Maasi Village

Hello,

After showing us how they so effortlessly build a fire without matches, they talked about their medicine. Our guide, who is the chief’s son, laid out three different looking sticks. The first stick is boiled and they drink the liquid causing them to vomit and have diarrhea. He said, “This is necessary because we only eat meat and drink blood so sometimes we need to be cleaned out.” The second stick is boiled producing a bitter green liquid that they drink to protect/cure themselves from malaria. This liquid also makes them throw up, and they must take three times. The last stick was only for the married men and especially for those with many wives so they could keep them all happy. I believe this stick was also boiled and they drank the liquid.

Next we were given a tour of a home and graciously invited to spend the night there. All of the homes were round buildings constructed of a meager but adequate pole frame and covered with cow dung. These homes last about six years and our guide declared them larger than it appears from the outside. The homes formed a circle around the edge close to the fence. At night their animals would have two barriers around them, the fence and the homes.

All of the houses looked much the same and were about 6-10 feet in diameter. We had to duck down when we entered. We went down a dark curving narrow hallway. There were only two small slits in the main area wall to let in light so it was difficult to see at first. He said they have only those small openings to keep out the malaria mosquitoes. We came to a cooking room that might have been 3’ x3’. There was a small fire and I only saw one pan. I guess if all you are going to eat is meat you don’t need much else. There were two raised rooms off the main room. No doors here just openings. There was no clothing or bedding but maybe a leather base. Mother slept with the girls in one of room and father slept with the boys in the other. I would guess that these rooms were about the size of a twin bed plus a foot. If there were multiple wives, each wife had her own house. When children were about five or six they moved to the house for unmarried people e with girls and boys having separate areas in the building.

We then were shown all the crafts that they had for sale. Our entrance fee of $25 per person went to the school and the craft moneys went to the family that had produced the item.

We saw only the outside of the school. It was made of cement blocks and maybe as large as a small two-bedroom ranch home. Our guide said, “We used to move around often, but because of the school, parents want to stay in one place now.” I am not sure that is an advantage considering sanitary conditions and finding grass for their animals. I was not aware of any sanitary issues, but surely it gets to be a problem when people stay in the same place.

As we were leaving a strong wind whipped up the dust and it was very difficult to breath. Being the perfect gentleman our guide flipped his blanket over my face to protect it.

When we left that area, our driver told us, “My father is Maasi. People can leave the tribe and come back at anytime. But when they come back they must leave modern civilization behind and live as the Maasi do.

Paula