Adventures in Maasai land

Yesterday was an amazing day! After all of my experiences here in Tanzania, I have spent a lot of time thinking about what has been the most powerful. As much fun as the safari was, meeting the people has really had the most impact. I have been so excited to bring this experience home and to share it with people, and have been thinking about ways to do that. I have taken a million pictures, and as the saying goes, a picture may be worth a thousand words, but I got to thinking about how I could introduce my friends and family to the people that I have met here, and their experiences. That is when I got the idea to shoot some video. I would love to introduce people to the amazing individuals that I have met here, and while I know that most of the people in my life will probably never travel to Africa, video would be the most effective way to bring these people and their stories home with me. So I chatted with some people here about my idea, and happily was met with support. The people that have been the most intriguing to me are the Maasai, one could say I'm borderline obsessed. They are truly tribal people live like something out of National Geographic. There is a priest in the community where I am staying, Father Antipas, who has a good relationship with a community of Maasai, and he set up a visit for us yesterday. So we hopped in the four wheel drive, and headed to Lekremuni. It was the same village that I had attended mass with the women of THE mission, but I had no idea what I was in for. As we passed the church where we attended the mass, I thought we had arrived. But we picked up a Maasai elder, and he directed us further. As we proceeded, the 'roads' turned into rocky trails, and then to footpaths, and after a while, we were just driving on grassy fields. People were running outside of their bomas to get a look, apparently the area that we were in doesn't get car visitors, ever! So, we finally arrived at the boma that we were meeting several of the young people at. Being a novice videographer, there were several things that I didn't account for. First, the entire 'neighborhood' was fascinated by the white man with a camera, so people were coming from far and wide to watch and listen. This didn't provide for a very 'safe' space for people to talk freely. Secondly, I had intended to shoot the video indoors, but I didn't account for the fact that Maasai houses have no windows, and no electricity, so shooting video indoors was out of the question, even during the day it was too dark. We settled for shooting outside, which was kind of unfortunate, because it was very windy, so much of my interviews are disturbed with significant wind noise. But, I did learn a lot, and there were several amazing moments. The first boy that I interviewed really interested me, he thought he was maybe twenty years old, maybe sixteen, he really wasn't sure. Maasai don't keep records at all. The last girl that I interviewed was amazing. Her English was good enough that she was the only one I was able to speak to directly out of the four I spoke to, without an interpreter. She really fascinated me when I asked her why she wanted to go to school. She launched into a very bright monologue about womens rights, or the lack there of, in the Maasai community. She really understood, she explained, that the only way for women to gain rights with the Maasai was through education. She said that she knew if she got educated, that she in turn could not only educate her children, but come back to her village and help to change the ideas of her community. (Women are extremely marginalized in the Maasai community, thought of as little more than child bearers and raisers). I was really impressed by her courage to talk so freely about this topic, especially in front of several village elders. We were invited to a boma for a feast, and were also invited to a huge Maasai festival tomorrow (for which I am VERY excited). We left, and the drive back was so bad, we broke a shock on the car. But fear not, having the car worked on only cost 7 dollars. The guy wanted 8, but Father Antipas bargained him down to 7. 7 dollars to replace a shock! I don't have much more time to write. My next blog post will probably be from Rwanda. My flight leaves at 10 AM on Wednesday morning! YESSSS!