Notes from Stephen, Wan, Kweilin, and Li

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Masai Mara, William's Masai village, Ewaso Ngiro, Narok

We went on a morning game drive from 6:30 to 9:15. We watched lions mating for most of the drive--more than an hour continuously watching. One couple mated in the road several times, surrounded by 10 safari vans.

We drove out of the Mara to William's Masai village. William is an educated Masai helping his village with health, water, and school via foreigner funding. Daddy knows William through Marty Graber, a 72-year-old who has worked for the past 20 years with the Masai. Marty asked Daddy and the CDC for funding.

William and Moses showed us around their village. Moses is also educated. For the past 14-16 years, since 24, he has represented his community/village to the Kenya government. He carries a wooden scepter to show his status.

Moses showed us where they are building a well. The well will make life much easier. Now, they walk an hour each way, over a hill, to fetch water.

Moses took us inside his boma, which is a Masai house made of cow dung and sticks. The boma had a few "windows," which were 1 foot x 1 foot holes in the cow dung. The boma was tiny. I had to turn sideways to get in, and I couldn't stand up straight inside. It was almost pitch black--no light but the fire to heat the place. The fire had no chimney. The smoke was so thick that it hurt to open my eyes or take a deep breath. Jay saw 10 one-inch-long cockroaches on the wall. Goats sleep inside at night to keep warm. I'm amazed that Moses's daughter and mother spend much of the day in the dark, small, smoky boma.

Moses's daughter has minor epilepsy. He's worried about her "fainting" once or twice a year and so asked Daddy whether it was a heart or brain problem. Daddy advised Moses to get a CT scan.

We played with the Masai children all over Moses's village. They greet you by offering you their head. You're supposed to put your hand on their head. Each child has one set of clothes that they wear always. Many clothes and shoes are coming apart. Many are barefoot.

The kids are playful and seem happy. They did a ceremonial chant and dance for us. They gathered around our cameras again and went wild looking at themselves. One of them touched my arm as if to see whether I was real.

Flies are in most kids' eyes and mouths. They spread infection. One kid had an eye infection and another had a lip infection.

The kids care for each other. An older girl shielded the infected eye of a younger girl.

Moses has one wife but will marry two or three more. He needs multiple wives to care for the children and livestock.

Traditional Masai make big holes in their ear lobes, but the educated Masai don't. William had droopy ears but had them sewn up before he went to the city for school. He said that non-Masai will tie the Masai's ear tot he bed while they're sleeping.

Moses said that water is the highest priority for the village. Then health, then school. If they build a school, which costs $4000, the government will provide teachers.

The safari van left us in William's village and we transferred our bags to a pickup that we're borrowing from Marty for the next couple weeks to go to Uganda.

We drove from William's village to Ewaso Ngiro with our bags in the back and got hit with a torrential downpour that lasted an hour. The muddy road became a river and our bags got soaked.

We arrived at the Ewaso Ngiro clinic where Masai John is caring for Masai. We hung our clothes to dry.

John said that this was the first rain in six months.

Masai sometimes tell their age in terms of droughts. "I was born during the drought of '74." Droughts kill lots of cattle. There seems to be a drought every 6-10 years.

We drove to the nearby town of Narok to have dinner with John and his family. They were celebrating their daughter Sharon's birthday. Grace is John's wife and Sharon (12), Amanda (6), and Maximillian (9) are their children. Julius is their driver.

The restaurant was insanely slow. It took hours to make barbecue chicken and french fries.

Julius and Grace took Mommy and Jay and me into town and we bought Masai-beaded bracelets, belts, and keychains.

The guest house has a hot shower, clean outhouse, and clean beds! We've been sleeping at 8-9 pm.

posted by Li at 11:18 AM