3/24/2023 0 Comments Impossible twisty dots level 15000![]() ![]() He has seen them before, but hers had pictures of cows. ![]() It was a very interesting meeting of cultures the young warriors (although Lepapa has admitted he didn’t kill his lion yet, and “.really have to in the next two months.”) were curious about our work with hemophilia, and Daniel’s eyes popped wide when he saw Julie’s iPad. A clinic is something Daniel’s village needs, he noted. There is often not even a medical clinic for routine problems like broken bones. Still, Julie and I thought how fascinating it would be to find a Maasai with hemophilia, and to try to bring care to them.Ī huge challenge for many of the Maasai is that they live far into the savannah, and not near any major town. Obviously Daniel and Lepapa are more educated and have more experience with the world than perhaps some of their elders. The two young men were very interested but explained the elders tend to be more superstitious. Julie explained about blood clotting, and that this wasn’t a curse. “They would say it’s a curse,” Lepapa acknowledged. What is the reaction of the elders, and those conducting the circumcision? Quietly, Lepapa said, yes, there are some who bleed excessively. In fact, I recall in a previous visit to Kenya, maybe in 2001, I met a Maasai who had hemophilia, though he lived in the city and not in a boma.Īs fierce as the Maasai are, they are really gentle, very soft-spoken people. With a population of 840,000, there is a good chance that the Maasai have someone with hemophilia. We both naturally wanted to know if there was any prolonged bleeding. With me in this discussion was Julie Winton, a nurse with BioRx, who had made the Kili climb. The young warrior-to-be is expected to not make a sound when then circumcision is made. This is also usually done at age 17, as part of a group. “Now Cape Buffalo, that’s an animal we fear.”Īnother rite of passage is circumcision. “There’s nothing to fear from a lion,” Lepapa said. When I mentioned to Daniel and Lepapa, another Maasai I met last year, that we are taught to fear lions, they both looked at each other and smiled knowingly. Around age 18 or so they are expected to become warriors, and to do this they must have several things done. They can look very ferocious, and indeed, one of their rites of passage is to kill a lion. I learned that whoever jumps the highest attracts the most girls! They all try to outdo one another with their leaping. They sing, do their walking/chanting, and then go outside to do the leaping that really is their trademark. We also caught up later that evening, after the Maasai came to the Lodge in full force and sang, or rather chanted and whooped, around the dinner table! The Lodge pays them to come and entertain the guests. We had a wonderful chat while he was welcoming the other guests. It was Daniel! I met him last year during my visit. Indeed, as soon as I stepped off the bus that brought us to the Lodge after a quick 5-minute ride from the dirt airstrip, I saw a Maasai waiting at the front lobby to greet us. Quite a few visited the Keekorok Lodge, where we stayed for three days after our rigorous climb. They speak Maa, and many can also speak Kiswahili and English. Their culture is based on cattle: cattle is their currency, their food, their livelihood, their everything. ![]() They live out in the savanna, in circular villages (which you can see from an airplane!) called bomas. They tend to be tall, reed-thin and love to jump super high in ceremonial dances. You can’t miss them with their beautiful red cloth (indeed, “Maasai” means red), elaborate beads, braids, spears and daggers. They are among the best known of African ethnic groups (which even the Kenyans call tribes). The Maasai are an ethnic group of semi-nomadic people who live in Kenya and northern Tanzania. I’ve been back almost two weeks now from my African adventure, and the Kilimanjaro climb, and my toes are still healing! One of the great privileges I find when I travel to Africa is the chance to meet and chat with the Maasai. ![]()
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