Tuesday, August 14, 2012

THE PASTORALIST MAASAI


THE PASTORALIST MAASAI

By: Mwanzo L. Millinga

Tanzania is estimated to have a total of 125 – 130 ethnic groups, which fall into four categories of Bantu, Cushite, Nilo-Hamite and San. While there are more ethnic groups that identify themselves as indigenous peoples, four groups have been organizing themselves around the concept of indigenous peoples. The four groups are the hunter-gatherer; Akie and Hadzabe, and the pastoralist; Barabaig and Maasai.
Population estimates, put the Maasai in Tanzania at 430,000, the Datoga group to which the Barabaig belongs at 87,978, the Hadzabe at 1,000 and the Akie (Ndorobo) at 5,268.
The Maasai are a Nilotic ethnic group of semi-nomadic people located in northern Tanzania and Kenya. They are among African ethnic groups, due to their distinctive customs and tradition. They speak Maa, a Nilo-Saharan language and official languages of Tanzania and Kenya: Swahili and English.
The Tanzanian government has instituted programs to encourage the Maasai to abandon their traditional semi-nomadic lifestyle, but the people have adhered to their ancestors’ customs and practices such as the age set system of social organization and circumcision as the right of passage into adulthood for boys.
Every year The UN celebrates International Day of the worlds Indigenous People on 9th August.  (Source: www.iwgia.org )


Dusk: Maasai women, at Mti Mmmoja village, Monduli, converse as they wait for their cows returning from pastures. One of the strongest components of culture is its ability to share through interacting with other people.



Be Current: A Maasai man listening to the radio to keep up to date with the news. 




A watercourse: A Maasai man awaits his cows at a water point in Orkesument, in Simanjiro. A coordinated rehabilitation and construction of water dams for humans and livestock in pastoralists’ communities, has remained inadequate. 




A Long Wait: In exchange for cash a Maasai man waits for buyers of his cows at Lokii market in Arusha.




Spoors: Revelation of the various means of transport that are used to reach Lokii market where, cows and other different goods, including food, are sold.




Tapping the Blood: When a cow is slaughtered, the blood, as raw it is, becomes a precious drink! 




The Mirror: In addition to walking, the Maasai use bicycles for most movements within and between communities. Nowadays, motorcycles and cars have become more popular too.




Red Pot: For food, the Maasai live almost entirely off of their cattle, drinking their milk and blood, and eating meat occasionally and sleeping on their skin!




A sweet drink: Sipping from dripping vein. 




A Colored Mouth: Just had a mouthful of cow’s blood.







A Watching Dog: Waiting to survive from the left over. 





Painful Endurance: Newly circumcised boys are kept indoors for about 28 days to heal and then are taken out for big celebrations. The practice has been entrenched in Maasai society as a rite of passage, into adulthood.




That Small Window: The Maasai plaster cow-dung over the entire wooden structure of their houses. This simple form of housing is demonstrative of the Maasai’s conservative lifestyle.




Sooted Roof:  A roof of a round Maasai house as seen from inside.




The Ambience: A Maasai woman and son illuminated by the door natural light.




The Cross: A faithful Maasai woman in her house.




The Earrings: A silhouetted Maasai woman at sunset. 




Back light: A Maasai woman entering a house.



Half Moon: A Maasai boy standing at the house main door staring. 




Rubber Sandals I: At Lokii market in Arusha.




Rubber Sandals II: “Viatu ile gari imeshidwa kumaliza,” which translates as, “Shoes that a car has failed to finish.” 




Jumping High: A dancing warrior jumps high into the sky as a way of showing masculinity too.  Maasai women love demonstrative athletes. 




Boma: A view of a Maasai boma and a way of hanging laundry.




A Wooden Leg: The Maasai are renowned for a conservative culture that makes proper use of anything in their surroundings.




A Baby Wrap: Maasai women usually carry their babies by wrapping them on their backs. 




A Bracelet: A bracelet is washed shortly before wearing it on special circumcision ceremonies. 




A Sunday best I: A Maasai woman dressed for special occasion where his son was circumcised. 




A Sunday best II: A Maasai man dressed for a special occasion 
where his son was circumcised. 




A Shave I: A woman shaves her husband as they prepare to attend a circumcision celebration.




A Shave II: A woman shaves her husband as they prepare to attend a circumcision cerebration.




Lokalio: A Maasai girl decorated in “lokalio powder” to look traditionally beautiful at a circumcision celebration.




The gourd: The Maasai use calabashes to store milk and other beverages. 




A Siesta: A boy takes a day’s nap on a cow’s skin. The Maasai use animal skins as mattresses. 




A Breakfast: Maasai men drinking morning porridge mixed with milk to start the day.




The Door: The Maasai build their houses low with a dug down floor that increases the inside height but looks very low from outside.




A Plough: To the Maasai land is a collective asset that defines identity by distinguishing the extent of ethnic territory from others and supports their livelihood. Land rights and use originally was universally for pastoralism, but this trend has changed over the years.




Necklaces: A young Maasai proud of her outfit and accessories. 





