Maasai 101

A few weeks ago we were able to do something that not many people will ever be able to experience. We were able to stay with mamma’s from the legendary Maasai culture. Although I had a homestay in Tanzania, this experience was extremely different. It still reached into the core essence of Africa, leaving me with similar reflections. The Maasai culture is rich in history and tradition and unlike anything I have ever experienced or even heard of. They are a polygamous culture, with wives often indicating the status of the father. The women are circumcised, and it is considered an honor to do so. They have no concept of money, but rather revolve their whole lives on gaining more cattle, as it is the signature of wealth in their culture. The girls marry when they are 14, and the men become warriors in the culture after they have killed a lion. They sing in mysterious tones with shrills and jumping for ceremonies: such as when a lion is killed, for weddings, and for births. Trees are a deep spiritual object to them, and they plant trees in belief that it will bring rain. They do not speak Kiswahili, but rather speak Maa, which is incredibly hard to grasp. The men are clothed in shukas of red and blue and wear tire shoes and precious bead work and a machete. The women garb themselves in many layers of clothing, and surrounded themselves in beads. Both males and females have ear piercing that leave holes 2 to 3 inches long in their ears. They live in communities where one male can be the head of up to 10 households, and each house is made with a bed for him, should he wish to sleep there. The women are the ones who make the houses, cook, collect firewood and water, and take care of the children. Until recently women were never allowed to go to school. It is unheard of for a Maasai boma to have running water, electricity or much else but a house made out of dirt, wood and manure. My stay with the Maasai mamma Naomi had a huge impact on me. She was at least 7 months pregnant and was still performing all of these incredibly demanding tasks, which I could barely keep up with. When Toby (another student doing the homestay with me) and I arrived, we went and collected water. We walked a few miles to the river, and filled up 20 liter jugs called jerry cans and then tied them with leather straps and attached the straps to our heads. This is apparently the most effective way of carrying them?
 

 By the end of the two miles I was exhausted, and Naomi’s own jerry can was twice as big as mine. Next up was lunch. The boma was dark and crowded and the smoke from the small fire in the middle filled the boma with smoke and made me sweat through my dress. Even Naomi had beads of sweat falling to the dirt underneath. We learned to cut cabbage with a huge knife, and stirred the ogali and washed the dishes, while being critically watched by her 3 younger children. Even though she piled my plate high with ogali and cabbage, I was determined to finish the entire thing (even though I felt like I was going to throw up after words). After lunch we went and collected firewood. We had to learn to wield the machete and break off the branches, as well as avoid the ants that crawled everywhere. Once the branches had been torn or cut off, we had to shave all of the thorns off. We then piled the wood we had collected, and once again strapped it onto our heads. I tried to help as much as I could, but my mamma ended up doing most of the work anyway (something about me not using the machete right…) The whole process took at least 2 hour and was incredibly tiring. When we got back we made chai and finally took a break, much needed as this is the hardest I have worked in a long time, so I couldn’t even imagine how tired Naomi must be. We then were able to enjoy ourselves and we showed her pictures, and took pictures of her family and talked about her family (she spoke a little broken English) and we met many of the children in the boma. It was very hard to make a personal connection with her.

The Maasai women have a very distant and resolved personality. It seems as though it is rarely a part of their culture to laugh and smile. As we left for the day, I was awed by the strength of this woman as well as in wondering at the extreme differences of our culture. I wished I could have been able to stay longer to really be able to fully understand their culture, but this may just have to wait for another time. Even though I was able to get a perspective that many people have been unable to see, it was still just a small taste. It leaves me questioning how many people truly do understand these people, and speculating at how long a culture will be able to last when almost no one understands it. People will readily attack and be afraid of anything that is so different, without giving these people a chance to explain. The Maasai are one of the symbols of Africa, and this country would instantly change without them.