The Masai: Re-thinking the souvenier images they export

Even after all the poverty I've seen during my travels, going to the Masai village shocked me. To start you off with an idea, the kids were dirty, covered in flies and had snot running down their noses that no one bothered to wipe off.

The Masai are famous all over the world and most people who come to Kenya plan to see them. While there exists this glamorous image of them in their traditional bright red clothing and colorful jewelry that makes for a great painting to stick on your wall, the reality of them is very different.

Here in Kenya, the Masai are looked down upon and placed at the bottom when compared to other tribes for their lack of education and poverty.

They live in unbelievable tiny, electricity-less homes made of cow dung and cook inside them despite there being no windows or way for the smoke to escape. This explains their red eyes and eye sight problems.

Their diet is made up of meat (bye bye tied up pet goat in the house), maize, milk and cow blood.

Overall, the village seemed like a breeding ground for diseases and bugs. I really don't know how they live like that, but it's a difficult life and the worst part is that we saw a village that sees tourists, includes some Masai men walking around with expensive watches or cell phones, and has a school. Most, far away, are worse off.

They say things are changing very slowly, but the Masai are desperately trying to hold on to their ways. As for these ways, let me just start by saying that you do NOT want to be a woman.

Women make the houses, gather wood, collect water, cook, clean and look after the children. What do men do? Build a fence around the house and watch the animals... so basically nothing on a daily basis.

The Masai is a warrior tribe so to become an adult, the men go out and kill a lion. "Just 1 a year by all the boys in the age group set to become men that year." I have my doubts that this still happens today because it's illegal. I have no way of knowing, but have a hunch they tell tourists it happens to seem more bad-ass and like they aren't changing.

Once the boys come back, they're circumcised and spend 2 weeks recovering.

The women too MUST be circumcised even though it's illegal in Kenya. They spend 1 MONTH recovering and not being able to move. According to the Masai chief's son, they didn't know it prevents a female from enjoying sex (if she lives), and even though they do now, they are continuing the tradition.

I think this is another thing they tell tourists because I'm pretty sure the purpose of it from the beginning has been for women not to enjoy sex and therefore not have a reason to cheat on their husbands.

As for how marital relations work, let me tell you a little story that was told to me. I'm not sure if it's true, but I've heard it a few times:

Years back, a Canadian woman fell in love with a Masai man on a 7 day safari. She wanted to stay behind to marry him and be with him. The guide refused. "You have NO idea what you're getting yourself into!" But, she insisted so much so that the guide, afraid he would get fired, had her write her wishes on paper so he could give it to his boss.

The woman stayed behind. 3 days later, the guide returned. He found her crying and shaking. Why? Because when a woman marries a Masai man, she becomes public property and every man in the village can sleep with her. That said, she was pretty much gang raped by a hand full of men.

Things are changing though. The Masai guide denied such practices, but I've heard otherwise from westerners who have lived with them and learned the truth. Still, today, most men have one wife, but lets just say that when the Masai man offered me 9 cows and 2 blankets to stay, I said HELL NO in a very polite and respectful way.

As beautiful as they look in red (to ward off lions) with big holed ears with earrings dangling from them... and as much as I enjoyed the male jumping dance (highest jumper pays 1 less cow for his wife), the truth about the Masai is very different and seeing it first had was quite the experience.


* Note: My described experience with the Masai is not reflective of every village. The Masai vary by country and village and while many things are tribe wide, some are not.

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