[Sosfbay-discuss] Fw: [BASC Chat] Fw: Would you like to host a most unusual party?

Sun Oct 5 10:14:20 PDT 2008

--- On Sat, 10/4/08, Kathy <ktriolo at comcast.net> wrote:

From: Kathy <ktriolo at comcast.net>
Subject: [BASC Chat] Fw: Would you like to host a most unusual party?
To: BASCChat at yahoogroups.com
Date: Saturday, October 4, 2008, 8:17 PM

I received this email from an acquaintance of mine with a great opportunity if you have the time and the energy. I, unfortunately, have neither but I wanted to give you all this information if you are the least bit interested. Let me know if you decide to host a party.

Thanks, Kathy

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Diane Weissman 
Sent: Saturday, October 04, 2008 7:30 PM
Subject: Would you like to host a most unusual party?

Bob and I volunteered this morning at a really interesting event. Do you remember what I wrote about visiting the Maasai village when we were in Kenya? The schoolteacher Hellen who had created a village for girls rescued from early marriage and FGM. She's supported by a number of people, including one from Livermore who's been very active in creating a foundation and raising money for her. www.asanteafrica. org This foundation was given frequent flyer miles to bring Hellen and one of the warriors over here to go on a fund raising publicity tour and today they were in Palo Alto. It was very well done and well organized.

My heart is really with another British woman who is trying to run a children's home in Kenya and this coming week I'm going to send out an update on what's happening there but I have been distracted by this Maasai visit which we only learned of about a week ago. In addition to the public events like today they are also doing a series of private events. All that's involved is that you provide a location and get friends and neighbors to come. Most people are asking their guests to provide a minimum donation of say $25 - $35, but each host can do things any way they wish. The commitment is that the host will underwrite at least $700 of donations - in other words if they don't get at least $700 from sales of items and donations the host has to make it up to that amount. It's a heck of a way to have a completely unique party! 

Hellen wears her full Maasai robes and jewellery and tells the story of her life and that of her girls. Sabore, the warrior, is strikingly tall and also wears traditional red cloth and carries his spear and stick with him everywhere - it was quite an issue getting through airport security apparently. He'll tell you about his life as a Maasai child, being sponsored to attend school, running away to go off with his warrior friends and living the true warrior existence for almost two years before returning to his village to finish school. He'll demonstrate how they defend themselves from the wild buffalo and lions as they live in the wilderness and teach children how a warrior must jump. He's well suited for this promotion/education job because he's really experienced the Maasai lifestyle yet speaks excellent English.

They are in the Bay Area until 21st October, and still do have some gaps in the schedule so if you are interested in hosting a private event please let me know asap and perhaps we can coordinate several events in this area. Don't just think of sit around and eat parties, think about hosting a hike with a warrior (they love to walk and be outside), or a gathering after Sunday morning service, or a special event for children's birthday party. The possibilities are endless. I do apologize that this is such short notice but that's the way life is sometimes, you have to catch these opportunities as they race by. Do it - really it's very worthwhile. 

Diane
650-964-1003

P.S. There is one remaining public event next Saturday morning at the Masonic Center in Pleasanton . Details www.asanteafrica. org 

In her trip report Diane wrote:

............ ........The third "orphanage" visit we'd arranged was with a teacher called Helen. It was a good thing that our driver knew the way. There are no road signs in rural Kenya. After three hours on the main road he'd suddenly turned left and started driving across a field. The main road had been partly paved, full of potholes and washed out in places. Now there was no road. Gradually I began to see that we were following tracks in the dust. Others had driven this way, though not many, and certainly this was not on a regular bus route.

After three or four miles there was a flash of red in the distance. It turned out to be a fully armed Maasai warrior. Our driver slowed, exchanged a few words in Swahili and the warrior jumped into our car. They continued to talk animatedly without a word of explanation to us as we drove on. Had we been caught trespassing or were about to be accused of something worse?

A couple of miles later we arrived under a group of trees to find a picnic table and hot tea waiting for us. Helen Nkuraiya and her five warriors provided a wonderfully warm welcome their village. Helen is a school teacher, Maasai by birth, who went to Nairobi for her training. She returned to her home tribal area with a determination to rescue girls from FGM (female genital mutilation) or what we know as female circumcision.

Largely outlawed, but still practiced in some tribal areas today, FGM is done on girls around 12 or 13 years old as they are being prepared for marriage. Girls are basically "chattel" - to use the biblical term - and are given for marriage in return for cows to their family. The more desirable the young bride the more cows she's worth - and it's not education that makes her more valuable- in fact, probably the opposite. Polygamy is common and generally it's the older, richer men who seek young virgins. We were introduced to Kitiya, 12 years old, who had been rescued by Helen from becoming the third wife of an 80 year old. She was too young to be truly beautiful and as she gazed at us nervously from behind frightened eyes I couldn't help thinking of a geisha.

