasazi
The Making of a Walking
(602) 962-4991
Mike Merchant, Admissions
The following comments were
made by two families that graduated recently from ANASAZI wilderness
survival in Arizona.
"When you're walking, there
is nothing to do but think. You think about life, your relationships
and problems."
The other graduate said after
being home for awhile, "this has exceeded all the dreams I had while
on Anasazi. I never dreamed that we could be so happy being together."
One of the parents said, "Since
she's been back... we know what it's like to be happy every day."
During the program the children
start by hiking to a campsite to join the others and start learning
skills such as harvesting manizanita berries. They learn survival skills
and learn about the Anasazi Indians, while counselors monitor their
progress. The usual length is 43 days. While the teens are away, parents
attend a two-day seminar where they discuss habits that cause friction
at home, and at the end, the parents join the teens for a solo camping
phase in which the teen cares for his or her parents without the help
of counselors.
Follow-up studies indicate
that "76% of the parents of Anasazi young walkers recognized significant
improvement in the areas of most concern at the time of admission."
Copyright
© 1991, Woodbury Reports, Inc. (This article may be reproduced without
prior approval if the copyright notice and proper publication and author
attribution accompanies the copy.) |
