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Published: March 14th 2012
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The hot african sun continued to beat down on us as we returned to Parakuyo for the final day of shooting. Unlike Dar, there was no humidity, but there was heat! There I was in the sun for 9 hours a day wearing long pants. Wearing shorts is not really an option, so you can imagine the way I was feeling. I went through 4 litre bottles of water every day. As you can see by the pictures, large shady trees were not plentiful, so I slathered on the sunblock SPF 60 and faired pretty well.
Where there is cattle, you know there are going to be flies... and let me tell you, the flies were out in full force! I see now how you can go crazy with a constant annoyance. Whether it's a dripping faucet, a mosquito flying around you while you’re trying to sleep, or 10 thousand flies landing on you, anyone will eventually go crazy. At one point, the Masai were laughing at me because of my flailing arms. Over time, they have gotten used to the flies, so they are not bothered by them. I, however, was a different story. I thought I was about
to lose it at any moment. I may have been the only Muzungu, but I wasn’t the only one from ”the city”, if you know what I am sayin’… Everyone else on the crew was having a bad time with them.
To say, "If you ever have the chance to spend time in a Masai village", sounds quite trite, but what I experienced here, in terms of lessons, way of life, understanding, and acceptance, was pretty amazing.
There is so much work to be done here to bring in terms of bringing "Safe Sexual Reproductive Health Practices" to their lives. The men have many wives. Ibrahim told me that his father has six wives. His birth mother had 6 children, 3 boys and 3 girls. With all the other wives, Ibrahim is has 28 siblings. To have many wives, many children, and many heads of cattle is a status symbol in the Masai culture.
The women are sub-serviant in The Masi culture. As I mentioned earlier, they take care of the house, the babies, the cattle... whatever needs to be done during the day and night.
I was told that when the Masai youth come of
Charcoal
It's the main source for cooking in Tanzania. age, the young girls no longer sleep in the same house as their parents. The young Masai boys may come to the house where the young girls sleep and "visit" them in the night. The parents have no say once a girl hits that age.
If a Masai man comes home to his house and finds another man's spear in the ground in front of the door, he knows that the other man is having relations with his wife. This is a signal for the man to go away and come back later.
These are just two examples of their lives that I was told about. In no way am I suggesting we westernize them and make them take on our ideals and norms, but rather have them understand that there are consequences to their actions.
The Masai youth are starting to understand that message and they tell me that the culture is changing. When Ibrahim told me of his father and his wives, I asked him if he wanted to have six wives. Without taking time to think, he answered, "No, the culture is changing here. I want one wife and treat her as well as
I can. I think I would like to have 7 children with her and give them everything I can." Whomever Ibrahim decides to marry, she will be a lucky young lady.
The four days in Parakuyo were pretty amazing. This is probably the last roadtrip we will be doing for Fema TV Talk Show. We have completed 14 of the 15 episodes. This trip was an incredible way to wrap up the travels for the series. Don't get me wrong, the other trips were eye-opening to say the least, but this gave me insight to a culture that is unlike the culture I have been a part of for the past eight and a half months.
As we finished our shoot on the last day, we were all jumping into the trucks to head to the main meeting area to say goodbye. We were quite a distance from the village. I turned to a young Masai male youth and asked him if he was returning with us. He said to me, "No, I will say goodbye to you here. I am going to stay out here and watch the cows." When I replied, "Really?", he said, "This is
my home. I want to spend time with the the cows. They are my life."
So different from the world I come from.
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