After tea the five Maasai warriors proceeded to formally welcome us with chanting/dancing/ jumping. They were still holding their spears and we learned they also had clubs on their belts so it could have been truly intimidating but we were assured of their friendliness when they gave John, the youngest member of our party, a red blanket for his shoulders and invited him to join in their jumping routine. It seemed to be a macho thing - the higher you could jump, the more you were admired. Our flat footed friend gave it is best shot and received enthusiastic encouragement from the warriors and reduced the rest of us to hysterical laughter. The driver Dominic was upset - don't laugh at him, he insisted, he'll be offended. He seemed quite perplexed when we explained that in our culture we admire people who give things a try, regardless of how much we laugh at them doing it. 

The warriors had amazing stamina and our valiant friend hung in there for a good amount of time, creating a solid bond of friendship and mutual admiration. We were now accepted and invited to come into the inner sanctum of their village. 

A Maasai village consists of two concentric rings of thorny acacia branches, perhaps 12 feet high. The small gateway openings can be blocked at night to keep the wild animals out and the small children in. The cattle are contained in the inner circle for the night and the houses of the village spread out within the two walls.

Helen can tell when girls in her school are being prepared for marriage - the family starts to brew beer. Marriage often happens quickly after the deal is struck. The girl is circumcised a few days before the ceremony then, after a feast in her village, she walks behind her new husband to his village where another feast takes place. Then she moves in with her mother in law for about a month, whilst she heals. The mother in law instructs her on the duties of a wife including how to construct her own house.

One builds with what one has available, which is basically acacia branches and cow dung - smeared on the outside to reduce draughts and add stability. The huts, maybe measuring 6 feet by 8 feet contain a sleeping area, a cooking area and a place to store their very limited belongings. The beds were slightly elevated from the ground but otherwise there was no furniture. What do you need when all you own is one change of clothes? Half a dozen books were all that 15 girls had to share, but without power or lighting reading at night is not an option.

Helen showed us the chicken coop she'd constructed from corrugated iron. She admitted that she'd developed a liking to "white meat" whilst living in the big city. Maasai people traditionally live on milk, blood and meat - from their goats and cows. Cows are their prize possessions and guarded all day by the warriors, boys typically aged 15 - 25. These boys, called Morans, have the duty of protecting the tribe and are considered to be the most important members. They are expected to serve for 10 years before marrying. Once married they become a Junior Elder and their job is to "make decisions". Their wives do everything else. 

Younger boys, from 5 years old are sent out daily to guard the goats. A coming of age ceremony is held every 14 years when eligible boys can advance to warrior status by proving their bravery. Outside of their mother's houses, in full public view, they undergo a ceremonial circumcision. Everyone is indoctrinated from birth - shed a tear and you are too weak to be able to protect a family and can never be married. Worse still, run away and you become an outcast from the village.

In the Maasai culture cows = wealth. Men own the cows therefore men own everything. When the man dies his oldest son inherits and often provides upkeep for his mother but turns out the other wives of his father. These widows are left without education, skills or a means of support - and often with dependent children. Helen explained that after she'd constructed her village to provide housing and protection for the rescued young girls, many widows had come to her and begged her to take them and their offspring in. Currently she has about 15 girls and 15 widows living in her village, protected by 5 warriors and a chief who provides the land for her to undertake this unconventional lifestyle. International sponsors who have donated funds to buy a cow help provide a food supplies for these women. The widows, one as young as 14, welcomed us by singing and showing us the beadwork they'd done - which is sold to tourist shops and markets. The needs of these
 women are very low but what they have is even less.

The widows were all quite tall and incredibly thin. Traditionally they eat only once a day and always the same limited diet. Cows are milked and each night the cow is also bled at the neck. Salt, harvested from the places where animals urinate, is added to the blood to turn it semi solid overnight. This, along with goat meat, is their diet. Occasionally they eat wild berries, but other fruit is unknown to them and growing vegetables not an option in an area where wild animals will come and dig up anything they plant. Helen explained that she brings back fruit from her occasional trips to the city but mostly the women don't like it. They refuse "white meat" and even eggs, although she is teaching nutrition and trying to incorporate eggs to the diet of the young children. Change happens slowly. Malnutrition is rampant and life expectancy short but this is the life they know and the life they expect.

I always remember the maxim - you can give a man a fish and feed him for a day - you can teach a man to fish and you feed him for life. As much as we want to give and encourage others to give money to support the multitude of childrens' house and orphanages in Africa, I do feel that the biggest long term impact is to provide access to education. To that extent I admire and support the work of The Asante Africa Foundation who seeks sponsors for girls such as those rescued by Helen. $500 per year provides food, clothing, shelter and education for one of these girls. $200 buys a cow for the village. $2 buys a chicken. 

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