Teaching the Maasai

It is important to find a balance between respecting cultural values and traditions while maintaining a firm stance on health and nutrition. This week I learned much about Maasai culture through the questions they asked during the lessons and the conversations we had with locals going to and from the village. Maasai culture is a patriarchal society where women are expected to be obedient and submissive to men. The men have many wives and each live in a separate hut around his, so the hill side is dotted with these plots of four, five or more huts. Women's roles include caring for the children, cooking, cleaning, selling produce (if surplus is grown), gathering water for the day (also a task for children), and gathering firewood....every day. Other tasks, many which are also daily, include nursing the sick in the family, milking cows, and tending to the gardens and fields (including planting, weeding, and harvesting).

Men are responsible for hunting, maintaining leadership roles in the community, providing protection, and caring for the cows. In Maasai culture, all cows are believed to belong to the Maasai and a man's wealth and respect in the community is dependent upon the number of cows he owns. Since it is up to women to milk the cows (in fact it is shameful for a man or boy to perform this job) a wealthy man will have many wives to keep up with the milking of his cows.

On the journey to and from the village we have passed many boys who stand out from other villagers: they are dressed all in black and have painted black faces with white designs over their eyes and cheeks. These boys are going through the circumcision ceremony- a special event that takes place every seven years for boys ages 12 to 22, to celebrate their change into manhood. First there is the circumcision ceremony where the boys are dressed in all black and their faces are painted dark with white designs. After the circumcision, a goat is killed and its blood is mixed with milk, one batch is boiled and one is not, and the circumcised boys drink the liquid. Then, some boys continue on to become Maasai warriors and are sent to the bush for six months for their training. When they return they are to marry a Maasai women thereby completing their transition into a warrior.

Meat is the staple of Maasai diet. During our teaching one man admitted killing three goats for just two men (and with the lack of electricity it is doubtful these goats were frozen or dehydrated to last them for a reasonable, extended period). Others smirked in disbelief when I explained that some people choose not to eat meat and use beans as their primary source of protein. Throughout all of the teaching about nutrient deficiencies, the importance of breast-feeding, malnutrition, and eating a balanced diet they were acutely attentive and interested in every bit of information and followed the lesson with questions about what pregnant women and children in particular need to consume. In their culture, men tend to only ask how the child is doing and not actually look at the baby. Therefore, some men explained they did not even know if their babies were healthy or not. This lead into a lesson on communication between men and women and the importance of a man staying with a woman after she becomes pregnant.

When it came to teaching about overall health and hygiene, there was shock when we explained that the body can tell us if we are healthy or not. After describing different ways to check if you are eating a balanced diet (checking fingernails, toenails, hair, urine, stools, eye color, etc) someone exclaimed, “But we don't do that!” There are only pit latrines in the village. The one closest to us was a small wooden shanty built around a hole. A small amount of light comes through the cracks between the boards, but everything that goes into the hole is lost in a mass of darkness. So the question they challenged us with was, “How are we supposed to check our urine and stools?” We thought a bit, considered the absence of TP, and decided that the conversation could too easily turn into a uncomfortable interrogation about private behaviors. Modesty is key in Maasai culture, and questioning a group about their excretory habits was both invasive and inappropriate in our setting, although it did stir up laughter as we discussed.

In fact there were many bouts of roaring laughter throughout the week with the Maasai. Talking about some of the 'untouched topics' like sex, disease, and health can build a unique bond between people. Everyday they prayed a blessing over us and continuously thanked us for coming to their village. But the honor was all ours and thank yous were coming from us just as frequently as from them.

At the end of Friday's session we handed out certificates and shared with them chocolate cookies; it was the least we could do thank them for the incredible insight they shared with us.