The Maasai

Before I came to Africa I feared the three months I’d be teaching here would be boring, but so far every week has brought something interest, to say the least. This week I was invited to visit the Maasai. We actually have three of them in class, but now I and the British teachers got to see how they live. These are actual bushmen, the ones living far from cities and roads. Not so much because they didn’t know any cities, at least, not the ones I went to. These people chose to live away from what most would call civilisation, because of the peace and quiet, and for their culture’s sake.

Meeting those people was fascinating... They do have the colourful robes and they do walk around with blade and staff or spear. Where they live, anything could happen. YWAM is supporting schools among the Maasai, so they can learn how to read and write. The settlements are so remote that you have to go there every now and then, there’s no real other way to see how the schools are doing, and whether they’re even “alive” still.

Because the schools may stop, yes. There’s two main reasons for that, namely a lack of water and a lack of motivation. The Maasai are animal keepers, they herd cattle. If there’s no water their livestock may die, which is their fortune. And because they’re cattle keepers, they often don’t see the point in literacy. I could tell our visit meant so much to them. The teacher told us the school will definitely be very busy the next day, even though most of the people went away in search of water, since it’s the dry season now. They were very, very thankful, just for our presence, and for knowing that we think of them. In fact, when they heard I was 21 and not yet married, they offered me a woman to marry... But they were just kidding of course. At least, I hope they were. I think they were less enthusiastic when they found out I didn’t know how to keep cattle, at all.

Having many wives is normal among the Maasai – some may have more than ten. They have more children too. Twelve, twenty... Some men have more than eighty! Sered told there was one Maasai that even started his own primary school, just for his own children.

These people unfortunately know very little. I didn’t expect them to know about the string theory etc., but they didn’t even know the stuff their sandals are made of came from cows such as the ones they keep. They also had and still have to be taught about things as boiling water against parasites and the importance of hygiene. YWAM hopes to start a health education programme, which would be great.

Sitini said some of the Maasai we visited live for ten years without going by car, so of course they were eager to come along. Unfortunately the jeep was full... So they tagged along on the back of the car instead. They do have bicycles though, and some even have mobile phones. But I think that’s just for status, I do wonder about the network coverage there... And how they recharge without electricity.