Running in the wild for Maasai girl child education.
Posted on September 28, 2009 by Saidimu Ole ngais
The YouTube clip was sent to the Members of Maa by Leshan. I was very happy to watch and hear the language and melodies of a people as strong and dedicated to their survival as the Maasai. Did you see the mother who sat and perused the book for her children?
Isn’t that scene very common among our people? My illiterate mother always opened books and looked through each page, sometimes upside down, ( love you mum ) as if she could read, only to hear her complain that she would have been a powerful individual if she was born a man! She would have studied to the highest level, she would say. Yeah, if she was born a man…..
The Maasai culture is really beautiful to some extent. Maasai people have a common moral values and a set of rules from which our lives are universally formed. As a people, the Maa groups always acknowledge each other just as much as we respect others.
OrMaa are brought up to know what is expected of them. Its seldom they disrespect their Maa system expectations. In a clean and uncorrupted environment, we would live in harmony and contentment, but the whole world is so corrupt. This value of trustworthiness may not be compatible with a corrupted and decisive world.
Even in hardship, Maasai people are always contented and cool. To the outside persons you would thing that they are ignorant to the reality. They are not, Maa people don’t just like to complain a lot.
More Often than not, people tend to romanticize the hardship life of the Maa people. The other day, a friend questioned why the Maasai seek to improve anything when they can live as natural as they do? She was convinced that they life Maa people live is admirable. My friend bet she would prefer life in the village than “to live in such a disturbed life” as she put it.
I wish my friend would travel to Kenya and avoid the super arranged Safari, instead take the local Matatu’s (minibus) to the Maasailand. Children brought up in such misery as most of the Maasai children are, may tell you how traumatizing it is, to live without electricity, water, security and many a times, food. You’ll experience it yourself I hope
The Maasai welfare system ruptured long time ago.
We cannot satisfy ourselves anymore therefore we need to adapt new ways of life lest we won’t survive the world changes.
I really sympathize with those children who cannot go to school because the school is far a way and the wild animals are always in the neighborhood.
I remember very well that sometimes we could not cross Twala seasonal river from our boma (homestead) in the mornings or from school because the Elephants decided to block the path to school.
I recall the wazees and kina Mama in the village used to shout loud to the nearest neighbors to pass the news about the presence of the big animals drinking from our Lariak. The word eventually spread to the whole sub-location within hours. You know we didn’t have mobiles like we do today, wao! What a change in such a very short time!
It’s hopeful to see this kind of campaigns going on in our society. I think it’s a practical way of spreading the idea of education for both boys and girls 
J
A society that does not educate itself isn’t just going to be around long enough.
Thank you Leshan for the movie link!
Saidimu Ole Ngais
