Above are some of the photos I took in July 2004 at home(Il polei cultural center) in Kenya where the community has been stimulated to develop a cultural center which will serve as a cultural exhibition center. It’s not wrong to exhibit culture but it should and must be done in a manner that respect both parties. There are both positive and negative perspective but mostly, the community has been easily and in an organized manner been able to be exploited.
Many young youth are very disappointed by the way the local settlers have manipulated the Laikipiak Maasai’s through this cultural settlement.Among many others, my own mother and my sisters, plays a major role in the cultural center.
The center is supposed to enlighten the society and empower them in terms of economy and self determination. Instead, the Il polei cultural center has made it easier for the community to be objectified and kept as tourist destinations in the name of " helping to preserve the Maasai culture" We cannot preserve bad culture and if we have to preserve good morals and traditional rituals of our culture, then it should be done not at the cost of our survival as a people.
Tourist come by and go, while "they" stay waiting for the next "ignorant" but "curious", mostly white visitors to come,the soonest the neighboring settlers determines it. Tourist do dot come directly to the village without which they go through the white ranches and seek advice from them on what to do and how to do what when they encounter the Maasai’s in the cultural village. The settlers act as the link to the "primitive society". This mediation leads to a complete and irresponsible exploitation of the Maasai society.
If Il polei cultural center is supposed to benefit the society, by exhibitions of it’s unique culture why then don’t let tourist pay entrance fee, accommodation and other changes directly to the cultural center?
The settlers normally arrange an excavation to the Maasailand where tourist pay for the whole package to the agent. When they arrive to the cultural center, they are allowed to take photos, video and enjoy different kinds of theater and dances at an extra price of 100 Swedish kronor per group.
This behavior makes me very sad because, as a Maasai man in Europe, when I meet and talk with my fellow human beings, I tend to get an impression that they are responsible people who can make their own judgement even on Safari in Maasailand but most of them change into "ignorant tourists" the soonest they encounter with other people and culture. The reason is only well know to them.
My request to fellow human beings is that when you travel to Kenya, and you encounter with Maasai people, you are requested to stop and think before you enjoy the beautiful site of the Maasaiwarrior and his environment. Remember that they are human beings like you and have the same hopes and dreams as you. Ask yourself, how much are you affecting the life of a person you are interacting with and please, for the sake of saving the lives of many innocent Maasai kids, stop romanticizing our culture at the expense of our lives.
Your behaving bad in Safari’s is directly killing us. You can do better than that. You can ask to know how the local society is benefiting from your visit and how much the agent is contributing towards the empowerment of the local society and ask to see projects and other references that proves the travel agent is doing what they say they are doing.
That is odd, why are they not charging any money? Are they funded by some non-profit organization? I’m glad I found this site, it looks like it has a wealth of information.
Cultural centers in Kenya displays culture and generate income. Cultural exhibition has seen many communities flourishing but when not at Maasai’s. Many Maasai cultural center’s, also known as Manyatta’s, are run by community based organizations. Unfortunately, safari packages are either “packed” in Nairobi or by the neighboring settlers.
The settlers(also act as local guides) to tourist, decides how much the community should be paid. They accompany the tourists to the cultural center while advising them to keep distance and not pay anything to the Maasai people. They threaten the community to stop bringing visitors if they are exposed to any exposure or unnecessary “competition”, like when I was there with my camera documenting how the tourist interact with the Maasai society. In the summer of 2006, a manager from Oljogi was very furious on my mother’s women group when they saw me following them with my camera. She, the manager, knew that her shameful behavior against the Ilpolei villagers would come to light.
The intention behind creating a barrier between the Maasai community and the tourist is to ensure that the indigenous people do not get economically empowered. It’s easier to manipulate desperate souls and this is confirmed by the result seen after every visit to the cultural center. The community is simply scared of the settlers. They work hard to avoid any confrontation because it gives no fruits.
There are no financial arrangement to pool the income generated from the cultural center to be invested because people are too poor and with limited income alternatives.
Many times, the hand outs are delayed Up to a week or even a month. No body complains otherwise the settler would stop tourists from visiting the village. The village simply received guests at the mercy of the neighboring white settlers.
Normally,the tourist pay for the whole package to the settler agency, like Oljogi or Sharon of the Mpala firm. The money that comes to the women group who manage the cultural center is merely divided a among participants to be spent off for the days meal.
The center has produced some kind of dependency to the settler giving them unnecessary credit from the community. The community has been trained that the settler brings you income, so you have to respect the hands that feeds you. The same settlers also manipulated the community to reserve part of their only remaining grazing hills into a wildlife sanctuary. The wild life already hundreds and thousands of Maasailand. Ol maalo conservancy is simply a way to even isolate the Laikipiak Maasai and make it harder for them to live.
This act paralyzed the community’s ability to really on cattle rearing. Cattle is the major income source and without it, the Maasai culture is as good as dead. The area occupied by Mukogodo is barren. It cannot be revived as grazing land after all years of exploitation.It has been overgrazed while rain comes seldom. Goat keeping in the area devastate land because they uproot the grass roots creating a desert very first Also it’s proving impossible to keep cows when grazing land is converted to wildlife sanctuaries.
Without land no life. Olmaalo conservancy is another mistake committed by the Il polei leaders. It reminds very much of the Anglo-Maasai treaties of the 1901-1904 where the Maasai people lost 75% of their prime land to the colonial administration. The land that was later divided to other ethnic groups hence leading the current resource sharing imbalance and the political chaos we have inherited as a nation of Kenya.
Unfortunately, the administrative leaders can’t oppose the settlers demands. In fact,they go by their wish.
Surprisingly,the area chief, who earns as little as 100 dollars has built two mansions in the area and keeps his cows in the settler ranch. This tells the whole story.
The strategy to keep the community as poor and desperate as possible is practically functioning. Un till the area chief stop cooperating with the oppressors and champion the rights of his people, Maasai women and children will remain way below poverty line. Young people migrates to greener pasture so they can provide for their families and economically empower themselves. Without a dynamic youth at home, our parents are simply exposed to all sorts of exploitation. No body advocate for them.