The First Steps: Learning to stride out. The Maasai practice methods to impart traditional knowledge through generations. Poor school participation has resulted in widespread illiteracy denying them an enabling resource for social development. Illiteracy in this context has gone hand in hand with resistance to cultural transformation from blind insistence that the tribe subsists in livestock and blocks children from going to school.





Water: For the Maasai, cattle are what make the good life, and milk and meat are the best foods. This is made possible by a communal land tenure system in which everyone in an area shares access to water and pasture.


Friday, May 25, 2012


ALGAE FARMING AT MLINGOTINI VILLAGE

Mlingotini village is located 19km by road and 10 km on the coastline south of Bagamoyo town. The villagers formed Msichoke seaweed farming group in 1999. The group consists of 58 people of whom 47 are women and 11 are men.

The farming is done in a semi-enclosed shallow lagoon near the village. The lagoon is well protected from water currents of the open sea which is one of the important conditions for successful algae farming.

“We experience high tidal variations in the lagoon every day which, results in good water flow, and since there is no direct freshwater flow into the lagoon, the algae grow very well.” says Mama Kishindo Khamis, who is the chairperson of the group.

In the fishing communities, women are neglected and bound to household activities. Recognition and involvement of women in planning and decision making have not been the case ever since. However, seaweed farming is report to significantly employ many women than men.

“Our men feel that seaweed farming is inferior to fishing but in reality, we feel that with the farming one is able to realize more profit with less work than in fishing,” says Mwanasha Mrisho, a member.

Another member, Machano Ally, who was once a fisherman and left it for see weed farming, said fishing is more tiresome since it involves many hours of work, one hardly has proper schedule. It requires hard working day and night.

“Fish like hiding in the algae fields. This encourages evil fishermen to destroy the farms and sometimes cut the lines for fishing purposes. As a group, we have presented this to village government but no action so far,” says Mama Kishindo Khamis.

Msichoke Seaweed Farmers Group lacks a permanent office building, a warehouse for storing the algae and has no access to bank loans. They complain on the local market price offered to them by the buyers who come to buy from them to be very low.

“We sell at Tshs 260 per dry kg of the algae but hearsays tell the prices to be extremely higher in the international market,” says Machano Ally.

The seaweed is mainly exported to The US, China and The Philippines.

Apart from the problems the group is facing, Mama Kishindo Khamis, the chair person, says the group contributes and is used by many researchers, learners and students from different universities in the world but these undertakings hardly benefit their group. END!

Abdallah Mwinyigogo, a member, boards the 
Msichoke vessel for off shore algae harvesting.

Machano Ally drops an anchor for the vessel to stop.

Mwanasha Mrisho and Machano Ally, stretch a line with tied with algae seeds.

Machano Ally brings to the vessel the collected seaweed

Mama Kishindo Khamis, the Msichoke chair person, 
dries the harvested algae.

Fish like hiding in the algae fields. 
Machano Ally shows a crab that 
he stamped on during routine check up of the algae lines.

Thursday, May 24, 2012


A CRACK IN THE HOMESTEAD

Our homestead has cracks everywhere. On the floor, the walls and the poles can’t hold any longer! They have been bitten by insects. The father, as the family head, has called a family meeting, seeking all of us to look and find if there are cracks in our rooms and take precautions.

“I want each of you, my children, to look carefully on the walls in your rooms to find out if there is any crack. Do it at your own time.” he says.

Recently, President Jakaya Kikwete, a head of the Nation, launched, Tanzania Bila Ukimwi, a National Campaign on HIV/AIDS Testing for every Tanzanian. The move is voluntary and free in terms of payment and convenience. Reports say there has been active participation by many citizens in finding if there is a crack in their rooms.

We need everyone’s serious involvement and focus in order to make it successful. Not only in finding out if there is a crack and keep quiet, but also in reporting it for common remedial action.

AIDS is a dangerous crack which needs participatory efforts to fill it. It should be all in the families, churches and mosques, offices, artists and everyone from works of life.
We should not leave this to the President or head of the family alone.

The aim is to highlight and draw attention to the devastating effects of HIV/AIDS within families and the community at large. As soon as one family member is affected, everyone in the family suffers, not only because of the human tragedy but also owing to economic difficulties resulting from rising healthcare costs and decreasing income.

Children are among the most vulnerable. By 2003, 15 million children under the age of 18 had been orphaned worldwide by HIV/AIDS. The “generation of orphans” is at a higher risk of being victim to discrimination or other abuses than children being brought up under better circumstances.

AIDS, an acronym for acquired immune deficiency syndrome, a disease caused by the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, has become an epidemic, infecting tens of millions of people worldwide. The virus is transmitted from one individual to another through the exchange of body fluids (such as blood or semen), attacks white blood cells, thereby causing the body to lose its capacity against infection. As a result, many AIDS patients die of opportunistic infections that strike them. Let us face the crack with the filling solutions. END!


Who will fill the cracks on the floor? 
A family member passes without noticing as others chat.


Once the crack is found, everyone in the family suffers. 
A mother shows a remaining memory of daughter.


A Bongo Flava artist performs promotes 
prevention by condoms.


Misasi village, Mwanza, praying for a diseased. 
Believers have contribution to make too.


A carpenter making a coffin 


A burial at Misasi village. The wall has fallen!